I. Introduction
The "low-code" relay "middle platform" has ignited a raging fire and triggered a debate among many people in the industry. There are two extreme concepts, one is "low-end hype" and "useless toys" , and the other is "subverting the industry" and "taking code farmers" .
If we talk about "subversion" and "replacement" , in fact, the low-code and graphical development model has existed for at least 20 years. How can it be suddenly subverted today?
If we talk about "low-end" and "toys" , in fact, the foreign low-code platform OutSystems is valued at more than 1 billion U.S. dollars, and Mendix was acquired for 700 million U.S. dollars; domestic and foreign IT giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, Alibaba, and Tencent, as well as a large number of traditional software Manufacturers and emerging SaaS vendors are betting on it. With such valuation and momentum, how can it be summed up as "meaningless"?
So, don’t rush to define it yet, let’s take a look at it from multiple angles.
2. Low-code popular background
Low-code is a software development model that allows you to quickly build software by simply dragging, pulling, and dragging . This article defaults to no-code being a form of low-code, and the specific definitions of the two will not be repeated here.
The form of low-code is visual programming , and the core is "reuse" . Like the middle platform, improving reuse rate is the key to low code. But “reuse” alone is not enough to explain the popularity of low-code platforms this year. What is the reason for the sudden popularity of low-code?
1. Social and economic factors
The impact of the epidemic in 2020 cannot be ignored. It has challenged the original business models and collaboration models of many companies. The prosperity of the digital economy and the surge in information technology demand have caused an imbalance between the supply and demand of programmers.
2. Technical factors
The maturity of cloud computing technology and the trend of mobility provide the technical foundation for Low Code 2.0. Before the emergence of the World Wide Web, computer networks were isolated islands. The Internet broke these islands. Similarly, information islands and cloud islands are common today, and low-code development tools in the past were only building islands. But the imagination of "low code + cloud" will not stop there. If an "interconnected and symbiotic ecology" can be formed, it may break the current silos between applications, enterprises and enterprises, and developers. Greatly improve the code reuse rate, thereby triggering a leap in efficiency.
3. Environmental factors
Foreign low-code platforms have been successfully commercialized, and domestic "Internet +" and "digital intelligence transformation" trends are all catalytic factors.
3. Target customer analysis
Low-code consumer customers can be divided into two categories, enterprises and software vendors . Customers are the direct source of revenue and are related to the survival of low-code platforms. But the topic of customer portraits is difficult to talk about. On the one hand, it needs to be refined, and it is meaningless to talk about it in general terms; on the other hand, the platform may be constantly adjusted in the process of survival and exploration.
1. Enterprise
Enterprises can be subdivided by industry, size, etc. Different types of enterprises have different needs and even have unique preferences for aesthetic styles.
For example, small and medium-sized enterprises are relatively price-sensitive and lack IT personnel. As long as they can meet the needs, they pursue simplicity, ease of use, and speed, and prefer a complete package solution; large and medium-sized enterprises usually have built some systems, which may involve system docking, secondary development, etc., and focus on It is safe, relatively strong, has many personalized requirements, and pays attention to product professionalism and advanced nature.
Different types of enterprises require different solutions. Some only need the free process customization capabilities of low-code platforms to supplement their information capabilities to meet edge needs; some need advanced value propositions in specific business areas to solve enterprise-specific problems; and some need advanced value propositions in specific business areas to solve enterprise-specific problems. A complete solution is required and can be used as the main collaboration tool through simple configuration.
2. Software manufacturers
Including traditional software vendors and ISVs, many traditional software vendors are still helping customers with customized development based on process engines. Low-code tools can enter this field as a disruptor, helping software vendors reduce the size of their teams and achieve lower costs and faster speeds. Complete project delivery. Positioning an ISV requires the platform itself to have a huge customer base, which is an area where the giants are fighting.
4. How companies choose low-code platforms
When enterprises face this problem, they usually have two choices: build their own low-code platform, or choose to purchase a third-party low-code platform .
1. Build your own low-code platform
At least three questions should be considered before deciding whether to build it yourself. What is the purpose of introducing low code? Is the ROI higher than purchasing third-party software? Does the company have enough strength to survive?
Some medium-sized companies may think that the threshold for low-code technology is not high, and they can just assemble a process engine, form designer, report designer, etc., but the fact is that it is not that simple. The low-code platform seems simple, but its construction success rate is not high. You will mainly face these 3 problems:
1) The cost is high . The low-code platform is a continuous construction process, which requires extremely strong architect capabilities. Possible performance bottlenecks also need to be solved, and performance problems are not easy to solve.
2) Lack of talent . As a non-universal internal development framework, almost no developers will be stupid enough to ruin their futures. As a result, the company will face a very high developer turnover rate. Frequent manpower replacement is not only costly, but also affects the business. develop.
3) Slow speed . Once there is demand for personalization or beyond the capabilities of the platform, the platform framework needs to be upgraded, and framework upgrades are usually slow. At this time, the business can only wait; at the same time, if there is no smooth upgrade strategy , the entire development team will be repeatedly immersed in application reconstruction.
2. Choose a low-code platform
You also need to be cautious when choosing a low-code platform. It is easy to choose a platform but difficult to change platforms. Different enterprise scenarios are different, and it is impossible to say which specific platform is absolutely suitable for all enterprises. This article only provides 5 general factors for reference.
1) Own needs. This is the core consideration. You should not compare the number of functions, technical highlights, etc. of the product, but you should first clarify your own needs and find a platform that matches your own needs. Do you need a complete platform? Or do you need flexible process customization capabilities?
2) Company stability. If a low-code platform company has weak anti-risk capabilities, it will suffer huge losses in data and time once it goes bankrupt.
3) Product openness. Choosing a low-code platform is a long-term matter, and there will inevitably be personalized needs. If the platform is not friendly to secondary development, the API is not open enough, and its own programmers are powerless, the company will face an embarrassing situation.
4) Product ecology. If the low-code platform has strong ecological capabilities, it can attract ISVs and even independent developers, which means that the future personalized needs of enterprises can not only be realized, but also at a lower cost.
Here we can introduce a typical low-code platform in the industry, the JNPF rapid development platform. If you are a novice, you can use it to understand the prototype of low-code; if you are a company technician, then it is qualified to become one of the software selected by your company.
Official website of the application: https://www.jnpfsoft.com/?csdn
JNPF Low Code is a full-stack development platform based on SpringBoot+Vue3 . It adopts microservices, front-end and back-end separation architecture, and is based on visual process modeling, form modeling, and report modeling tools to quickly build business applications. The platform can be privatized and deployed. , also supports K8S deployment. It supports a complete platform expansion foundation, multi-tenant mode, and multi-terminal adaptation to meet comprehensive capabilities such as rapid system development, flexible expansion, seamless integration, and high-performance applications.
The engine-based software rapid development model is configured with visualization function engines such as chart engine, interface engine, portal engine, and organization user engine to basically realize the visual construction of page UI. There are hundreds of built-in functional controls and usage templates, which can meet the user's personalized needs to the greatest extent with simple drag-and-drop operations. Since the functions of the JNPF platform are relatively complete, this article chooses this tool to expand, so that you can more intuitively see the advantages of low code.
Finally, the functional diversity and price of the low-code platform itself may be the final consideration. For enterprises, the time cost of choosing and using it may be more important than the money spent. For large enterprises, there are more factors to consider, such as multi-terminal adaptation, multi-tenant permission system, operation and maintenance scalability, etc.