Low-Code, No-Code and Codeless: They are not the same thing

In recent years, the terms "low-code" and "no-code" have become buzzwords in the software industry. Numerous platforms in the enterprise space promote their products as low-code solutions. These platforms allow non-technical users to develop applications without coding. However, there is an essential distinction between these low-code/no-code platforms and authentic codeless architecture.


Code is still generated


Low-code/no-code platforms use visual interfaces and configuration to abstract away much of the coding work. But under the hood, it is still created and executed code. So low code doesn't entirely abstract away from coding; it just hides it from the developer.


It means low-code/no-code applications have many of the same challenges and maintenance costs traditionally associated with coded apps. The underlying code still needs to be managed, optimized, scaled, and secured like any other codebase, and it proliferates your technical debt.


Abstracting the technical plumbing


In contrast, applications built on a codeless architecture like AgilePoint do not rely on code interpretation of execution at runtime. "A codeless architecture decouples the business logic from the technical plumbing. Changes can be made declaratively through the interface without directly touching code." So, what does codeless mean for my business?


The Power of Codeless


Codeless platforms are designed for modern business, where change is the only constant, and the need to adapt quickly is an essential competitive trait. They are a means to tackle and eventually eliminate technical debt while drastically increasing business agility. They also facilitate greater empowerment and autonomy of your non-IT staff - not just to design applications - but to continually evolve and ever-green them.


For example, when necessitated by market movements or the underlying IT infrastructure changes… they can do this without relying on dedicated IT professionals.


Scalable without increasing Technical Debt


Codeless platforms use declarative models based on composable and reusable assets. While these composable assets are built by code, this code is not exposed within the business automations and applications built within the platform. It means an enterprise can develop and operationalize as many applications as they want without increasing technical debt.


For instance, a McKinsey study revealed that organizations estimate the cost of their technical debt as anywhere between 15%-60% of every dollar spent on IT. It means that with codeless architecture, the lifetime cost of creating, deploying, and maintaining IT solutions is significantly less than with rigid, code-based applications.


Increased Business Empowerment & Agility


A codeless architecture opens up end-to-end application development and maximizes business agility in a way that low-code and no-code cannot. It is not to undermine the game changer these platforms have ushered in, from the democratization of software development to the mind-blowing speed at which ideas are born as working business solutions. 


However, a codeless architecture furthers this by enabling sustainable, long-term business flexibility and adaptability. With no baked-in code dependencies, subject matter experts, citizen developers, and operational staff can readily adapt apps without engineering refactoring. Codeless allows business logic changes to be made rapidly and in real-time through the interface, unencumbered by the need to deal with any hard-coded IT infrastructure scaffolding. It frees the business side to iterate and pivot faster.


While low-code and no-code platforms abstract the complexity of code when designing applications, codeless platforms also entirely abstract away coding complexity in the back end. Non-IT users can now more autonomously address typically highly technical activities within the software development process.


No Vendor Lock-In


Many Low-code and no-code platforms generate proprietary code and data schemas that make it difficult to switch vendors. Contrastingly, codeless platforms use common data schemas like XML and JSON and open protocols like REST APIs. It prevents proprietary lock-in and, vitally, ensures portability. Avoiding lock-in gives organizations maximum flexibility to shape technology strategy to business needs rather than vendor constraints.


Final Thoughts


Enterprises are pushing for a new approach as demand grows for agile solutions that solve evolving business needs and challenges. Pure codeless architecture represents the next evolution: non-technical users are empowered to design and deploy enterprise apps and adapt and maintain them with maximum business agility and no proliferation of code sprawl. Leading analysts predict rapid adoption as more organizations recognize the limitations of traditional coding, low-code, and no-code platforms, without addressing the agility-sapping issue of technical debt.


In Part II of this series, I wrote how combining Codeless and Low-code/No-code provides ultimate agility to enterprises.


About AgilePoint 


AgilePoint is an adaptive enterprise process automation platform. Our philosophy is that all code creates future choke points, ultimately leading to system collapse.


That is why our platform is entirely codeless—allowing subject matter experts and citizen developers to continuously transform the business without extending your technical debt footprint and making your organization faster, more secure, more resilient, and fully adaptive.


For more information on how AgilePoint's codeless architecture works, have a look at the article From Code to Codeless: Unlock Continuous Digital Transformation


We save our clients $ 32 million or an ROI of over 400% on average. For more of our amazing result metrics, check out Forrester's special report on AgilePoint's Total Economic Impact


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By Arjun Jamnadass 13 Jul, 2023
AgilePoint is an adaptive enterprise process automation platform. Our philosophy is that all code creates future choke points, ultimately leading to system collapse. That is why our platform is completely codeless. Allowing you to transform your business model by simplifying the processes that fundamentally underpin the applications you are running and making your organization faster, more secure, resilient, and fully adaptive. We save our clients $ 32 million or an ROI of over 400% on average. For more of our amazing result metrics, see " Total Economic Impact of AgilePoint." Introduction Transformation Trailblazer AgilePoint has emerged as a visionary trailblazer in the realm of digital transformation, offering a powerful adaptive process automation platform for enterprises. Stemming from lessons learned during the turbulent period of the dot-com bubble, where high-profile failures highlighted the critical need for agility and resilience, AgilePoint set out to empower organizations to react and respond quickly and continuously to a relentlessly changing landscape. The Codeless Differentiator Today, AgilePoint remains the preferred digital transformation platform for many global organizations, thanks to its codeless architecture delivering unrivaled agility and cost efficiency. Remarkably, even after two decades, numerous customers continue to rely on AgilePoint as a core capability and key competitive differentiator. We pride ourselves in the long-term relationships we maintain with our clients. Today, where companies stay an average of 5 years with a technology vendor, many of AgilePoint customers have been with us for up to two decades. Speed, adaptability, transparency, cost efficiency, security, trust, and confidence. These are the reasons our customers stay. The following experiences come from Fortune 100s and publicly listed companies, including a longtime customer where AgilePoint enabled a successful €166 billion merger. 1. Accelerated Development and Adaptation AgilePoint enables organizations to be adaptive without the significant upfront investment. It enables the rapid deployment of highly adaptable business solutions and gives organizations the ability to evolve them in real-time to cater to emerging opportunities and continually drive towards better customer outcomes and product-market fit. 1.1 Speed "If a project is two years long, then we can't spend six months building an application. We need to build it in two to three weeks. With AgilePoint, we can." These are the words of a director at a Fortune 100 Engineering firm that has been with AgilePoint for 14 years. His comment highlights their need for rapid development cycles essential for quick turnaround initiatives. Indeed, with a stream of constantly evolving requirements, the firm needed a platform that would allow them to ramp up and put into production tailored solutions as quickly as possible. 1.2 Continuously adaptation But they also wanted the ability to adapt these solutions continuously and have the flexibility to bespoke them for specific customer projects rather than halting production lines and redesigning solutions from the ground up to cater to specific customer requirements. "The flexibility to adapt is crucial." as stated by the same director, "Changes are needed because we are a project company. [The business] changes [and] the rules and people constantly change. So, we needed something flexible." 1.3 Keeping pace without breaking the bank AgilePoint has provided the essential capabilities this Fortune 100 engineering firm has needed all these years to keep pace with high market demand while delighting its customers with highly personalized solutions without breaking the bank. Henry Ford famously said, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” Indeed, the entire production line would have had to be shut down to accommodate a different color. Not so for this engineering firm. 2. Transparent, Adaptable Automations 2.1 Lengthy process cycles, lack of visibility, and non-compliance A spokesperson from one of the world’s largest defense companies, and an AgilePoint customer for the last 17 years, highlighted the challenges their organization faced before AgilePoint, including lengthy process cycles, lack of visibility, and non-compliance with regulations. 2.2 Struggling to adapt Before AgilePoint, they were struggling to evergreen their cross-functional automation (complex, end-to-end, cross-departmental automated workflows) as their incumbent platform could not provide them with the flexibility and dynamism they needed to prepare for and deliver a massive overhaul of their operations (they were amid a large, time-sensitive merger) while keeping in line with regulatory requirements. The company needed more transparency concerning its automation processes, which significantly hampered its ability to pinpoint compliance issues. The rapidly evolving landscape continually outpaced their responsiveness. Business users found it challenging to comprehend, much less modify, these automated procedures, resulting in frequent regulatory non-compliance. Consequently, their solutions needed to be more relevant and aligned before they could be tended to by the IT department. 2.3 Time lost "We found out that time loss in two ways. One, the process cycle was very long. And two, the business users needed to control where anything stood. We found many of our processes did not follow the official and approved procedures." 2.4 The Gamechanger After extremely lengthy due diligence, AgilePoint was chosen as the platform to handle the defense company’s rapidly evolving operations and underpin the post-merger operating model. Indeed, the platform gave them the visibility they needed to stay on top of and compliant with a changing regulatory landscape. It enabled them to adapt their process automation in real time. Ultimately, the high level of transparency of their process automation and ease of adapting them on the fly proved to be the game-changers for the defense company. 3. Simple Modernization 3.1 Straightforward and painless A publicly listed German Leasing company and an AgilePoint customer for over 15 years had considered replacing AgilePoint as their enterprise automation platform a few times, driven by internal strategy initiatives to consolidate their technology footprint. However, they decided to stick with AgilePoint when it became evident that alternative solutions could not match the “straightforward and painless” upgrade and modernization experience. 3.2 No additional cost AgilePoint never charges for the ongoing, continuous modernization of the platform, a key driver in sustaining prolonged customer loyalty. Nor does the modernization require expensive implementation partners to carry out upgrades. 3.3 The alternatives are expensive A vice president at a Media company noted that their previous platform required costly implementation partners to manage changes and upgrades. He stated, "[Our old platform] was costly because we didn't have developers for it. We always needed an implementation partner, meaning we had to pay both the partner and the licenses [for our old automation platform]." 3.4 Avoid heavy investments Additionally, AgilePoint's integrations are not hard-coded, meaning that customers avoid having to invest heavily in ensuring continued interoperability and harmony across the IT ecosystem with each new AgilePoint release, or with any changes they make to their underlying IT infrastructure. 3.5 Disruption-free, seamless upgrades The platform's core principles are simple, continuous modernization without predatory pricing schemes. With its codeless architecture, AgilePoint has ensured that, for the past 15 years, the German Leasing company's business experiences a disruption-free, seamless upgrade to the latest release. Downtime is virtually negligible. As a result, the publicly listed company had the peace of mind that their business-critical solutions and automation were kept safe, secure, and up to date at no additional cost. 4. Continuous Innovation 4.1 Compatibility AgilePoint's commitment to sustaining long-term value through innovation resonated strongly with customers. A business manager at a global Non-Profit organization expressed concern about other vendors' lack of product advancement. In contrast, AgilePoint actively ensures its product retains its robust security credentials, remains compatible with evolving technology platforms, and regularly delivers the latest capabilities and enhanced functionality into the platform. 4.2 Keeping pace with technology According to the director of the Fortune 100 Engineering firm, "AgilePoint helped us because the technology advanced fast." This focus on continuous technological advancement ensures that organizations can continue to rely on AgilePoint to keep pace with the latest industry standards and competitive pressures." The same business manager stated, "AgilePoint made it possible for us to stay updated with the changing digital transformation happening around the globe. AgilePoint has made it possible for us to do things that we wouldn't have thought of." 4.3 Groundbreaking and robust The Non-Profit organization and the Engineering firm, both customers for over a decade, continue to benefit from leveraging AgilePoint across their core business operations. Drawing on cross-industry best practices and incorporating the latest trends and innovative thinking, AgilePoint continually infuses the platform with ground-breaking features and robust capabilities. This steadfast commitment to technological advancement enhances its customers' long-term experience and outcomes. 5. Transparent, predictable pricing 5.1 Transparent and cost-efficient licensing A Fortune 100 technology and manufacturing conglomerate, and an AgilePoint customer for over a decade, illustrates the power of transparent and cost-efficient licensing in the digital transformation journey. The organization built a vast portfolio of deeply customized, mission-critical workflow on-premise automations. It was ready to harness the benefits of the cloud. The objective was clear: maintaining the most secure processes on-premise while gradually transitioning all other operations to the cloud. 5.2 Multiple licenses needed Their incumbent vendor, however, threw them a curveball. Accommodating the conglomerate’s phased migration plan called for multiple licenses for the different versions of their on-premise and cloud platforms, thereby inflating costs considerably. This predicament, by no means an isolated case, underscores the need for transparent, cost-effective licensing agreements that facilitate rather than penalize growth, and here, again, is why AgilePoint maintains enduring relationships with its customers. 5.3 Expensive rebuild In the conglomerate’s case, not only did they have to effectively double their licensing spend to handle both on-premise and cloud operations, but it transpired that migrating their on-premise workflows to the cloud required an extensive technical rebuild. They were forced to decide; do they retain their heavily customized, business-critical workflows on-premise or undertake the substantial task of process rebuilding for cloud migration. Only a single license required Ultimately, the conglomerate moved to AgilePoint to handle its workflow automations. AgilePoint requires a single license, regardless of whether customers operate on-premise, in the cloud, or straddle both environments. With AgilePoint's codeless architecture, the conglomerate could rapidly recreate its workflow automations and maintain them on-premise and in the cloud with a single license, knowing they could seamlessly migrate them between the two without rebuilding everything. It is the essence of AgilePoint's customer-centric approach - delivering cost transparency, efficiency, and maximum flexibility. The Power of Codeless Architecture The success and longevity of AgilePoint as a trusted platform for customers over the years can be attributed to its codeless architecture. AgilePoint recognized, way back in 2003, that code creates technical debt and that this debt inevitably saps competitiveness, limits agility, and slows innovation, ultimately leading to system collapse. As author and software engineer Martin Fowler said, “Technical debt is not just a cost; it’s also a risk. It’s a risk that your system will fail at a critical moment, you won’t be able to deliver what your customers need, or you’ll lose your best engineers because they’re frustrated with working on a mess.” And managing technical debt is expensive. According to a McKinsey survey, CIOs reported that 10 to 20% of the technology budget dedicated to new products is diverted to resolving issues related to tech debt. A study by Stripe found that developers spend an average of 33% of their time dealing with technical debt. Worldwide, this adds up to a $3 trillion hit on global GDP. AgilePoint’s codeless architecture was created to circumvent technical debt. To bypass the need for hard-coded business solutions that are complex and expensive to update. Coupled with an intuitive front-end and model-driven, declarative approach to building solutions that caters for non-technical users, the codeless architecture is exposed outside of the IT department, enabling businesses to quickly respond to changing needs and emerging opportunities without having to resort to writing even a single line of code. In my entire IT and business experience, I think AgilePoint was one of the best decisions that our organization ever made. As AgilePoint customers testify to its transformative power and the profound impact it has on their operations, it solidifies its position as a platform of choice for some of the world’s leading organizations seeking continuous, sustainable digital transformation. In the words of one AgilePoint customer representative "In my entire IT and business experience, I think AgilePoint was one of the best decisions that our organization ever made."
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