3 Ways Low-Code/No-Code Tools Boosted Digital Transformation

To see the other technologies and approaches highlighted in our Digital Transformation series, read our report: An Enterprise Guide to Digital Transformation in 2021.

Automating workflows and reducing the amount of human-driven work is a key component of digital transformation. Low-code/no-code tools have been a vital part of this process since they allow workers to automate workflows and build tools to help accomplish certain tasks within client organizations.

There are plenty of low-code/no-code solutions out there these days. They have also seen a large uptick in their use over the last 18 months due to COVID-19-related lockdowns and employees primarily working from home.

Microsoft, Google, and Amazon all have their own low-code/no-code tools, but there are many more players in the space. We highlight them in three case studies showing how organizations used low-code/no-code solutions to develop their own unique strategies for digital transformation.

Case Study #1 – HopeSource

This Washington state non-profit works to address homelessness by providing access to education, employment, economic development, and other vital services. They used ZoHo Creator as their low-code/no-code solution.

Among the digital transformation projects tackled via low-code/no-code: Converting their manual reporting processes to automated ones, including tracking applicants for energy assistance and making reservations for resources and classes, and tracking client demographics to identify  specific community needs and turning that into direct support. HopeSource also used a low-code/no-code platform to build an online data platform for client resource queries. This meant that their client base could access services without having to make in-person office visits.

HopeSource is now developing their own case management system using ZoHo Creator’s low-code/no-code tools to turn the time-intensive paper process into a full digital solution.

How did digital transformation result in cost and time savings?

While difficult for the non-profit to quantify the specific impact on cost and time, they were able to show their success in two other significant ways since they started using low-code/no-code tools about three years ago: First, they increased their client services and support by approximately 75% over a three-year period to 3 million people served. And second, they solved homelessness for approximately 7,000 veterans in their county reaching functionally zero cases of homelessness amongst veterans. These tools and processes were provided to six other counties in Eastern Washington State to assist them in similar efforts.

Case Study #2 – Lendr

The financial services firm had a team of just four developers built five apps in a year via OutSystems’ low-code/no-code tools. They built and deployed a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans process/app for small businesses in less than six hours, then expanded their management tools to cover SBA loans, COVID-19 relief funds, financial education workflows, Grant distributions, Commercial loan applications, and post-loan follow-up.

These apps were used by staff, clients, and brokers for processing requests for and delivering working capital and factoring services. They estimate that this in-house development process took 70% less effort than it would have utilized using traditional C# application development techniques.

How did digital transformation result in cost and time savings?

Lendr estimates they saved more than 1,000 hours through the development and use of their OutSystems-based solutions to improve their various client workflows.

Case Study #3 – Haddad Brands

The children’s wear manufacturer and distributor wanted greater content management for twenty years’ worth of corporate documentation on SharePoint, emails across multiple accounts, and folders full of paper. Their team used WEBCON as their low-code/no-code platform for the document cataloging and searching, then added other organizational workflows like IT help desk ticket tracking and leave-request processing.

How did digital transformation result in cost and time savings?

Haddad Brands’ experiences echo a recent Forrester Total Economic Impact study of WEBCON, which documented internal processes being completed 87% faster, and with more than more than $600,000 in savings, over previous methods and tools.