3 Myths and Misconceptions of Low Code/No Code Programming
TL; DR: Strictly focused on 3 main myths and misconceptions of Low Code/No Code (LCNC) programming, this blog post debunks the idea that LCNC solutions are just for small and unimportant business apps and tasks, that they can be a security and governance nightmare, and fail to take advantage of the latest technologies. It guides users as to the complete opposite for every misconception with real-life business examples of high caliber.
In our previous blog titled How Low Code is Transforming App Development, we talked about Low Code/No Code (LCNC) revolutionizing how companies use technology to solve business challenges. In this new blog post, as part of our series on this potent topic, we’re going over three of the most common myths and misconceptions we find when talking to different clients about using these technologies for their business. Let’s debunk myths around LCNC together today, shall we?
Myth #1: Low Code / No Code solutions are just for small, day to day, unimportant business apps.
When you start a conversation on low code programming at any company, the most typical answer you get is that these solutions can create the kind of applications IT relegate in their backlog. Those tasks usually refer to small departmental applications with little impact on the big company picture.
In reality, LCNC solutions can boost more business core applications.
Small-scale companies usually start their low code journey with small applications. Yet, as they advance in their journey, they start to use Low Code solutions in more complex scenarios.
Standard Bank, for instance, the biggest bank in Africa with more than 18 million customers (about the population of New York) and 49,000 employees, partnered with Microsoft. They started their Low Code journey in 2017 with a departmental application that could inspect over 8,000 automated teller machines (ATMs). The application was a success and now they’ve shifted from last mile solutions into an enterprise line of business solutions.
They also created an app to replace a legacy backend system with data housed in SAP. In the new app, the data was migrated to Microsoft Power Platform Dataverse to support offices in other countries without access to SAP.
Myth #2: Low Code / No Code solutions are a security and governance nightmare for enterprise environments.
Almost all companies kick off their LCNC journeys when users in a department start using this type of solution without their IT team’s knowledge. In some cases, they use sensitive information when these solutions also tend to have a weaker security frame.
Normally, when IT learns about the above, they get really concerned. Their natural first impulse is to shut down the apps, but with modern LCNC solution frameworks, doing so isn’t necessary.
LCNC solutions are enterprise-ready and offer governance tools and security frameworks that can make all solutions compliant with company policies.
T-Mobile partnered with Salesforce, for example, to create new apps that let them transform internal sales and services operations.
In the process, Poppy Coutinho, Senior Manager of Product & Technology at T-Mobile has expressed that they’ve “[…] leveraged the low-code aspect to build secure and powerful products, which increases agility.”
Coutinho furthermore gave the example of having “[…] used the out-of-the-box approval process to enable auto approvals. And the UI for our products is built using Salesforce App Builder, which significantly reduces development time,” she said. The product and technology expert also shared about using screen flows to guide user experience and enhance key business processes.
Myth #3: Low Code does not take advantage of the latest technologies.
Something to which perhaps many can relate is having an X feed full of messages alleging you can create anything with Large Language Models (LLMs). If that’s the case, you may wonder why anyone would need to use Low Code. “It certainly hasn’t had that much of a disruptive boom after last year”, I can almost hear you thinking. Well, major Low Code vendors have also taken note of this change in technology.
Now almost all LC vendors are offering LLMs to create apps and processes.
With that integration, we can further seize the innate benefit of this kind of solution, as is the case with any cloud product. Updates are available every few months to include tools that make tackling business challenges even easier.
Microsoft has recently added Power Platform Copilot, for instance. Using the power of Azure Open AI to allow users to create processes, apps, reports and even websites, people now only need to use prompts as their main development language.
On this note, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) has enabled over 4,300 power platform makers, creating more than 300 solutions and saving more than $75 million per year.
Nearsure, on the other hand, has been working for the last 6 years with the leading Low Code technologies of Microsoft and Salesforce as mentioned in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms. Doing so has allowed us to help our clients solve complex business challenges quickly and simply.
And there you go! Three of the most common myths and misconceptions on LCNC programming out the door for you moving forward.
Do you need any help in the fast track of LCNC adoption? Just give us a nudge and one of our salespeople will schedule a discovery call with you in no time!