Digital transformation continues at a rapid pace and a quarter of Fortune 500 companies say they will have to become software producers to digitally transform and maintain their Fortune 500 status. With the well-documented skills shortage affecting all sectors, it is therefore not surprising to learn that a McKinsey survey revealed that 61% of HR professionals believe hiring developers will be their biggest challenge in the years ahead. No-code techniques can help alleviate this challenge since applications are built and deployed by individual teams without coding knowledge.
What is no-code development?
No-code development is a trend that involves the usage of visual tools to develop and deliver applications. This means that instead of using traditional coding languages, no-code platforms allow users to assemble their own applications by dragging and dropping pre-configured elements. Not only does this make application development easier and more accessible to non-professional developers, but it also makes the process much faster.
The impact of no-code on the development process can be compared to how the visual computer desktop changed how computers are used and who uses them. Before the invention of the visual computer desktop, simple actions like retrieving a file from a computer required manual coded commands, in which even one minor error made the command unusable. Today, visual elements are used to represent folders and files that can be retrieved, moved and changed using drag-and-drop features instead of coding.
No-code business benefits
Many business software providers are incorporating no-code tools to make development platforms more customizable and to allow no-code creators to develop apps without IT involvement. Anyone from HR managers to sales reps can develop and deploy new applications themselves in a relatively short amount of time and without professional coding knowledge.
As a result, companies that champion no-code platforms benefit from rapid app development and automation, which accelerates digital transformation and streamlines workflows to promote efficiency and growth. This ability is what has made low-code and no-code platforms so popular for business application development within the past few years, and Gartner estimates that 70% of large enterprises will be using low-code for both professional and citizen development by 2025.
Integrating low-code/no-code development into a business strategy has several advantages. When no-code is utilized within a company’s business strategies, they can expect the following:
- Increased agility. Fast development via visual interfaces provides businesses with the opportunity to adapt quickly to ever-changing markets and customer demands.
- Faster transformation. With no-code development, companies essentially become software companies thanks to how quickly they are automating workflows with new technology. The plethora of new solutions developed within such a short timeframe promotes faster time-to-market.
- Lower costs. When citizen developers are equipped with the no-code tools they need to create useful applications themselves, there is less of a need to hire additional IT experts – something that is both costly and difficult to do.
- Improved efficiency and productivity. No-code platforms promote efficiency and productivity throughout nearly every department. As more tasks become automated, employees can focus on more creative tasks with the assurance that routine obligations are being handled accurately. IT staff can enjoy a much shorter backlog of tasks as citizen developers help bridge the delivery gap. As such, IT professionals can focus on more complex, large scale development projects in addition to the maintenance of the company’s IT infrastructure.
- Agility. Сustomer demand and the pressure from competitors can change in an instant. No-code development not only allows companies to create apps faster, it also allows them to change existing apps much more easily. Immediate adjustments can be made according to business’ needs.
No-code applications for HR
No-code applications can be used to streamline any HR workflow including core processes such as hiring, onboarding, development, retention and off-boarding. The strategic processes of performance and reward management, as well as training and development, can also be automated with no-code tools.
Workflows can be automated to improve employee experience by providing user-friendly solutions for all types of requests such as vacation, travel or expenses. By building their own apps, HR teams can centralize communications, share knowledge and documents, plan tasks and meetings, manage reviews and approvals with maximum efficiency.
No-code in action
One company we work with is a US financial services institution with over 150 users in the HR department and 5,000+ employees. The company was looking to improve operational efficiency, employee experience and improve engagement levels. The software tools the company was using had become unmanageable and inefficient, with too many manual processes and a lack of visibility.
The HR department needed a powerful and agile solution and we provided a unified platform to automate operational workflows.
Creatio has also helped the company to establish its Center of Excellence (CoE) responsible for the governance checks that allow employees to not only deliver applications quickly, but also in a secure fashion.
The results
- Dozens of HR-focused apps were launched with the help of the No-Code CoE
- Hundreds of HR cases are now being processed daily
- The average case processing time was halved
- Thanks to case management automation, HR specialists saved up to 50% of their working time, which could be reallocated to more strategic people-centric tasks
For companies to not only survive, but to thrive they need the flexibility to respond to significant changes wherever and whenever they occur. No-code technologies mean teams can rapidly develop and deploy the apps they need without coding skills. The inherent security that is built into the best no-code platforms means businesses of all sizes can deploy apps with total peace of mind. And empowering teams to develop apps themselves enables the wider organization to streamline IT operations, promote business collaboration and deliver game-changing results.
Katherine Kostereva, pictured below, is founder and CEO of Creatio. Since 2018 she has been ranked in The Top CEOs and Top 50 Women Leaders in SaaS. Katherine is also the co-author of ‘The No-Code Playbook’, a vendor agnostic framework on implementing no-code application (launching 4 October, 2022)
