What is low-code?
Low-code platform to automate workflows and build applications with a maximum degree of freedom
Table of contents
What is low-code?
Low-code is a software development approach that accelerates application delivery faster by reducing the amount of coding required.
Low-code development replaces custom code written from scratch with ready-to-use UI components, scripts, integrations, a specialised development environment, and visual workflow tools. A low-code platform offers advanced features for application lifecycle management, governance, security, and AI/ML decision-making, making it ideal for enterprise-grade application development.
“By 2025, 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will utilise low-code or no-code technologies”
What is low-code app development?
Low-code application development is a cutting-edge software development approach aimed at accelerating the creation of business applications by minimising the reliance on traditional coding practices. By utilising visual interfaces and intuitive tools, developers can swiftly design and deploy applications ranging from simple to complex without the need for traditional hand-coding. Low code development not only enhances an organisation's scalability and profitability but also unlocks the potential for above-average returns on digital investments.
A low-code platform offers several tools absent from traditional development environments, facilitating the low-code development of business applications. Here is the list of features that leading low-code platforms should offer to business users.
Low-code Platform Features
Visual modelling tools
These tools included in low-code development platforms enable you to halve software development time by using a wide range of pre-built system components. Drag-and-drop features help create modern UIs, workflows, and data models. All you need to do is select the appropriate reusable components, add them to the working area, and configure them properly. Compared to traditional application development, development teams need less time to build applications, and there's no risk of syntax mistakes. Utilising reusable components combined with manual coding empowers IT teams with instant cross-platform accessibility, total reusability, and easy updating. With the right low-code software that uses drag-and-drop functionality, your digital solution will be ready in days or weeks instead of years.
Integration and APIs
The integration tools enable you to connect your systems and centralise data to create a digital ecosystem. A low-code environment of your choice should include ready-made connectors to enable seamless bi-directional integration with third-party applications. The right low-code platform should allow you to create custom integrations using API protocols like REST, SOAP, or RPC to retrieve data, automatically handle their structure and database updates, and launch workflows based on events or predefined business rules. Open API combined with visual modelling tools results in rapid development, making creating software applications ten times faster. Moreover, with ready-made integrations and connectors, you can easily modernise legacy systems by incorporating new business apps.
Security
Low-code enables IT teams to build secure apps and ensure compliance with industry standards. Configure security at all application levels using out-of-the-box security tools. Leading low-code application platforms possess the highest accreditations, such as SOC, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR, which are kept up-to-date. For instance, Creatio regularly participates in external security assessments and updates its certifications. Built-in security tools provide visibility and insights into all activities on the platform. Your low-code vendor will conduct regular penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, allowing you to develop software solutions switly.
Application lifecycle management
Simplify and streamline application management processes – from business requirement analysis and development to maintenance. Unify all development environments in a single view to gain end-to-end visibility and ensure security. Low-code app development allows you to manage requirements, create user stories, collaborate on MVPs, and automate quality assurance and deployment processes in one place. Collect more in-app feedback using built-in feedback mechanisms.
Scalability
With the low-code platform's scalable architecture, you can guarantee seamless and rapid application development and growth. You can effortlessly manage increasing demands and user growth without compromising performance or user experience. Dynamic resource allocation enables optimal performance during peak usage. Additionally, you can also future-proof your applications and adapt to evolving business requirements with ease. Stay ahead of the competition by confidently scaling your digital solutions to serve a handful of users or a global audience.
Artificial Intelligence
Discover customer insights instantly and make data-driven business decisions. Utilise built-in AI capabilities such as classification, scoring, next best offer (NBO), and next best action (NBA) recommendations enhance the customer experience. Develop machine learning (ML) models to generate accurate predictions without the need for coding or hiring a data scientist. Create chatbots and conduct sentiment analysis using natural language processing (NLP) tools.
7 benefits of low-code platform
1. Freedom to own your automation
Meet evolving business needs with diverse customisation and configuration capabilities, unparalleled agility, and resilience. Recognise that every business strategy is unique. Tailor your technology to align with your business strategy, rather than another way around.
2. Improved business-IT alignment
Build up technical literacy and turn your business-line employees into citizen developers. Low-code tools democratise software development, encourage better team alignment, and eliminate shadow IT. Combine technology with business domain for enhanced digital products.
3. Faster digital transformation
Digital transformation is about people. Empower your employees to become change champions by enabling them to develop the digital solutions they require. Ensure high user buy-in, tackle the shortage of technical skills, deliver software solutions, and digitise processes faster.
4. Enhanced customer experience (CX)
Craft omnichannel customer journeys, prioritise mobile-first apps, and implement AI-enabled solutions to keep up with the latest CX trends and exceed consumer expectations. Bring data and insights together, ensure customer data privacy, and facilitate self-service capabilities to evlove into a customer-first organisation.
5. Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO)
Build additional digital assets with existing resources while reducing maintenance costs. Repurpose and reuse system modules or entire applications to boost productivity throughout the entire company. Low-code platforms empower everyone to automate diverse use cases and workflows.
6. Improved governance and risk management
Configure the system’s security using admin tools, access control, and threat assessments. Leading low-code systems have third-party attested certifications that validate their internal security practices and guarantee the safety of user data and applications from breaches.
7. Higher productivity
Empower your employees to automate repetitive tasks and modify workflows and business apps to enhance their productivity in hybrid work environments. As business users handle most of the automation themselves, it liberates the IT team for more creative, high-value work.
Creatio Named as a Visionary in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms
How is low-code different from no-code and high-code?
Low code vs. no-code
The primary distinction between low-code and no-code platforms is that the former may involve coding in certain cases, whereas no-code tools require absolutely no coding whatsoever. This implies that no-code technology is explicitly crafted for citizen developers like business analysts, while low-code technology caters both citizen developers and professional developers.
Because low-code platforms may still entail coding, they can generate larger and more complex applications than no-code platforms typically can. Forward-thinking businesses deploy platforms that combine low- and no-code technologies for better flexibility and control over the application development lifecycle cycle.
Characteristics of a no-code:
- Pre-built components can be customised
- Some platforms provide only limited capabilities
- Simple to medium complexity apps
- Ideal for organisations looking to empower business users
Low-code vs. high-code
The primary distinction between low-code and high-code development lies in the level of coding involved during application development. While low-code platforms provide some coding capabilities when necessary, high-code primarily rely on extensive custom coding to build applications. High-coding is suited for professional developers seeking complete control over the codebase and intricate customisation for complex projects.
In contrast to low-code platforms, high-code platforms excel in developing large-scale and highly intricate software applications. The abundance of coding options enables developers to craft software solutions with specialised functionalities and seamless integrations.
Characteristics of a high-code:
- Advanced customisation
- Professional expertise required
- Ideal for large-scale projects
- Precise control over functionality
Within a single platform, low-code development harmoniously combines the expertise of non-technical users with the coding skills of professional developers, fostering seamless collaboration and co-development of solutions.
Try a leading low-code/no-code platform to build applications and automate workflows with a maximum degree of freedom
Low-code industry solutions
Low-code platforms provide a plethora of industry-specific solutions, offering limitless possibilities for businesses to develop enterprise applications across various sectors.
Furthermore, low-code development serves diverse industries with complex workflows and data management systems. By automating these intricate processes, businesses can achieve higher levels of productivity and efficiency, resulting in enhanced performance and cost-effectiveness.
- Banking
- Credit Unions
- Mortgage
- Insurance
- Manufacturing
- Hi tech
- Transportation
- Business Services
- Retail
- CPG
- Pharma
- Telecom
- Public sector
- Media and advertising
What can you build with a low-code development platform?
With a low-code development platform, you can construct a diverse array of applications, ranging from simple to complex. These various low-code development platforms provide the tools and resources necessary to create web applications, automate workflows, integrate with third-party systems, and implement AI/ML functionalities. The flexibility of low-code development enables you to build custom solutions tailored to your specific business requirements, facilitating rapid application delivery and fostering innovation across various industries.
Low-code use cases
Customer engagement applications
Develop omnichannel customer-facing business applications to efficiently and promptly address various customer issues. Enhance customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty by delivering faster, more reliable, and more personalised digital experiences.
Employee experience and corporate services
Optimise a diverse array of daily corporate tasks, including employee management, request management, audit management, as well as internal service and support. Enhance the productivity of HR and administrative teams with highly automated workflows and centralised, current data encompassing employees, assets, documents, and beyond.
Operational efficiency applications
Develop and integrate applications to automate enterprise-grade operational processes across various business domains. Replace time-consuming and manual processes with highly automated, intelligent workflows to enhance efficiency, foster cross-departmental alignment, and dreduce costs.
Legacy modernisation
Modernise, extend, or completely replace legacy systems unable to support new complex processes using a modern, open, and highly-customisable software ecosystem free from code. Ensure that the transition process to a new ecosystem will be quick and smooth without adversely affecting the current critical operations of the enterprise.
Collaboration and coordination apps
Create an application facilitating communication, collaboration, content sharing, tasks scheduling, and review management with simplicity, speed, and convenience as its core. Boost employee productivity and efficiency with integrated automated workflows and access to consolidated information, content, and essential productivity tools.
Vertical-focused automation
Develop applications to streamline operational and customer-facing processes tailored to your industry and business domain. Implement highly automated, vertical-specific workflows based on the best practices of your industry whether it's in the financial sector, manufacturing, IT and high-tech, healthcare, and beyond.
Low-code industry forecasts
The future of application development lies in low-code technology.
- Composability and hyperautomation will drive the adoption of low-code technology through 2026
- Low-code enables the creation of cloud-native applications with 70% fewer resources
- Total cost of ownership (TCO) for low-code applications is 54% of that for traditional development
- Low-code platforms can reduce development time by up to 90%
- An average business can increase its value by $4.4M by using low-code applications
Low-code FAQ
Who can use low-code at my organisation?
Anyone from an HR manager to a professional developer can use low-code to develop business solutions. Their intuitive nature and scalability enable anyone within a company to create tools to automate their work.
Who is a low-code developer?
Low-code developer is a citizen developer - a non-professional who uses low-code or no-code technology to develop applications. They don’t need extensive coding knowledge, differentiating them from professional developers.
Is low-code only for large enterprises?
Indeed, businesses of any size are likely to find low-code technology beneficial. Whether enhancing their CRM or automating certain business processes with low-code BPM, low-code platforms are relevant to both small businesses and large enterprises.
What is visual development/ How does it work?
Visual development uses a visual interface, utilised by both low-code and no-code platforms, to create applications. The interface includes simple logic and drag-and-drop features, making the development process more intuitive and natural compared to traditional coding.
What is low-code vs zero code?
Low-code requires minimal coding, utilising visual interfaces and pre-built components. Zero code, or no-code, eliminates any coding, using drag-and-drop interfaces and templates. Both empower non-tech users, but low-code offers flexibility for developers to include custom coding when needed.
How to build an app without code?
Building apps without code is possible with both low-code and no-code platforms. The development process with both technologies is mostly visual and very intuitive, and these visual tools along with prebuilt modules erase the need to code while creating an application.
What is the difference between full stack and low-code?
Full stack development involves complete building and management of applications, including front-end, back-end, and databases. In contrast, low-code offers a visual development environment, minimising the need of extensive coding. Low-code accelerates app creation with drag-and-drop simplicity, making it suitable for both technical and non-technical users.
Can I use low-code as a part of the CRM system?
Yes, some vendors include CRM modules as a part of their low-code platform functionality or vice versa. This affords organisations a competitive edge over CRM solutions lacking low-code capabilities, enabling them to develop essential apps to enhance and automate their marketing, sales, or service processes.
What are LCNC platforms?
LCNC platforms, short for "Low-Code No-Code" platforms, streamline application development by providing visual interfaces and pre-built components. They enable both technical and non-technical users to create applications swiftly with minimal coding, providing a straightforward and efficient means of building software solutions.
