Get the right mix of low-code and pro code to modernize your enterprise applications
Low-code and no-code development tools are all the rage at the moment, but it’s not always obvious how they can help modernize core enterprise applications. While low-code has its place, many of these established systems are highly complex. Some professional development (pro code) is also required. Businesses eager to press ahead with digital transformation need to find the right balance between the two approaches.
The idea behind low-code development is that it makes it possible to create business applications just by point-and-click configuration rather than having to deal directly with the source code. It’s a similar concept to ‘model-driven development’, which was the popular term for this kind of approach a decade ago. The focus is on graphical development tools and reusable building blocks. The platform includes pre-built components that embody the necessary data models, the various process steps including business logic and workflows, and the user interface. This means that complex applications can be easily developed using more of a ‘drag-and-drop’ approach.
All of this dramatically shortens the development time for creating an application, allowing companies to make progress with digitalization projects that would otherwise sit on the shelf due to competing demands on IT resources. This is true even in large enterprises with extensive internal developer resources, because of the efficiency gains that are possible. For smaller companies, there is no need to resort to scarce IT specialist personnel or become dependent on external service providers. After a short training period, internal developer resources can become proactive without the need for specific programming knowledge or years of experience and training. With a small investment, SMBs can achieve the same diverse possibilities of digitally advancing processes, products or services as Fortune 500 companies.
A modern form of rapid application development (RAD), low-code platforms are ideal for quickly adapting off-the-shelf applications to individual requirements, whether on desktop or mobile devices. As a rule of thumb, low-code applications can be developed up to ten times faster than building code from scratch or adapting endless libraries of ‘boilerplate’ code. This means that digital processes and applications can be developed in a few days or even within a few hours. Whereas in the past, small changes required intensive familiarity with the respective code, this is no longer the case when leveraging a low-code platform.
The problem comes when a low-code application needs to do something that hasn’t been included in the pre-built components. Sooner or later this is bound to happen. There simply is no logical pattern that covers every scenario to make a drag-and-drop component out if it — otherwise, low-code platforms would quickly become as complex as doing it the traditional way!
This is particularly true when connecting into enterprise applications such as ERP systems, legacy applications or other systems. Even while low-code development platforms do support the specification of automated workflows and usually offer various service integrations with ERP and other systems, the business logic that can be captured in such applications is quite limited.
