Simplifying Workflow Automation with Low-Code

As your business grows, you need a way to bridge the gap between technology and processes. This allows you to scale your business and drive success. But building custom automation solutions and integrations isn’t always easy.

You need to take into account the complexities of the processes, the limitations of your IT department, the available budget, and your organizational objectives. Luckily, Low-Code simplifies workflow automation.

Continue reading and explore why Low-Code platforms simplify workflow automation and how it works.

What Is Low Code? 

Low-Code platforms remove the complexity out of building custom applications from scratch by minimizing code and using a visual interface to create business applications. Whether you need to integrate systems, automate processes, or build a custom application to meet your customer needs, Low-Code allows you to do it faster and cheaper than traditional application development. Traditional application development can take months and cost six or seven figures. Sadly, many of these custom applications fail. Others go way over budget.  

Why? 

Building applications from scratch involves a lot of people and time-consuming processes. The application needs to be mapped out, approved, built and ran through several rounds of testing before it goes live.  These applications are often built in the backend, so the programming knowledge of the end-user is limited, at best.  And because of the time lag from inception to completion, the issue they address can more or less change altogether by the time the application launches.  

How Fast Is Low Code? 

Low-Code is much faster than traditional application development because it removes a lot of the steps involved in the process. Once you have a road map for process improvement, you can train a few team members on the Low-Code platform of your choice. From there, you can build the custom applications you need in a matter of hours or days, not months. Low-Code supports rapid application development because it removes the need to build line after line of code. In most cases, you can drag and drop or deploy prefabricated code into a platform quickly. The end result uses far less code, meaning that testing and launching a new app can happen faster. (Roughly 6 to 20 times faster in many cases.) 

How Does Low Code Make Workflow Automation Simple?  

Every business relies on a vast network of workflows to complete tasks. Each workflow has its own set of steps that require data entry, storage, and transfer between (often disparate) systems. As a business grows, these inefficient systems multiply. The need to meet customer expectations while remaining competitive puts an incredible strain on organizations. The quick solution many choose is simply to hire more employees and use spreadsheets and email to bridge the gaps between systems.  But spreadsheets are not suitable for databases. And email is not an efficient way to manage projects. Consequently, when they’re used together, you end up with an inefficient mess that puts your business more at risk. 

Low-Code removes the need for spreadsheets and email chains to manage automation projects. Instead, you can automate workflows and build custom integrations and applications that bridge the gaps between systems and help you offer more features to your customers. The end result is a more efficient, competitive business.

Examples of Workflow Automation 

Procurement process

In a standard procurement process, there are several steps and systems involved. Every human touchpoint opens the door for human error and slowdowns. The goal of workflow automation is to optimize the process by removing human touchpoints. With the right procurement software and Low-Code integrations, you can completely transform your procurement process. You can automate inventory management, track vendors and invoices in your system, and manage orders with ease. For example, if an item is running low, your system will alert your staff of low inventory. If the order value is within budget, the system will order the item automatically in the right quantity from a specific vendor. If it’s above budget, a manager or VP will receive a notification that they need to approve the order (which they can quickly and easily do with a digital signature.) From there, the system places the order and the vendor delivers the goods. Once received, the quality is assured and the system tracks vendor performance. If the goods meet standards, the order is approved, and the invoice is automatically paid. This entire process is handled within one connected system, giving you real-time data and insights into your entire procurement process. Plus, you can evaluate vendor performance and relationships and leverage your supply chain to give your business the edge.

Invoice approval process

Even the invoice approval process can be inefficient and time-consuming, especially when a huge amount of data is involved and the process includes many steps before the final approval is received. Usually, cases like this, are performed manually using Excel files and sending numerous emails, thus lacking the necessary tracking in order to keep the entire team up to date. The goal of Comidor was to fully automate the invoice approval process by building rapidly a powerful workflow with Low-Code. With the right tools like RPA for automatic document creation, our client has achieved a reduction in human errors, elimination of paper-based tasks, and full traceability and visibility over the approval requests. The entire process automation was achieved in less than 14 days, offering a state-of-the-art solution.

5 Immediate Benefits of Low Code 

There are numerous benefits to using Low-Code to automate workflows in your business. Understanding what they are will help you successfully navigate change management and help you get more from the Low-Code Automation Platform.  

• Low-Code makes automation easy by democratizing software development throughout your organization. With more people empowered to create solutions, they can share their daily insights and built the tools they need to automate workflows with Low-Code. 
• Low-Code is not a roadway to replace your developers: Instead, it can free up your IT department to focus on more important tasks. Rather than playing whack-a-mole with endless tickets, they can focus on high-value projects.  
• Low-Code is cost-effective: As a SaaS platform, you’ll typically follow a SaaS pricing model. That means you’ll pay a subscription fee and a fee based on how much of the platform you use. 
• Low-Code solutions are reusable: Rather than built solutions from scratch over and over again, your team can quickly reuse what’s been made to connect other systems. This makes it even workflow automation even faster. 
• Low-Code is secure: Tools like Excel lack the essential security features needed to protect your customer data. Low-Code platforms are incredibly secure and have systems in place to protect your customer data. 

Why You Need Low-Code for Workflow Automation 

People are very inefficient at some tasks. For example, menial, boring tasks like data entry. We make errors with transferring data and we forget important information along the way. These errors can be costly. 

What’s more, the need to exceed customer expectations continues to rise. Your customers expect more from you. And to deliver on those expectations, you need the right applications with the right features. But, you also have to connect those applications and their data to other systems in your business. 

The only way to scale your business fast enough is to have the ability to build and connect new systems faster. Low-Code is your best option to make that happen.  

Transform your business with Comidor Low-Code and Workflow Automation

Although the business world is becoming more and more demanding, advanced technology and innovation can become the essential weapon for businesses that are seeking improvement opportunities and the best approaches to scale and thrive. Comidor Low-Code Platform comes with all the necessary tools and unlimited functionalities to automate end-to-end business processes and workflows and build composable applications.

Contact Comidor to explore how you can extend beyond workflow automation with Low-Code and transform your business today.

 

Author’s Bio
Kevin Shuler is the CEO of Quandary Consulting Group, a team of tech consultants that specialize in business process management. They use integrations and automation to help businesses scale as they grow, giving them more time to focus on what matters most.