What is this new mysterious world of No/Low Code Software?
Is this you … “I keep hearing this term no code/low code software but what does it all really mean?”
Derek Findlayson (Intelihub Consulting LTD)
If it is, “your not alone” so let me try & help demystify what it’s all about …
Gartner defines a low-code application platform (LCAP) as”
“an application platform that supports rapid application development, one-step deployment, execution and management using declarative, high-level programming abstractions, such as model-driven and metadata-based programming languages.”
In other words, put more simply … & in language we can all understand no/low code software enables you to:
- Anticipate & react to technology change more quickly.
- Avoid
- Long development queues & build & deploy products & services much quicker.
- The “instant” Legacy Technology trap …
- Take control of:
- Digital Transformation Eco System
- Configuring & testing.
- Your Pricing & Rating Engine
- Constantly be on the latest technology version
- Gear your business up to respond to spiralling Consumer Expectations
- Free up your IT resources to Innovate
- Significantly reduce your IT Training costs & Deployment times
What does this mean for your business teams …
Most importantly, once in the hands of your business, no-code technology allows your team to adapt, configure, add to and deploy their own builds without needing to know a single line of code. They build the processes they dream of at their desktop.
“PUTTING YOU & YOUR BUSINESS TEAMS IN CONTROL”
Let me expand upon this, & “bring it to life” in a bit more detail …
Cutting cost, hassle and delay for Customers
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| React Quickly | No-Code enables insurers, Brokers, MGA’s, & Scheme Specialists (or for that matter any business) to react quickly, and even anticipate, change. Change that is often thrust on them and from which they cannot avoid e.g. Travel cancellation claim surge as lockdown hit, business interruption claims spiralling from three a day to hundreds and thousands. |
| Rapid Build & Deployment | No-Code solves business problems and allows insurers to move quickly and up clock speed. No-code allows very rapid build and deployment of POCs because there are no IT development queues or costs to hold them back. |
| Puts you more in control | Customers can chose a time of their choosing to replace parts or eventually all of these systems and still deliver transformation, innovation and an iterative approach to constant improvement. |
| Easy Configuration & Testing | Practitioners within the business can easily map and configure what they want to test and bring it to life within weeks rather than months. Amendments along the way can then be made and deployed in hours to improve performance. Joining the back of the IT priority queue becomes a thing of the past. |
| Your Operational teams control your Pricing & Rating Engine | In practical terms, it means that things like amending your pricing on your rating engine is under the control of your operational teams, removing the reliance on your IT teams. This for me is key … |
| Step away from Instant Legacy | No-Code answers the inherent weakness of current core systems- legacy code. The moment you introduce scripting and coding you introduce legacy. And that means more and more effort has to go into just maintaining core systems rather than improving them. Wasted effort, time, resources and money. |
| Easily Maintained & Upgraded | No-Code platforms are constantly maintained and upgraded with every customer always on the latest version meaning that NO LEGACY is being generated. |
| “Wrap around” API Architecture | The last thing some customers want to do is throw away core systems which still stand on the balance sheet. No-Code platforms come with the API architecture to integrate with core systems and, in effect, wrap around them to deliver digital transformation of policy admin, end-to-end claims management , payments and so on. |
| “Frees up your IT Resources for Innovation” | IT central services teams Central IT gain as much as line of business leaders. As custodians of the IT estate they can ensure any No-Code software meets the compliance, security, scalability and performance needs of the enterprise and know No-Code frees up IT resources for other innovation projects they can rarely get around to. |
| Respond to Spiraling Consumer Expectations | The real impetus to change and No-Code is the consumer. They/we have tasted managing their lives, services, buying, lifestyles and businesses from their phone. Businesses have to digitally transform across all products and parts of the business. |
| Lower Training & Adoption Costs & Faster Deployment Timelines | Typically training & adoption is far quicker, & as a result less expensive. This is helped by all innovation, customisation, iteration being managed by these trained users in native language. No coding of course. |
| Integration Flows | You can develop powerful and complex integration flows relatively quickly through these tools. |
| Mobile application development | Most low-code/no-code platforms, provide responsive UI capabilities for mobile applications. Others offer native support for the leading mobile operations systems (iOS and Android). |
| Category | Description |
“Helping you make that transformation to building your own Digital Eco-System”
Like any technologies there are pro’s & con’s. Generally on emerging low code/no code solutions the pro’s far out weigh the con’s, but here are some of the more critical challenges for low-code/no-code to be aware of & to factor into your thinking:
Anticipating & preparing for Potential Challenges
| No | Category | Potential Challenges to think about |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | It involves a culture change: | Low-code/no-code requires a change in an organisations culture whether that organization be an enterprises or a startup. Changing the culture to obliterate silos is not easy. It requires executive vision and endorsement. It also requires the allocation of budget and empowerment to a low-code/no-code digital transformation competency center. |
| 2 | It takes time and effort to learn the platforms | Low-code/no-code increases speed and productivity. But it is not easy. The tools and platforms are not trivial, and developing a level of expertise takes time. |
| 3 | You may need multiple platforms | : Some platforms are more complete than others. Unqork and Bubble, for example, are designed to be used across any use case and so offer many options for integration with enterprise systems. However, they can benefit greatly from other components that specialize in specific areas; for instance, Bubble together with, say, Parabola or the Zapier plugin for automated integration. The data manipulation and integration capabilities in Parabola or Zapier are easier to work with than the native ones in Bubble. There are other plugins or technology components that complement low code/no code platforms with additional technologies: Check out, for instance, the technology partnerships for Unqork or the comprehensive list of plugins for Bubble. |
| No | Category | Potential Challenges to think about |
“Preparing your business to Win in an increasingly Digitalised World”
I hope this article has helped you understand in a bit more detail the rapidly emerging world of no/low code software, & perhaps more importantly the positive impact it can have on your business & customer proposition.
We know from experience that the world of business transformation & technology change can be a daunting one for some businesses, however if you need help & support in navigating this path, we would be delighted to help guide & advise you.
Feel free to reach out to us, for an exploratory conversion by contacting us on the details below.
The best businesses, & the right solutions providers, will support you in helping you “join up the dots”. What I mean by that is that there’s no point in investing in technology if it doesn’t support:
The day’s of going to one supplier for every single element of your technology stack & solutions, is rapidly coming to an end. Nowadays, there is significant choice out there, & what might be the right solution, for one part of your business, may not be the best solution for another part of your business.
So, against this background, designing your “technology eco system” to best suit your business needs & ambitions has moved from a ‘nice to have” to a “business necessity”.
The “winners in the market” are increasingly identifying a range of complimentary technology components which:
We are fortunate enough to work with, & across, the Distribution landscape, from Brokers, to Schemes Specialists, to MGA’s, to Insurers, to Software houses, to Data Enrichment providers, so we have a unique view of the market, & what the best performing businesses are doing both right, & differently. Those that are “ahead of the curve” in their Digital adoption, are consistently:
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