What Is Low Code Automation? Everything You Need to Know

Manual processes within your business can create bottlenecks that limit your ability to grow. For example, time-strapped sales employees could miss out on potential revenue by not contacting customers. Manufacturing processes can be slowed down by manual approval workflows, holding back your productivity. 

Traditionally, automating these processes required a team of developers and a lot of time and money. But low code automation tools make it much faster and easier while eliminating the need for deep programming experience. 

In this guide, we explain everything you need to know about low code automation and show how it can help your business succeed. 

Short on Time? Here’s a Brief Overview 

• Low code automation is an approach to building automated workflows that requires little or no manual coding. Instead, you can create workflows using pre-made templates and a drag-and-drop designer to define triggers and outcomes. 

• Low code automation is approachable for employees with minimal programming experience. That cuts the time it takes to roll out new workflows, empowers your employees to build the workflows they need, and reduces the cost of digitizing key business processes. 

 
How We Researched This Topic 

CLEVR specializes in helping businesses use low code automation to transform manual processes. We know how powerful low code automation can be for enhancing productivity and reducing the time it takes to launch new workflows. The team has deep experience using various low code automation platforms and building customized workflows for our clients. 

What Is Low Code Automation? 

Low-code automation is an approach to creating automated workflows that largely eliminates the need for programming knowledge. In contrast to “high-code” development, low-code development requires almost no manual programming.  

Instead, low code automation platforms offer pre-built workflow templates, plain-English commands, and drag-and-drop interfaces to help you build workflows. You get a visual representation of each step within a workflow, including how it will be triggered and the outcome. Plus, it’s straightforward to connect each workflow to a specific business process and link multiple workflows together. 

These tools are easy to use, highly flexible, and accessible for non-technical employees. That enables managers across your business to take control of automating their own processes rather than wait for help from developers. 

That said, low code tools may still require some programming, particularly for highly customized workflows. For example, you may need to write basic Javascript to customize the look of a customer-facing landing page.  

No-code automation is a related style of workflow development that requires absolutely no manual programming, so it can be a good option for employees without coding experience. Check out our low-code vs. no-code development guide to determine which approach is right for you. 

The Benefits of Low Code Automation 

Low-code automation can bring significant benefits to your business. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most important reasons for using this approach. 

Accelerated development 

Traditional automation approaches require a lot of back-and-forth with developers, so it can take weeks or months to roll out a new workflow. With low code automation, you can quickly implement new workflows. 

Low code platforms put your employees in charge of creating the necessary automations and give them tools to make development a breeze. The timeline for a new workflow to launch can shrink from months to days. 

That’s a substantial competitive advantage for your business, especially if you need to build shop floor applications or customer-facing apps that directly impact your sales and brand image. 

Empowered teams 

Another benefit of low code automation is that it enables frontline employees to help shape how automations work. For example, customer service employees can help design better ways to route incoming questions.  

Having a voice in decision-making empowers your employees to become citizen developers—individuals who use easy-to-learn tools to build or improve workflows and apps. It also ensures your business’ automations will satisfy real company needs—and don’t create new problems in the process. 

Furthermore, low code automation helps business users across teams collaborate more easily on cross-functional solutions. For example, your sales and customer support teams can work together on automations to ensure your company puts its best foot forward when communicating with customers. 

Cost efficiency 

Developers aren’t cheap, so reducing your reliance on them to create basic workflow automations can save your business a lot of money. In addition, the automations that low code solutions enable can enhance productivity and generate revenue, so this technology frequently has a positive return on investment.  

Enhanced flexibility and scalability 

Low code automation also make your business more flexible and scalable. As your business processes change, your teams can update their workflows accordingly. You’re not stuck with outdated automations because the developer who originally wrote a piece of code is no longer with your business. 

Additionally, automated workflows can easily accommodate growth in your business and integrate new software. If an application needs to be customized beyond what your non-technical employees can handle, low code platforms typically make it easy for professional developers to plug in custom code. 

How Do You Achieve Low Code Automation? 

A dedicated low code platform is the best way to implement low code automation in your business.  

These platforms offer the templates and visual builders you need to create workflows. They also have pre-made integrations for popular business software, legacy systems, and project management tools to promote collaboration across your teams. One of the best low-code automation platforms is Mendix.  

When comparing low code applications, consider how customizable they are, whether they meet your business’s security and compliance needs, and how they will scale as your business grows. 

How CLEVR Supports Low code Automation 

While low code automation is much easier than traditional development approaches, digitizing your business’s manual processes and integrating legacy systems can still require significant effort. 

That’s where CLEVR comes in. We leverage low code development platforms like Mendix to build custom automation solutions tailored to your business’s needs.  

Our end-to-end approach ensures you receive collaborative guidance, a thorough initial assessment, and support during deployment and scaling. We specialize in integrating systems like Siemens, SAP, Salesforce and IBM to help businesses across the manufacturing, financial services, retail, healthcare, energy and utilities industries achieve seamless automation. 

Check out our low code solutions to learn more about how CLEVR can help your business implement low-code automation. 

Final Thoughts on Low-Code Automation 

Low code automation can help your business automate key business processes without the need for manual coding. Pre-made templates and visual workflow builders make it easy for even non-technical employees to create workflows. It reduces the time and cost to launch automations and empowers employees to create solutions to real business problems. 

Want to learn more about how low code can transform your business? Check out our comprehensive guide to low-code development. 

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