In recent years, low-code application development platforms have been the talk of the town in the IT industry. Promising to democratize coding and empower non-technical users to create their own applications, these tools have generated significant buzz. While the marketing promises sound alluring; faster development, democratized app creation, and reduced technical debt; what’s the reality on the ground?
Amidst this hype, it’s essential to understand where these platforms truly shine and how they are being used in real-world scenarios. At the outset, it appears that low-code platforms have really emerged from simply being industry buzzwords to becoming essential tools driving digital transformation across enterprises of all sizes.
In this blog post, we will explore some of the most compelling use cases of low-code platforms across various sectors. We will also try to understand how enterprises are using these tools to solve real-world challenges and delivering solid value beyond the marketing hype.
1. Accelerating Digital Transformation
Low-code platforms can play a crucial role in digital transformation initiatives by enabling businesses to rapidly develop and deploy digital solutions that meet their specific needs.
For example, a manufacturing firm can use a low-code platform to build a custom application that integrates with their existing systems and processes, enabling them to track inventory, manage supply chain, and optimize production in real-time.
In fact, low-code platforms are a boon for enterprises undergoing digital transformation. They enable enterprises to quickly build and deploy apps without relying heavily on IT departments or external professional developers.
For instance, a retail chain can use a low-code platform to create a custom app for inventory management that integrates seamlessly with its existing systems, significantly reducing manual labor and improving operational efficiency.
2. Rapid Prototyping and Application Development
Low-code platforms enable developers to build applications faster by reducing the amount of manual coding required. Pre-built templates, reusable components, and visual workflows allow developers to focus on the unique requirements of their applications, rather than reinventing the wheel.
For startups and businesses looking to test new ideas quickly, low-code platforms are turning out to be game-changers. They can quickly build and iterate prototypes, reducing the time and cost associated with traditional development. This agility helps in validating concepts and getting to market faster. For instance, a development team can use a low-code platform to build a custom CRM system in a matter of weeks, rather than months.
These low-code platforms are increasingly transforming the education sector by enabling faster application development and deployment of educational tools and applications. Many educational institutions have leveraged low-code platform’s capabilities to build robust solutions aptly serving their needs.
The most common use-cases of low-code in education sector include: Student & Staff Portals, Interactive Learning Management Systems (LMS), Assessment & Grading tools, Language Leaning Apps, Personalized leaning pathways & so forth.
3. Automating Business Processes
Automating repetitive and mundane tasks is one of the key benefits of low-code platforms. From HR onboarding to financial reporting, these robust tools help in creating workflows that reduce human error and save time. For example, a finance department can use a low-code platform to automate the creation of reports, freeing up staff to focus on more strategic tasks such as forecasting and analysis.
By automating repetitive processes and providing access to real-time data, low-code platforms can significantly boost employee productivity. For example, a field service company can equip its technicians with a low-code built app that provides them with all the necessary information for a job, including customer history and inventory status, reducing the time spent on administrative tasks.
Low-code platforms can automate business processes by providing a visual interface for designing workflows, integrating with external systems, and triggering actions based on specific events. For example, a healthcare provider can use a low-code platform to automate the patient registration process, reducing manual data entry and improving patient experience.
3.1 Process Automation at Scale
Perhaps the most widespread adoption of low-code platforms has been in business process automation. A Financial services giant has implemented a low-code solution to streamline their loan application process, reducing the processing time from weeks to days. The platform they chose enabled business analysts to map complex workflows visually and implement changes rapidly as regulations evolved; all without deep coding knowledge.
Similarly, many manufacturing companies have deployed low-code platforms to digitize factory floor operations, connecting IoT devices and legacy systems through intuitive interfaces. This has allowed production managers to create real-time monitoring dashboards and automated alerts without relying heavily on IT departments.
3.2 Hyper-Automation Leveraging Low-Code as the Development Accelerator
Hyper-automation represents an advanced form of automation that combines various technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and robotic process automation (RPA), to automate complex processes and decisions across multiple systems. It enables enterprises to achieve higher levels of automation by automating both repetitive & cognitive tasks, which were beyond the capabilities of the traditional automation tools earlier.
Low-code platforms are acting as a catalyst for hyper-automation by providing a user-friendly and accessible environment for automation development. Hyper-automation is evolving beyond traditional automation by leveraging low-code platforms as critical development accelerators. Both low-code and hyper-automation share a symbiotic relationship where each strengthens the other. This relationship is transforming how enterprises approach digital transformation initiatives & creating a positive feedback loop where automation capabilities expand, generating more use cases and opportunities together.
A major insurance company has successfully implemented a comprehensive hyper-automation strategy using a low-code platform combining; Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), RPA, AI/ML, & API Integrations to resolve the challenges it faced with its claims processing workflow. The solution’s success has led to expansion into other key business areas like underwriting & policy management as well.
4. AI and Machine Learning Integration
As AI and machine learning become more accessible, low-code platforms are providing the means to integrate these advanced technologies into everyday applications. Enterprises can now build intelligent systems that automate decision-making processes without the need for extensive data science expertise. An example is a customer service chatbot that learns from interactions to provide better responses over time.
4.1 IOT and Data Integration
The Internet of Things (IoT) is generating vast amounts of data that can be harnessed for insights and automation. Low-code platforms make it easy to connect IoT devices with back-end systems, enabling real-time data analysis and decision-making. For instance, a manufacturer can use a low-code platform to monitor and maintain equipment, predicting maintenance needs and optimizing production.
With IoT, a smart city municipality can use a low-code platform to build a custom application that integrates with sensors and devices, enabling them to monitor traffic, weather, and other environmental factors in real-time.
5. Enhancing Customer Experience
In today’s highly competitive market, customer experience ranks at the top. Low-code platforms enable businesses to create personalized, omnichannel experiences without extensive coding.
A restaurant could build a mobile app for ordering and table management, integrating it with its CRM to offer tailored promotions to repeat customers. This not only improves the customer experience, but also streamlines operations and increases revenue.
6. Citizen Development
Low-code platforms empower non-technical users, also known as “citizen developers,” to create their apps using intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-built templates. This democratization of app development enables business users to solve their problems independently, without relying on IT resources. For example, a marketing team can quickly create a landing page, or a sales team can build a custom dashboard to track their performance metrics. A marketing team can also create to create a simple event registration app, without needing to involve IT resources using a low-code platform.
By fostering a culture of citizen development, where non-technical staff can also build apps, low-code platforms not only reduce the burden on IT departments but also encourage innovation and collaboration between teams across the organization.
6.1 Empowering Business Users
Perhaps the most transformative aspect of low-code platforms has been their ability to empower non-technical employees. A noted Insurance company is known to have established a “citizen developer” program that trains business users to build their own applications using low-code tools. This approach has resulted in hundreds of department-specific applications that would have never made it onto the IT department’s priority list.
At a pharmaceutical giant, research teams use low-code platforms to create custom data visualization tools and research management applications that precisely match their workflows—without waiting for specialized development resources.
7. Modernizing Legacy Systems
Low-code platforms can help organizations modernize their legacy systems by providing a layer of abstraction over the inherent technology. This enables developers to build new applications that leverage the functionality of legacy systems, without having to deal with the complexity of the underlying code. For example, a financial institution can use a low-code platform to build a modern web application that integrates with their legacy mainframe systems.
Rather than replacing expensive and complex legacy systems, low-code platforms can be used to create modern interfaces or integrate new functionalities. This approach allows businesses to extend the life of their investments and avoid costly and risky system overhauls.
For instance, a healthcare provider could use a low-code platform to build a patient portal that interacts with their existing medical record system, offering patients a user-friendly way to access their health information.
8. Building Internal Tools and Solutions
Many enterprises have unique processes and requirements that aren’t satisfactorily met by off-the-shelf software. Low-code platforms empower business users to create tailored solutions that address specific needs. A sales team can develop a custom app to manage leads and track customer interactions, improving collaboration and closing deals more effectively.
Beyond internal processes, enterprises are increasingly using low-code platforms to build customer-facing applications. Using a low-code platform, a global healthcare provider has developed a patient engagement portal allowing patients to schedule appointments, access medical records, and communicate with healthcare providers—all integrated with their existing systems.
Wrapping Up – Low Code is here to Stay
Beyond the hype, low-code platforms are delivering significant benefits to businesses across various industries. They are offering a range of real-world use cases that often deliver substantial business value for diverse enterprises across the world. However, they are not a panacea for every application development challenge, but are proving to be a valuable addition to the modern IT toolkit.
By enabling rapid application development, business process automation, legacy systems modernization, fostering innovation, and increasing productivity, these platforms are reshaping how we think about software creation. While these success stories are compelling, they don’t mean low-code platforms have eliminated the need for traditional development. Most enterprises find the greatest success with a balanced approach: using low-code for business-process applications, customer-facing portals, and departmental tools, while reserving traditional development for complex systems and core infrastructure.
As low-code platforms continue to evolve and mature, the lines between traditional development and low-code approaches will likely blur further. The real-world use cases highlighted above demonstrate that low-code is not just a fad but a practical solution that is here to stay. As more enterprises recognize the value in these tools, we can expect to see an increasing number of successful low-code implementations that drive meaningful change and growth.
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