The low-code/no-code adoption for application development is on a rapid rise. According to Gartner 65% of all application will be developed by low-code/no-code platforms by 2024. IT owners need to plan and have at least 4 different low-code/no-code vendors fulfilling their different business needs.

What are the important capabilities to look for in a low-code platform?

Before we go into the details, we should understand the terms that are often used while discussing low-code technology.

A low-code/no-code platform offers the ability for rapid application development, deployment and execution. It supports the use of declarative, high-level programming abstractions ( model-driven and metadata-based services) for application development, thus avoiding the need for skilled developers.

Gartner views no-code as a subset of low-code technology solutions.

No-code application development does not require any coding for developing applications. Low-code refers to development methodology where application development is accomplished with very little coding.

Here are the four must-have capabilities for no-code/low-code platforms:

1. Rapid Application Development

A no-code/low-code platform should speed up application development. It can provide this by allowing prototyping to quickly develop a working model of a requirement or an idea. It can do this by providing visual aids like drag and drop or through simple scripting. None of these should require a deep knowledge of any of the prevalent coding languages.

A no-code/low-code platform should have a component-based architecture, integrated DevOps and most importantly programming abstractions that can be readily used while developing applications.

2. Integration

Application development should be as easy as assembling and orchestrating services. Hence integration capability is a key expectation from no-code/low-code platform. The platform should allow easy connections to services, local as well cloud, through APIs.

Increasingly, services are being delivered through cloud. The platform should provide prebuilt connectors for data as well as cloud services.

3. User interface

Applications developed on the platform should be able to provide a uniform and consistent experience across mobile and web interfaces. Support for other user interfaces will be an added advantage if the no-code/low-code platform is to be used for end user applications.

If the platform is to be used for developing business applications then the capability to build business logic and data services should be considered.

4. DevOps

The platform should not just be limited to speeding up development or upgrading applications. It should enable creation of pipelines that can automate build, test and deployments to various environments.

The platform should provide seamless packaging of upgrades and patches to be deployed to test and production environments.

5. High Performance

The platform should be enterprise worthy and high performing. Factors like availability, autoscaling and disaster recovery are critical for a growing organization.

The platform should ensure secure access to application services. All of these are part of cloud native architecture. The platform should be well supported by a dedicated technical team.

IT owners should start planning and strategizing for no-code adoption. A good approach is to try out simple applications using no-code/low-code platform. This would prepare organizations to eventually use such platforms for more complex use cases.

If you are looking for a partner in for your no-code journey FeldsparTech can join you. We will be happy to help you with your cloud and no-code strategy.

Reach us at: info@feldspartech.com.