The IT department is overloaded and cost pressure is increasing. How are companies supposed to keep pace with technological developments? One solution: low-code development. This involves employees creating digital apps without support from IT teams. We will give you an overview of the opportunities and limitations of low-code in SAP environments and show you what is important for a successful implementation.
Low-code development describes the ability to design and implement digital applications, processes and websites with only minimal programming skills.
Employees in specialized departments (citizen developers) simply drag and drop digital solutions into a visual user interface. Professional developers are also increasingly using this option. This is because development on low-code platforms is much faster and cheaper than traditional programming in code.
Despite the visual interface, many low-code platforms offer the option of displaying the source code. This is because every application is based on code, whether it is developed conventionally or via drag and drop. Citizen developers have the choice between both modes with low-code, whereas no-code applications do not offer this flexibility. As a result, no-code applications are best suited for non-technical users.
It is not surprising that low-code development has gone from a niche phenomenon to a mainstream tool in just a few years. After all, it is a catalyst for transformation.
Companies are now aware that they need to drive forward their digital transformation. However, it is not only SMEs that often lack the budget and/or IT specialists to make the necessary adjustments. According to a Bitkom survey, there were 149,000 vacancies for IT experts in Germany at the end of 2023, a record high.
This is where low-code comes in: Drag-and-drop programming democratizes development and overcomes the shortage of IT specialists. Non-IT professionals can quickly build applications, make changes to existing applications and set up process automation.
They don’t have to wait weeks for developers to respond to their requests and they don’t have to build error-prone workarounds. Instead, they work with dedicated tools that are effective and traceable for IT at all times. Without any risk to compliance or data security.
The support effort for IT teams is massively reduced. According to the Harvard Business Review, one IT specialist can support ten or more citizen developers by using low-code. Apart from this, the IT department gains free resources to drive forward complex and strategic projects.
The result is a win-win situation that positively impacts the agility, resilience, and innovation of the entire organization.
The most important advantages of low-code:
SAP has released its cloud platform for low-code development: SAP Build is the central tool for designing digital solutions as a specialist department employee. Although it is generally possible to work with other low-code tools in SAP, this is not recommended.
SAP Build bundles three applications for different purposes:
The SAP Build Platform is integrated into the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). Through the cloud platform, users can coordinate the data flows between SAP applications and third-party solutions, regardless of whether these applications run on-premise or in the cloud. This functionality is a prerequisite for developing functioning solutions with SAP Build.
Low-code for developers: With SAP Build Code, SAP recently launched an extension for SAP Build that is explicitly aimed at professional developers. The AI co-pilot Joule generates code at the touch of a button, for example for data models, test scripts or app logic.
SAP’s recommendation is: “Keep your core clean”. Companies should keep their ERP core as standard as possible and implement individual requirements in the adjacent infrastructure. The SAP Business Technology Platform is the central place where these developments take place.
The platform can be used in all infrastructures. It doesn’t matter whether a company has already migrated its infrastructure to S/4HANA or whether the migration is still pending. However, the combination of SAP BTP with S/4HANA is recommended for maximum efficiency and performance.
SAP bundles various cloud services and tools on SAP BTP, which companies can use to make their processes more agile and innovative. One of these tools is SAP Build for low-code development.
Low-code development is best suited for simple use cases. When it comes to implementing more complex processes and applications, low-code reaches its limits. Code-based development is still the best choice here.
For example, SAP BTP provides frameworks such as the SAP Cloud Application Programming Model (CAP) and the SAP ABAP RESTful Application Programming Model (RAP).
How can organizations use low-code to empower their business units to overcome challenges faster and increase value? We present application scenarios in three business areas.
In many organizations, incoming invoices still have to be manually opened in the inbox, checked for formal correctness, and routed to the approving departments for payment. This process can be radically accelerated with low-code development.
Once the invoice processing process is designed and deployed using drag and drop, the documents are automatically recorded, sorted according to defined criteria and sent to the approval process. This virtually eliminates invoice review and sorting errors.
Other ways to simplify financial processes with low-code: Employees can configure financial reports once and then have them updated automatically, or they can replace manual risk management checks with intelligent automation.
Workforce planning, recruiting, talent management – the workload in HR is high. However, with the help of low-code development, HR managers can automate many administrative processes to free up resources for strategic HR work.
For example, recruiting and onboarding processes can be defined with drag-and-drop ease: Instead of sending individual emails to applicants to invite them to the next step in the application process or manually evaluating application forms, low-code can be used to create smart apps that largely take over these tasks.
Similarly in talent management: HR managers can develop systems that allow them to see important key figures on employee development and possible measures for further development at a glance. Feedback apps are also a typical use case for low-code: Employees can submit ideas and suggestions for improvement via mobile or the web, allowing the HR department to work on employee satisfaction based on data.
In order to optimally control production, managers need the most detailed insights possible into machine performance, material availability and maintenance schedules. With today’s dynamic manufacturing environments, IT must deploy applications to control processes and adapt to changing workflows. This is a bottleneck that can be addressed through low-code development.
Thanks to low-code, production managers can add machines to the monitoring system themselves, develop apps, for example to create maintenance plans, and reconfigure evaluations. In short, they can control production much faster and more cost-efficiently. The system can also be easily duplicated across multiple sites, a significant cost advantage as the business grows.
As easy as low-code development is in SAP, companies need to plan the implementation thoroughly so that the liberalization of development does not result in chaos, but in measurable benefits.
Before you start introducing a low-code platform, check whether your digital infrastructure fulfills the requirements for you to be able to work effectively with the platform. For SAP Build, this may mean first implementing the SAP Business Technology Platform or adapting data pipelines. Analyze where your IT team should create simple app adaptations or workflow automation particularly frequently and where more autonomy for the business departments would generate the greatest strategic added value.
Integrate the platform into your existing IT systems and roll it out step by step. Use professional training to get your employees up to speed with the new application and give them enough time for individual training. This will create the best conditions for employees to proactively use the platform’s potential and ensure that the investment pays off.
Choose a pilot project that can be completed in a reasonable amount of time with low code and that offers real added value for your organization. With the initial success behind you, it will be easier to convince other departments to use it and you can dispel any skepticism from management on the basis of data.
Define clear guidelines for low-code development, data security and collaboration between the IT team and citizen developers right from the start. The standards not only contribute to an overview of your IT infrastructure, but also minimize compliance risks.
Although working with low-code platforms is quite intuitive, regularly seek feedback from developers to identify and resolve any hurdles to wider use.
Rigorous testing and regular monitoring are not only standard for classic developments, but also for low-code applications. It is often only after the go-live that it becomes apparent how work processes can be improved with minor adjustments.
Low-code has established itself as an important tool that companies can use to drive forward their digital transformation. Development work can be distributed across more shoulders and optimizations and further developments can be implemented more quickly.
Although low-code will not replace traditional development, the approach is becoming increasingly important in view of the high market dynamics, shortage of skilled workers and cost pressure. This is because it enables more innovation at lower costs. Those who do not adopt low-code as a catalyst for transformation will find it difficult to compete for customers and market share in the future.
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