Looking to choose the right no-code/low-code platform? With an estimated 300 vendors selling the systems, it can be tough to do. But help is on the way.
Tips for Selecting the Right No-Code or Low-Code Software
The article, “7 keys to selecting a low-code platform” offers a lot of great hands-on advice. Here’s a helpful summary of the suggestions. Here we review the suggestions and add our own advice.
1) Consider Multiple App Use Cases
First, it recommends, “Identify and evaluate multiple use cases.” The article explains, “It’s important to consider multiple app dev needs and use cases when researching and testing low-code platforms. Most importantly, discover what the platform cannot do or cannot do easily and gain a sense of its scope, strengths, and weaknesses. Selecting a low-code approach because it works well for one use case is no guarantee that it’s an optimal standard for ongoing needs.”
2) Determine Who Will Design and Develop the App(s)
You should also “identify who will design, develop, and maintain the applications.” Will it be for citizen developers or professional developers? Will it be for both? Once you’ve determined that, engage them in the selection process so that you choose a platform everyone will buy into.
3) Degine Usage Requirements and Expected Expenses
Next, “Define usage requirements and estimate pricing.” Determine how much the platform will be used, and get a sense of how much it will cost on an ongoing basis. Find out whether costs will be based on the number of end-users, the number of applications built, or some other method. Then estimate your costs. However, it warns, “don’t fall into the trap of evaluating low-code platforms just on price. Ultimately, these platforms have to enable delightful experiences, development productivity, and robust operational capabilities.”
4) Assess Platform Integration Capabilities Against Your Needs
Make sure to check out the platform’s integration capabilities and requirements. You’ll likely need to tap into multiple data sources and integrate with other applications, platforms, APIs, and the cloud and cloud-based applications. Take the extra time to take a deep dive. Just because a platform says it’s got an API doesn’t mean it’s easy to use or will do everything you need.
5) Review Hosting, DevOps and Data Governance Options
Next, “review hosting, DevOps, and governance options.” How well will it work with DevOps? What kind of hosting is required --- cloud-based, on-premise or a hybrid of the two? Keep in mind that many no-code/low-code platforms aren’t necessarily as flexible as Java, .NET, or JavaScript DevOps capabilities.
6) Evaluate Citizen Development Options
The article also recommends, “review the platform’s citizen development governance options if you plan to empower people in business units to build and support applications.”
7) Check Compliance and Security Requirements
Finally, you need to understand platforms’ compliance and security requirements. For example, if you’re going to develop applications that require HIPAA requirements, make sure the platform can meet all of them easily. And, it warns, “you’ll want to understand how the low-code platform handles role-based administration, data masking, and other security considerations.”
Choose the Best No-Code/Low-Code Platform
The Alpha Anywhere low-code app development platform is designed for application developers in any industry. Key features include robust offline capabilities, rich data integration (API) and full-stack development. Developers can create data-driven applications that integrate with existing systems of record and workflows. Users can also validate data entries against offline and online databases, trigger email reports and SMS texts, generate custom reports and more. Developers can also include additional security or authentication requirements to protect corporate data.
Alpha Anywhere can either be deployed on-premise, hosted in the cloud or accessed via mobile devices. It also supports integration and real-time data exchange with connectors, webhooks and features a custom application program interface (API). This low-code software is offered free to developers.
Alpha Software also offers the Alpha TransForm no-code app builder (Alpha TransForm) for business users that integrates with Alpha Anywhere to speed digital transformation. Learn how we're helping more employees become citizen developers.
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