Staying Vigilant is the key to Revolutionizing your Business with No-Code

Quixy Editorial Team

August 9, 2023

This article was first published on Customerthink.

Often, C-suite leaders believe innovation starts with their IT staff. That’s true to some extent, but if you’re only considering your developers instead of those you can work with, you might miss out on some of today’s most influential business tools.

As with developers, they’re still vital for specific workloads, but there are other business users to keep up with technological advances.

Non-technical employees, aka subject matter experts, with the help of no-code citizen development, can now optimize business processes, build innovative apps, and improve productivity without technical knowledge.

Wondering what is No-Code Development & Citizen Developer?

No-code development creates an environment where innovation thrives, enabling employees to experiment without writing code themselves or learning how to code.

Citizen developers are business users empowered by the ability to build applications with non-coding techniques. They can build applications that automate processes or perform tasks that previously required human intervention. No-code citizen developers can also make it possible for individuals who lack a technical background but have a strong business background to contribute their ideas and expertise to projects that require them.

When it comes to invention, experimentation, and innovation are not mutually exclusive.

In fact, they can be the same thing.

It’s often a matter of perspective: when dealing with high-level concepts and abstractions, you may have to split things into their constituent parts to understand how they work. But with No-code, there are no such abstractions—so your ability to experiment is limited only by what you can learn through trial and error.

To succeed in today’s challenging and unpredictable environment, enterprises must move faster, do more with less, and challenge traditional workforce divisions, such as technical versus non-technical. Everyone must rethink where innovation comes from.

The rise of technology has changed how we do business

With the strength of technology at our fingertips, businesses can now reach out to new customers and potential employees with ease and effectiveness like never before. However, this power comes with risks. The internet is a wild and unpredictable place that can lead to unintended consequences for your business.

The Low-Code No-Code Innovation

One of the powerful tools in the hands of a business is automation, especially when it comes to innovation. Using technology to automate processes allows companies to create new products faster than ever and reduce costs. This has led many businesses to adopt no-code solutions and relies heavily on them when it comes to innovation and experimentation.

The rise of no-code-driven innovation allows business owners to innovate in ways they didn’t think were possible before without hiring developers or spending money on traditional SDLC.

Businesses are often hesitant to embrace no-code driving innovation and experimentation. But the truth is, we can’t afford to wait on innovation—not when our customers are demanding it, and definitely not when technology is advancing rapidly.

This isn’t just about technology, it’s also about customer expectations. Customers are increasingly expecting clean, uncluttered interfaces that make it easy for them to navigate so that they can do it quickly, efficiently, and effectively. That means we must start thinking about design from the ground up—not just how we build our software. We must consider customer experience: how people will interact with your product or service & how you can make that interaction intuitive and seamless.

Also Read: Reasons for IT to Consider Low-Code No-Code App Development

No-code driving innovation is a great way to get ahead of the curve when it comes to understanding customer needs, but businesses need to be on guard for potential issues that may arise during the process.

Citizen development is a new way of thinking about building applications. It’s a way to create apps without having to write code—that is, without writing any code.

The concept behind it is that it allows citizen developers to build software more agile and iteratively.

But let’s not forget businesses need to be on guard when it comes to no-code projects because they can sometimes lead to security breaches or other issues that could cost them money or trust with customers or partners down the line (i.e., long-term damage). That’s why it’s important for companies to know how they will protect themselves during this process—and what steps they should take before diving into these types of projects headfirst.

No-Coders & Shadow IT

No code means that it doesn’t require a high level of technical expertise to use it. This is great for businesses that want to create new products or services, but you need to keep your guard on them.

Shadow IT is any software installed on a network without the administrator’s permission—typically because it is by an employee who didn’t get permission from the IT cell. Shadow IT can be used for legitimate purposes, like keeping track of inventory, but in most cases, it’s also used for things we’d consider less than legitimate, like copying files across networks without authorization or installing malware.

The IT backlog is the reason employees seek assistance elsewhere. IT cannot handle every employee’s demand and need as a business. It’s simply not possible.

To combat shadow IT, some companies have begun implementing no-code solutions that allow employees to build prototypes easily and quickly in their spare time. Development is no longer a waiting game.

The world of no-code innovation is here, and it’s not going away.

In fact, it’s getting more and more popular by the day. No-code solutions can be an excellent way for your business to innovate, but you must be careful about how you use them.

In the last decade, businesses have been able to innovate and experiment with new ideas in ways that were not possible before. This has opened up many exciting possibilities for companies, but it has also created many challenges for businesses trying to keep their operations running smoothly. One of those challenges is managing shadow IT proliferation.

Managing shadow IT proliferation

When employees or customers develop tools or services outside of the official user interface for your company’s software systems, these innovations can benefit employees but can also cause problems as they are added to the system without a proper development governance model or oversight.

Shadow IT is often driven by passion rather than business goals; however, passion can be harnessed positively if you take the time to understand why people do what they do and what motivations drive them. Understanding these motivations will help you identify what kind of resources and support you need so your organization can continue to thrive while allowing employees more flexibility in how they work.

Also Read: How to Implement and Govern Citizen Development in your Organization

Innovation is not a new concept

Evolution has been a part of human history from the beginning, and it’s not going away soon. Innovation is how we learn, grow, and adapt to our changing environments, making us better humans.

But innovation is also a business strategy. For example, if you’re an innovator in the fashion world and want to introduce new lines of clothing that appeal to younger consumers, you can’t just have one person with a creative idea—you need to test it out with your target market first!

So how do you get started? You start by ensuring your idea isn’t already being used by someone else. Then you figure out what kind of input you need from your customers before you can move forward with this new idea. Most important, ensure that any new product or service will benefit everyone involved (not just yourself).

That’s similar to how no-code comes works! No code means that your business doesn’t need software code for data collection or customer interactions (like signing up for a newsletter) but instead relies on simpler tools like text messages or emails (which means no coding required!).

Conclusion

There are many benefits to low-code no-code platforms, including allowing users and citizens to quickly create solutions on their own schedule, not in response to IT priorities. No-code low-code platforms must, however, be governed and supported by the central IT department. By giving employees the tools, they need to create solutions. Employees do not have to rely on hopelessly slow manual processes. Teams can develop applications they need using low-code and no-code platforms without being exposed to shadow IT risks.

IT can benefit from low-code and no-code platforms by releasing them from mundane development tasks and creating an environment where employees are able to collaborate with one another. Especially when these solutions will be deployed company-wide, customer-facing teams can pivot and build solutions on demand without awaiting IT. Using low-code development minimizes shadow IT, helping businesses get the most out of technology.