I don’t know of a single digital, data, or technology team that can easily keep up with all business priorities and demands for application development. Whether it’s digital transformation driving priorities to improve customer experience, a business strategy to become more data-driven, or hybrid working requiring organizations to improve employee experiences,

organizations want more applications developed faster and released more frequently.

That can put significant pressure on application development and data management teams that require the collaboration, skills, development processes, and platforms to deliver high-quality capabilities at greater velocities.

Low-code platforms can be a productivity driver in developing employee workflows, customer experiences, and integrations. Between easier-to-use development tools, built-in DevOps capabilities, out-of-the-box integrations, and other capabilities, developers have the ingredients to simplify and accelerate the development process.

Here are five ways to use low-code platforms to improve developer productivity.

1. Quickly PoC the User Experience to Get End-User Feedback

The first step development teams often do when working on a new idea is to develop a quick proof of concept (PoC). Developing the PoC usually requires multiple sitdowns with subject matter experts to understand their vision, requirements, and integration needs. Once sufficient requirements are understood, the development process may include developing wireframes, basic designs, lightweight integrations, and basic functionality. Agile teams share results at the end of every sprint to get frequent feedback from stakeholders and application end-users.

How many sprints and developers does it take to achieve a minimally viable PoC? That probably depends on the specific requirements, but there’s an opportunity to condense the development process. For example, instead of wireframing and designing, the development team can prototype multiple flows and user experiences with a low-code application development platform. For simple internal workflows, the team should consider a citizen development process. If integrations are needed, then the low-code platform may have an out-of-the-box connector to use.

2. Rapidly Validate Integration Flows and Data Quality

“We have an API” is what SaaS vendors will claim, but what capabilities do the APIs expose, and how easy is it to orchestrate the required integrations?

Integrations tend to be an unknown x-factor when it comes to developing data and process flow integrations. Developers can’t fully evaluate the feasibility and assess development complexities without prototyping the integration, validating the API’s capabilities, and analyzing the data quality.

Low-code platforms that have integrations with the most common SaaS platforms enable development teams to start their assessments by reviewing documentation, evaluating sample implementations, and attempting simple integrations. It’s common to integrate applications with platforms such as:

CRMs like Marketo, Salesforce, and SugarCRM
ERPs including Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, QuickBooks, and SAP
HR systems including Saba, SuccessFactors, Taleo, and Workday
Workflow tools including Jira, ServiceNow, and Slack
Public cloud services including AWS, Azure, Box, Google, and Snowflake

But developers can achieve an even higher productivity level when the low-code platform exposes visual tools to develop and test non-standards or less commonly implemented integrations. The capability to rapidly prototype integrations can be a game-changer for developers working with industry-specific platforms in government, manufacturing, higher ed, retail, and healthcare.

3. Develop Manageable APIs that Deliver Value

Completing an integration for one workflow, customer experience, or application is an important achievement, but chances are, the business goal requires development teams to implement multiple integrations. The last thing development teams want is to create numerous and independent integrations producing technical debt and necessitating future consolidations.

To avoid this fate, development teams should think of building API integrations as products or services. That service becomes a common bridge between internally developed workflows and customer experience applications with an external SaaS platform, enterprise system, or data source. Once created, it enables reuse, and when enhancements are needed, the upgrade becomes available to all applications and development teams.

4. Get Subject Matter Experts Involved in Data Prep

Of course, building a single bridge is only the start of the integration. Development teams must evaluate whether the data payloads crossing the bridge match the format and data quality required in their application.

Developers can handle simple data cleansing rules such as normalizing phone number formats, but more complex multi-field mapping issues often require engaging subject matter experts around the business rules.

Organizations using low-code application development, integration, and data solutions have the option to accelerate data cleansing. These organizations can provide their subject matter experts with access and training on data prep tools. With these tools, experts can profile data, test cleansing rules, and provide developers a faster way to integrate data from third-party APIs into their applications.

5. Maintain the API and Data Catalogs While Developing Apps

With data cleansed and reusable integrations deployed, one additional area of productivity stems from an activity often left out by development teams. It requires creating documentation, cataloging information, and internally marketing new capabilities to get actual reuse so that multiple business and technology teams learn about new API and data services.

One key to success is to integrate API management and data cataloging into the development process. API management ensures that endpoints are developed, deployed, stored, updated, and controlled to support customer experiences, scalability, security, and reusability. The data catalog ensures that derivative data created and managed by applications get defined and exposed to data stewards and scientists.

API management and data catalogs are defensive and offensive strategies that improve productivity and quality. On the defensive side, developers create derivative data sources unknowingly as they don’t know how best to update existing data structures without downstream impacts. Instead of creating a new asset out of fear or convenience, API management and data catalog tools establish a discipline of researching existing solutions and promoting reuse. That’s the offensive side of the strategy, and it can have a dramatic impact on productivity and quality.

From rapidly developing PoCs to promoting service, API, and data reusability – these are key capabilities for organizations on digital transformation journeys, seeking business impacts from technology investments, and using low-code platforms to enable productivity.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Boomi.