Unleashing the Power of No-Code in the Enterprise

'Unleashing the Power of No-Code in the Enterprise' - Ten Key Takeaways

Appfarm took to the master stage - represented by CPO & Co-Founder Simon Larsen and Senior Product Manager Aaron Beaton - to provide some thought leadership on the influence of no-code in the enterprise. Over the past six years, the surge of no-code/low-code platforms has been evident. Parallel to this has been the willingness of enterprises in all industries to embrace no-code tools as a part of their technology stack. The initial skepticism is continuously eroding away as the benefits of using a no-code platform have become undeniable. This has paved the way for business-critical applications to be made faster, better and tailored to specific business needs.
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• The Appfarm perspective
  While many of the themes involved in this talk aren’t new to the tech space, they’re revolutionary because of “the benefit trifecta”  that applies to them within the no-code space. Affordable. Easy to use. Fast. The days of long development cycles associated with coding, or having to alter workflow processes to adjust to restrictive, off-the-shelf software, are a distant memory. Speed of collaboration, continuous testing, and impressive go-to-market times are the hallmarks of a no-code solution created with Appfarm.
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• Security & privacy
  What these elements lack in excitement, they make up for in the pivotal role they play in launching a digital solution feasible for an enterprise. Before planning out the ideal no-code solution, there are numerous queries any business should have; regarding the security of the platform itself or the security of the software created on the platform. An app created with Appfarm’s no-code development platform is secure by default. The ability to implement your own security policies is easily achieved for both developers and end-users. Extensive support and documentation are also readily available.
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• Infrastructure
  One of the best parts of utilizing a no-code platform when it comes to reliability and scalability. Appfarm is fully web-based and delivered as a service. Partnerships have been formed with Google and MongoDB to power infrastructure requirements, as well as having a team fully dedicated to constantly monitoring and optimizing cloud operations. Many of Appfarm’s clients have been able to leverage this shared infrastructure to be cost-effective.
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• Appfarm: Born collaborative
  Appfarm gives users the ability to clearly define roles and permissions while creating an app, ensuring effective collaboration. All changes are constantly represented to all users within a project. A high-grade permissions management system enables administrators to implement a collaborative model that suits their business. Example: The option to define which elements of an app portfolio developers have access to, and whether they can deploy to production, edit data models, or even update assets. This is also applicable for external users, for collaboration on testing, design, and anything else needed.
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• Automation: Fundamental to enterprises
  It’s fundamental for an enterprise-grade no-code tool to handle a multitude of requirements when it comes to automation. Use cases already supported through Appfarm include:- Use of APIs to send data.- Hardware like IoT sensors that need to push data to a certain location.- Scheduling jobs (sending a notification, generating a report, refreshing a token, etc.)You can use services within Appfarm to customize your own API, but it’s also possible to turn on GraphQL with a single checkbox, providing you access to your data from wherever you want.
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• Internationalization: Efficiency like never before
  Appfarm flips the script regarding internationalization – as apps are internationalized by default. A base language can be added when configuration begins, then other languages can be added as you see fit. User-facing source text is automatically extracted and is presented with context before any finalizations that might be needed by translators before app deployment. It’s also possible to create specific roles for translators or matter experts so that they can review and edit translations. They can see all existing translations and view how a string is used in the context of the app. These can then be downloaded into a translation management system for ready-made glossaries before being imported back to Appfarm.
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• Offline: No-code. No problem.
  The offline support functionality available to users of Appfarm is revolutionizing the use cases possible for workers in many industries.
  As seen in Spreng, the solution created for a 9 km long tunnel-building project in Northern Norway, the ability to input data in-app on phones or tablets while offline, with user authentication, increased the accuracy, efficiency, and project-management capabilities of this one-billion NOK project.
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• Deployment - Effective and rapid
  The ability to rapidly test and improve apps within the development environment - known as hot reloading - results with an instant preview of any changes made.
  A multi-layer test environment is built into Appfarm, meaning when an app is ready to test, it takes just one click to deploy it to the next testing environment made up of ‘Test’, ‘Staging’, and ‘Production’. The test environment is isolated with its own database and data. The staging environment uses the production data, which is helpful for running QA testing, before being moved to production. A feature called ‘Snapshots’ is a type of backup that automatically captures the state of an app at a specific point in time. In the event of a bug, you can reapply a snapshot, meaning your development environment will instantly revert back to a point in time when it was bug-free.
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• Code within no-code
  It’s believed that almost anything can be created using the drag-and-drop building blocks that form the foundations of Appfarm. Developers that want or need to use code within a solution can do so through a feature called ‘coded components’. This enables them to build entirely custom and interactive UI components while still retaining seamless access to all of their apps' data and logic. It’s as easy to use and build with as the rest of the Appfarm library. Java Script is also supported on the platform to display calculated values and set data values. It’s possible to import Java Script libraries into an app and run your own code as a part of the logic.
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• Flexibility: Built for developer success
  The term flexibility can be quite intangible when it comes to a no-code platform. From Appfarm’s perspective, it’s measured through developers’ happiness while using the platform. The more developer-friendly it is, the more likely remarkable things will be created. A big part of the developer experience on Appfarm is to combine the beauty of modern front-end builders with the capabilities and power of a transitional no-code platform. Real-time dev tools are provided to inspect data and logic at all times while creating an app. A feature called ‘reference check’, enables you to see how any item in UI, logic, or data model is connected to the entire solution. It also runs automatically when something is being deleted, making sure it is not currently connected elsewhere in the solution, ensuring nothing breaks down. App Health is also available. With one click, an overview is generated, providing valuable tips on how to improve app performance.