Why businesses need Low code ERP’s

You might already know about the lifecycle of technology.

 

 

Let’s think about where Enterprise Resource Planning, or ERP systems, fit into this cycle. For that, let’s step back and look at the history of ERP systems. They started in the 1960s, more for academic interest than for use in businesses. In the 1990s and 2000s, they became very popular in the business world.  But, by the early 2010s, people started to see big problems. Companies realized that managing an ERP system was more than just buying the newest technology. By the late 2010s and early 2020s, how people saw ERPs had changed a lot. 

What used to be seen as helpful for business became a big challenge. ERP companies faced tough questions from customers. Some businesses even had major problems because their ERP systems didn’t fit well with the way modern businesses work.

  • Mission Produce (2021) found itself in a tough spot when its ERP couldn’t accurately track avocado ripeness and stock levels. This led to a staggering $22.2 million loss in profits due to excess waste and operational issues.
  • Invacare (2021) saw their ERP upgrade bring more pain than gain. The upgrade disrupted their online ordering and money collection. This caused such severe problems that they had to halt the project and change their leadership team, all while incurring ongoing costs.
  • Ranpak (2022) implemented their ERP on schedule and within budget, but still suffered a $5 million profit loss. The new system’s teething problems couldn’t have come at a worse time, as global events demanded quick pricing adjustments that just weren’t possible.

So it’s clear: the industry is becoming a bit disenchanted with ERPs. 

These examples also highlight a crucial dilemma for CTOs: Should ERP systems serve the business, or should the business be forced to adapt to the ERP?

Before we get into the specific problems of traditional ERPs, we need to understand why so many organizations wanted to invest in ERPs, what they thought they’d get out of them, and what actually happened. 

The Decline of the Old School ERP

SAP, a leader in ERP systems, has its own way of explaining what an ERP is.

But let’s step aside the technicalities, and address the business side first. 

Why Do Organizations Need an ERP?

Organizations need an ERP for a few main reasons:

  1. Keeping Track of Resources: It’s important to know what resources you have.
  2. Organizing Workflows Digitally: Having your workflows in digital form helps make things run smoother.
  3. Making Decisions Based on Data: Using data to make decisions is better than just going with a gut feeling.

When ERPs started in the 1960s, they mainly focused on finance and accounting. Even in the 1980s and 1990s, big industries like large manufacturing were the main users. Over time, ERP systems grew to include things like purchasing, sales, material planning, and inventory. They even added functions like HR and CRM later.

But, these systems have mostly stayed popular only with big players. There haven’t been many changes to make them fit well for smaller businesses or the newer types of businesses that aren’t about traditional manufacturing. And that’s where the decline is rooted. 

What Went Wrong with Traditional ERPs?

Essentially, as the business environment demanded more flexibility, ERPs became stifling. These are the three major issues that modern businesses face with ERPs. 

  1. Too Slow and Costly: Traditional ERPs are often seen as too slow and expensive for today’s fast-moving businesses.
  2. Not a Good Fit for All Businesses: Many modern businesses, especially those in consumer sectors, find ERPs too cumbersome or not very useful, especially if they don’t have their own inventory or factories.
  3. More Than Just Digitizing: Nowadays, businesses want their tech to do more than just put things online. They expect things like:
    • Being able to work well on mobile devices and different channels.
    • Getting the right information easily to make better decisions.
    • Helping employees work better and more productively.

Can ERPs Meet the Demands of Modern Business?

ERP vendors have scrambled to create add-ons, bundles, and new products to meet these evolving needs, but the tide is proving difficult to turn. They’re struggling to keep up with what businesses now want.

According to analyst firm Gartner, between 55% to 75% of all ERP projects do not achieve their intended objectives. 

A Deloitte survey sheds light on the potential reasons, identifying the top ten barriers to successful ERP implementation.

                                                                      Source: Deloitte

But this raises a crucial question for you as a CTO: Shouldn’t an ERP work for you, rather than the other way around?  Why should the burden of managing change fall on you when your business is already successful and you’re seeking to enhance growth with technology? The promise of ‘growing faster’ shouldn’t morph into a mandate for you to change. 

It’s precisely this issue that is leading many organizations to reconsider ERP systems and look for alternatives that align better with their growth and operational dynamics. This shift often involves using SaaS (Software as a Service) applications, which we’ll talk about next. 

Promises of Saas

It’s become a popular choice for businesses to use different SaaS (Software as a Service) applications for various functions. These applications are quick to set up, sometimes in just a few hours or days. This makes them very attractive. 

In today’s fast-paced environment, businesses must keep up with competitors and are quick to offload tasks to specialized vendors. Think about it: wouldn’t a CTO prefer a solution that’s fast and specific to a certain need rather than looking at the entire organization’s tech needs? While the approach seems promising, it’s not without risks. 

The Problems with SaaS

However, this approach isn’t perfect. What are the downsides?

  1. Employees often find themselves juggling multiple systems. 
  2. With different apps for different tasks, teams can end up working in isolation. This makes it hard to work together efficiently.
  3. These systems start to seem fast and user-friendly. But as they become more intertwined, the promised speed and ease of use can decrease. This defeats the purpose.
  4. Maintaining many SaaS subscriptions can become expensive. It’s a financial burden in the long run.
  5. Eventually, you might find your tech landscape is a mix of numerous SaaS products, manual steps, and temporary fixes. How sustainable is this?

So, if the goal is to avoid the constraints of a big ERP project, is loading up on SaaS apps the answer? It seems like this approach, while initially attractive, might lead to more complexity, not less.

Isn’t there a middle ground? A solution that combines the best of both worlds – the structure of an ERP and the flexibility of SaaS? In the next section, we’ll learn about this balanced solution. 

Low-Code ERPs: Bridging the Best of Both Worlds

The Philosophy Behind Low-Code

We’ve seen that traditional ERPs are too rigid and a mix of SaaS applications is too scattered. So, what’s the ideal solution? It’s about blending the best parts of ERPs and SaaS. This means rethinking and redesigning ERP systems. We need a digital solution that suits businesses of all sizes. This is where low-code platforms step in as the modern solution for ERPs.

Why Low-Code Stands Out

Low-code platforms differ from traditional systems in several key ways:

  1. Simplicity in Design: Low-code platforms use ready-made components and app templates. Why start from scratch when you can use something that’s already been tested and proven?
  2. One Platform for Everything: Imagine having almost every part of your business on a single platform. That’s what low-code offers, unlike the disconnected nature of multiple SaaS solutions.
  3. Flexibility and Choice: With Low-Code, you can set up a variety of applications, tailored specifically for your business needs. 
  4. Easy Connections: These platforms integrate easily with other software systems, keeping your workflow smooth and connected.
  5. Grow as You Go: Start small and expand as your business grows. Isn’t it great to have a system that grows with you, without the headaches of buying into a massive ERP project, or spreading yourself thin with too many SaaS applications?

There’s a caveat though: a development platform has to be truly low-code, for these promises to be realized. The market is saturated with platforms that claim to be low-code, but are merely high-code (where a dev team codes the application line by line), but with another layer of configurations, which create the illusion of low-code. 

So, at this stage, your question becomes: where’s the low-code platform on which the ERP of today can be built?

Introducing Amoga: A Low-Code Platform For The Business of Today

When creating Amoga, we were driven by one vision: to build a system that brings the power of Low-Code to traditional business software. We knew that businesses wanted a better ERP, and they’d happily give up the option of stitching together dozens of SaaS tools as a replacement.

The answer was obvious: A Low-Code ERP.

How Low-Code ERP Excels Over Traditional and SaaS Options:

Our low-code ERP system is built on five foundational pillars.

  1. No more juggling multiple SaaS vendors – everything should be under one roof.
  2. Users should be able to quickly build in the app using a simple interface with templates and connectors.
  3. Tasks that took a month should now only take three days.
  4. What used to cost $1000 should now cost just $250.
  5. The ERP should be so user-friendly that everyone feels like they can customize it to work smarter and faster.

With these pillars to stand, you get  a low-code ERP that can accelerate every task for every user, across crucial business areas:

  • Sales and Order Management: Streamline sales with easy-to-use modules for orders, customer management, and invoicing. 
  • Inventory and Materials: Manage procurement and inventory effectively. 
  • Vendor Management: Keep track of supplier performance. 
  • Analytics and Reporting: Access real-time insights for smarter decisions. 
  • Human Resources and Workforce Management: Efficiently handle recruitment, payroll, training, and performance evaluations.

This is what Amoga’s low-code ERP offers. To understand it, you have to forget the ERP of the past.  It’s not the ‘backend’ or a ‘record-keeping system’. 

We built it on the pillars of:

Mobile-first design: Everyone in your organization can work seamlessly from anywhere, on any device, at their peak potential.

Omnichannel experience: You can stay relevant for every touchpoint that matters to your customers.

API-driven integrations: You break down silos and build a system of open collaboration between all digital power centres.

Citizen developer empowerment: Anyone can build custom applications and workflows and make technology the 10x multiplier for their work.

Future-ready: You can quickly experiment with new ideas, for instance, generative AI. 

Essentially, Amoga’s low-code ERP is about making every part of your operation more efficient, more responsive, and more in tune with today’s fast-paced business environment. Isn’t it time your business had an ERP that doesn’t just keep up but leads the way?

Book a demo with us to know more.

 

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CRM Dilemma : Choosing between In-house and Off the shelf CRM Solutions

It’s that exciting time. Your business has outgrown the humble spreadsheet, and it’s time for something more substantial. A proper CRM system. And that’s when the big question pops up: Do we build it ourselves, or go with a standard option?

The idea of a custom-built CRM can sound pretty tempting. A system with every feature you need, none that you don’t, perfectly aligned with how your team sells. The promise is alluring: total alignment with your business processes, a perfect fit. It’s like getting a suit tailored just for you, right?

But the truth is — too many companies get burned by going the in-house route. Here’s how it usually goes down:

1. The excitement phase

Everyone’s pumped about getting a CRM that’s “just right” for their unique needs. Developers are ready to roll up their sleeves, sales and support have been promised everything they need, and you’re happy that you’re getting software that understands your business. Nothing wrong with the intent and approach.

2. The reality check

Turns out, that building a CRM from scratch is way more complex than anyone anticipated. There are endless requests from different teams. Development struggles to keep up with the pace of business.  Features get delayed, bugs pop up, and frustration starts to build.

3. The rift

A gap forms between the tech team and the business folks. Fingers start pointing, and communication breaks down. Marketing teams often found themselves starved of data. Salespeople juggle multiple sources to piece together their revenue figures. And customer service departments are stranded without tools to automate processes and gauge their capacity.

4. The regret

Companies realize they’ve poured a ton of time, money, and energy into a system that’s just not delivering. They start to wonder why they didn’t go with a proven, off-the-shelf solution in the first place.

 

Actually, most of the challenges with in-house CRMs aren’t about lack of effort or talent. They’re about the inherent limitations of building something from scratch. The problem is, that businesses want to move fast, and development can’t keep up. Even with agile methodologies, delivering a good product takes time, and that’s often ignored.

The gap between business stakeholders and the IT department widens, and it’s a recipe for disaster. New users might find themselves at a loss, trying to navigate a system without guidance. That’s because, with in-house, you never get a library of tutorial videos or extensive user support. It’s a nightmare, and it’s not the developers’ fault. They’re skilled and try hard, but they can’t keep up with the ever-changing demands of the business.

Why does this happen?

The failure of in-house CRMs is not a new problem. It’s been spoken and written about since the early 1990s. You’ll find report summaries pertaining to CRM failure, handily summarized, in Salesforce’s excellent editorial on ‘Why do CRM projects fail.’

Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the often-quoted figures around failures of CRM projects.

  • Gartner Group (2001): They estimated a 50% + CRM failure rate.
  • Butler Group (2002): Their estimate was a 70% failure rate.
  • Selling Power (2002): Their CSO Forum reported a 69.3% failure rate.
  • AMR Research (2005 – 2006): They reported fluctuating estimates over several years, ranging from 18% to 31%.
  • Forrester Research (2009): Their estimate was 47%.
  • VentureBeat (2015): They reported a 70% failure rate.
  • DMN News (2016): Their research found estimates as high as 63% failure rate.

So it’s nothing new to say that CRM projects fail. We’re asking a more nuanced question here. Why do in-house CRMs often turn out to be a mess? It’s not like your technical team didn’t try their best. They probably did, but there are some fundamental reasons why things go wrong.

First, let’s talk about the initial excitement. Your team was thrilled to start building a custom CRM. They were eager to make it perfect, with all the bells and whistles. But, they didn’t take into account the future. That’s where the trouble starts.

When new requirements come up – and they always do – it’s hard to fit them into the existing structure. Your team starts to patch things up. They add quick fixes and workarounds. But, that’s not a sustainable solution. It’s like putting a band-aid on a deep wound. Pretty soon, the code becomes a mess. No one knows where to start or how to untangle it. It’s a nightmare. And, that’s not all. As time goes on, your team becomes more and more cautious. They’re scared to make changes because they don’t want to break anything.

Eventually, the technical team becomes a shared service role rather than a business partner. You’ll always hear them explaining why ‘this feature can’t be built’ and why ‘they can’t guarantee whether it’ll work’ and why ‘this needs another couple of months’. They’re not able to innovate or help the business grow. They’re just trying to keep their heads above water. It’s sad and strange.

Companies pour time and money into creating something that, frankly, has been done before – and often better. It’s worth considering that some software developers (particularly when you outsource your in-house CRM development) might base your custom CRM on an existing market solution. If that’s the case, why not skip the middleman and choose a pre-existing product that’s already refined? Or, is the choice really this simple?

Standard CRMs: A problematic alternative

The perks of standard, off-the-shelf CRMs, are tempting.

  1. Standard CRMs usually are feature-rich and offer impressive UX/UI.
  2. These systems have been through rigorous testing across various industries.
  3. You get a hands-on preview of what you’re investing in.
  4. Assistance is just a call or click away.

But even rainbows have a dark side. Standard CRMs are no exception. Here’s the not-so-pretty truth:

  • One size fits… nobody perfectly

These CRMs are built for the “average” company in your industry. That means your unique quirks and workflows might get squashed into a one-size-fits-all box.

  • Bloatware

Get ready for features you’ll never use. You’ll still pay for them, and they’ll just clutter up your interface.

  • Scaling

As your needs evolve, adding new features to an off-the-shelf CRM can be a pain. These systems are often high code (traditional approach of software development).  This means you’re either dependent on the vendor’s development team or your own. As your needs evolve, the initially lower costs might escalate. So, standard CRMs are, in essence, a compromise. So, are you stuck between a rock and a hard place? Nope. There’s a middle ground, which we’ll explore in the coming section.

The need to move away from code-by-hand

We talked about the struggle of balancing a custom-built CRM with the ease of off-the-shelf options. The key is to move away from the old-school (high-code) approach. The old method of manually writing each code line is inefficient. Every line of code represents knowledge that needs constant care. Every line of code requires knowledge transfer to new employees. Every line of code can be a spanner in the works of a new feature.

The reality is that there’s a cost associated with every line of code you’re maintaining. Low-code builds a bridge, which you can walk over, and skip all this intricate code management effort. The idea is so simple, yet so powerful, that you have to see it to believe it.

Low-code CRM

When it comes to CRMs, people often think it’s a choice between in-house or off-the-shelf. But what if I told you there’s a third option? One that combines the best of both worlds. This solution seems almost too good to be true, but it’s very much real: low-code CRM.

So, what exactly is a low-code CRM? 

It’s a system designed for ease of use, allowing those with little to no coding experience to make customizations and adaptations easily. What if the perfect CRM system existed, where you could add a new feature yourself, at 25% of the price you’d pay a developer? And so quick that every user becomes an architect of their own workflow? That is a low-code CRM. 

A note of caution: Low-code has become quite the buzzword. Naturally, makers of standard CRM software want to use it too. Sadly, many vendors claim their CRM to be low-code when it actually is high-code with an added layer of GUI-based configurations. That is not the same as proper low-code. 

Low-code CRM empowers every user to think, “How can I make this CRM work faster for me?” It’ll no longer be ‘too much to ask for’ or ‘too expensive’ or ‘not a priority’. 

Amoga’s Low-Code CRM:

This is where Amoga CRM steps in. While Amoga isn’t the only low-code CRM, it’s among the few that actually deliver a low-code CRM and not a ‘high-code CRM with a few more configurations’.

When you ditch the “either-or” mentality and embrace the “both-and” power of low-code CRM, great things happen. For instance, our clients tell us that when they used Amoga’s low-code CRM, things changed. They’ll change for you too. Here’s how.

  • With Amoga’s low-code platform, you liberate your users to think like architects. They can drag-and-drop features, customize workflows, and build the perfect tool for their needs.
  • Low-Code ditches the cycle of slow bug fixes and replaces it with rapid development. Need a new report? Build it yourself, instantly. Want to tweak a sales pipeline? Drag and drop it into place. No more waiting on IT, no more costly delays.
  • Low-Code breaks down the walls between business and IT. It’s no longer a negotiation over resources; it’s a collaboration. Business users define the needs, build basic workflows, and test new features. IT, meanwhile, focuses on complex integrations, security, generative AI, and the overall technical backbone.

So, Book a Demo with Amoga to make your CRM future-ready!!

 

High-code v/s Low-code v/s No-code: Unpacked and explained

Low code

Jargon is bad for communication. But there’s one word that’s hard to avoid these days: democratization. It’s a mouthful. But unlike most buzzwords — there’s meaning in it. It captures a powerful shift happening in the world of application development.

Think back 10 years ago. Only a few groups could have their technology needs met.  In fact, a Deloitte report once claimed that business needs almost 5X the app the IT can deliver. Now, the situation is totally different.

Imagine a marketing manager. They can now ask for changes in an application used for managing campaigns, or even do it themselves. This change is big. It gives everyone (and we absolutely mean everyone) in an organization the power to create the tools they need. This brings us to “citizen development.” It’s a concept where creating applications isn’t limited to IT experts anymore. It’s for everyone.

Like citizens in a democracy, citizens in an organization enjoy the same right to great tech. To understand this evolution, we need to explore three key approaches: high-code, low-code, and no-code.

1. What is high-code development?

You’re probably familiar with high-code already. It’s the traditional way to build software. It’s like the backbone of serious, heavyweight app development.

Think of teams who code in Java, Python, or JavaScript. Setting up the right environment, picking a technology stack, ensuring the best practices – all these are part of life when your team (or vendor) is trying to build a high-code application. High-Code is perfect for highly complex enterprise apps, whether for internal use or a SaaS product.

1.1 The evolution of high-code

It’s tempting to dismiss high-code as ‘that thing they used in 2005’. That is naïve.

First –  High-Code has a place in a CTO arsenal, that no other development approach can take. You know the thrill of launching a feature-rich app with sleek UI/UX, tailored perfectly to business needs. That’s the beauty of High-Code – it gives you the freedom and capacity to create without boundaries.

Second – Over time, High-Code has become more efficient. There’s a whole arsenal out there – MVT frameworks, cloud services like Azure or AWS, and various development tools. Agile methodology has been a game-changer, helping CTOs get better results without burning out their teams.

But let’s talk about the elephant in the room.

 

                                                                                Source: Forbes

              Few have the courage to see the elephant in the room. The skill to tame it is even more rare.

1.2 The challenge of high-code

High-code can be a tough nut to crack. It’s expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes feels like moving mountains.

Ask a CTO what it feels like to be bogged down by the complexities of coding or managing a sprawling codebase. And technical debt – that’s a term we hear all too often. Over the years, high-code applications become a patchwork quilt of sorts.

Why?

Because knowledge transfer is hard. No single person understands the high-code app inside out. Bug fixes become myopic, trading speed for refinement. An immobile app forces users to find shortcuts to overcome the process gaps. Over time, high-code apps are prone to groan under the weight of hasty, myopic bug fixes. More than half the time isn’t spent untangling previous work rather than innovating.

Over time, small cracks and flaws start to show. Fixing these becomes a huge task, often bigger than building it right in the first place. For companies, technical debt slows down new developments, creates security risks, and can even lead to customer dissatisfaction. It’s like carrying a heavy backpack on a long hike – it slows you down and makes every step harder. This forces CTOs to stare right into the eye of a scary question.

1.3 Can high-code adapt to agile business needs

This is what every tech leader asks: How can we keep up with the pace of business today with High-Code? It’s a challenge when you need to be agile but are tied down by traditional coding. That’s the trade-off with High-Code. Back in the day, it was like the Ferrari of application development — if you could afford it and then maintain it. Unmatched power, unparalleled flexibility, and features that could make your competitors drool. But just like maintaining a Formula One race car — at what cost?

Again, let us not for a moment let you assume that we’re deriding high-code. It’s all we had a decade ago. But today, a CTO’s options are many. One end of the spectrum is high-code, and on the other… no-code. It’s like going from ‘maximum flexibility and very little convenience’ to ‘limited scope but absolute convenience’.

The problem is obvious: nobody wants extremes. So before we get to know ‘no-code’ better, let’s learn about the balanced approach, called ‘low-code’. 

2. What is Low-Code Development?

Low-code development rethinks traditional coding. It offers a simpler, more visual way of building applications.

How does that happen?

It’s a bit like using a mix of pre-made templates and your own custom designs to create a website. You use tools like drag-and-drop interfaces, which make the process faster and easier, but you can still add your own code for more complex features. More specifically, a user of a low-code development platform will see ‘modules’ like a drag-and-drop interface, templates, widgets, connectors, and visual workflow diagrams. They will ‘build’ the desired app, and as they use the blocks, the code is auto-generated in the backend.

2.1 Low-code is the best of both worlds

Low-code is perfect for creating business software, websites, and mobile apps. It’s simple enough for a non-techie to use, and powerful enough to even work seamlessly with any other application using APIs. It’s like having the best of both worlds — ease, and power. Users enjoy the flexibility to customize apps needed while keeping the process straightforward and accessible. But the best part about low-code is that it simply ‘abstracts’ (hides) the complications of coding, but retains the facility to let a coder jump in and make an application do anything, just like they would in a high-code platform.

Let’s understand this in more detail.

2.2 The role of citizen and low-code developer

Low-Code has given birth to two key roles in organizations: the citizen developer and the low-code developer. The citizen developer could be anyone from your team, engaging in app development. They’re not just suggesting ideas; they’re actively involved in the design and development, just because it is so easy to build an app. While any citizen developer can use a low-code development platform, there still is room for what you might call a ‘low-code app developer’. You could have them in-house. Better still, the low-code platform you choose might also offer low-code app development services, which cost 1/10th of traditional development, and are about 4 times as fast.

Consider the example of WordPress used by marketing teams. They can start with a template, making significant changes without needing technical support. But for more intricate features, they turn to a low-code developer, who combines technical expertise with a sense of design. We took the example of WordPress because it’s familiar. low-code is as good for website development as it is for building a CRM.

2.3 Low-code can do more than you think

The low-code platform of today is so powerful, it’s surprising if you’ve not tracked the evolution for even the last two years. Low-Code is reliable enough to automate entire operations, including CRM, ERP, and workflow management. It’s not just faster; it’s cost-effective too – often 10 times faster and a quarter of the cost compared to traditional coding.

If you’re thinking, ‘Hang on a minute; this is a new way of thinking about app development,’ you’re right. It’s a blend of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and business agility, of the type not known to technology leaders who never looked beyond high-code.

Now, let’s look at no-code development.

3. What is No-Code Development?

No-code is a term that rolls off the tongue. You’d be surprised how every development platform claims to be either a ‘low-code’ or a ‘no-code’ platform, which in reality is merely a high-code platform with GUI-based configurations built on top. But that’s a matter for another day. For the moment, let’s find out more about low-code.

No-code development is like using building blocks to create applications, but without needing to write any code. It’s a step beyond (not truly beyond, but let’s say it’s a step aside) low-code development, which still requires some coding.

With no code, everything is visual. You just drag and drop elements to build your app. You don’t need to know design or programming; you just pick what you need and put it together. This approach is great for simple projects like business apps, dashboards, websites, and even tools for managing calendars or reports.

3.1 Examples of no-code 

A familiar example of a no-code app that many people use is Google Forms. This tool allows users to easily create surveys, quizzes, and forms without any programming knowledge. It offers a simple drag-and-drop interface for adding questions and customizing form elements. Anybody can use it with ease. 

Another prominent example of a no-code app is Wix. It is a popular web development platform that allows users to create websites using a drag-and-drop interface, with no need for coding. It’s designed for ease of use and lets users select from a variety of templates and then customize their site with intuitive tools. 

Let’s consider another example – something more familiar. Consider MS Excel. For many, it’s a straightforward spreadsheet tool. We’d say most people think of it as a no-code tool. But it’s not. MS Excel also offers advanced features like macro writing and .NET programming, which venture into the realm of Low-Code for those who use them. This dual nature makes Excel a unique example – it’s actually low-code, but familiar to most as no-code.

3.2 Limitations of no-code

No-Code has its boundaries. These platforms excel at straightforward applications but often fall short in more complex scenarios. Teams are forced to improvise when a No-Code app doesn’t quite fit the bill. They might add manual steps or juggle between multiple tools. That’s because No-Code isn’t designed for the heavy lifting of enterprise-grade automation.

Aspects like robust security, detailed access control, and comprehensive integration – remain out of reach for most No-Code solutions. So, where does no-code find its rightful place in your app development artillery?

It shines in prototyping, building internal tools, or iterating on simple user interfaces. If that’s enough for your team, then No-Code is enough. But the question isn’t as much ‘which one to choose between high-code and low-code and no-code’ as much as it’s ‘when to use which’.

4. How to Choose Between High, Low, and No-Code?

To choose the right development path – high-code, low-code, no-code – you need a clear understanding of your project’s needs and limitations.

Ask yourself these key questions:

How complex is my project?

Choose low-code for user-specific functionalities or streamlined internal tools. High-code suits projects needing a large IT team.

What’s my development timeframe?

No-code or low-code is ideal for rapid prototypes or MVPs. High-code is better for longer, customized development.

What level of technical expertise will I need?

High-Code requires skilled developers. Low-code is suitable if you want to enable non-technical users or need a balance of skills and speed.

What is my budget?

High-Code demands more resources and investment. Low-code or no-code is more cost-effective for simpler applications or rapid prototyping.

Will my applications need to evolve?

Consider Low-Code for scalable solutions that can evolve with your business needs. High-Code is needed for highly scalable and complex systems.

Remember, each approach has its trade-offs. By honestly answering these questions, you’ll gain a clearer picture of your project’s landscape and find the development path that best suits your needs, resources, and goals. Often, it’s hard to give definitive answers to these questions.

That’s when CTOs wish for a platform that:

  • balances the maturity of high-code and user-friendliness of no-code
  • offers all the advantages of low-code
  • allows low-code developers to step in when needed, to deal with complex requirements

Some low-code development platforms tick these three boxes. Amoga is one of them.

Here’s more.

Low-Code with Amoga: Control Meets Agility

Amoga is best imagined as the toolbox of an expert builder, but for making apps. It’s filled with ready-to-use parts and tools that are easy to handle. With Amoga, you can put together powerful applications quickly, without losing the ability to make them just how you want.

Here’s how Amoga can be a game changer for your business:

  • Balancing control with agility: Amoga lets you build complex, professional apps. You get the precision of advanced coding, but it’s as quick and easy as simpler methods.
  • Speedy development: Create apps up to 10 times faster than the old ways. This means you can offer new value to your customers much sooner.
  • Empowering everyone: Even if you’re not a tech expert, you can build solutions with Amoga. This frees up your IT team for more big-picture projects.
  • Easy connections: Amoga fits smoothly with your existing systems and data, creating a unified digital world for your business.
  • Top-notch security: With Amoga, your apps and data are safe, meeting the highest industry standards.

By choosing Amoga, you will:

  • Cut down costs: Save on resources and get your products to market faster.
  • Boost efficiency: Automate routine tasks, streamline your operations and improve overall productivity.
  • Improve customer experiences: Offer personalized, user-friendly apps that keep up with changing needs.
  • Encourage creativity: Give your teams the freedom to try new things, refine their ideas, and quickly bring solutions to life, all of which can lead to business growth and flexibility.

There’s nothing better than a conversation; let us hear your experiences with app development. Let’s tell you — no, let’s show you — what’s possible with Amoga.

Contact us today.

A zero-jargon perspective on digital transformation

Digital transformation

In the last five years, who has been your ‘digital transformation’ catalyst? Was it the CEO? The CTO? Or, quite unexpectedly, was it COVID-19? 

In 2020 and 2021, a virus did all the selling for IT vendors. Organizations  – for a change – did true digital transformation, even though they did not know it. The happy (though short-lived) change occurred because during COVID-19 lockdowns, you – the decision-makers, inverted the tech buying process. Rather than being swayed by sales pitches, you set clear expectations. 

You demanded solutions that were fast, efficient, and user-friendly. You challenged vendors to deliver results not in months, but in days. You stood firm in your requirements. And as a result, you got your first taste of what digital transformation truly means. For a change, salespeople were silent, you had clarity, speed and cost were all that mattered, and real work got done. However, it’s disheartening to see the market reverting to its old ways.

 

Digital transformation

                                                                               Source : Marketoonist

 

Sadly, now that the urgency is gone, digital transformation is back to being that proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow – a pot nobody can see, and for which CTOs are on journeys that never seem to end. 

Why is Digital Transformation Perceived as Complex?

Two reasons. 

  1. A business is a complex organism with countless hearts, brains, and limbs. Even the largest tech firms cannot fully comprehend the intricacies of your specific business. Therefore, any solution, strategy, or tool suite they offer cannot perfectly align with your unique needs – it’s simply not feasible.
  2. Vendors lean heavily on jargon. In the business of digital transformation, you’re being sold a journey designed to never end, so the invoices keep on hitting your bank accounts. Asking “When will we reach our goal?” or “What is our destination?” seems almost taboo.

What exactly is digital transformation, for your business?

It’s time for a change. Let’s start by empowering you to define what digital transformation means for your organization, in your terms.

You Decide What Digital Transformation Means

Next time you’re in a meeting with a tech company, try this. Ask them, “What’s your definition of digital transformation?” Bet you, the next time you ask, their answer changes. Confusing, isn’t it?

It seems there’s so much confusion around ‘what is digital transformation’, that researchers find it worth their time to unpack definitions and arrive at a common one. 

Digital transformation

                                                                            Source: ResearchGate

 

Don’t be bothered by this table. It’s yet another attempt at making digital transformation sound like something you’re too naive to understand. Forget everything you’ve heard or read about digital transformation. Only focus on these four things about it. 

  1. It starts from within. No one can sell it to you.
  2. It’s about radical results. Not just 10% or 20%, but aiming for a 10x improvement.
  3. It affects your entire organization.
  4. It’s driven by technology.

Imagine changing the way you work so that everything you do now gets you 10x the results. This new approach applies to everything in your organization, and technology is the key driver here. Do this, and you’re in the middle of true digital transformation. Now, let’s break down what this transformation might look like for you:

  1. A workplace where technology helps everyone do their jobs better.
  2. What if “who does what and when” is decided by logic, not just opinion?
  3. The right info at the right time in front of the right people.
  4. Everyone works towards not just growth but superlative performance.
  5. Every customer interaction is proactive and personal. 

This is what digital transformation is supposed to mean.

Warning: most digital transformations fail. Here’s why.

Think about this for a second. Is it enough to know what digital transformation is? While that’s insurance against being misled by a vendor, it’s certainly not a guarantee that you’ll find success. 

What are the fail rates for digital transformation? 84% fail, says Forbes. 70% fail, says Deloitte. And McKinsey agrees. Surprised? Or if you’ve ever paid an invoice for a digital transformation, perhaps you’re angry. Let’s try to be impartial for a moment and think about this. 

Why Do Digital Transformation Projects Struggle?

The failure is at two levels. 

Level 1 – Processes

CTOs can find themselves blind-sighted and left thinking that it’s about ‘buying a certain technology’ and then waiting for the magic to happen. On the other hand, the organization’s processes are in a shape that just won’t let digital transformation happen. Issues like these.

  1. Each department in a company has its own system, like isolated islands. They’re not talking to each other.
  2. IT folks are up to their necks dealing with tech complexities. It’s a daily grind.
  3. Leaders are often hesitant about tech changes. Why? The cost and time seem too high.
  4. Tech consultants speak a language from another planet.
  5. So many processes and systems are not syncing up, it’s like an orchestra without a conductor.
  6. Everyone’s so busy solving today’s problems, that they miss the big picture. What’s important often gets overshadowed by what’s urgent.

Level 2 – Technology

When the time comes to choose the tech, it’s a mistake not being obsessive enough. Your tech decisions have to be about getting ‘what you want’ and not about letting vendors dictate ‘what they want you to buy’. 

Here, let’s do a thought experiment. Imagine what your organization would look like in an ideal world.

In that world:

  • Work gets done super quickly and at a much lower cost than usual.
  • Your team, even those not in IT, can help make applications. Everyone is an inventor.
  • You can add new apps to manage work without worrying about it taking ages or costing too much.
  • You can try new apps quickly and change them if needed, without being scared of messing up.
  • There’s a single version of truth for everyone; data analysis is minutes away.
  • It’s easier to set and follow goals, making sure everyone’s working on what’s important.
  • New team members can jump in and get going quickly, helping your team grow.
  • You can use the latest tech, like AI, easily, quickly, and without it costing a fortune.

Now that you’ve articulated it, it doesn’t seem like a dream anymore, does it? So there is no need to let any vendor dazzle you with a sleek UI and pretty little demonstrations of ‘cool new features’. 

Instead, insist on getting technology that makes your people more capable. That’s what technology was always meant to do – make superhumans out of humans. So, ignore features, and insist on how it will make your people more capable. Only one question remains. Where can you find this technology?

Amoga — a no-nonsense platform built for people who are serious about digital transformation

When we built Amoga, we were clear on this – businesses want outcomes, and if technology will get them those outcomes fast and cheap, they will want technology too. So we’ve built the technology that does one thing – it empowers everyone in your organization to do more, with less. 

Our happy customers stick to Amoga because of their own. Among these, the most common ones are: 

  1. Build Apps Fast: Instead of years, imagine building apps in months. Amoga lets your team code less, build more, and launch features quicker.
  2. Save Money: Ditch expensive custom coding. Amoga’s drag-and-drop tools slash development costs and free up the budget for other important things.
  3. Everyone Can Build: Even non-programmers can create useful apps with Amoga. This frees up your developers for complex tasks and empowers your whole team.
  4. Stay Organized: No more messy projects. Amoga keeps everyone on track with clear dashboards and progress reports, boosting overall efficiency.
  5. Automate Busywork: Let Amoga handle repetitive tasks. Focus your team’s energy on creative problem-solving, not tedious data entry.
  6. Work Together Seamlessly: Share data and updates in real time. Amoga breaks down silos and fosters smooth collaboration across departments.
  7. One Platform, Endless Possibilities: Amoga adapts to your needs, no matter your industry or size. It’s like building blocks for any kind of app you can imagine.
  8. Plays Nice with Others: Amoga connects with all your favourite tools and platforms. No more data stuck in separate systems.

Don’t just take our word for it. Try Amoga. Let’s talk about how we can do a POC for you and see how it can transform your development process. We’re confident Amoga can make a difference. Take your time, explore, and see if it’s the right fit for your team.

Not ready for it yet? Why not simply tell us your thoughts and experiences of digital transformations? You’ll find us keen company for a conversation on digital transformation any hour of the day.