How does NoCode become a real competitive advantage?

According to Fabrizio Biscotti (Gartner), "Hyper-automation has gone from an option to a survival requirement...Organizations will need increased automation of IT and business processes as they are forced to accelerate their digital transformation in the post-COVID-19 world."

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The global technology market, which enables hyper-automation, will reach a value of $596.6 billion in 2022, according to Gartner, up from $481.6 billion in 2020, and $532.3 billion in 2021. Hyper-automation is an approach that allows organizations to quickly identify, verify and automate as many processes as possible using technologies such as RPA (robotic process automation), application platforms LowCode (LCAP), artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual assistants. These tools can be used in absolutely any organization and in many use cases, whether they are IT or business focused.

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Furthermore, and still according to Gartner, by 2024, 65% of application development activities will be based on LowCode/NoCode platforms. Indeed, in the face of this unstoppable acceleration, which is impacting all divisions of companies, LowCode/NoCode applications can perfectly meet the needs of a company: their development is faster and less costly than traditional development, and they can be implemented quickly. It can also mean putting development in the hands of users rather than professional developers, and seeing technology assume an increasingly dominant role in business processes. With so-called visual programming, without the need for programming skills, users can design and implement their systems themselves NoCode.

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In addition to this fantastic technological opportunity, the extension of the developer profession to include the role of "maker" or "product builder" (terms most often used to designate developers NoCode) will also encourage the reinvention of the relationship between IT and business teams.

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In MSEs, the flexibility and accessibility of these no-code tools are undoubtedly very attractive, but how can we ensure that the tools/platforms developed in this way will be effective, reliable, sustainable and scalable over time?

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In SMEs and large companies, IT departments are often overwhelmed: increasing number of requests, limited resources, budgetary constraints - it is the "power users" who most often seize these technologies NoCode to develop the tool or platform they need. Although the IT department is still the guarantor of the proper functioning of all the company's IT systems, this role is becoming increasingly untenable. So how can we change this historical dependence on the IT department in order to monitor, sort and/or resolve problems? How can existing infrastructures be made to coexist with these developments NoCode, which represent both a competitive factor and a growth factor for the company? How can we avoid the uncontrolled surge of shadow IT, with its associated risks (particularly in terms of security)?

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The challenges and demands are such that we need to draw on all available strengths and there is no reason to position code and NoCode - developers and makers - in opposition. On the contrary, there is a real synergy between these technologies and roles. Having a NoCode team in addition to your development team becomes a competitive advantage that must be exploited. Without it, we will fall behind our competitors on the technical roadmap. Stéphane Lebas CPO @Qare explains it very well in his fantastic article on the subject, We need to rethink our organizations to integrate the no-code.

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Whatever the size of the company and whatever the tools used, the challenges of NoCode are numerous and, in reality, they are no different from those encountered with traditional code: security, availability of services, maintainability and scalability of the platform, observability of the system... The difference lies essentially in the technologies used, which are by nature less mature, but also in the profile of the "makers", who most often do not have the same technical background, nor the same IT culture. This is why it is urgent to help companies increase their use of NoCode.