The Ultimate Guide to

No-Code
Development

PRESENTED BY
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Introduction

Part 1: Brave the New Normal

I. What’s Giving Your CIO Sleepless Nights? Part 3: No-Code Adoption

II. Automation and Digital Transformation: The
Need of the Hour I. Building a Digitally Connected Business
II. The Business Case for No-Code Platform
Adoption
Part 2: The No-Code Revolution III. Steer No-Code Application Development
Platform
I. What is No-Code? How Does No-Code Work?
II. The Benefits of No-Code Platforms
III. Is No-Code Right for Your Business?
IV.Does Your business Need Citizen Developers?
V. Common Misconceptions About No-Code
Platforms
INTRODUCTION

‘SOFTWARE
IS EATING
THE WORLD
‘Software is eating the world’, these famous quote by Marc Andreessen suggest the
massive importance of the software revolution in shaping up different aspects of
the world and society. It has fast-tracked the movement where every company
today- whether it’s a bank, an insurance company or even your local grocery store
has started considering themselves as a tech company. As the every company
starts to include the word ‘Innovation’ as one of their core values or principles, one
often wonders the impact technology is having in discussions in the corporate
boardrooms.

But despite the incessant need to go digital and reimage the customer experiences
through technological intervention, the on-ground reality with enterprises seems
far from ideal. The enterprise corporate IT is often found to grappling to enable
enterprises through potent challenges which it faces. CIO’s even today, are not able
to expand their role as a leader of the customer facing function. The IT department,
struggling to meet backlogs and feature upgrade requests, often does not find the
bandwidth to expand its scope into real innovation.
INTRODUCTION

ONLY 1 IN 400
The reason for all of these challenges cropping up in the
workplace today is fairly simple – Software application
delivery, the way we know it in the traditional sense of
the word, is broken. Understandably, it hasn’t been able
to keep up with the demands of the digital age. PEOPLE CAN
However, No-Code platforms are emerging as
key-enablers to innovation by simplifying development WRITE CODE
TO DEVELOP
and deployment of custom enterprise applications.

Only one in four hundred people can write code to

develop digital solution that might transform. Think of
the many transformative ideas that could be bought to
life if those who cannot write code are given the ability
DIGITAL
to build software. This is the exact value proposition
which No-Code development brings to the table. SOLUTION
With so many options out there and with almost everyone promising you the moon, this E-book attempts to
declutter this space to provide you with all the key facts to help you come to terms with this new revolution in the
enterprise software space. This E-book attempts to simplify your understanding of No-Code development
platforms and hopes to provide you with insights which would help you make a more informed decision about the
adoption of No-Code platforms within your enterprises.
 PART 1
BRAVE THE
NEW NORMAL
What’s Trends are not an independent phenomenon.
They manifest into expectations, imperatives,

Giving Your and challenges that organizations need to be

cognizant of and take appropriate actions.
Given the disruptions faced by several

CIO markets and industries due to some of these

trends coupled with the ongoing pandemic,

Sleepless
CIOs are having sleepless nights pondering
how to deal with the new normal.

Nights?
Let us take a look at the following key
manifestations of trends that impact
enterprise application delivery.
PART 1: BRAVE THE NEW NORMAL

Engaging experiences
Driven by experiences in the consumer world, users are demanding
fast and engaging
enterprise applications that go beyond providing merely a utilitarian

Evolving
experience.

Multi-device availability

Customer
Mobile has ensured that work is increasingly done on the go,
beyond the traditional workplace. Employees are now using more
than one device for their work and expect enterprise applications to

Expectation
work well across different form factors.

Seamless integrations
Employees and partners demand that data be free, regardless of the
boundaries imposed by legacy applications or disparate systems.
They expect seamless integrations across applications due to
API-driven experiences in the consumer world.
PART 1: BRAVE THE NEW NORMAL

Business Ops
Considerations
Speed innovation
Custom apps are key enablers to innovation and businesses are looking
for a faster way to deliver apps by bridging the business-IT gap. At the
same time, enterprises want to broaden innovation by making app
creation possible for non-developers too.

Budget considerations
Many organizations are dealing with shrinking IT budgets due to the
current economic climate and constant focus on increasing
revenues—without additional investment. IT leaders are focusing on
re-examining the application delivery ROI in terms of both, dollars spent
and effort.

Fast-tracking digital transformation

Technology is reinventing business strategy at unfathomable speeds- at
times it's even difficult for the CIO to keep track. What's more important
is that he is in charge of the company's never-ending digital
transformation. Beyond the core-system and the ERPs, he is tasked with
ensuring that the requests for business users are met and that all the
existing gaps and automation requirements are catered to.
Understandably, this is something that might be difficult for the CIO to
fully grapple with.
PART 1: BRAVE THE NEW NORMAL

Execution
Challenges
Talent crunch
The exponential growth of front-end and mobile technologies is
taking its toll on application delivery leading to a shortage of skilled
resources. Meanwhile, developers themselves want to work with
best-of-breed components that simplify application development.

IT queue
Agility in delivering enterprise applications and the ability to react
to changing environments is a critical IT differentiator. Hence, IT
teams are increasingly relying on the principles of DevOps,
containerization, continuous delivery, and microservices - upending
the traditional application delivery model.

Legacy modernization
It would be ideal for enterprises to use disruptive new technologies
without too much
disruption to modernize legacy applications. But, overhauling
legacy applications may impact long-standing vendors who support
legacy systems and planning or restructuring of resources.

Reusability and maintenance

Developers don’t want to get locked into proprietary technologies
or tools with dead-end functionality. Ultimately, they are
responsible for maintaining and enhancing apps. Hence, they are
relying on software that offers maximum reusability and requires
 The challenges are manifold for the new age
CIO. Evolving consumer expectations,
shrinking margins, and black-swan events
dictate the need of the hour- automation
and digital transformation. The African
Swine Flu (ASF), Severe Acute Respiratory
Automation and Syndrome (SARS), or the more recent

Digital Transformation: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak

have had a massive impact on economies

The Need of
and businesses globally. Companies have
suffered substantial losses in revenues and
profits as China, which is at the very center

the Hour
of the COVID-19 pandemic, is experimenting
work-from-home at such a massive scale for
the first time in history. The argument which
we pose in this current situation is: How can
technology, more specifically automation
and digital transformation, ensure business
continuity and help minimize the risk and
the potential impact of natural disasters and
pandemic outbreak among other potential
disruptions?
PART 1: BRAVE THE NEW NORMAL

THE TRADITIONAL
APPROACH IS NOT
WORKING
Despite having detailed business recovery plans in case of disasters, natural calamities or a
pandemic outbreak such as the recent COVID-19 spread have brought companies to their knees.
Almost all industries have taken a hit and regulatory policies have ensured that employees do not
turn up for work in factories and offices. To reinforce business continuity, organizations must
augment their manual system management processes and their existing disaster recovery
methods with protection that’s more comprehensive, which is where intelligent automation
would be useful.

Using automation suites can help automatically perform service management workflows in times
of uncertainties. Intelligent process automation platforms can be programmed to make decisions
independently based on business policies and impact. In the event where there is a need for
human intervention, decisions can be made simpler with a tap of a button in response to
notifications on mobile phones wherever the manager might be.
PART 1: BRAVE THE NEW NORMAL

How automation
can save the day
for the CIO?
PART 1: BRAVE THE NEW NORMAL

Streamlined
One of the key benefits of automation is the fact that it streamlines
and digitizes the processes involving both internal employees and
external vendors and stakeholders. With predefined rules that trigger
processes actions or alerts, automation ensures that there is minimum
dependence on the human element. Paper forms and bills are

between eliminated through creating digital versions of it securely stored on the

cloud and easily accessible when needed. Automated reports eliminate

internal and the manual process of information collection and formatting to ensure
that the management has access to a periodic overview of

external performance even during times when the business activity might be at
a bare minimum. Streamlining processes ensure that all the actors play

stakeholders their part in the system which is orchestrated effectively by the

automation suite. You should ensure that processes of all key
departments have been completely automated with actors aware of
their roles and well-defined rules and escalation matrix in place. This
guarantees that there is minimum disruption to business as usual,
even though offices might be functioning at a sub-optimal capacity.

Seamless Understandably, no business functions in isolation. While automating

processes, there could be instances where the need to reference data sets

integration with
residing in an isolated system or connects to ERPs or other accounting and
payroll systems arises. The ideal automation suite should allow easy

third-party
integrations with tools that would allow your organization to continue
business activities even when your IT team doesn't turn up at the office. Some
executives complain that data often reside in isolated systems that often do
tools not communicate with each other. Having an RPA component within your
automation suite would complement your business process automation
capabilities and ensure your organization is always business-ready for despite
any pandemic or natural calamity.
PART 1: BRAVE THE NEW NORMAL

Minimized The likelihood of your network getting serious interruption during calamities is high
and if your organization hosts data stored in local servers in an affected building or on
a compromised network, you would not be able to access it even at times when you
application need it the most. Additionally, if you have paper trails or hard copies of sensitive data
in unsecured locations, the organization is vulnerable to having sensitive information

disruption potentially exposed to unauthorized parties. Having your key information and pro-
cesses securely updated on a cloud-based automation suite allows for the ease of
access and protection of the organization's information.

Increased
Automation ensures that the organization can effectively manage heterogeneous envi-
ronments with a single dashboard. With traditional business continuity processes, nec-

scalability
essary documents might be scattered throughout many departments, taking additional
time to coordinate and potentially leading to costly mistakes when an unplanned inter-
ruption occurs. Moreover, they may be operating in completely different systems, too.
Automating key processes allows the much-needed orchestration between these het-
erogeneous systems to ensure scalability. Additionally, minimum human intervention
eliminates the potential for error. Overall, it ensures that the system is prepared for any
natural calamity or pandemic that threaten business continuity.

Mitigated
Having an automation platform ensures that all facets of regulatory guidelines are ad-
dressed. Having digital auditable trails ensures that no action on the system could be

compliance
overlooked. Pre-defined rules on your automation platform ensure that all actors stick
to the timelines assigned to them to avoid any automatic escalation. Pre-set templates
outline the form fields that capture the information needed by process owners and
risk ensure that all aspects of compliance are maintained and monitored, even when there
is little or no activity in the office.
 PART 2
THE NO-CODE
REVOLUTION
PART 2: THE NO-CODE REVOLUTION

What is No-Code?
How Does No-Code Work?
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

NO-CODE
No-code platforms enable application
development with no manual programming
required. Instead of coding, these platforms
No-code
use visual modeling, where users can
drag-and-drop components into logical
sequences to create functional applications.
platforms
The removal of manual programming from the This enables developers to quickly create
development process solves two major issues working prototypes and significantly reduces
the time to market for applications. Because of
1. Coding by hand is an extremely the speed of development and ease of use,
time-intensive and complex process. no-code platforms align the business and IT by
making it possible for business users to
2. There is a serious shortage of qualified contribute directly, rather than waiting for an
developers to meet the current demand for idea to have its turn on IT's backlog. From
software. one-off solutions to extremely complex
enterprise-grade applications, no-code is
proving to be a widely adopted method in
organizations' IT strategies.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

no code UI vs with code UI

TRADITIONAL CODING NO-CODE

While traditional coding is done via text-based and numerical languages that are difficult to master
and require certain skill sets, a graphical language enables people with little to no programming skills
to build applications easily and fast. With visual building blocks and a drag and drop functionality, the
end-user only has to put the correct elements into place.

As the next generation that evolved from the low-code movement, no-code platforms offer an
alternative because they enable a new class of developers — the Citizen Developer. Because extensive
programming knowledge is not required, any tech-savvy employee can build applications on a no-code
platform.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Essentially, a no-code platform is a low-code platform that makes it possible to build applications without
coding at all. No-code platforms have been criticized for being less powerful or only capable of supporting
applications with relatively low complexity for this reason. But as with low-code platforms, a good
no-code platform will provide opportunities for more experienced programmers to support the no-code
functionality with coded customizations.

It's the best of both worlds: simple enough to build without coding at all, but flexible enough to customize
any needed level of complexity.

A no-code platform is no replacement for your existing IT department. Rather, it functions as an extension
of your IT team which allows for better collaboration between the business and IT. Implementing a
no-code strategy also doesn't happen overnight. It requires persistence, the right mindset, and proper
supervision and guidance. But when done correctly, you'll be producing more software, and more
developers, driving your business forward in a digital age.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Key Characteristics of
No-Code Platforms
Visual development
The fundamental expectation from a no-code app de-
velopment platform is to offer an interactive UI devel-
opment environment where citizen developers can
drag and drop components to design responsive user
interfaces that adapt to a device's screen resolution.
Most No-code Platforms go as far as to offer
out-of-the-box templates for commonly used layouts
and screens such as dashboards. The demand for en-
terprise mobile apps has meant that No-code Plat-
forms have also started to offer cross-platform app
development with access to native mobile device fea-
tures while abstracting the underlying operating
system complexities.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Simplified integration
Virtually every business application depends on
data to create a meaningful application. But data is
available from disparate systems ranging from
proprietary enterprise systems to APIs

from external entities and everything in between.

Hence, data integration consumes an inordinate
amount of time and resources during enterprise
application development. A No-code Platform is
expected to provide a visual approach for citizen
developers to connect to

these data sources and

embed data elements
directly into the
application. Some
platforms also allow
professional developers to
design data models and
configure business logic
directly inside the no-code
app.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Instant deployment
Beyond the need to eliminate or reduce
application coding, No-code Platforms are
expected to streamline and speed up the
application delivery process itself. One key
characteristic is the ability to instantly deploy
an application. Such platforms also offer a
single point of control for app maintenance
and updates. While other low-code app
development platforms extend the capabilities
to security, governance, version control,
infrastructure autoscaling, and more.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

The Benefits of
No-Code Platforms
Business IT alignment
Low-code app development platforms enable close collaboration
between developers, business analysts, and subject matter
experts. This greatly benefits enterprises as rework is greatly
reduced and cost overrun is avoided to a large extent.

Clear IT backlog
The linear approach of conventional software development
models presents significant opportunities to reduce waste and
fast-forward delivery. No-code platforms streamline and speed
up the development and delivery process, achieving a substantial
reduction of the IT backlogs.

The democratization of app delivery

With the ever-rising demand for applications, enterprises are
expanding their internal talent pools, for building noncritical or
long-tail apps using non-traditional developer talent like technical
business users.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Consumer-grade business apps

Today, customers and employees expect to access apps from various
devices, putting additional pressure on developers. No-code
Platforms with modern frameworks can provide consumer-grade
applications using enterprise-grade technology at a fraction of the
cost.

Speed of innovation
Competitive advantage lies with companies that focus the most on
'Systems of Innovation'. Low-code platforms are ideal for such
systems that require the most experimentation and experience the
highest rate of change.

Cost and effort

Do more with less is a philosophy that CIOs have to live with these
days. But, with no code platforms, CIOs come closer to achieving
that. Enterprises can have the best of both worlds where they can
build enterprise-grade apps of the highest quality in a matter of days
to weeks as compared to months in the traditional approach to
development.

Repurpose & Reuse Resources

Whenever enterprises have a mandate to modernize, CIOs have a big
dilemma in handling existing resources with legacy technical skills
but with knowledge of the core business process. But with low code
platforms, with their unique visual development approach, CIOs get
an opportunity to reuse their existing resources and modernizing
legacy projects without any issues.
 You might already be asking yourself: How do

Is No-Code
you decide whether a no-code platform is
right for your business? With so many
no-code platforms around and with almost

Right for
everyone promising you the moon, how do
you understand which ones would suit your
needs the most? Let’s discuss all the key

Your
aspects you should keep in mind while
making the decision to take the plunge
whether to join the no-code revolution.

Business?
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Intuitive user interface and ease

of use
One of the most important aspects which your
organization should look out for while selecting a
no-code application platform should be an intuitive
user experience and its ease of use. No-code
platforms are meant for citizen developers with little
or no coding experience and with the intent that they
should be empowered to roll out applications using
pre-built templates and simple drag-and-drop
modules. However, with so many no-code platforms
to

choose from, the primary criteria which you should

consider is the simplicity of rolling out apps using the
platform. You should ideally look to explore this key
aspect of your any no-code platform by signing up for
the free-trial to understand whether it would allow
citizen developers to work on it comfortably without
little or no external support or intervention.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Ease of external integration

One would agree that every application depends on external
tools/data to create meaningful experiences. Ideally the no-code
application development platform should allow for connecting
the platform to legacy systems and any other external tools
which the organization is using. Also, the platform must have
ability to connect with APIs or bots to fetch critical data and
allow make decisions on the fly. Look for out-of-the-box
integrations and verify whether custom
integrations can be built and reused
across apps. It would be great if the
platform you choose would allow you the
ability to connect to external internet of
things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI),
machine learning, blockchain, and
cognitive services without needing to be a
domain expert.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

The platform should allow for scalability

Ideally, the no-code application platform you should choose must allow for any scalability requirements your
organization might have in the future. This implies that it should have features that allow built-in automated
testing, proactive quality monitoring and real-time performance management. Check for the ability to scale
applications and handle private cloud needs. Look for solutions that allow for rapid and continuous provisioning,
deployment, instant scalability and maximum utilization of resources. Verify whether the platform supports
building custom software stacks and deploying microservices-based apps and orchestrates IT infrastructure
effectively to ensure optimum scalability.

Omni-channel app development

With mobile devices and tablets increasing in popularity at the corporate workplace, it is imperative that the no
code platform of your choice should sport a cross-platform functionality in standard design. Your preferred
no-code application development platform should allow for a ‘build once deploy anywhere’ philosophy. This
would ensure that the users could access the launched applications either from their laptops, mobiles or
tablets whatever the case might be.v vzv
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Return on investment
Perhaps one of the most important considerations in
choosing your no-code platform is the
return-on-investment (ROI). This becomes all the more
critical in case of mid-sized companies with limited
budgets and a pressing need to go digital. With no-code
platforms sprouting by the dozen, each offering different
features at different price points, it is important that you
perform a careful analysis of the internal requirements in
your organization and the future ambitions in terms of
digital transformation goals. Based on your requirements,
you do have to choose the platform that best suits your
unique needs in terms of the users of the applications
developed, the support or training offered by the platform
team, or whatever you might value most.
Part 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Handing of security and data

privacy
Enterprise applications need both coarse-grained and
fine-grained security control mechanisms. The
no-code platform must support flexible
authentication and authorization mechanisms to
secure users and various tasks within the application.
There platform should enable control with your
organization to restrict in-app permissions to
effectively handle data privacy concerns.
 The advent of no-platforms has kickstarted
an interesting trend -- the rise of citizen

Does Your
developers in the enterprise. But who are
citizen developers and does your organization
need them? What is the benefit that citizen

Business
developers might provide to your
organization?

Need Citizen
Citizen development involves business users
with little to no coding experience but are
building simple business applications with

Developers?
IT-approved technology, like no-code, to
improve their day-to-day productivity or
existing business processes. Eventually, they
could be empowered to launch applications
which would collaborate with partners and
customers to provide seamless experience.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Citizen
developer:
A powerful new
resource
Citizen development can be a powerful movement
in both small businesses and enterprise-level
organizations. You can leverage it in a strategic way
to make sure each department has somebody who
can help with the creation and optimization of
workflow applications. Subsequently, each
department can join forces through the mediation
of these citizen developers, resulting in a better
alignment between business and IT departments.

Still unsure whether your organization needs citizen

developers? Below is a list of questions that could
help you evaluate whether you would need a
no-code platform to empower citizen developers in
your organization.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Challenges in the Organization Your Citizen

Developers Can Help You Overcome

1. Does your organization have budget and time constraints

on experimentation?
While we all might agree that innovation and agile experimentation are the need of the hour, the
ground reality is that most employees are so tied up with their business-as-usual tasks, that they
just do not have the bandwidth to reach out to their customers and launch applications which
would improve their experience with the brand. To make matters worse, most companies,
especially in the business environment today, are on a shoe-string budget which does not allow
for any room for experimentation or innovation. Wouldn’t it be ideal if your organization has
access to tools which would allow for rapid experimentation at only a fraction of the cost?

Enter no-code application development platforms. These platforms allow citizen developers to
click together and test their own minimum viable products in safe runtime environments, guided
by their managers and supported by their central IT department. Part of their job description is to
experiment towards the right solution from a business-driven perspective, a process that
eventually leads to a better end-product.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

2. Does your organization still primarily rely on legacy

systems to support operations?
These days, part of how organizations are boosting their software systems is to replace legacy
systems with custom built applications. They choose to have business teams develop software
themselves rather than rely on third-party providers and full-stack developers. They decide for
themselves which features will be part of their application infrastructure, avoid paying for
functionality they don’t want and can take their software far beyond the limits of closed third
party systems. Furthermore, the architecture of the no-code platform allows for a high scalability
and reusability of business-driven solutions across enterprise infrastructures. Citizen developers
play a vital part in this process as they know which solutions are required in order to be most
productive. They can work closely with the IT department in setting up a custom architecture
that facilitates and oversees the work processes within each department.

3. Would your organization like to innovate more?

In a time when each company has to virtually deal with global competition, it’s vital that a
business maintains a competitive edge over its competitors and any of the startups staking claim
in the pie. It’s no surprise that some of the most successful companies in the world do this by
spending a great deal of resources on their innovation departments. They might have a viable
business model now, but it’s important for them to also remain on top going into the future.
Understandably, those who fail to innovate will likely fall behind. Those who can remain relevant
over time have a tendency to grow and thrive.

As an organization, you need to internally analyze whether you would like to innovate more to be
ready for any challenges that appear in the horizon. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone in your
organization is empowered with the tools to innovate without perhaps having all the technical
skillsets required to do so
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

5. Does your organization have issues with business

processes?
With automation and digital transformation in the minds of business executives, you would still
be surprised with the number of organizations still opting to use manual processes or MS Excel
to support their daily operations. Although MS Excel is a great tool for specific purposes, anyone
would agree that it is not the best when it comes to streamlining processes. Working in
old-fashioned ways can also cause limitations in terms of extensions and data transfers.

By opting for a citizen development strategy with a no-code development platform at its core,
you can incorporate all these processes into a decentralized database with central oversight. In
this way, you can guarantee that all your data is in one place, apply proper security measures,
 If you have answered ‘YES’ to most of the
questions listed above, then it’s time for you
to have a look at empowering citizen
development in your organization
By providing a development strategy that is active within every corner of your business and
fosters collaboration between different types of developers, citizen development introduces your
business to an innovation philosophy that can be appropriated by the entire organization.
 With the current business environment
threatening the very existence of a number of
small- to mid-sized companies across all
industries, many are pushed towards

Common digitization and evaluating digital means of

serving customers. Some of these companies,
strapped for both time and financial
Misconceptions resources, are turning towards no-code to
bootstrap their digital transformation

About No-Code
ambitions. With the dawn of this new digital
economy, competing would mean connecting
data, people, and processes at digital speed.

Platforms However, this meteoric rise in demand for

no-code has also given rise to a number of
misconceptions, boxing no-code in a
stereotype due to its simplicity and ease of
use. With this, allow us to shed light on some
of the common myths associated no-code
application development.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Misconception 1
No-code platforms are ONLY for citizen developers
The reason why no-code platforms came into existence is to allow business experts build digital solutions to
address department-specific problems. The core pain-point these platforms look to solve is to allow
non-technical users to put something out in the digital marketplace that solves the issue more affordably and
without taking too much time.

Having said that, the benefits for development and technical teams which these platforms brings cannot be
negated as well. IT teams could now be focused on developing enterprise-grade, mission-critical applications
rapidly and affordably.

Misconception 2
No-code platforms are for SIMPLE and SMALL applications.
Using no-code to produce a working application of any idea, whether it’s a simple employee timecard
management app to inventory control processes app, is a key advantage and beneficial to both business members
and IT staff. It means employees can rapidly expand the feature scope and customize as needed or add features
to the first round of applications. It also allows for application expansion as the business grows thus debunking
the myth that no-code platforms only allow simple and small applications.
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Misconception 3
No-code DOES NOT enable collaboration
Using no-code applications enable greater collaboration between business managers, customers, and internal
teams. With custom software development, engineering teams get an idea and write code to build a solution.
Contrary to the misconception, using no-code application development platforms allow the stakeholder with
the idea to be an active part of the development process in having a say on how the application would look and
feel. Moreover, platforms would have the flexibility to collaborate and add/modify features to suit the evolving
consumer behavior. Some of the smarter no-code application platforms allow for integrated project
management, collaboration, and feedback tools share the domain specific knowledge of the business and
professional developers to communicate requirements, iterate on applications as a team, and respond to
customers with agility

Misconception 4
There is NO need for programming
Most no-code application platforms allow for drag-and-drop functionality to develop applications allowing for
citizen developers to build solutions based on business needs. In fact, most platforms have built-in templates
which could allow out-of-box use for the business scenario. While the above is true, customization and integration
need the expertise of developers. Any customization to the out-of-box application would have the development
team at the backend changing variables allowing them to build tests, identify issues and deliver secure and
scalable applications which can be seamlessly integrated with existing systems
PART 2: THE NO CODE REVOLUTION

Misconception 5
No-code platforms IMPACT FLEXIBILITY of the applications
Contrary to this misconception, no-code platforms enhance the flexibility of the applications. It makes
developing iterative versions of the apps adapting them to suit new requirements relatively easy. Layers of
possible customization provide the ability to create a ready-to-use application using no-code software, and
later revisit the app to expand it or even to add more functionality on top. As the platform evolves, more
powerful features can be added to give more flexibility and capabilities. With API integrations and intelligent
bots, these applications would also seamlessly integrate with existing legacy infrastructure. Most no-code
platforms today would also allow the incorporation of next-gen technologies like IoT, blockchain, artificial
intelligence without needing specialized skills.

Misconception 6
No-code applications are NOT scalable
No-code applications allow you to add more users as your organization grows. Providing access to users based on
job roles can be a difficult task when the number of users involved is huge. With a no-code platform, providing
access to the application is usually easy. The

organization can control what end users can do at both broad and granular levels and assign roles and
permissions based on the employees’ positions in the organization.

In fact, some of the smarter no-code platforms boast of both ‘run time’ and ‘development time’ scalability. Run
time scalability is the ability to increase the capacity of deployed no-code applications and to provide fast user
experiences, both for large numbers of users and compute-intensive operations. Dev time scalability, on the other,
hand allows for the use of no-code for multiple use cases, projects, and developers and to deliver long term,
successful management of large, interconnected portfolios of applications.
 PART 3
NO-CODE
ADOPTION
 This is a huge problem: Companies with some of
the smartest tech talent and with copious
resources are struggling with their digital
transformation initiatives. With competition
beefing up and nimble startups staking their
claim in the pie, challenges are often magnified

Building a
by evolving consumer preferences. Shrinking
margins and the advent of black swan events like
the pandemic have pushed companies at the very

Digitally
brink of extinction. The new age CEO finds
himself in unfamiliar choppy waters with
stakeholders on one end asking for improved

Connected
quarterly results and higher value creation, and
customers on the other with their never ending
need to be served more conveniently.

Business What if there was a way to reduce risks and costs

and start having results from the first month
itself? We at Steer have been very passionate in
helping companies fast-track their digital
transformation initiatives. Our experience with
working with companies across industries has
helped us come up with a cheat sheet to help
companies bootstrap their digital transformation
and build digitally connected businesses.
 PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

The following explains key steps which companies should implement to minimize any perceived risk to their
excruciating digital transformation initiatives and start with quick wins right from the first month itself.

key steps
Take stock of existing core systems
01 and identify the gaps
A good first step to the no-code approach to bootstrapping digitization would be to take
stock of existing core systems and resources within the company. It could be the existing
ERP systems or perhaps systems which support teams at the department level, for
example – Accounting systems, payroll systems, HR systems or inventory systems. You
could also explore whether the existing system is optimally performing the activities which
it is tasked with and removing challenges for the team which uses it on a daily basis.

Once that is done, identify the pockets in the organization with little or no technology
intervention. These would typically be the teams which are still doing a majority of their
tasks without any kind of automation and mostly manually, giving rise to various
inefficiencies. Once you have identified the gaps in the organization, it is now time to
explore alternatives with which one might be able to plug the existing gaps in the IT
ecosystem of the organization.
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

02 Subscribe to SaaS core systems that are

missing or need replacement
After identifying the gaps in the company’s IT ecosystem, the next logical step would be to plug
those gaps with solutions. While you may be tempted to ask your IT to help develop it and to tailor
it to suit your exact requirements or look for an off-the-shelf solution, a better option would
perhaps be to subscribe to SaaS platforms which would help complement the specific requirement.
Some of the benefits include seamless integration with the ecosystem which most SaaS platforms
offer. Not to mention, they are cheaper than any of the custom development or off-the shelf
purchase alternatives and usually come with a trial period to explore whether the solution might
suit your requirements. Once your immediate requirements change or evolve, you could either
subscribe to a more expensive version of the SaaS solution or look for an alternative SaaS solution
to serve your needs.

03 Roll out pre-built apps for common

operational needs for the identified gaps
Once you have identified the SaaS solution to subscribe to, you might want to roll out pre-built apps
to plug in the identified gaps. The roll-out process includes training and change management,
ensuring that the team members who would be using the app on a daily basis have been trained on
the various nuances of the proposed application. If you are using a platform like Steer, pre-built
templates would allow you to assemble and launch the app in a matter of hours, if not minutes. The
templates are so intuitive and easy-to-use that it requires a minimum level of training for the
end-users to incorporate in daily operations.
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

Custom build unique apps (workflows

04 and databases)
With all the basic needs now taken care of, it’s now time to focus on specific areas where
automation could complement human effort. This could perhaps be more unique to the industry
your company functions in or perhaps even distinctly unique to your organization as well. Typically, a
no-code platform would allow you to take care of your unique technological requirements for the
specific business needs by allowing you to build these applications using minimal time and effort.
These apps could be specific workflows which might need automation or databases with logic and
decision matrix built into them.

A no-code app builder platform like Steer would allow you to custom build unique apps to cater to
the innovation needs of your business without exorbitant investments in tech infrastructure or
man-power. With a little help from IT, citizen developers in your organization would be empowered
to launch unique applications to seamlessly orchestrate various distinct elements in your
organization.
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

Integrate and automate steps for

05 efficiency and accuracy
Now that most of your current IT requirements are in place, it’s time now to integrate the
newly launched applications into the existing IT infrastructure and even the legacy systems.
Additionally, the business and the IT teams should optimize these new entrants to ensure that
automation is aptly placed across all layers in the newly created enterprise architecture.
Completing this step would ensure that the organization is now up to date with digitizing
internal operations as the ecosystem would allow data exchange between existing and new
applications. Additionally, automation would ensure that any inefficient and error-prone
internal processes are now replaced by automated applications and department executives
have reporting dashboard at their disposal ensuring real-time data availability to make
business decisions which would eventually propel growth. Understandably, citizen developers
would now be able to custom build unique applications to keep innovating and experimenting
and to keep pace with any startups challenging them in the industry.
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

06 Extend your digital systems to

customers and partners for
self-service
The final step in the digital transformation journey of your company would be to extend the
applications that you develop to all stakeholders – suppliers, vendors and even customers.
This would be key as having all stakeholders included in the digital transformation journey
would be critical to the eventual success of the organization. A no-code application platform
like Steer would allow for unlimited number of subscribers to the developed applications,
implying that all stakeholders could now access the apps which the organization wants to
extend to them for their use.
 The demand for tech applications has never been
more intense. Recent research has indicated that
42% of IT professionals plan to deliver more than
ten applications for their organization. However,
custom-building these applications could not

The
only be time consuming but also expensive. This
has given rise to no-code app development as an
option.

Business No-code platforms focus on developing apps

faster and enabling more people to build their

Case for
own solutions. But is it ideal for you? Many CIOs
and IT leaders can easily list a few advantages of
no-code, but not very many have a specific way

No-Code
to measure if it is living up to its cost.

So how can business executives, CIO’s and other

Platform IT leaders see and demonstrate the real value

they get from no-code?

Adoption While your organization might have different

metrices to evaluate the impact on budget, the
following are the five key parameters which you
should be continually looking at. Effectively
tracking the parameters listed below might help
demonstrate whether the adoption of
low-code/no-code platforms might allow you
bootstrap your digital transformation ambitions.
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

Reducing IT backlog HOW TO MEASURE

As the demand for developing tech application An appropriate way to measure might be to track
mounts, most IT teams which are already the number of requests the organization might
strapped for time don’t really have an effective potentially have for custom applications. Inviting
way to handle it. What ends up happening is that business leaders to submit their wish-list for
the requests are placed on a backlog tracker and tools and making an assessment of how long the
are attended to as and when they could be. A IT team might take to clear the request using
potential area where no-code platforms might custom development might be an indicator to
impact is reducing the number of IT application benchmark.
requests by empowering ‘citizen developers’ to
seamlessly roll-out apps. Recent reports indicate Now, the same list could be compared with the
that 71% of organizations that leverage citizen capabilities of a no-code platform to understand
development have sped up application which ones could be developed by the business
development by at least 50%, and 29% of
companies have seen a 2X or more jump in which of them are complex and might require IT
delivery time. 90% of developers who use a intervention. This comparison would show up to
low-code/no-code platform has less than five how much the wish-list queue has been reduced
app requests per month in backlog.[1] by.
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

Progressing with
digital
transformation
goals HOW TO MEASURE
Every organization is in the midst of digital
transformation. After the core systems have been Evaluate your existing digital transformation
digitized, internal IT teams are facing a journey with the existing milestones laid out on
never-ending list of processes that now need to the road-map. Re-evaluate how this road-map
be brought into the newly created digital might potentially be affected once you implement
ecosystem. Traditional development techniques the low-code/no-code platform. An
might mean that there is possibly no end to the understanding of exactly how much time the
already-tiring digital transformation journey. organization might be able to save by
No-code offers a convenient solution to close the empowering citizen developers to roll-out digital
gaps in the company’s digital transformation processes and applications and how would it
journey after the core has been digitized. A study accelerate the existing milestones in the present
suggests that accelerating digital transformation road-map.
was the top reason most leaders chose a
low-code/no-code platform with 69% focusing on
completing their digital transformation
initiatives.[2]
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

Reducing IT Spend
With custom development, the only way one can
HOW TO MEASURE
tackle challenges is through a huge budget.
Demonstrating the ability to address these The organization should look to evaluate how
challenges while not adding exponential costs is much would it cost to build or buy the same
highly desirable. number of applications without a no-code
platform. Needless to suggest this would include
No-code platforms could help save cost by the additional staff which the company would
preventing hiring of developers or IT consultants. need to hire to develop these applications. One
Instead these platforms would empower business could also explore the cost of single-point
executives to roll-out applications themselves. solutions which are being used in the company
Another potential way in which no-code and whether all (or a majority) could be created
platforms could reduce IT spending is through from a low-code/no-code platform. If so, what
saving costs on single point solutions which each might be the potential savings from the same are
department (HR, finance, procurement etc.) might some of the metrics which you could look to
use to automate internal processes or systems. evaluate.
Research shows that a low-code/no-code
solutions can replace eight single point tools.[3]
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

Increasing the IT
Output
Having a no-code application platform would
HOW TO MEASURE
significantly increase speed, quality and impact of
the IT team. When citizen developers in the The business should examine the output
organization are busy launching their own delivered by the IT team over the last couple of
years to understand the impact they have been
apps, the IT team could focus on critical projects making. This would help understand the kind out
which might require their skillsets. A no-code applications the IT teams have been developing
platform would allow prototyping, iterating or maintaining. This should be followed by an
instantaneously which would eventually help analysis of what might have been the case if
apps produce faster and better. Understandably, there was a no-code platform and the IT team
this would allow IT teams to focus on developing was perhaps focused on working on core
technology which might have a greater impact on mission-critical applications.
the business rather than tending to every
application request that comes across.solutions
can replace eight single point tools.[3]
PART 3: NO-CODE ADOPTION

HOW TO MEASURE
Reducing chaos While this might be inherently hard to quantify, a
way to look at the problem would be to
Unhappy business leaders want their solutions to understand how swamped your IT is with the
be prioritized due to the mounting queue of tasks at hand. Also, one should look to evaluate
escalations and requests which the IT teams have the support tickets, feature enhancements or
to tend to on an immediate basis. Sounds escalations from existing applications which the
familiar? IT has to tend to. You could also look to survey
business leaders in various departments on how
A parameter which is probably the hardest to they feel about the IT and whether they are
quantify, but probably among the most important, satisfied with the service they have been
is how turning to a no-code solution can receiving in terms of the development/response
significantly reduce the chaos in the organization. time. A no-code platform could go a long way to
improve the relationship between the business
and IT functions. The IT team could become an
enabler rather than a perceived impediment to
the company growth.

References:
[1] The state of Citizen development report 2015. QuickBase. September
2015.
[2] The State of Application Development 2018: How IT Is Responding to
Digital Disruption and Innovation. OutSystems.
[3] The state of Citizen development report 2015. QuickBase. September
2015.
Steer your way
into No-Code
development
Now that you have learnt about No-Code
development platforms, its characteristics,
benefits and explored how it might potentially
be useful for your organization, it’s probably
best to go ahead and try your hands at one. We
encourage you to explore Steer
(https://www.steerplatform.com/) through the
free-trial to understand how easy and
cost-effective it is to launch enterprise
applications for all your internal departments.

With almost two decades of building software

products ground-up, for global customers we
have created a robust set of tools to enable
non-technical users (or citizen developers as
they are called) to build applications that
address the most pressing business challenges
their organizations are presently facing.
The ability to toll-out unlimited apps on a single license making it a great
value for the money spent or the fact that you would be able to integrate
with existing core legacy IT systems or external third party apps make it
the ideal platform to get started with.

Steer lets you build

The ability to toll-out unlimited apps on a single
custom apps at license making it a great value for the money spent or
the fact that you would be able to integrate with

10% OF THE COST, existing core legacy IT systems or external third party
apps make it the ideal platform to get started with.
Steer lets you build custom apps at 10% of the COST,

10% OF THE TIME, 10% of the TIME, and with 100% FLEXIBILITY!

AND WITH 100%

FLEXIBILITY!
www.steerplatform.com