​The Low Code Sweet Spot

We get it. You work hard, you play hard. Time is valuable, and we’re already burning daylight people. Hell, you probably don’t even have time to read this blog post. But you should, so we’ll keep this short.

Now perhaps more than ever, your team needs to be both quick and excellent. Speed and quality, without shortcuts. And that is exactly where Low-code platforms come in. 

Let’s say that in order to remain competitive, you need to alter how you order, manufacture, process, and sell. Not next year; now. With Low-code platforms such as Claris Filemaker, Appian, PowerApps, Mendix, or Spring Boot you can pivot within hours or days instead of weeks and months (and at a fraction of the cost). You can deploy a fully featured cloud tool across all devices promptly and cheaply. 

The Good
Low-code platforms occupy the sweet spot between No-code solutions (drag and drop, instant tools, cheap, limited scope), and High-code solutions (hand coding, long development window, expensive, unlimited scope). They are the perfect solution when budgets are tight, and time is limited. And to be honest, for most businesses they’re the perfect solution regardless of constraints. Basically if your team is smaller than 100 people, you don’t need Salesforce or Oracle. Filemaker or Zoho will work perfectly and save you a ton of money.

The Bad
There’s always a trade off. Low-code alternatives are powerful, cheap(er), and quick, but…. if your project ever truly scales up, you might find yourself running into walls. That’s not a good thing. Fortunately low-code platforms continue to grow in capability while retaining ease of use. Still, if you expect your user and data needs to grow exponentially to tens of thousands of users, then low-code solutions are not for you.

Insider Tip
No matter how much they promote that even non-coders can set this up (they’re referred to as ‘citizen coders’ or ‘business coders’), it certainly helps if you have some real coders handy, cause then they can make these platforms truly fly. Having a hammer does not mean you’re a carpenter. Ditto for software tools. Get the best of both worlds: pick a low-code platform and also find an expert. You will still reap the rewards of a low-code platform, and also get the enhanced wizardry that will that coders can bring to your team. 

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Dirk Reynolds // ZWARM Intelligence // Tech Whisperer
Dirk is a founding Geeksharks member. For his day job he runs ZWARM Intelligence, a California based firm that provides its clients with custom Filemaker (Claris) solutions, websites, marketing/design campaigns, and comprehensive tech strategy tailored to small- and medium-sized businesses in Europe and the US