Revolutionizing digital transformation with low-code
The developer sat down with Barry Goffe, senior director of platform strategy at External systemswhich provided valuable insights into the role low-code platforms play in digital transformation.
Digital transformation, as Goffe defines it, is the strategic use of technology to measurably improve business operations. It highlights four key areas where digital transformation brings tangible benefits to organizations:
- Improve existing activity: Leverage technology to improve existing business processes and gain competitive advantage.
- Expansion of market opportunities: Use technology to introduce new business sectors and seize opportunities in emerging markets.
- Risk mitigation: Implement technology solutions that add protections to reduce organizational risks.
- Improve efficiency: Leverage technology to streamline operations and reduce costs, thereby maximizing profits.
Goffe noted that the challenge for many organizations lies in the complexity and cost of adopting technology for strategic purposes. Here, low-code development platforms play a pivotal role in democratizing technology by simplifying application development, deployment, and management.
“Technology, by its very nature, is often too complex, esoteric and difficult to leverage to drive digital transformation. For many organizations, making technology a strategic tool remains out of reach. They often navigate confusion, using technology tactically or doing the bare minimum,” says Goffe.
Low-code platforms offer a visual approach to development, using automation and AI to accelerate the entire application lifecycle, from development to monitoring and testing. This approach abstracts away much of the complexity, making it accessible to a wider range of businesses and reducing associated risks.
One of the most notable benefits of leading low-code platforms is their integration with cloud-native technologies.
Goffe highlighted the significant time and cost savings achieved by low-code platforms with cloud-native capabilities compared to traditional methods. Although building a cloud-native infrastructure from scratch can take up to 18 months and $2 million, low-code platforms deliver these capabilities from day one, effectively reducing risk and accelerating cloud initiatives. digital transformation.
“And that doesn’t even take into account the risk of failure, which is actually relatively high,” adds Goffe.
Measuring the success and impact of digital transformation projects is of course a multi-faceted task. Goffe emphasized the importance of evaluating traditional development metrics and comparing them with the new approach.
However, Goffe went on to emphasize that the most effective measure was based on business indicators, such as increased revenue, reduced costs, improved quality and reduced risk. A successful digital transformation should ultimately result in a positive impact on the bottom line.
OutSystems’ versatile low-code platform has been used across a wide range of industries and applications, demonstrating its flexibility and power.
“We have clients who have built ERP systems from scratch. We have a client in the medical field who connects pacemakers to doctors so they can monitor what’s happening in a person’s body. We have the VAT systems of two entire countries running on our platform,” explains Goffe.
“I saw a really cool app that one of our clients created in the oil and gas industry that uses augmented reality. So for field technicians, when they go to an oil rig and they need to repair something, they use AR glasses to access technical documents and understand how to go about it and repair things.
AI is a major topic in the digital transformation landscape. OutSystems is at the forefront, with a dedicated AI team for six years. Goffe highlighted three key areas where AI improves the low-code platform:
- AI-augmented development: Simplify and accelerate development processes with AI-driven code completion and natural language queries.
- AI in DevOps and the Application Lifecycle: Implemented AI Mentors to improve code quality, security, performance and maintainability.
- AI Integration: Make it easier to integrate AI services into their applications with connectors to various AI services, including OpenAI.
Ensuring the quality, security, and scalability of low-code applications and integrations is a primary concern.
Goffe emphasized that OutSystems places the same importance on these aspects as on productivity. The platform’s architecture, governance structure and built-in security controls ensure that applications are not only fast, but also scalable, reliable and secure.
“Your organization doesn’t need to have an army of rocket scientists in white coats to ensure that your applications will meet all of these requirements,” says Goffe.
“And in the case where you have very experienced technicians, we don’t want to take anything away from those people – we just make their job much more efficient.”
According to Goffe, OutSystems is committed to enabling organizations to achieve their digital transformation with confidence. The platform’s ability to simplify the adoption of complex technologies, coupled with AI-driven capabilities, makes it a crucial player in the digital transformation landscape.
(Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash)
External systems is an Emerald Sponsor this year Digital Transformation Week in Europe September 26 and 27, 2023. Stop by the OutSystems booth in booth #286 to learn more about digital transformation from the company’s experts.
