Author: Gibu Matthew, VP and GM APAC, Zoho Corp

As digital transformation in businesses continues to accelerate, there is an increased demand for custom digital solutions to meet digitalisation needs. This gave rise to citizen developers; business users with zero to little coding experience that build applications with IT technologies to improve business productivity or existing business processes. 

Traditionally, businesses would hire or outsource their programming needs to a third-party developer or third party software; often a tedious and expensive exercise. Low code, no code platforms are changing all of this. According to Gartner, 80 percent of technology products will be built by non-IT users including citizen developers, business technologists and artificial intelligence by 2024. This shift to low code, no code (LCNC) platforms has already begun and Southeast Asia businesses should consider seeking an early bird advantage with this technology. 

SMEs embrace Low Code, No Code

Unlike previous methods, a low code, no code approach can offer applications that are a close fit to business requirements with cost savings compared to hiring a team of external vendors. Ordinary users can build and design visually by using the system's drag and drop interface to create applications in mere hours, an impossible feat with third party tools and vendors. In fact, Statista indicates that 29 percent of businesses found low code application development to be 40 to 60 percent faster than conventional methods. LCNC platforms reduces time-to-market cycles by cutting out the complex software development process, leaving the user interface and user experience (UI/UX) to the user.

More Benefits with Low Code, No Code

However, the benefits do not end with just improved cost efficiencies and shortened production cycles. Low code, no code platforms provide improvements to various business processes including automation and marketing. Imagine giving your customers a tailored experience from content, notifications and promotional offers through a mobile app tailored for customers which is typically possible only for ISVs and other software companies. This naturally leads to better customer retention, higher brand satisfaction and greater revenue generation.

LCNC will also be able to nudge on-the-fence customers in the right direction. Loyalty and customer service modules can be developed to supplement marketing communications and provide customers with trust and confidence to say yes to the business. An after-sales feedback form can also be programmed to gather customer insights, and further help the organisation to revamp and enhance their brand experiences on-the-fly. Outside of marketing, businesses can use LCNC to automate anything from the simplest task to sophisticated production processes. 

All platforms have their strength and weaknesses. LCNC platforms may not be good in cases when you have machine generated data versus human generated data. When people, processes and a graphical user interface is involved, LCNC can play a more effective role. However, the ability to integrate with existing apps and systems is where LCNC platforms shine. These platforms allow users to keep evolving the application without much complex migrations if planned well. 

LCNC is reshaping business

According to a survey by Zoho, enterprises are using these platforms for various purposes with 45 percent digitising business data, 32 percent automating workflows and 25 percent developing customer-front applications. The user-friendliness and lower operational skill requirements of LCNC platforms and its ability to cover a vast range of enterprise uses makes it an invaluable tool to facilitate and accelerate business growth.

In Malaysia for example, IOI Properties Group  has used Zoho Creator to great effect. When the enterprise had to adapt to remote working conditions, they were able to deploy their cloud applications within three months. IOI Properties Group now has a zero paper policy thanks to Zoho Creator. The burden of moving thousands of files has been replaced with cloud infrastructure which has led to a 50% increase in operational efficiency.

Today, businesses that have embraced unified technology platforms with low code, no code capabilities are already reaping the rewards of their investment and steering ahead of the competition. With more mature LCNC platforms, the IT has the ability to get an end to end view thereby being in control of governance and compliance and keeping in check shadow IT. LCNC platforms have become too big to ignore, and it is an important tool in the IT Toolbox. 

As the world recovers from the pandemic, the benefits of digital journeys that many organisations started cannot be ignored. The increase in employee productivity, decision-making and flexible work arrangements aside, the opportunities to delight the customers through multi-dimensional, proactive care and support has benefited organisations significantly. LCNC is here to stay, and the winning organisations will embrace it.

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