Low-code & No-code
The rise of the citizen developer
Thanks to the rapid rise of no-code and low-code platforms, it is now possible to develop applications eight to ten times faster. In particular, citizen developers at your organization can make a direct contribution to digitization using this type of platform, without having to program anything themselves. Now is the time to start testing ideas faster and improving cooperation between your business processes and IT. But where should you start?
Thanks to the rapid rise of no-code and low-code platforms, it is now possible to develop applications eight to ten times faster. In particular, citizen developers at your organization can make a direct contribution to digitization using this type of platform, without having to program anything themselves. Now is the time to start testing ideas faster and improving cooperation between your business processes and IT. But where should you start?
In practice, this accelerates innovation and leads to measurable improvements in productivity because existing bottlenecks can be effectively removed. And because the ability to respond quickly to changes in customer and market conditions is becoming increasingly important, we believe that citizen development is key to #beingahead. But what is it exactly? And what’s the best way to set it up in your organization?
What is low-code and no-code?
No-code platforms make it possible to create applications without actually having to program anything. It’s a bit like Lego; in principle, anyone can build an application. But instead of writing lines of code with curly braces and semicolons, you simply click and drag functionalities together. You can do the same with a low-code platform, only it also allows you to use some minimal code.
To develop an app yourself, you often don’t need to install any software. You can create websites, portals, or mobile apps directly in your browser. With Microsoft’s no-code/low-code Power Platform, you can even connect data from underlying systems and enrich it with artificial intelligence.
Citizen development
The development of applications without any programming is also called citizen development – which involves a different approach than we are used to. Previously, the first step was to create bulky documents detailing all the software requirements and the company’s wishes. Low-code and no-code tools allow you to build faster. Sometimes, it is even possible to produce a working prototype that suits real-life situations on the same day.
Proactive culture
Citizen development has many advantages. Because new ideas can be tested more quickly, a proactive culture emerges. A culture where small and large improvements in the process are quickly implemented.
New challenges
However, new challenges are constantly emerging. How can your organization guarantee security and privacy? These are issues that would usually be handled by the IT department. And how can you make sure that you don’t end up with a labyrinth of applications?
Continuous Journey
If you want to take the leap into the world of low-code and no-code, the technical aspect is not that much of an undertaking. It’s already been tried and tested. The challenge lies primarily in how you go about adapting and organizing citizen development within your organization. Because that is the key to success. Broad Horizon can help you with this.
Our approach consists of several phases: Envision, Onboard, and Journey. By working methodically through the three phases, we make the technology accessible to you and enable your employees to actively participate in the process. While doing so, we also gather insights about the organization, its goals, and its target groups – insights that we then use as a basis for developing a working low-code / no-code prototype.
Practical applications for low-code & no-code
In practice, low-code and no-code platforms are used for different purposes, and we come across these examples frequently:
Innovation
Thanks to the rapid pace of development when using these platforms, they are ideal for testing new business propositions, products, and services, for example. An app or website that validates market demand can be created in no time and prototypes of the final product can also be tested and adapted in very short iterations, based on feedback from the target group. It also means that you don’t need to determine all the requirements before you get started, since the low-code/no-code approach maximizes your ability to react to new insights, thereby increasing both the pace and the results of innovation.
Chain integration
Many improvement projects today are about improving cooperation and data exchange with customers and suppliers. Developing a customer or supplier portal, or even a mobile app for that purpose, is typically something that can be initiated by the business and gradually improved until it fully satisfies the users’ wishes. Low-code and no-code also enables you to get automated links between systems up and running in a very short time.
Productivity in the operational process
Low-code and no-code often have the biggest impact on operational processes. Are people still using their own lists or Excel files? Then you know that there is plenty of room for improvement. These are usually issues that are still on the ICT department’s to-do list; it simply hasn’t had time to get round to them. But when the business itself is able to take the initiative, one bottleneck after another can be eliminated in no time. The result? Lower costs, and happier customers and employees. Citizen development at its best.
Customizing applications and replacing legacy systems
Legacy systems tend to have a rather negative connotation. But there is a reason why companies continue to use them every day. Although the technology is often very outdated, the delivered functionality is still of great value. What’s more, completely replacing such a system is often too expensive, too time-consuming, and too risky. A low-code and no-code platform allows you to upgrade the technology in small steps, creating immediate value.
CUSTOMER STORIES
Moolenaar
The flower bulb grower inputs 5,000 product-specific orders every year. A traditional ERP system didn’t fit the bill, so they teamed up with Broad Horizon to develop a Power App portal.
Dentaid
Oral health specialist Dentaid needed to overhaul the outdated back-office system because field staff were unable to input orders directly when they were on-site at the customer’s premises. Power Platform made it possible.
Nabuurs
Irregular warehouse arrivals used to be recorded manually in Excel, but since the introduction of a Power App Nabuurs has been able to share this data live via a customer portal.
Wundermart
The unmanned supermarket Wundermart wanted to personalize its checkout system and offer a unique customer experience. Thanks to Power Virtual Agent, it was possible to develop a brand experience.
Building blocks
Getting started with low-code and no-code may not be as simple as downloading an app or activating a subscription in the cloud, but depending on the exact use case, we can deploy a number of standard products and services as building blocks. This helps your project get off to a flying start and create value in a short period of time.
Power Platform
The low-code/no-code Power Platform can be used to perform automated processes based on data from IoT, for example when exceeding a certain threshold. This can be applied directly to the work process via a PowerApp.
Dynamics 365
Microsoft’s Dynamics365 Apps contribute to the optimization of business processes focused on, for example, Field Service, Manufacturing, and Logistics. Combining this with the IoT creates new opportunities to simplify business processes and improve the customer experience.
Connect Plus
You can create the most value by combining IoT data with data from other applications and (public) data sources. Connect Plus Integration Services is an Azure-based service bus that enables these links to be implemented and managed quickly and easily.
DOTS Predictive Services
Our prediction models based on machine learning help us better predict maintenance work on equipment and potential failures based on collected IoT data. The result? An improved customer experience and lower operational costs.
Tailo
Analyzing conversations via phone, chat or email has never been easier. With Tailo you are guaranteed to obtain new insights about your customers and your internal process. And all this without programming a single line.
Managed Security
Protecting systems is becoming increasingly important. We have developed a service specifically for IoT contexts where large amounts of (user) data is stored that continuously monitors and optimizes security.
Back-up & Recovery
When the data connected to an IoT case is of great value, it is vital that you organize the back-up and recovery of that data well in advance. This way, you can always revert to a backed-up version if necessary.
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