Low code does not mean simple or isolated

As automation and rapid development are increasingly becoming the order of the day, a clear pattern has begun to form between two key enterprise practices. That it is to say that low code development platforms are now often offering services for Enterprise Information Management. The new partnership between the two technologies being motivated by companies' constant drive toward automating every process they can get their hands on.

Responses by Jenny Victor - leads the Business Process Management product marketing for OpenTex.

ADM: Tell us about OpenText's approach to low code development.

Victor: The OpenText approach to low-code provides business owners and subject matter experts a direct role in developing digital business automation. It's an information-centered approach: Business users can participate at all stages of development and place their focus around the policy or workflow, defining the information that needs action rather than working around a rigid process.

OpenText's approach aims to enable businesses to save development time and deliver much faster time to value than traditional development. Businesses can quickly build prototypes or initial releases and adapt based on results. The low-code approach reduces the need to design, create, test and maintain code and saves developer time for more complex development and integration tasks. It also helps IT protect infrastructure from applications or integrations that aren't designed to perform at scale.

ADM: What is the current market demand for low code development platforms?

Victor: The market demand is growing as there continues to be an effort to automate processes. With low-code, companies see a huge benefit from being able to execute more quickly and efficiently

ADM: Are there any specific verticals where low code development is gaining traction?

Victor: We have seen wide interest in low-code. The ease and speed of development and deployment appeals across vertical, especially the ability to more easily iterate once in production. With that said, we do have several public sector customers leveraging it to address citizen services more quickly.

ADM: How can these custom applications be best used to leverage wider corporate investments?

Victor: Low-code doesn't mean simple or isolated. Low-code applications should still have the integration capabilities to support working within the larger ecosystem. Many processes that are being digitally transformed today cross multiple systems. By automating them, companies extend the life of those corporate systems.

ADM: Tell us more about OpenText AppWorks and how it is designed to help businesses develop enterprise apps which connect to wider OpenText services.

Victor: AppWorks Low-Code leverages the low-code framework originally offered in OpenText Process Suite. With the significant successes achieved by OpenText customers and partners using the Process Suite platform, OpenText wanted to apply these same capabilities as a developer platform. Currently low-code development is offered both in OpenText Process Suite and AppWorks Low-Code.

AppWorks low-code enables users to quickly build prototypes or minimum viable products and adapt them based on what they learn. These applications can be expanded to address large multi-process workflows or to target specific, point processes. With OpenText's Information-driven design, business users can engage in process definition and prevent requirements from being "lost in translation." Working more effectively with business users by speaking a common language, IT can effectively manage performance control risk and supplement low code with custom development where necessary.

ADM: Has OpenText developed any applications on AppWorks which allow customers to take advantage of this functionality?

Victor: Our recently launched People Center application was built on AppWorks. With the low-code development environment, People Center allows both professional and citizen developers to easily customize the application for specific organizational needs with pre-built accelerators and building blocks.

ADM: Tell us more about OpenText PeopleCenter users and why low code development is important to them.

Victor: The value in low-code for People Center users is the ease of customization and configuration. The low-code platform speeds up development by enabling developers to rapidly design, build and deploy applications. It also enables developers to easily build new applications or extend applications as needed using purpose built APIs and RESTful or content services, such as the OpenText LEAP family of products.

ADM: How will low code application development benefit to businesses in the short and long term?

Victor: Digital business automation applications have typically taken months to deploy, with developers responsible for translating business requirements into designs and building web and mobile user experiences as well as backend integrations. By eliminating lengthy cycles of development and testing, low-code applications are generally up and running in a fraction of that time. The ability to reuse a solution is an important component for long term benefit of Low code. Existing solutions can be utilized to build new, more robust solutions.

About Jenny Victor

Jenny leads product marketing for OpenText Process Suite and Digital Process Automation, Case Management and Applications Portfolio. With more than 15 years of experience in Business Process Management and Business Intelligence marketing, Jenny develops product messaging, go-to-market strategies, thought leadership pieces, and product launches to drive new business.