If you are a big Greek mythology buff you know that Sisyphus was a king from Greek mythology. His punishment in the afterlife was perpetually rolling a stone up a hill. Each time he neared the top, the stone rolled back to the bottom. In other words, Sisyphus’ curse was never to see his work produce any results. Many digital innovation projects appear to me as sisyphean loops.
Let me explain. Many innovation initiatives arise from a business idea that is sometimes based on some customer’s needs. In this case even for those process professionals using Design Thinking and Lean Startup techniques, there’s still a Process Execution Gap that must be bridged.
In short, after the ideas there are always applications to be developed to test new services or other changes.
In most of these cases, whether the project is implemented by internal or outsourced IT, everything is developed from scratch. In this case you can decide to adopt the Agile method instead of the traditional one. Agile methodologies enable solutions to be developed much faster through rapid iterations, offering the flexibility to iron out the creases along the way, or even to start over again without losing a lot of time. Despite the Agile methodology there are limits that cannot be overcome in the development of code from scratch (high-code development).
The high-code development involves the use of resources with high specializations on a specific programming language and a high consumption of time for the production of code. Much time will also be necessary for any changes in functionality or processes or for possible additions to systems or hardware external or internal to the company. The high -code approach is complex, cumbersome and does not lend itself to experimentation with innovations.
The ability to experiment is essential to innovate, especially in cases where there are processes that involve customers. Experimentation requires being able to have a functioning application that incorporates changes in order to test them directly by users / clients to gain provable metrics. This means being able to continuously test and learn by quickly incorporating the necessary changes into the application.
The high-code development does not allow to quickly display and test applications and any change or integration requires time, and therefore high budgets, to inhibit experimentation and therefore innovation. There’s too much risk, too many integration headaches, and costs soon start to get out of control.
All these problems could be overcome by a low code platform, configuration tools built for non-developers, that enable application development and automation without the need to do programming.
These tools with intuitive visual interfaces and drag-and-drop capabilities leverage visual models of an app’s business logic, end-user interfaces, and processes. This makes it easier than ever to change workflows and processes as quickly as needed, and makes it possible for business users involved in the innovation process to make any required change.
Low-code allows applications to be configured, not custom-coded, delivering tailor-made, powerful software without the cost, risk and delays of traditional development
It is now more important than ever to allocate scarce developer resources to innovative projects instead of wasting them on maintenance. Low-code addresses this issue, enabling developers to delegate work to citizen developers and business analysts, all while retaining enterprise governance and controls. What’s more, a low-code strategy can provide both IT and business teams with an outlet to easily translate concepts into software applications quickly, with minimal technical debt.
With that said, not all low-code platforms are created equal and there can be downsides to building applications quickly. Therefore it is important to select empirically the low code platform able to realize, in a short time and without particular complexity, Applications that leverage digital innovation.
Low-code Platform have to provide the ability to quickly spin up a temporary innovation but still has the robustness and scalability to support a long-term solution.
Low-code platforms simplify innovation because they eliminate much of the custom coding required to integrate all manners of technology. Instead of starting from scratch, developers using low-code can reuse the best of what they have already built, greatly reducing the amount of new custom code required. This cuts the marginal cost of each application thanks to software reuse
And let’s face it – it’s also more fun, because it stops developers from finding themselves stuck on the same project for what seems like forever
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to digital transformation, but the advancements made by some technology platforms can now deliver the agility and alignment promised necessary to deliver innovation and protect against disruption. Selecting one of these platforms is the first step to take immediately.
