7 benefits of using low code in Enterprise App Development you cannot ignore

Your enterprise app development project can benefit from a development approach mistakenly considered by many as lightweight and less suitable for enterprise purposes

As low code is rapidly gaining footing in today’s IT landscape, the enterprise space is no longer immune to its inroads either. Brands like Appian, Outsystems, Mendix among others have shown the ability of the approach to automate a wide range of enterprise needs in a roster of verticals. Indeed, given an embedded ability to scale and evolve, a well-developed low code solution can become a true game-changer for virtually any company with enterprise app development needs.

Simultaneously, very few enterprise players for whom it makes sense to probe into the low code opportunities realize just how wide-ranging the benefits low code brings are. For an odd reason, those of them that eye up low code as their next strategic move seldom go beyond considering the two primary benefits of low code development. These two benefits are an unbelievably shorter time-to-market and the ensuing hefty cost reduction. Still, these two are just part of the low code benefits a company with enterprise application development needs can reap.

To help you get the full picture, we’ll dwell on both the more and less known ways low code as a development approach benefits enterprise app development. Notably, in most instances, the same benefits also apply when you want to replace one or more legacy enterprise apps, rather than develop them completely afresh.

Unbelievably shorter time-to-market for any enterprise app

Indeed, as we have already mentioned, a much shorter time-to-market tops the list of the low code benefits for any business that needs enterprise app development services.

Regardless of the specific low code provider you choose, low code tends to expedite any kind of software development beyond imaginable. Some of the low code providers claim to have the capacity to create time savings that account for up to 80% of the average time-to-market solutions of the given type have. 

Well, this is probably true for smaller-sized apps or solutions that are geared toward certain purposes or audiences. However, our experience as an enterprise app development company shows the situation is usually somewhat different for enterprise-scale apps. In the vast majority of instances, such apps require quite a bit of customization. This happens regardless of how sophisticated your low code solution is. Correspondingly, enterprise apps nearly always take longer to complete. 

At the same time, an enterprise-friendly low code vendor with solid low code development capabilities should be able to shrink your enterprise app’s time-to-market by approximately 50% – irrespective of the industry you are in. To illustrate, 6 of the consulting and enterprise app development projects we have completed involved significant customer-and industry-specific customization. Although the target industries and audiences have ranged widely (from Mobile Banking to Drone Operations Management to field Logistics), all the projects have shown that a well-thought-out and scalable low code solution makes it quite possible to deliver virtually any enterprise app at least twice more quickly. 

Dramatically reduced enterprise app development costs 

Enterprise software applications tend to be quite major affairs. They frequently provide a boatload of diverse functionality. Most of the time, none of this functionality can be called simple. As a consequence, enterprise app development efforts often span years. They often take longer than planned and cost a literate fortune. Like it or lump it, as a business with enterprise-scale software development needs you sooner or later have to unload that bankroll if none of the off-the-shelf options suitable for your business purposes suffices. 

Unless, of course, you seriously consider low code. 

Can you count on any tangible budget savings if you opt for low code enterprise app development? Well, they would not be all that difficult to calculate, roughly though. First, you need to split your product’s projected time-to-market and the corresponding projected costs in two. As there’s really no free lunch with either custom or off-the-shelf software (more so, in the enterprise space – it all takes a lot of skill and time to develop), you need to subtract the price of the out-of-the-box low code functionality from the amount you have. Our estimate here would be around 5-10% of the project cost. Consequently, all told, by going for low code you should be able to save at least 45-50% of the overall project cost – a consideration that can barely be overlooked by any company, no matter how well-fixed. 

But keep reading, there’s more to take into consideration… 

A large portion of pre-tested functionality and fewer bugs 

With low code, a very significant portion of your enterprise app is delivered out of the box. Due to this, you automatically dispose (at least, for the most part) of several really nasty things many happy owners of entirely custom enterprise-grade creations frequently hassle with. One of such things is a much greater number of bugs. 

Since at least a half of your enterprise functionality comes pre-tested, your system will be free of a number of bug-caused malfunctions (not to mention you’ll spend 13-15% less in QA costs – let’s assume we’ve already taken this into account). 

This means your operation will be a great deal smoother. Your customer satisfaction will be much greater. One should also bear in mind that bugs are not only known to thwart product launches, hamper operations, and breach deadlines. They are often mentioned among the top reasons for technology startup failures. By choosing an enterprise low code solution that has been under continuous development and testing for an extended period of time you sometimes dispose of a can of worms you don’t really want to open. 

Easier after-sale maintenance of enterprise applications 

One of the definite bright sides of enterprise-grade low code is that low code-based enterprise apps are considerably easier to maintain both during and following their delivery. Continuous deployment becomes a lot more hassle-free. Many of the annoying daily chores simply vanish. 

Besides, greater code uniformity results in greater issue traceability. Your in-house experts or your IT partner’s developers can easily track down an issue. They can quickly fix it rather than first trudge through a quagmire of varying code. 

(Much) Better conformity with the company’s business needs and goals 

Lowcode not only allows you to closely collaborate with your enterprise application development provider, but also takes this collaboration a notch higher. With low code, your internal actors can become actively involved in creating your enterprise software. 

Namely, they can personally use your provider’s visual low code app development means to better reflect the business processes or workflows they are cognizant of. This allows you to better take into account the otherwise frequently neglected needs of the company’s different business units, and bump up the overall suitability and efficiency of your enterprise software application. 

The possibility to test business ideas and create more efficient business processes 

As already mentioned, low code gives you the ability to quickly create entire business processes by using visual app development means. Importantly, your internal actors can do so both with and without the involvement of your lo code provider’s professional enterprise app developers. 

In other words, virtually any of your employees, who comes up with an improvement idea can automate this idea in a jiffy. They can then easily vet this idea in a relevant context to see just how viable it is. In addition to encouraging your employees to more fully use their intellectual and creative potential, this opens a host of performance optimization and improvement opportunities. You can test virtually any number of various business ideas. You can do so even on the fly and always without much effort or expenditure. 

Moreover, your employees can effortlessly model, test, and adjust various business processes and workflows on their own. They can determine which of these business process candidates better fits the company’s business needs. For an enterprise company, these normally difficult to achieve agility and flexibility can prove to be of immense value. And, certainly, you can always approach your low code development provider to promptly custom-add whatever you need to make the newly created functionality more powerful or fitting. 

A significantly easier replacement of legacy enterprise applications 

Quite often, larger-scale enterprise solutions comprise several apps. Whenever you need to replace a legacy (i.e. insufficient, underperforming, or failing) app you can either develop a new app from scratch, or migrate part of your app to a new app. 

If, for some reason, the second option is more preferable in your case (it’s more cost-efficient, for one), it doesn’t mean your legacy app replacement process is going to be a cakewalk. The traditional migration approaches often pose enough trouble to make this option quite labor-intensive and time-consuming too. 

You will have to re-write the data model and lose most of your viable legacy code and UI (this can actually be hundreds of screens). As an alternative, in order to retain your data, you will have to create multiple integrations that can make your new app too clunky. As you will have guessed, this isn’t the scenario that awaits you under the low code option. 

With low code, you can retain both your data model and your UI. You can re-employ whatever legacy code you see it fit to re-use. Your enterprise app is also likely to have better integration ability, which is quite a major advantage considering how difficult enterprise application integration usually is. Lastly, using low code in data migration expedites the migration process several-fold, while considerably relieving the workload and stress on your company’s in-house IT staff. 

Concluding thoughts 

Today, low code is rightfully among the top trends for enterprise app development. Furthermore, it can become the best technology for enterprise app development in relation to a great many enterprise-grade projects. 

At the same time, it is essential to realize that as far as enterprise applications software development is concerned, one cannot attain a good result just by using some mediocre low code capabilities and lumping together a few prefab functional modules. 

In the enterprise realm, succeeding with low code most often means partnering with a truly enterprise-friendly low code provider that can offer a truly endlessly scalable technology solution. Furthermore, this low code provider must necessarily have an in-depth understanding of enterprise app development, as well as the skill and passion to create the customized implementation you need. It is only these three components that can throw your low code enterprise app development into gear and allow you to avail yourself of the spectacular benefits low code creates.