Modern organizations are increasingly relying on custom digital solutions to streamline processes, increase operational efficiency, improve customer experience, and drive growth.
For the purposes of this article, we will assume that you are already familiar with the benefits of using no-code automation tools to build and maintain these types of solutions. You recognise that investing in a no-code development platform can help your organization develop and deploy applications quickly, efficiently, and at a significantly lower cost compared to hiring a software development team.
Complex solutions no longer necessitate a small internal workforce or exorbitant expenditures on external agencies. They can now be comprehensively designed, developed, and supervised by business users far more easily than you may think. Consider tools that can be: translated into multiple languages; deployed across global markets; integrated with a number of external systems; use complex logic, workflow, and document automation; and run thousands of times each month. All this is now more accessible than ever before.
Which no-code vendor should you choose? Below are some high-level things to consider, to help you be more informed and to arm you with the right questions to ask vendors.
Key considerations when choosing a vendor: the product and the people
As mentioned, your key considerations fall into two camps: the product and the people.
The product
- Customization: Ensure that the platform is highly customizable to meet your unique business needs. This will allow you to develop solutions that are tailored to your specific requirements, rather than having to settle for a generic solution.
- Scalability: Make sure the platform is capable of handling large amounts of data, users and transactions, and can scale with your business as it grows.
- Integration: Look for a platform that integrates well with other tools and systems that you are currently using, such as CRM or ERP systems, so that you can easily transfer data and streamline processes.
- Localization: Ensure that the platform has strong localization capabilities to support multiple languages, currencies, and regions. This is important if you are operating in a global market or have customers in different regions.
- Workflow and Rules Engine: The platform should provide a range of tools to handle the development of complex and nuanced workflows and logic. The visualization and readability of such logic should be clear for anyone that needs to make changes to the solution after it is in production.
- Security: Ensure that the platform provides strong security features, such as data encryption and access controls, to protect your sensitive business data. Check that the company has developed the platform to meet your internal security and regulatory needs (ISO, GDPR compliance, etc.)
- Cost and ROI: Consider the cost of the platform and any professional services to ensure that they are within your budget. You should also take into account any additional costs, such as data hosting, training and ongoing support.
The people
- Experience: Check if the vendor has a team of solution engineers and project managers that are experts in the platform and have experience in building and deploying complex solutions for major enterprise clients. This can often be a key differentiator amongst no-code vendors.
- Engagement: Is the vendor willing to go above and beyond to help you achieve your goals? Implementation and change management support can be wrapped into the deployment roadmap, with custom support provided by the vendor, but definitely not all vendors offer this.
- Support: Look for a vendor that provides excellent support, documentation, online user community and training resources. This will help you get the most out of the platform and quickly resolve any issues that may arise.
Keep asking questions!
A large, complex global project that will involve a longer period of solution engineering requires careful diligence and vetting of potential no-code platform vendors. Ask the vendors if they can help you to produce a Proof of Concept so that you can visualize how your users will interact with the solution, as well as to better understand the back-end analytics and data captured by the platform.
Ensure that you ask lots of questions about the vendor team’s experience in scoping, developing, deploying and maintaining sophisticated enterprise-wide solutions used by thousands of people globally every month. Drawing upon this knowledge can often be a critical component to getting past the usual hurdles that any complex project will bring, while providing a degree of comfort that a path to project success and ROI exists and is achievable.