If organizations fail to take low code challenges seriously and plan strategies to overcome them, it can negatively impact the speed of creating business solutions. Merely using the best low code app builder is not sufficient to achieve success, as impediments that the team may face must be eliminated to ensure smooth implementation.
Typical low code challenges include limited flexibility, integration with legacy systems, scalability issues, limited customization, dependency on vendors, limited control and innovation, and limited access to features.
It has been demonstrated that adhering to established low code and no code guidelines, as well as staying current with the latest developments in the low code field, can effectively minimize the obstacles your organization may encounter and enable you to accelerate the software development cycle.
In this article, we will discuss the most important barriers related to low code development and what are the steps businesses need to take to overcome them.
What are the challenges of low code development?
As per Forrester, using low code can increase the development cycle by up to 10 times. This is one of the most important benefits that organizations are looking for. However, achieving this speed is full of challenges including:
1- Limited flexibility
Low code studios are mostly equipped with built in components and libraries that help you accelerate the development process. They can be customized to some extent, but you will face limitations in case of developers need to design complex requirements.
This is because providers have developed these libraries and UI components to work together with very limited coding experience. Applying changes to them may cause multifunctioning and errors that will decrease the chance of successful deployments.
Some vendors may offer more flexibility through the ability to create custom components from scratch but that needs extensive expertise, and it is time consuming thus defeating the purpose of such tools.
2- Integration with legacy systems
One of the most critical low code challenges is the integration that you need to implement most of the time with other legacy systems that your organization is still using. They usually require a lot of custom code or workarounds to be able to push data back and forth because they are not made with modern technology.
Low code development vendors usually offer a range of integration connectors that will facilitate this process however, most of the times you will find yourself in need to create your own custom connector to integrate with for instance a document management system, RPA, or accounting systems.
3- Scalability issues
This technology can’t handle big amount of data or high levels of traffic, which could result in performance issues. Organizations should use it when having to build small digital application that are set to do low complexity tasks.
It is very important to always remember that you won’t be able to have control to scale the performance or data storage whenever needed. You need to understand the scope of the project before deciding if you want to use this technology or use the traditional way of developing systems.
4- Limited customization
Another important obstacle to really consider is the customization ability provided. Again, the main point of using low code is to create simple digital products as soon as possible without much development experience. Even though they offer a high degree of customization, there may be limitations to how much you can tailor it to your specific needs.
Some vendors allow complex customization levels than other however in general you must assess when gathering business requirements the complexity and feasibility of using it.
For example, you surely be able to customize the user interface and layout using drag and drop however changing the underlying code is complex and requires heavy development skillset.
5- Security risks
This is a significant challenge for developers as security is one of the most critical aspect of software development. When third party components are being used including libraries, APIs, and frameworks, you are increasing the chance of security breaches within your portal.
To overcome this, you need to always keep these libraries and components up to date whenever the vendor updates them in order to secure them from any potential security risk.
6- Limited control and innovation
Developers are often faced with limited control over the architecture of their developed application. Whenever you change some behavior using the drag and drop toolset, more and more code is being automatically generated in the backend. If you wish to modify something, it could be increasingly challenging.
Again, experienced developers can easily have more control over citizen developers as they better understand lines of code and can interact with it to suit their business needs.
7- Limited access to features
Limited access to available features is one of the top-rated low code challenges as developers may need complex components or libraries to accommodate the gathered business requirements.
While low-code platforms offer a wide range of features and functionality, they may not be suitable for every type of application or use case. For example, if you need to integrate with a specific third-party service or require a highly specialized data model, you may need to write custom code or use a different development tool altogether.
Therefore, before choosing a platform that doesn’t require any code as the development tool for your project, it is crucial to carefully assess the features and functionality. Additionally, think about your long-term vision, scalability, and capacity for accommodating shifting business needs.
