With so many software development languages and frameworks available, gaps in the development process are almost inevitable. Raju Vegesna, chief evangelist at Zoho shares his thoughts on how savvy businesses are using this as an opportunity to turn to vendors that can offer them a truly full-spectrum developer ecosystem.
Today’s developer landscape is fragmented. With so many software development languages and frameworks available, disconnects in the development process are almost inevitable. But rather than viewing this as a production-sapping challenge, savvy businesses and DevOpsOpens a new window teams are using it as an opportunity to turn to vendors that can offer them a truly full-spectrum developer ecosystem.
The cutthroat world of business today moves at the speed of light. Any number of variables can change in an instant, creating a “survival of the fittest†situation. The winners are those who adapt to change quickly and can pivot at a moment’s notice. The laggards are those who can’t keep up or blindly fall into the trap of relying on aging and antiquated legacy systems simply because it’s always been done that way.
In professional settings, this is known as business agility. It is required within all levels of an organization, from top executives down to individual teams. For teams of developersOpens a new window , this can be achieved with a full-spectrum developer ecosystem. Here are three reasons why:
1. No-Code and Low-Code Solutions Don’t Require Expert Developers
It is obviously nice to have access to a high-end team of developers and engineers, but that simply isn’t a reality for many businesses. Instead, many are forced to rely on team members with little or no in-depth knowledge of writing lines and lines of intricate code. That said, they still have a need to be able to create business-centric applications that perform functional workflows, ideally in a time-sensitive manner. A key advantage of empowering line-of-business employees to build apps is that they are closer to the process and can build apps that they will be using themselves, which gives them an inherent stake in the quality of the app. Processes are always being tweaked, and with rapid app developmentOpens a new window , changes are handled quickly and can be immediately deployed.
In these situations, a no-code or low-codeOpens a new window solution can be just what the doctor ordered. These systems tend to be more visual in nature and allow users to drag and drop various tasks and functions to create functional apps that can perform complex calculations or automate repetitive tasks.
Further, the best low-code solutions are set up so businesses only need to create an app once but still enjoy support on the web as well as on Android and iOS devices. This is critical because it enables teams to skip the tedious and time-consuming process of rebuilding apps for different platforms. It also gives businesses a competitive edge, since making apps available on today’s most popular mobile devices is imperative for success.
Learn More: Why Full-stack Development Needs Low-code to Stay AgileOpens a new window
2. Serverless Applications Help Businesses Scale Globally — and Quickly
When mid-market businesses reach the point where they want or need to scale, today’s generation of organizations is increasingly looking for cloud-based platforms that handle back-end architecture while empowering teams to create high-level microservicesOpens a new window and cloud-based apps.
Going serverless provides businesses with a number of advantages. First, it saves developers from wasting valuable time and resources on tedious back-end tasks, such as managing infrastructure. In addition, it allows businesses to deliver their customers a reliable user experience because downtime is rarely an issue. Finally, a cloud-based platform helps businesses auto-scale their solutions globally based directly on real-world demand.
All of this allows development teams to spend more time on what they actually love doing: developing and shipping new features and functionalities that define their organization’s business logic without having to manage the backend.
When built on a full stack of tech resources, serverless platforms can unlock a whole host of new capabilities for businesses. They can browse analytics to track usage and monitor performance. They can integrate AIOpens a new window into their applications for even richer user experience. They can leverage huge scores of valuable information stored in cloud databases. And they can easily and seamlessly integrate back-end functionalities to connect code to web and mobile apps.
3. Unified Data Hierarchies Streamline, Well, Everything.
The one thing that ties together a full-spectrum developer ecosystem and gives businesses optimal flexibility is a unified database modelOpens a new window .
Many businesses use different software vendors for various functions. An organization may use one solution for resource planning, another for CRM, and still another for business insights and analytics. The problem this creates is incomplete information in a single database or duplicate information in all three databases. A much better approach is to integrate any and all apps on top of a unified database.
Doing so provides consistency across an organization, a seamless ecosystem in which each department and team has access to the data they need, precisely when they need it. Permissions and access to specific data trickle down across the stack, eliminating the need for teams to master multiple apps and systems to access a single piece of information.
A unified database acts as a storage hub for all of an organization’s data, allowing them to build and install apps on top that send and pull data from the same exact source. And the benefits of such a setup are countless.
For example, a business that uses apps for franchise management, quotation management, point-of-sale, sales management, order management, and logistics management doesn’t need to worry about integrating customer and vendor operations. All of the data rests in the underlying unified database, making it easy for each of these apps to utilize consistent data across the board.
The phrase “time is money†has been around for decades, but it has perhaps never been more true than in today’s fast-paced business climate. Businesses of all sizes are looking to put themselves in the best possible position for success, and often that means developing the ability to make intelligent decisions quickly — business agility. For forward-thinking businesses, this entails working in a full-spectrum, no-code to a pro-code environment built on top of a unified data model. Only then is it possible for them to eliminate tedium and instead concentrate resources on truly innovating for their organization.
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