Application Matrix

It's important to avoid a "one-size-fits-all" mentality regarding no-code. The approach you take to design and build a simple no-code app may not be sufficient to handle the complexity as the size/scale of your app grows. For example, the requirements of an employee feedback app would likely be very different from those of a business-critical solution like invoice management or digital lending. The simple approach that worked at first will probably not be sufficient as the app complexity grows. Conversely, if you only applied the approach that works for the largest and most mission-critical projects across all apps, you would overwhelm small project teams with too much process and prevent them from moving with speed and agility.

This means that different types of no-code apps require different approaches to skill sets and methodologies. Therefore, it's important to have a way to customize the methodology to meet the scale of your project needs and the Application Matrix addresses this need. The Application Matrix evaluates your no-code project from three different dimensions: Business, Governance, and Technical. We will outline some of the suggested criteria you should assess as a starting point for each dimension. We will also provide a few examples to illustrate use. However, like any framework, it is meant to be customized and tailored to your specific needs. You should ultimately internalize this within your no-code team (or within a No-code CoE) and adapt it to meet your needs precisely.

The Business complexity dimension helps assess where your app sits on the spectrum of business process and organizational complexity. It will also assess how standardized the app requirements may be or whether there will be a lot of variations that must be accounted for in the requirements and design of the app. For each of the following criteria, you should assess them on a scale of Simple, Medium, or Advanced.

Suggested Assessment Criteria:

• Process complexity. How complex is the business process? Is the process simple and consistent, or does the process include many different exceptions, steps, rules, and multilevel nested processes?

• Business critical use case. How critical is this to business operations? If the app fails, can the business function continue to operate? Will downtime have a significant business impact (lost revenue, etc.)?

• Cross-departmental usage. How broadly across the business is the app used? Is it used within a single department/unit or broadly across the business? Is it used by partners or customers outside the business?

• Regional requirements. This assesses how much variability the app may have when used by different regional user populations. For example, tax rules or regulations may vary widely by region or geography.

• Language requirements. Is this a single language app, or does it have multilingual requirements? Are there any requirements that will require significant localization of the UX? (e.g., adaptation of the flow or layout)

No-code apps that score Medium or Advanced Business complexity should anticipate a more sophisticated approach to design, along with more complex operational and deployment/enablement requirements. Medium complexity apps may also benefit from support by the No-code CoE. We'll highlight these considerations in later No-code Lifecycle chapters.

The Governance complexity dimension helps assess where your app sits on the spectrum of requirements for compliance with external laws, guidelines, or regulations imposed by external entities or internal audit groups within your organization. It will also assess the complexity of specific security and data governance considerations. For each of the following criteria, you should assess them on a scale of Simple, Medium, or Advanced.

Suggested Assessment Criteria:

• External compliance. Like generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — Does this fall under one or more established laws, guidelines, or regulations imposed by external governments, industries, and organizations?

• Internal compliance. Does this fall under the governance of internally enforced checklists, policies, or controls? What are the business risks if this fails to meet an internal audit? How complex are the internal access controls?

• Security requirements. How secure is the information being accessed? What business risk is if the information is leaked or compromised due to internal or external attacks?

• Data governance. How sensitive is the corporate data being managed and secured? Does this contain sensitive, proprietary, or confidential business data? Does it contain customer personally identifiable information?

No-code apps that score Medium or Advanced Governance complexity should anticipate a more sophisticated design and deployment/operational procedures approach. They will also require more advanced planning and time during the governance review stages. Medium complexity apps may also benefit from support by a No-code CoE. We'll discuss these considerations in later No-code Lifecycle chapters.

The Technical complexity dimension helps assess whether your team may require assistance from professional developers or other specialized technical resources. This also will assess whether the app requires additional options beyond the no-code tools (e.g., third-party components and integration with packaged apps). Assess each of the following criteria on a scale of Simple, Medium, or Advanced.

Suggested Assessment Criteria:

• Coding requirements. Is custom code required for this project? (e.g., for custom controls or extensions outside of the no-code platform)

• Complexity of integrations. How complex are the systems to be integrated with? Do existing connectors exist, or are custom integrations required? How many external packaged apps or add-ons are part of the solution?

• UX/UI complexity. How complex is the UX of the app? Is it a simple web form/portal, or does this require more sophisticated omnichannel experiences? (e.g., native mobile and voice)

• Scale of users/user transactions — On average, how many users will the app have? Will this be used infrequently throughout the week, or is it an app that gets daily/hourly used?

No-code apps that score Medium or Advanced Technical complexity should anticipate a more sophisticated approach to design. Medium complexity apps may also benefit from support by a No-code CoE while Advanced Technical complexity may require a fusion team approach. They will also require more advanced planning and time during deployment and operations activities. We'll review these considerations in future chapters.

Once the aggregate complexity by dimension has been assessed, you will be able to select the appropriate overall Delivery Model.

No-code apps rated Simple across all three complexity dimensions can be readily owned and delivered via the DIY team approach. No-code apps with Medium/Advanced complexity usually require involvement from the No-code CoE. Finally, the no-code apps with Advanced Technical complexity will likely be delivered using the fusion team approach.