Recession is looming again, budgets and resources are scarce, but digital transformation is only accelerating. New application buildouts, modernization of legacy applications, process adaptations are still critical. The way out - get smart about development.
Here are the 5 best ways to reduce the effort involved in building applications drastically. Yes repeat - its drastic reduction not incremental reduction.
1) Choose the right low code platform for your buildout
Low/ No code platforms are here to stay and deliver what they promise - 5x to 15x improvements. One only needs to model the application in English like or visual terms and auto generate a large percent of the code. However, its important to choose the right low code platform. E.g. for Websites it could be Webflow, or Wix for small footprint applications it could be Bubble, Powerapps or Appsheet, and for Enterprise Class Apps could be Mendix, Outsystems or Stragiliti. Ensure that the platform caters to the type of development, are doing, the scale expected and the target environment. For example, if one is looking for a very complex application for a Tier 1 company one coulld choose Outsystems, but if its a mid or small sized application say for the MS Azure Stack then Stragiliti would be the right choice.The goal is to ensure that the 5x to 15x effort reduction that these platforms offer become real for you for the specific project involved.
2) Iterative prototyping and detailed specifications
Conventional development would mean writing huge requirement specification documents, then doing process models and entity relationship diagrams, wireframing, rule writing etc. prior to development. The massive effort involved does not allow for iterating many times. The lack of iterations and feedback often leads to failure.
The better approach would be to do a quick process/ organization modeling and then dive right into development using low code platforms. Each iteration is shown to the user, and feedback and corrective action occurring in hours or days rather than weeks. Iterate without coding using the low/ no code platform. Each iteration is rapid since only modeling is involved. With user feedback coming after seeing the semi working application, success likelihood is high, failure loops avoided and a lot of manual specification/ documentation is avoided.
Specifications are the key to full development, but in this case 90% of the specification is covered in the iteration and hence one has to only focus on the 10% that needs to be specified accurately. Getting that nailed to the 'T' is worth it because the final development and testing effort is reduced drastically.
3) Versioning right
In the first version, don't do everything. Do whats needed to give the core value to users. Value that users will love, show results yet allow them to wait for more later. Many bells and whistles take too long and can be avoided. Taking time to give the right functionality and user experience initialy and avoiding the wrong ones can make a major impact on the delivery effort.
4) Right shoring
Quality developers and testers are available around the world. Local resources are needed only for the initial prototyping and final implementation stage. Even this can be done remotely given the power of web sharing tools. Forming a team with the right skill and the right cost can free up a lot of the budget allowing you to do more with the same budget.
5). Choosing vendors that deliver outcomes
Doing everything in-house may be expensive and there may not be enought resources. While choosing the vendor focus on those who deliver outcomes rather than those who offer staffing of skills. Fixed bid, result oriented pricing evaluated in a competitive environment can give you major gains. With low code platforms being a core part of the development strategy, choose vendors who have a low code platform, and have proven expertise with innovative and iterative delivery methogologies.
Alternatively one can execute the above in-house, and look for a platform and a team that can deliver with the approach mentioned above.
When development effort reduces by between 50 to 90% a lot of good things happen. Time to value is faster, quality is better, user buy in occurs earlier, success likelihood is very high and budgets stay low - a winning combination that solves the budget and resource crunch.
At Stragiliti we offer all of the above. We leverage our own platform and have perfected a delivery model to deliver real results with far lower effort in rapid timeframes. We have been executing such solutions for hundreds of customers across the globe in the past decade and have been perfecting this model. Do get in touch with us to deliver your digitalization goals despite limited budgets and resources.
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