The Ultimate Guide to Low Code

Introduction 3
Definition: What is Low Code and What Does it Mean? 3
Low Code Platforms as High Productivity Application PaaS (hpaPaaS) and Rapid Application
Development Tools 4
Magic Quadrant for Enterprise High-Productivity Application Platform as a Service 5
The Most Popular Vendors 5
AgilePoint 5
Appian 6
Betty Blocks 6
Bpm'online 6
Caspio 7
Fujitsu 7
Kintone 7
Kony 8
MatsSoft 8
Mendix 8
Microsoft 9
Oracle 9
OrangeScape 9
OutSystems 10
Pegasystems 10
Quick Base 10
Salesforce 11
ServiceNow 11
TrackVia 12
Zoho 12
What about VisionX? 12
Low Code in Software Development: More Than Just a Trend 13

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 Why Go Low Code? The Benefits of Low Code 13
Faster Deployment. Better Software. 14
Visual Software Development 14
A Solution to Developer Shortage, Less Backlog, Greater Speed 15
Cross-Company Collaboration = Digital Transformation 15
Agile Software Development Using Low Code 15
Goodbye to Mockups and Click Dummies 15
How to Build Modern Enterprise Applications Using Low Code 17
Data Modeling Tool 17
GUI Designer 18
Deployment/Lifecycle Management 20
How to Build Your Own Enterprise App Using Low Code 20
5 Myths About Low Code 21
Myth 1: Low-Code Platforms No Longer Need Development Teams 21
Myth 2: Low-Code Development is Only for Simple Applications 21
Myth 3: There is No Custom Coding in Low-Code Development 21
Myth 4: Low-Code Platforms Create Lock-In Effects 22
Myth 5: Low-Code Platforms are Browser-Based WYSIWYG Editors 22
Low Code Development for Enterprises 22
Low Code for Enterprises: The Basics 23
To Lock In or Not to Lock In, That is the Question Error! Bookmark not defined.
Licensing 23
Get A Low Code Checklist for Your Enterprise 24
Low Code Platform Features: The Ultimate Checklist 25

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Introduction

Over the last few years, companies have invested a lot of time and energy in software
development. Agile working methods such as Kanban and Scrum have gone a long way to
make the process of app development a smoother ride, yet developers still face the challenge of
meeting their customers' and/or stakeholders' demands quickly and easily.

Enter "low code" platforms, which promise to bring projects to fruition more quickly and
incorporate client feedback into the agile software development from the get-go. But what is low
code, and is it all that it's cracked up to be?

If you're asking yourself these or related questions and want the lowdown on low code, you've
come to the right place. This article will provide you with everything you need to know - and
maybe even a little more.

Definition: What is Low Code and What Does it Mean?

Low code platforms are still a fairly new phenomenon. The term itself dates to 2014, when
Forrester Research coined it to describe this particular form of software development.

In a nutshell, low-code development platforms (LCDPs) are alternatives to traditional object-

oriented computer programming that enable application software to be created through
graphical user interfaces and configuration.

The benefits should be obvious: low-code platforms allow developers to create applications at
more or less lightning speed. At the same time, they require significantly less source code than
old-school software development techniques.

The creation of the user interface, the data model and the business logic all happen via visual
design tools, i.e. an interface. Software developers also have the ability to supplement business
logic with hand-written code. With the mere click of a button, applications can be deployed into a
public or private cloud environment.

While, as already mentioned, the term "low-code app development" is a recent coinage, the
concept behind it is not new.

There's long been a notion in companies of the "power user" or "citizen developer." These
nomenclatures denote business users who see an opportunity to optimize a process and take it
upon themselves to create their own apps.

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To do so, they used technologies such as Microsoft Access, Excel, and or Visual Basic. Low-
code tools are inspired by and build on such users' intentions. The philosophy behind them
predicates a world in which everyone – from the tech-savviest of workers to an tech-savvy
employee who sees a business problem or process that a simple app could optimize and solve,
and sets out to build it themselves.

Sounds like the kind of world you want to live in? If so, keep reading and watch this world take
form.

Low Code Platforms as High Productivity Application PaaS

(hpaPaaS) and Rapid Application Development Tools

According to Gartner, high-productivity aPaaS (hpaPaaS) provides rapid application

development (RAD) features in the cloud for development, deployment and execution.

While Forrester coined the term "low code development" and as such was instrumental in
propagating the technology, Gartner refined its niche by classifying all low code vendors as part
of the hpaPaaS category in its Magic Quadrant.

Low code platforms, once can argue, form a sub-category of hpaPaaS.

Low code has an obvious affinity with such rapid application development tools of the 1990s as
Access, Power Builder, Oracle Forms. One could also call low code the next step in the
development of RAD tools. It could also evolve into the standard means of development.

In contrast to RAD tools, a number of low code platforms are suitable for use by trained
employees from specialty fields. These "citizen developers," as it were, open up new
possibilities the implementation of software projects – and also expose new risks.

The hpaPaaS developer experience focuses on no-code and low-code capabilities:

● No-code users include citizen developers and will utilize graphical modeling
experiences.
● Low-code users have more development skills and augment graphical development
tooling with scripting or more sophisticated model types such as entity relationship
diagrams, business process model and notation, and decision model and notation.

Only vendors providing "enterprise" hpaPaaS — as a public cloud service — are considered in
this Magic Quadrant. Some of these platforms are aligned closely with particular SaaS
solutions, but this Magic Quadrant focuses on general application development tasks where
extending SaaS is just one of six common use-case types considered.

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Magic Quadrant for Enterprise High-Productivity Application Platform as a Service

The Most Popular Vendors

AgilePoint

AgilePoint has offered its NX low-code hpaPaaS since 2015 which has evolved quickly from a
BPM-oriented platform to support more general application development tasks.
NX supports hybrid environments, and can be used as public or dedicated PaaS as well as on-
premises and private cloud. AgilePoint supports, and provides some portability across, multiple
clouds — customers can choose between Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS), or
running natively on Salesforce platforms and others — with an on-premises option as well.
AgilePoint allows enterprises licensing based on the capacity of concurrent logged-in users,
which is unique in this space.

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Appian

Appian offers a low-code hpaPaaS solution, which enables application authors to create both
process- and data-centric applications through its strong BPM and case management
capabilities. Appian applications can be developed and executed both on-premises and on its
aPaaS offering. Appian has positioned its Appian Cloud platform for general-purpose application
development, which includes robust process orchestration, decision management, application
life cycle management and integration capabilities that compete with both hpaPaaS and BPM
vendors. Appian provides per-user, per-application-and-user, or per-application pricing models,
regardless of cloud or own-infrastructure usage. Appian has a strong focus on vertical markets
and a strong international focus for delivery into markets worldwide, including Asia/Pacific.

Betty Blocks

Betty Blocks started as an hpaPaaS vendor in 2012, focusing on the citizen developer
experience and innovative modular design oriented to the notion of assembly of applications
from "blocks". It has developed a reputation for technology innovation, rebuilding its services in
Elixir two years ago and, during the past year, re-engineering further onto a Kubernetes
container platform. Betty Blocks has partnered with leading integration PaaS (iPaaS) provider
Jitterbit for integration, and delivers its PaaS solutions on AWS and Microsoft Azure.
Betty Blocks provides drag-and-drop application assembly, drawing on a library of prebuilt
functional components (blocks) while allowing further UI JavaScript extensions. Betty Blocks
uses a microservices-type architecture based on the fault-tolerant Elixir language, and has
added Kubernetes support for multi cloud deployments, including private cloud (for example, on-
premises).
All Betty Blocks reference customers declared their use of the platform to be in high-productivity
mode, unlike most other vendors.

Bpm'online

Bpm'online provides a BPM-oriented hpaPaaS, which has been available since 2011.
This vendor delivers out-of-the-box solutions, integrations and processes that accelerate
development, integration and implementation. It provides traditional workflow abilities that
include the orchestration of processes across teams and applications to support continuous
process transformations, as well as case management. It also focuses on citizen developers'
efficiency and agility, and their capability to easily and rapidly modify existing applications and
processes without deep technical skills. Bpm'online offers more than 200 industry-specific and
cross-industry applications and accelerators built on top of the service, with 400 development
partners to provide customer services. Applications built with bpm'online are portable and can
be deployed either to its aPaaS solution or on-premises.

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Caspio

Caspio offers Caspio Bridge, a database-centric no-code hpaPaaS offering. Founded in 2000,
Caspio was a market pioneer with its cloud application platform for citizen developers and
business power users using model-driven graphical design tools and a metadata interpreter at
runtime. Caspio is one of the most long-established vendors in the market today. Caspio Bridge
is available as both a public service and a virtual private service running in multiple worldwide
locations on AWS infrastructure, and has thousands of user organizations.
Caspio Bridge targets business users (aka citizen developers) building data-oriented
applications. Its built-in visual tools facilitate the design and creation of table structures,
relationships, triggers, authentication rules and roles. As a result, applications can be built
quickly, with little or no involvement from IT staff.

Fujitsu

RunMyProcess (RMP), which was founded in 2007, launched its PaaS offering in 2008 to target
small or midsize businesses (SMBs) in EMEA. RMP was acquired by Fujitsu in 2013, to be
incorporated into its strategic MetaArc initiative as part of Fujitsu's broader technology portfolio.
RMP is both a no-code and low-code hpaPaaS offering. It is available in the cloud only, and
across multiple regions. RMP focuses on quick and easy building of composite applications
using multiple kinds of resources; for example, helping customers to automate processes or
create responsive mobile experiences. It supports both citizen and professional developers.
Fujitsu RMP provides process-oriented, model-based design of business applications —
covering web and mobile apps, processes, integration flows and APIs, and providing a business
user's perspective of these functional capabilities.

Kintone

Kintone, part of Japan's Cybozu that was founded in 1997, focuses on facilitating employee
collaboration through the development of no-code applications for and by line of business (LOB)
business users or citizen developers. Use of Kintone is characterized by rapid web-based data
application development through easily configurable application generation from Microsoft Excel
spreadsheets (including importing spreadsheet data). This is combined with drag-and-drop
visual composition from a selection of more than 100 ready-made apps. The hpaPaaS solution
supports end-user collaboration through a rich user experience that enables data sharing and
workflow automation. Kintone is working to enhance scalability and service availability (and
avoid planned downtime), to improve performance, and to provide more sophisticated

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integration connectors to more external services such as SaaS, business intelligence services
and AI.

Kony

Kony continues to be one of a select group of independent app development platforms enabling
development for mobile and desktop web in addition to emerging endpoint experiences such as
conversational platforms, wearables and IoT-driven solutions. Its hpaPaaS solution has two
primary components: Kony Visualizer for front-end development and Kony Fabric for back-end
services. This is a model-driven platform with a metadata-based object layer. The Kony
Visualizer tool provides a no-code/low-code environment suitable for citizen development as
well as professional application development. The Kony platform supports architectural
flexibility. Deployment can be PaaS or on-premises/own cloud, mixed high-control and high-
productivity. The Kony offering includes AppVantage, AppPlatform and AppFactory. These
components target companies that need an app built, deployed and managed. The AppPlatform
delivers the tools needed to build professional applications, and AppFactory brings the
additional capabilities to manage a large portfolio of apps at scale.

MatsSoft
MatsSoft, established in 2007, provides a low-code hpaPaaS called MATS that originally
targeted BPM-type applications. MATS is available as both a public and private cloud offering
for citizen developers, and is offered on AWS (preferred by most of its customers), Microsoft
Azure, Google Compute, or collocated equipment. The recent acquisition by Netcall in August
2017 provides MatsSoft with cross-selling opportunities and more critical mass.
MatsSoft's focus on specific sectors, such as health and government, together with integration
with Netcall's call center platform, makes it relatively appealing.

Mendix

Mendix is an established (2005) pure-play, low-code hpaPaaS provider offering cloud-native

architecture and capabilities. The Mendix Web Modeler together with the Atlas UI framework
offers both professional developers and, to a lesser degree, citizen developers interested in
high-productivity, a model-driven visual development environment generating metadata that is
interpreted at runtime. Mendix also offers an additional integrated development environment
(IDE) for professional developers to complement and extend the low-code development tools.
Mendix's low-code modeling tool supports sophisticated data-driven, event-driven and process-
oriented applications. Mendix is deployed on AWS and supports Cloud Foundry and Docker
images. The company has distribution partnerships with SAP and IBM.
The Mendix platform is well-positioned to support hybrid computing models — due to its support

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of on-premises, virtual private cloud and multi tenant public cloud.

Microsoft

Microsoft is a new entrant to hpaPaaS based on its PowerApps tool, launched in late 2016 for
development on Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM. PowerApps provides a drag-and-
drop, citizen developer-focused canvas to build apps that access the Microsoft Common Data
Service as the hpaPaaS back-end. PowerApps is also tightly coupled with Microsoft Flow for
simple integration SaaS (iSaaS) integrations, and connects with Azure Functions for more
complex, external business logic and event-based workflows.
PowerApps runs on the Microsoft Azure public cloud, which has global locations and supports
localization to 42 languages. The tool offers a rich development canvas on which to build,
starting from the UI layer, with ability to easily add app logic, validation and expressions, without
coding. PowerApps works seamlessly with Microsoft Flow iSaaS for data integration with
external applications and systems via JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and XML, and with
more than 200 out-of-the-box connectors. It also works with Power BI for citizen data analytics.
PowerApps can also incorporate Azure Functions as building blocks in the design canvas in
order to build event-driven and composite apps.

Oracle
Oracle offers two distinct hpaPaaS solutions. One, the data-first Schema Service, is the cloud
service rendition of its longstanding Application Express (APEX) — a data-centric graphical
application design environment that executes as stored procedures in the address space of its
underlying and bundled Oracle DBMS. The other, is the low-code, API-centric Visual Builder
Cloud Service (VBCS), a newly developed model-driven hpaPaaS solution that executes
generated JavaScript/HTML and can be extended using the Oracle JavaScript Extension Toolkit
(JET). Both Visual Builder and Schema Service are available in Oracle's public cloud, and with
Oracle Cloud at Customer for on-premises private cloud deployment.
Oracle is ahead of most hpaPaaS competitors in supporting development of AI/ML-assisted
conversational chatbots, including specialized mobile digital twins and interaction with popular
consumer voice services such as Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri. The pairing of the data-centric
and process-centric platform services supports a broader set of options than most competitors.

OrangeScape

OrangeScape, founded in 2003, offers an hpaPaaS solution called KiSSFLOW. It started as a

workflow solution in Google Apps for G Suite customers in 2012, and became available for
general non-G Suite use in 2014. KiSSFLOW is a cloud-based platform that is primarily used by
citizen developers to create process-centric applications. The no-code experience allows citizen
developers to extend predefined applications, and create new ones, through drag-and-drop

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capabilities. KiSSFLOW is is a cloud-based platform designed for citizen developers who prefer
drag-and-drop creation and visual layout for designing their application flow. KiSSFLOW offers
integration with Zapier, an iSaaS vendor, which helps overcome feature limitations of the
platform and provides extended data integration.

OutSystems

OutSystems offers an hpaPaaS solution that supports cloud deployments including AWS,
Microsoft Azure and OutSystems' own options of public cloud, virtual private cloud and on-
premises implementations. The OutSystems platform uses a metadata-driven model, where
applications are developed using an extensible, low-code visually integrated development
environment.
The OutSystems platform offers a comprehensive visual modeling capability, including business
processes, integration workflows, UIs, business logic, data models, web services and APIs.
These enable high-productivity development and a faster time to market for relatively advanced
applications. The platform also includes many other services, such as project management and
analytics.

Pegasystems

The Pega Platform is an hpaPaaS, available since 2010, that allows application authors to
create both simple and complex applications through different interfaces. Pega Platform offers a
unified set of process orchestration, decision management, integration and user experience
capabilities that also underpin its CRM SaaS applications and BPM heritage. It offers two design
experiences that work with the same metadata model. Pega Express is a simplified design
experience that enables LOB application authors to quickly model the process and UI for an
application. The Pega Platform manages interactions across a variety of different channels and
service, and across multiple cloud infrastructure providers. Pegasystems and its partners offer a
variety of industry and cross-industry solution accelerators, which increase how quickly and
easily solutions can be deployed, as well as peer support via the Pega Discovery Network
(PDN) online community.

Quick Base

After being fully divested from Intuit in 2016, Quick Base is now one of the top five hpaPaaS
vendors in terms of both revenue and customers. Quick Base primarily targets business units,
often for the replacement of office tools such as spreadsheets and legacy systems, and for the
creation of apps without coding. Business citizen developers use the Quick Base visual platform

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interface, along with hundreds of prebuilt templates, in order to build forms and data analysis
reports as well as process-automation apps.
Quick Base offers an intuitive, metadata-driven, point-and-click approach to creating data table
definitions and relationships and to building forms, reports, charts and dashboards that are auto
generated as responsive web apps. It offers more than 900 pre-built templates, built by partners
and Quick Base to accelerate development by business users.

Salesforce

Salesforce is a pioneer of cloud computing, having introduced hpaPaaS in 2008 — originally as

Force.com, and since 2017 as the Lightning Platform. Salesforce's popular SaaS offerings and
early commitment to cloud have generated momentum and market presence for its hpaPaaS
solution, which together with its high-control aPaaS (Heroku) forms the Salesforce Platform.
Lightning Platform is multitenant and consists of: a modular user experience development
platform (Lightning); the legacy web application development platform (Visualforce); a Java-like
fourth-generation language (Apex); and a relational DBMS. Runtime execution is entirely by
metadata interpretation. Lightning Platform is hosted on its own data centers on three continents
and also experimentally at two AWS locations. Salesforce's app store (AppExchange) features
more than 3,000 third-party application services. Salesforce's innovations track and, in some
cases, lead the market. They include the composable user experience development platform
(Lightning); AI libraries for discovery, prediction, and voice services; continuous team DevOps
(Salesforce DX); and event-driven design (including IoT Explorer, platform events, and
integration with Apache Kafka). Salesforce's strategic investment in training and education
(Trailhead and TrailheaDX) facilitates a growing community of developers (exceeding 4 million),
further easing customer adoption.

ServiceNow

ServiceNow is widely known for its IT Service Management (ITSM) SaaS solution, which was
originally developed as a sample application to highlight its application platform capabilities.
The Now Platform, which has also been called CreateNow in the past, has been a stand-alone
hpaPaaS since 2013. As ServiceNow sells its SaaS offerings to IT departments, it is easier for
them to progress to application platform cross-sales than it is for their competitors who sell only
to LOB units. The Now Platform comprises all the platform services utilized by ServiceNow's
SaaS offerings on a single platform, with an emphasis on workflow and integration in addition to
app support. ServiceNow is investing heavily in advanced features such as chatbots, AI, and
mobile. ServiceNow has a large ecosystem that includes 1,200 partners, of which more than
250 contribute to its accelerator programs for applications, components, and integrations.
ServiceNow innovates in pricing by not charging for platform use during application
development. This has contributed to a growth in customers of more than 40% over the prior
year, and the rise of its developer program to more than 150,000 members.

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TrackVia

TrackVia offers an hpaPaaS solution that is workflow-centric. Its focus, since 2006, has been to
provide a unified and easy-to-use web and mobile platform for low-code developers that is
extensible via managed JavaScript extensions. TrackVia's cloud-native applications are
deployed on AWS infrastructure and use an exclusively web-based integrated development
environment (IDE) toolkit. TrackVia supports a variety of technical integrations to external
systems, such as event-stream handling and IoT integration (with larger vendors such as AWS
or GE) via REST services. Its native support for mobile application deployment, including offline
support, also stands out from that of many of its competitors. TrackVia focuses on a complete
out-of-the-box self-support experience.

Zoho

Zoho offers Creator, a database-centric hpaPaaS offering that complements its CRM, sales
force automation and business productivity SaaS offerings. Zoho Creator targets business
citizen developers with a drag-and-drop experience for forms and app creation, and also
supports complex workflows through its proprietary Deluge script builder.
Zoho Creator is available as a public-cloud-hosted offering. It is licensed at a monthly
subscription rate, based on either a per-user model or for unlimited users, with tiered apps and
capacity. Zoho Creator is well-suited for citizen development use cases by providing drag-and-
drop configuration of the metadata model used to build applications. Although not the most
powerful hpaPaaS solution, citizen developers can build modestly complex business
applications within the confines of the model. Zoho Creator shows robust multichannel
capabilities through native iOS, Android and Windows Phone apps deployed through its native
app container. It also has out-of-the-box integrations for sending SMS messages using popular
SMS providers.

What about VisionX?

Though Gartner's report does not yet include VisionX, the platform enables users to visually
build entire applications without relying on software developers. Applications created with
VisionX use Java open- source frameworks only and therefore avoid vendor lock-in.
VisionX combines the simplicity of low code with the flexibility of Java to allow easy, efficient
software development.

VisionX is well suited both for small operations and as an enterprise application for use by many
large teams. Development can start small, with just a handful of users, and scale quickly to
thousands of concurrent users in an high-availability environment.

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VisionX's source code can be accessed at any time – for instance, in order to use Eclipse to
change the code or develop visual code with VisionX. This can be done either one at a time or
simultaneously.

Low Code in Software Development: More Than Just a Trend

Low code is not a mere side niche. Analysts from Forrester view it as one of the most important
emerging technologies to watch through 2020. The low code industry is exploding before our
eyes. Analysts predict that it will grow from $4.32 billion in 2015 to $24.23 billion by 2022.

To put these developments in perspective, it's important to remember what makes low code
special. What is its USP? Low code lets business professionals create applications that are
customized to their organization's needs – in a much higher speed than usual development
processes. Another main benefit is the strong focus on visual development, which makes it
easier to use also for professionals with no strong background in IT. It does this while requiring
minimal spending on infrastructure, deployment, and maintenance.

There are more benefits, however. Low-code development tools can also help enterprises
improve customer experiences and fuel operational efficiencies.

In addition to the above advantages, low-code platforms offer the benefits of speed, the
flexibility to meet customers halfway, and the ability to streamline business processes.

The low code ecosystem continues to expand and thrive, and has seen many new
developments in recent months. One of the more high-profile of these was Siemens's
acquisition of Mendix.

Furthermore, the following recent events illustrate the growing market demand for low code
development:
- Goldman Sachs investing 360 million USD in Outsystems
- Google and Microsoft entering the marketing of low code apps

Why Go Low Code? The Benefits of Low Code

Aside from the aforementioned experiences in efficient collaboration between departments, IT

and IT service provider, there are additional advantages for the software development.

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Faster Deployment. Better Software.

According to a recent CIO report, 89% of CIOs think they will be required to release new
updates even faster in the future.

Today’s digital businesses are forced to innovate. Constant updates to apps and systems to
create new experiences for end users and customers has become the new normal. Therefore,
software development teams require a new era of building, deploying, and maintaining software.

Higher software quality also reduces the efforts for maintenance in the company.

Low-code platforms standardize the development approach and reduce the complexity as well
as the error rate of the source code. As a result, less-qualified developers can quickly take on
tasks and reliably realize them.

By using a centralized platform that can be managed in a standardized way, individual solutions
will be reduced and the costs for the shadow IT will be lowered.

Visual Software Development

In general, it can be said that visual development is a more intuitive way to build applications.

Using model-driven development concepts to visually define the user interface, logic, and data
model, a low code platform can be used by a variety of user groups. From developers to citizen
developers, to senior developers, those groups can easily build native mobile, web, or desktop
applications.

Because the development environment is visual and model driven, users gain proficiency in a
fraction of the time it takes to master a traditional language.

Through a combination of drag-and-drop user interfaces, form builders, and visual process
modeling, users can leverage low-code development platforms to produce a working app that
you can download, open, and start using in hours or less.

And if hand coding is required, professional developers can encapsulate logic and functionality
into modules for the rest of the development team to reuse in their projects. In VisionX it is
possible to directly edit the code in the preferred IDE which is a unique feature compared to
others.
On average, customers realize six to ten times productivity improvement using a low code
platform over traditional hand coding approaches to application development.

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A Solution to Developer Shortage, Less Backlog, Greater Speed

Using low-code, the overall developer shortage can be surmounted – at least for a while. Since
there are simply not enough qualified developers on the market to meet the increasing demand,
companies can have a hard time completing their projects in time. Low code can be a solution
to that due to its simplified operating system. Also the commonly known backlog in development
teams can be processed and delivered more quickly without using any additional developer
resources. Low-code platforms support bottlenecks of resources and increase the quality of the
delivered software as test cycles can be executed in a comprehensive manner. This is
especially important at a time when it's getting harder and harder to find developers (a problem
that will only increase in the years to come).

Cross-Company Collaboration = Digital Transformation

Currently, software development is too slow to handle customers' complex needs in our digitized
market. Digital transformation has conditioned businesses to expect immediate results and
direct benefits. New technologies such as IoT, big data, machine learning, and changing
customer behavior in the decision-making and buying process are forcing companies to rethink
and transform their place in the market. For a growing number of companies, low-code
platforms offer a means of accommodating the demands of a digitally transformed market and
promptly incorporating customer feedback.

Departments, IT professionals, and external service providers have to coordinate closely to

reach their goals in the desired timeframe. The main challenge here is to get people from a
variety of backgrounds and with varying mindsets, from across the company, working on the
same page.

Low code platforms allow for example that templates can be created in minutes instead of days.
This allows the department to immediately test the fully functional applications with their use
cases and give their feedback. This instant feedback process makes department employees
feel to be a fully integrated member of the development process.

Agile Software Development Using Low Code

Low code offers clear advantages for agile software development – so many, in fact, that these
advantages merit point-by-point exploration.

Goodbye to Mockups and Click Dummies

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Low code renders mockups and click dummies a thing of the past. Instead, it offers users a
consistent application that begins as a single screen and grows from sprint to sprint as the full
enterprise application takes shape. Rather than comparing inconsistently rendered pictures – be
it wire frames, design mockups – scattered hither and thither, users can glean real data as well
as quickly identify and solve problems from sprint to sprint and version to version.

The difference is seismic.

Low code platforms help companies transform their business – especially those who are
struggling with customized packages or aging systems that are expensive to maintain and slow
to change. Low code development gives back agility to large organizations for those who
actually make the decision to switch out of the ERP environment.
One challenge in handling development teams in organizations is the log development cycle.
Most corporations can handle the basic functionalities but never seem to be agile enough to
handle more advanced application development designs. This is where low code comes in
handy: most low code platforms are so agile so there is no need to even develop a single line of
code. It’s like a car that drives for you, the only thing you need to do is to tell it where you wanna
go.
Low code platforms can help you rebuild large systems in months instead of years. By
combining fast visual development, easy integration, and rock-solid scalability, you can digitally
re-platform with confidence and speed.

Legacy application modernization

Legacy application modernization is designed to create new business value from existing, aging
applications by updating them with modern features and capabilities. By migrating legacy
applications the latest functionalities that better align with specific business needs can be
included. Keeping legacy applications running smoothly while still being able to meet current
day needs can be a time consuming and resource intensive affair. That is doubly the case when
software becomes so outdated that it may not even be compatible with modern day systems.

Legacy modernization strategies can include the re-platforming, re-hosting, re-coding, re-
factoring, re-architecting, re-building, or the replacement and retirement of your legacy systems.
It is about taking the bones, or DNA, of the original software, and modernizing it to better
represent current business needs. This can be invasive and involve heavy re-coding, or non-
invasive by linking the app via a modern cloud service or web-based front end.

Thanks to some low code platforms, however, the effort can be reduced considerably. In the
case of VisionX, for example, this happens via screen generation based on the data model, the
reuse of the logic from legacy databases (Oracle and PL/SQL), and the clever transfer of
existing screens/persistence layers into Java.

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How to Build Modern Enterprise Applications Using Low Code

Low-Code platforms enables development teams - from the most senior software engineers to
citizen developers - to build enterprise-like applications at speed, collaborating across teams.
You're probably at least familiar with applications such as Drift, Slack, Jira, and Asana. What is
it that has made them so successful?

For starters, low-code platforms make application development decisions, e.g. what database to
use, which programming language to write the backend irrelevant.

Before we can give you an insight on how to build an enterprise-like app using a low code
platform, we must talk about the components of low code platforms.

In every low code development platform, new applications can be created with just a few clicks.
All functions of the low code platform are provided either in a web application in the browser or
via a local development tool. Some manufacturers also offer both. The local variants usually
have advantages for larger projects due to faster development speed or larger functionality.

A low code platform typically consists of the following areas:

● data modeling tool

● GUI designer
● business logics / workflow editor
● deployment / lifecycle management

Data Modeling Tool

To create screens, a data model is required. This can be comfortably created in a visual editor.
The data types, domains, relations, keys, etc. can be specified here. In many tools, this feels
like well-known data modeling tools that can only be used by software developers.
Instead, some of the low-code platforms use a simplified variant to enable data modeling for
users from specific departments. There, tables and all associated fields can be recorded by
name and the data types can be selected. By defining a combo box or a master/detail
relationship, the relevant tables and relations are automatically created. Like, for example, the
master data table for the selectable values or the detail table for detailed data records.

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Abb. 1: VisionX – data model editor for department user

Optionally, excel sheets can also be imported. The data model is derived based on the structure
of the excel and the data is imported.

Alternatively, existing data models from different database manufacturers can be used.
Depending on the tool, the metadata of the database – such as data types, foreign keys for
master data, foreign keys of master table details – can be used to generate the matching UI
elements in a template.

GUI Designer

After a data model has been created, the first mask can already be formed. Different templates
are available to easily create a list view or a detailed view. Depending on the tool, there are a
variety of possibilities such as typical lightweight web or mobile list views or powerful, editable
tables for management systems. Depending on the tool, these templates can be flexibly
changed or defined in order to develop even large complex applications with little effort.

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Abb. 2: Outsystems – screen with list view

Of course, all created screens can also be changed with a visual GUI designer or created from
scratch. The UI elements can be dragged and dropped into the mask. Data bound elements can
also simply be dragged into the mask or being linked to the data model. The UI elements can be
adjusted via innumerable textual or graphical property editors. Depending on the tool, a wide
range of layouts can be selected to position the elements. Some tools are very flexible and
powerful in this area, especially the web variants offer less options here. Still, some of the local
tools are, due to their level of complexity, only to use for citizen developers with intensive
training.

The GUI designers are always the starting point for the logics and processes. That is why a
wide variety of events can be set up for UI elements – such as button click on business logics or
workflows. In addition, many model events such as CRUD can be set up and used.

Abb. 3: VisionX – visual designer

Business Logic/Workflow Editor

With low code platforms, business logic can also be created visually. There is the well-known
solution of workflow tools, where the logic is assembled by flowcharts. This makes the
implementation of simple logics or the integration of REST services easy. However, complex
logics, in practice, are not as easy and clear to implement. In any case, citizen developers can
do very few things on their own and professional developers are needed. For business logic

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though, there are more creative approaches, such as a drag and drop editor to insert predefined
functions – visually – into the source code.

Abb.: Zoho Creator – workflow editor

Deployment/Lifecycle Management

The created masks can be deployed and started in one click. With the web-based low code
platforms, the developed application runs in a few seconds in the browser. In the case of locally
installed variants, the changes usually have to be transferred to the server, the source code
generated, the application formed and deployed into the cloud. This usually takes several
minutes. For some of these local tools, live previews are offered or the entire deployment
process can be carried out locally in just a few seconds.

Many manufacturers already offer a great deal on life cycle management – such as version
management and ticket management and agile or scrum tools. With almost all providers, the
created applications can also be installed right in the in-house cloud and/or at selected cloud
providers. Mostly against appropriate extra charge also in the customer-owned infrastructure.

How to Build Your Own Enterprise App Using Low Code

The trend of low code is the next evolution of programming. Low Code platforms add another
layer of abstraction to underlying code and it make developing apps easy in multiple ways.

Now that we have delved in depth into the main benefits and components of low code platforms,
it's time to take in some helpful hints for how best to build your own applications.

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5 Myths About Low Code

Myth 1: Low-Code Platforms No Longer Need Development Teams

Low-code platforms use visual modeling tools to represent logic and translate the underlying
code into a visual format that both developers and business users can understand.
Since building enterprise-ready applications at speed and scale requires a continuum of
developers, a cross-functional team that can participate in the development process fulfills the
best conditions for the implementation of app development into a business. Great business
ideas can be turned into applications much faster, and software teams can stop worrying about
technical debt and resource constraints. Sure, some low-code platforms enable business users
to build simple applications, but the applications that support digital transformation are not
simple. They’re high-visibility, enterprise-wide and enterprise-grade applications that need to be
built rapidly and integrated with the enterprise information systems — by expert developers.

Myth 2: Low-Code Development is Only for Simple Applications

From small- to large-sized companies, low-code platforms are a step forward from traditional
software development when it comes to building applications for desktop, mobile and web.
That makes low code an attractive alternative approach to building large-scale enterprise
applications for digital transformation efforts. Low-code platforms are able to scale and are
suitable for thousands of users and millions of data sets. Most applications built via low-code
are enterprise-wide or scaled for multiple departments. Low-code platforms made it easy for
enterprises to build robust, unique, and intricate applications more quickly than conventional
development tools. Many organizations that have experienced low-code development are
scaling up their rapid development teams to cope with growing demand and are delivering
mission critical enterprise applications. Low-code is about gain – not pain.

Myth 3: There is No Custom Coding in Low-Code Development

Software engineers can use code to develop reusable code extensions. By leveraging client and
server-side APIs, engineers are able to build, package and distribute new functionalities such as
connectors to external services like machine learning and AI.
Enabling developers to push beyond the boundaries of the core platform to build better solutions
even faster will be possible by extending the native features of the platform with code.
Therefore, created applications can be adapted up to code level. In VisionX, the code is always
open, so it can quickly and easily be adapted to the user's needs which ensures maximum
flexibility.

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Myth 4: Low-Code Platforms Create Lock-In Effects

While some low-code platforms do have lock-in effects, causing customers to effectively
become hostages of a company's software or services, VisionX and some others provide full
vendor independency. Such low code platforms generate applications that exclusively use open
source frameworks, hence there is no need for a lock-in. They can also be changed and
extended with any Java IDE, so no VisionX is needed. The modus operandi with these low code
platforms is freedom, because that's what they give to the users. They are freely compatible
with any major database, any java application server and any cloud, on-premise environment, or
operating system that Java is running on. As you can see, low-code gets high marks when it
comes to independence, flexibility, and compatibility.

Myth 5: Low-Code Platforms are Browser-Based WYSIWYG Editors

Low-code Platforms are often not browser-based solutions. They rather run natively on your OS,
meaning they integrate seamlessly with your Windows, Mac, or Linux system. Also it needs to
be stated that browser-based low-code platforms offer a limited array of features. Whereas
locally run, low-code platforms – such as VisionX – allow you to access source code and give
you a better development experience.

Low Code Development for Enterprises

When looking for the right low code development platform for one's enterprise, it is wise to keep
in mind the following benefits, features, and use cases.

The main point of using a low code platform is to empower your organization to develop
complex and functional applications in a simple and intuitive interface that does demand less
technical know how. A unified development process makes the maintenance easier and more
accessible for all developers.

The mentioned features/elements are the ones that development teams should look for when
choosing a low code platform:

Model-Based Development

In other words, the platform should be configurable visually rather than via code. This always
increases the speed of development. Moreover, it makes it even easier for business users, as
they know and understand the logic of what they want to create.

Drag-and-Drop Interface

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Drag-and-drop should be at the top of your list when it comes to requirements in low-code
solutions. This isn’t a convenience, but a necessity.

Re-Usability

A big part of low-code platforms is what most major functionalities are already pre-built into
modules that can just be dragged and dropped wherever required. That’s a big part of
reusability.

Cross-Platform Accessibility

It's a huge asset to remain independent of web frameworks, which change so frequently that the
average agg will require redevelopment every few years. This is costly, to say the least; in fact,
it's infeasible. Developing via a low code platform places the burden to adapt to technical
problems caused by changing UI frameworks on the platform, not on you.

It's this simple: Building an app with multi-channel compatibility that your staff can access
anywhere in the world makes their lives – and by extension, your life – easier. They can even
switch from one UI platform to another, i.e between web, desktop, and mobile interfaces,
without having to change the code.

Security

If you find low-code tools that don’t offer proper security for both the platform and the apps that
you build, stop using them. There’s no point.

Scalability

Low-code solutions should allow scaling, for both usage in the environment and your app.
Building an app for twenty users is great. But what if that user number suddenly spikes? Low-
code systems must be scalable.

Low Code for Enterprises: The Basics

Every organization is different, but when you're investigating the option of using low code in
your company, there are some basics to keep in mind.

Licensing

The distinguishing features of low-code development platforms are low initial investments for
setup, training, and deployment. Instead of using classic licensing models, they are licensed via
subscription models (with monthly subscriptions).

Low-code platforms therefore offer an accelerated development and provisioning time of

applications (such as mobile apps or ERP systems). This enables developers to significantly

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lower the costs for planning a software project as well as creating and providing the
applications.

Overall, typical low-code development platforms offer the following types of licensing:

- Run-time licensing
- Developer licensing
- Package licensing (usually small, medium, large packages (with a combination of user
limits, feature limits and run time licensing)

Get A Low Code Checklist for Your Enterprise

Low code offers enterprises many opportunities to easily and affordable develop applications
that are flawlessly tailored to their needs. Hence, it is an appealing alternative to traditional
platforms. If your enterprise is considering working with low code, congratulations! You're on the
cutting edge of the larger business trend. Before you select a platform, you would do well to
keep some specific things in mind, and never lose sight of the big picture.

Don't worry – we've got you covered. The checklist below will be your ideal companion when
introducing low code into your enterprise!

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Low Code Platform Features: The Ultimate Checklist
Topics Questions to Ask

Core Low Code Features

Model-based development How easy to use are the visual development

tools tools for your developers & business users?

GUI editor

Business logic editor

Workflow editor Does your business use workflows?

Deployment features What features are most relevant for

deployment?

Focus and Benefits

Drag-and-drop interface Can you build your user interface via drag &
drop?

Re-usability Are there components and features that are

reusable?

Cross platform Which platforms are supported by the chosen

accessibility low code platform?

Security

Scalability Does the low code platform support a scaling

architecture?

Cloud & on-premise Which cloud platforms are supported? Is on-

deployment premise deployment possible?

Does the low code platform provide code level

Access to code level access?

Licensing

Run-time licensing License fee based on application run-time

Developer licensing License fee based on the number of developer

accounts needed

Package licensing License fee based on different packages

(usually a mixture of run-time and developer
licensing)

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Bonus tip: Get a free Low Code demo
You made it all the way through the low code guide. Great. Still not sure how a low code
development platform can help your business?

No worries. Let’s get in touch for a free Low Code session. Our low code expert will help you
evaluate your needs as well as the potential benefits of using a low code development software
among your team.

Contact us at: office@sibvisions.com

SIB Visions GmbH

office@sibvisions.com

Wehlistreet 29 / Stair 1 / 2nd Floor

1200 Vienna

Austria

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