- February 6, 2023
- Posted by: Indium
- Category: Application Engineering
When it comes to low-code app development platforms, you have plenty of options. And that is great! However, it can be confusing since you’ll have many challenges you’ll be looking to solve with your desired apps. What’s worse is when you find out that different low-code platforms address varying problems.
So, what’s the best approach to selecting the right low-code development company? Join us as we go above and beyond to provide you with a checklist of things to consider when vetting and selecting a low-code development agency.
8 Tips to Consider When Choosing a Low-Code Platform Vendor
Low-code platforms enhance application development speed and ease of use. But no single low-code development platform vendor is perfect for all business cases. The following are key considerations to help you make the right call when selecting a low-code platform vendor.
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1. Pricing Models
As you would expect, different low-code application development companies have different pricing models. Some low-code development vendors charge monthly or annually per user, and others charge per application. Also, other platform bill depending on the usage metrics and development scale.
Therefore, you should check the platform’s pricing plans to avoid issues like vendor lock-in. Also, ensure that the pricing is future-proof by allowing scalability, meeting your demands, and being within your budget.
2. Customization Capabilities
Most low-code app development platforms offer drag-and-drop interfaces and built-in templates. These ready-made features and tools help save the effort and time required to develop, test, and deploy applications. However, the actual effectiveness relies on the platform’s ability to adapt and customize to meet specific user requirements.
So, before choosing the final low-code application development company, ensure it supports the following:
- Modification or predefined and auto-generated codes.
- Deeper customizations with custom extensions and methods.
- Creation of apps on one platform and expanding their usage on customized Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) of your wish.
- Integration of custom-made business logic.
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3. Visual Interface
Low code is a model-powered application development approach. Therefore, visual modeling is crucial in envisioning the final appearance of your application. Graphical models help non-developers quickly understand the application design. So, the selected platform must have a simple, intuitive interface. This will help those with limited coding experience to use the visual models, features, and tools to build tailored low-code applications.
4. Use Cases
As low-code development has become popular over the years, more businesses have rapidly upgraded enterprise apps. But does that imply any low-code app development company is suitable for your business? Well, NO!
Instead, low-code app development should be 100% use-case driven. Don’t forget that low-code platforms should improve or accelerate app development. Therefore, it’s crucial to assess them against various types of applications that your business needs for its final user experience.
Also, you should evaluate a low-code app development company against your data requirements and workflow capabilities. This is because different low-code development platforms have varying techniques and abilities. You should take time to understand the platform’s strengths and weaknesses. Doing so will make app development simpler while ensuring customizations.
Build a well-researched series of use cases, user expectations, and requirements. After that, appraise them against the low-code platform’s capabilities. This will help smoothen the application development process.
5. Assess Integration Requirements
Some organizations cannot afford to develop or design low-code applications in silos. This necessitates the integration of apps with data center and cloud databases, third-party data sources, APIs, and enterprise systems.
If your business develops an IoT data pipeline or machine learning models, you must integrate a highly-reliable low-code development platform. Although nearly all low-code development companies offer APIs, their support development, business-specific performance, and usage differ significantly.
Therefore, evaluating the platform’s integration requirements is vital. It helps businesses to avoid choosing low-code development platforms that need constant maintenance and complex integration.
6. Know Who Will Develop Applications
Some low-code app development companies are near “no-code” than others. These platforms offer visual tools to build workflows, user interfaces, and integrations. However, your development team may face difficulties in extending and adapting the apps, especially if it has no-code developers.
Even if an app development platform identifies itself as low-code, some technical configurations are necessary to ensure a custom-built, effective fit for your company. We recommend you seek specialized consulting services if you are unsure about the platform or lack the technical expertise to assess it. This will help determine whether your team has adequate expertise to use the platform or needs additional input.
Determining who will design, build, and maintain the low-code application is essential. This is because some platforms are tools for targeted individuals and tech professionals with specific development expertise. Other platforms are for citizen development, where they subject experts and empower analysts to develop and support applications.
Remember to include your target developers when selecting a low-code app development company. They must be interested in learning about and developing apps using the chosen low-code platform.
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7. Third-Party Integrations
A perfect low-code application development solution supports tailored integrations, ensuring an independent app. It should integrate quickly and seamlessly with external APIs, enterprise systems, databases, or the cloud.
Standalone apps are inflexible and expensive. So, it’s crucial to ensure the selected platform makes it easier to develop, distribute, and consume APIs. These elements are the primary building blocks of a modern, scalable application.
8. Real-Time Analysis
Developing data and analytics is easier with low-code platforms. These platforms have advanced features to support AI-assisted development, automation, and machine learning solutions. These components help functional managers and citizen developers to build custom reports and predictive real-time data analytics.
Therefore, when choosing a low-code app development vendor, ensure it has some of the best-to-have capabilities, such as:
- Configurable tools and settings
- Offline application support
- Customizable and scalable built-in templates
- Flexible cloud and on-premise deployment
- Constant technical support
Final Thought
Selecting the most suitable low-code app development company is crucial. It helps you achieve tailored and extended applications that perfectly suit your needs. Though it may seem daunting initially, following the considerations can help you find a perfectly matching low-code development platform.
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