The Rise Of Low/No Code Automation
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Progress continually moves our world towards accessibility and ease. Website building platforms, customizable home screens, ChatGPT; technology is getting easier to use, meaning that more and more people can bring change to their work, play, and the world at large.
One increasingly popular example of this is low and no-code automation. These advancements allow users to create applications and automated processes without having to write code.
Learning how to code is complicated and time-consuming, but reaping the benefits of automation without worrying about your team learning what is essentially a new language can free up your business to make progress toward digitization.
Low-Code / No-Code Automation Explained
No-code automation is a technology that enables users to create applications, processes, and workflows without writing code. It is designed to be user-friendly and easy to use, allowing even those with no technical knowledge or coding experience to set up processes.
This helps to speed up the development process and makes it easier for businesses to achieve their goals quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. The rise in no-code automation has made it possible for businesses, professionals, and entrepreneurs of all levels to bring their ideas to life.
Low-code automation is a step up from no-code automation. It provides a more flexible platform, allowing users to create more complex applications and processes without having to write code.
Low-code automation also offers more features and capabilities than no-code automation, allowing users to integrate their workflows with existing applications and databases, create custom user interfaces, and manage their applications with greater control. Low-code automation is the perfect solution for companies that want to automate their processes but don’t have the resources or knowledge to build their custom applications.
In years past, automation was only achievable by writing code. This was a lengthy process and took significant technical knowledge to do properly. The rise of this user-friendly automation has made it infinitely easier.
It’s not only simpler to pick up, but it also allows users to create complex applications and processes faster than traditional coding ever could. This means that businesses can quickly implement changes, enabling them to move forward with projects and ideas more quickly, easily, and cost-effectively.
The Role of No-Code Automation in Digital Transformation
As companies create strategies for digital transformation, a few clear challenges present themselves. One of the most pervasive issues is the lack of skill within their workforce. Sure, members of your IT and development team may be well-versed in coding and digitization, but what about your marketing team?
Low-code and no-code automation has become a popular and easy way to bridge the gap between the technical and non-technical members of your company. It also allows companies to fill in the gaps left by worker shortages.
For example, true digital transformation usually requires a shift to data-driven decision-making. If during brainstorming, a project manager wanted to properly integrate data from Survey Monkey, Smartsheet, or even LinkedIn, they would need to bring in the IT team.
With no-code embedding, Stormboard users are able to quickly and easily include external data points in their brainstorming. Better yet, with instant automation, any changes made within the storm are updated within the other software programs. This makes automation, integration, and innovation that much easier for any member of your team.
Other benefits of introducing no-code automation to your workflows include
Increasing Agility - No-code and low-code automation are designed to be flexible and adaptable to changing demands. Companies can quickly and easily adjust their workflows as business needs evolve, and implement the iterative testing required for the Agile business model.
Creating Personalized Workflows - With no-code automation, companies can create and customize their own workflows that are tailored to the needs, skills, and abilities of their employees.
Getting Everyone Involved - When employees don't understand the changes and automation that are being introduced, they're likely to push back. Bringing them onto the ground floor combats this resistance.
Reducing Security Risks - With no-code automation, the risk of data breaches, malicious attacks, and other security risks is greatly reduced. Centralized IT, automated testing, and easy tracking through development work together to ensure any security issues are caught and solved early on.
Reducing Costs - No-code and low-code automation solutions are generally more cost effective than traditional coding solutions. This is because the development process is more efficient, and the need for manual coding is eliminated.
Digital Transformation is complex and can be overwhelming for teams without much digital experience. With the help of low-code and no-code automation, companies can reduce the barriers to digital transformation.
Getting Started With Low and No-Code Automation
As with any digital transformation initiative, having a solid plan is essential to implementing low and no-code automation. Ensure that every stakeholder is brought along for the discussion, as you never know where a good idea might come from.
Step One: Identify Pain Points
Before you can begin introducing any kind of automation, you need to identify the pain points in your organization. These can include manual processes that are taking too long or processes that require too much manual input.
Knowing where you're having trouble will give your efforts direction. Digitization for digitization's sake is almost always going to fail, and your team is more likely to get excited about a change when they see exactly how it will improve their day-to-day operations.
Step Two: Selecting The Right Tools
Once you've identified the areas where low and no-code automation can help, it's time to select the right tools for the job. While there are many different solutions available, you'll want to focus on those that are specifically designed for low and no-code automation.
These solutions should provide a platform for creating automated processes quickly and easily. They should also be user-friendly, so your team can learn how to use them with minimal effort. Some things to keep in mind are
Integration - How well will the tool fit into your current workflow? Is it compatible with the tools your team is already familiar with?
Usability - Does it have a user-friendly interface? Is it intuitive to use?
Support - Does the vendor provide good customer support? Are there regular updates and bug fixes?
Once you've landed on what tool - or group of tools - you're going to use, it's time for step three.
Step Three: Designing Automated Processes
Now that you have the right tools, it's time to start designing your automated processes. This involves mapping out the individual steps of the process and creating a flow chart that illustrates how each step interacts with one another.
It's important to take the time to think through each step of the process and make sure that it's as efficient as possible. Ask yourself questions like "Is this really necessary?" or "Can this be done more quickly?".
You should also consider automating mundane tasks that currently require manual input. For example, if your team is manually entering data into a spreadsheet, consider automating the process, so they can focus on more important tasks.
Step Four: Integration With Other Systems
Once your automated processes are designed, you need to integrate them with other systems. This is where a low-code or no-code platform can help. These platforms allow you to quickly and easily integrate your automated processes with existing systems without needing to write code.
Integrating your automated processes with other systems allows you to make data-driven decisions and better measure the success of your processes.
The Bottom Line
Low-code and no-code automation are powerful tools to help streamline processes and improve efficiency. With their simplicity and user-friendly design, they can help launch your team into digitization with ease.
As the only data-first collaboration and digital whiteboard platform available today, Stormboard appreciates how important data is to your organization. With purpose-built workflow integrations into programs like Jira, Microsoft Office, and Google Drive, we connect your teams to the tools they rely on the most.
Stormboard’s data access integrations go well beyond hard-coded integrations as well. We provide dozens of no-code integration options into tools ranging from desing platforms & critical databases to weather apps & maps for a truly data-centric workspace, no matter what your goal is.
About the author:
A programmer by trade, Nick Saraev is a freelance writer and entrepreneur with a penchant for helping people excel in their careers. He's been featured on Popular Mechanics & Apple News, and has founded several successful companies in e-commerce, marketing, and artificial intelligence. When he's not working on his latest project, you can find him hiking or painting.
