Key Objectives:
Low Code = a quicker and better way to build apps
IT Professionals should work with Shadow IT and Citizen Developers
Improved relationships
Better results for the organization
When it comes to enterprise digital transformation, IT is in the cross-hairs. IT is expected to deliver complex, innovative solutions faster than ever — and yet budgets frequently aren’t increased. As a recent Gartner report, Architecting Low-Code Cloud Applications With High-Productivity aPaaS, puts it: “Solutions are expected to be delivered without increasing budgets, while at the same time, the organization's application portfolio is growing and diversifying more than it ever has. Enterprise application teams already have a backlog of projects, pent-up demand and business end users being underserved by IT. This requires application development teams to change their development processes and find alternative tooling and platforms to help deliver these solutions.”
HPPaaS is a cloud-based platform that speeds up and simplifies application delivery by letting professional developers as well as business experts build applications by writing little or no code.
Fill talent gaps where there is a scarcity of professional developers available
Relieve professional developer staff of mundane work
Pull "shadow IT" into enlightened IT governance
Increase professional developer productivity by enabling application development self-service for citizen developers
found the number one reason is to improve productivity, cited by 58 percent of respondents. Next came “reduced to market” and “improve business process automation,” cited by 47 percent of respondents. And after that, 29 percent wanted to “improve the application end-user experience.”
The way in which applications are written needs to change as well: “Solution development practices should not harbor old distinctions between business and IT. Instead, solution experimentation and creation should engage all individuals as part of inflow business innovation. This will allow your organization to continuously explore and adapt based on an informed improvisation.
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1. Very little remaining budget / resources for new initiatives
2. Need apps now as have to do more, often with less
3. Do not follow standards or procedures
4. IT always says ‘No’ to new development
THE GOOD
Departments have critical requirements to improve their business processes that IT are not delivering
The key stakeholders are those doing the app development so not the usual disconnect between IT and the departments
It has a huge backlog and won’t even consider departmental apps for at best months but generally years
THE BAD
The apps built by Shadow IT generally don’t follow any standards, especially not the standards defined by IT
The apps are built-in complete isolation (data silos) from corporate apps and it is often very difficult to get core data in or get relevant data out
Different departments often build *very* similar apps and maintain similar data sets = 5 versions of Customers … no one app is the master record
THE UGLY
What happens when the developer leaves? Who will be able to maintain it or enhance it going forward?
The tool selected is often a personal preference of the developer or department manager and may not be suitable for the intended purpose
If the departmental app becomes popular, Shadow IT have huge difficulties managing and maintaining it so want to make it IT’s problem How is IT supposed to maintain an app that has no requirements defined, no documentation, no testing, … and in a tool they have no experience with?
Key objective is to ensure that production apps continue to run optimally
Not encumbered supporting legacy apps and legacy development practices Build smaller apps, generally not enterprise wide – deliver as often as possible Work hand-in-hand with departments (and their Shadow IT) Utilize Low-Code Frameworks to improve ROI with limited budget / resources to develop with appropriate quality
This definition draws the distinction between ‘low-code’ and ‘no-code’.
No code = zero hand-coding and limited functionality (limited to the features provided by the tool).
The other end of the spectrum is full control (think 3GL) where developers hand-code everything.
Easy to learn (Not overly complex) Quickly convert concepts into working apps Can often run on multiple platforms (desktop, tablets, mobile)
Fast to develop apps Drag and drop development Pre-built feature functions Simple to deploy
Framework provides the underlying infrastructure such as security, data access, etc, so developers concentrate on building the apps
Can readily extend using 3GL languages such as JS, HTML, CSS, SQL and PL/SQL to meet more complex requirements
1.
Very rapidly build Proof of Concepts
Build professional apps quicker
Go from prototype to production in weeks not months
Extend apps using JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL, PL/SQL
2.
Standardize their internal development practices using low-code
Use tooling approved and managed by IT
Can utilize apps / components developed by IT or other departments
3.
Generally have some experience with data manipulation and can learn to develop with low-code
Know their own requirements
Do the ground work to be ready for other departments / citizen developers to start developing apps
IT has to reach out to the other departments and sell them on the benefits of adopting the low-code framework rather than doing their own thing
Not everyone has the aptitude to be a citizen developer, but given the right tools and guidance many will quickly become very adept at developing apps
Low-code presents a win-win for departments and IT.
IT implementing Bi-Modal IT
Much better for the whole organization to be learning the same platform
Departments will see IT as a business partner rather than just a roadblack
No Code = Highest Productivity but least control, Can only do what platform allows … Easy but not flexible
Low Code = Very high productivity but with a much greater ability to customize (write low-level code)
Full Control = Poor productivity but can build almost anything
Some low-code tools go off the cliff…..drag and drop, but any level of customization, need your Doctorate degree in JavaScript programming.
That’s more code, that’s expensive to develop and maintain.
No Code Example - `Simply enter in an item and the corresponding value
Low Code Example – Enter in a simple If … Then … Else statement
There are a number of features you should look for in low-code tools for both the DB and the apps they deliver
There are a number of Low Code tools in the marketplace …
Oracle offers both Oracle APEX and VBCS
APEX = Data First
VBCS = API First
Most commonly compared to OutSystems, Mendix and Salesforce
Go from idea to production in days not weeks or months
Step 1 – Develop your Database Objects
Step 2 – Develop your apps directly on top of the DB Objects
Step 3 – Deploy the app
Simple yet exceedingly performant architecture as all data processing done directly in the DB.
Why ship 1,000s of records to the mid-tier to manipulate the data up there, when it can be done much faster in the DB
These are the primary URLs you need to get more information on Oracle Application Express!
