The pandemic has accelerated the demand in the market for faster and cost-friendly tools to help businesses grow in the past year. Low code as the new-age technology has enabled enterprises to scale up the level and expands their horizons in the most efficient way. However, low code comes with its own set of issues that are limiting its use in the enterprise.
CIOs and CTOs are leveraging this technology while some are still hustling with its implementation process. Tilak Doddapaneni, EVP and Global Head of Engineering & Technology, Publicis Sapient, pin-point on the obstacles and said, “The key area to focus on is the right place for its use once, understood the correct way this tech can do wonders. Tech might not be new but, the concept is recyclable if you use it in the right places.”
Doddapaneni explained that the limitations lie in the scenario for the rapid evolving situations and a customization requirement but can show results, in finishing the quantity work.
Speaking about his experience in using low code, Pankaj Pandit, CIO of Oberoi Realty said the hesitation to adopt it is also due to the dependency factor.
“The low code platforms performance is not always up to expectation. Also, the self-service element is not that great yet. CIOs have to depend upon external partners for getting the coding done. It works well only with certain constraints. It’s difficult to handle complex processes through the platform, reducing its efficacy. Also, there is the risk of vendor lock-in,” he explained.
Amrish Kumar Jain, CIO of Tally solutions, added, “Every low code platform comes with its own set of limitations which either impacts functionality required or scale to which an organization wants to grow. It becomes one of the biggest hurdles in adoption for complex applications. Secondly, Lack of necessary skills & intent in relevant technologies is another challenge faced by every CIO/CTO.”
He emphasized the role of developers as a catalyst to leverage its full potential. “While low-code provides the majority of the framework for building the complex technology models, there is a need of talented developers to harness the power of the platform and deliver the results. There is a myth around low-code not needing tech skills. This platform starts empowering developers who can complement the existing development teams,” Jain said.
Overcoming the limitations
The limitations of low code are possible to be overcome by exploring its elements with experimentation, feel experts. Pandit points out that low code should be used judiciously, aimed at specific business outcomes. “As an example, I have used such platforms to automate repetitive business processes that were moderately complex. It is not a replacement for bespoke software development yet. Also, new plug and play breed of cloud-based solutions are giving a run for money to the low-code platforms,” he said.
Sharing his insights on the low code platforms Pandit said the platforms accelerated the deployment of software nuggets aimed at business automation leading him to achieve cost optimization. “The platform is expected to speed up this process anywhere between 20 to 40 percent.”
Echoing the sentiment Jain points out that while low code does bring results in terms of faster GTM, solutions need to be evaluated on a case-to-case basis. Jain advised considering the organization’s objectives as the main driving factor to locate its best spot and leverage its potential.
He added, “We need to see how the low-code platform fits into the overall enterprise architecture and how they can be integrated, with the in-house applications. This low-code solution must be able to solve the majority of the problems on hand and must never be used as a point solution for some specific scenarios.”
When asked about its benefit for the upcoming years, Pandit believes the low code tech has a future to accelerates the life cycle of custom-built software in specific cases. He says, “However, it needs to have more self-service capabilities (ex. Drag-and-drop), a high level of flexibility, and attractive commercials for CIOs to consider it more seriously as a solution.”
Kumar believes it is required to build an ecosystem comprising a set of expertise developers to guide other developers on the low code. “It is here to stay. Low Code is changing the software delivery landscape, and developers are desperately needed. This would require coach developers (typically business experts) who have the opportunity to jump into the area of coding,” he avers.
