The 'No-Code' Movement

Hype or meaningful change for business users?

This may just end up aging poorly, but whatever.

While working on something separate, the topic of “No-Code Development Platforms” (NCDPs) came up.

For any business, small or big, new or established, leveraging software has become a necessity to operate in today’s world. Software engineers, developers, and programmers are among the most desirable careers, as is the prospect of working in the tech sector.

But the reality is that not every business is a tech business, nor does every organization have access to a technical workforce that is able to develop and implement software.

This has given rise to multi-billion-dollar B2B software and IT consulting industries that worry about these details so that you don’t have to. At a hefty price tag, of course.

And I’m not just talking about how much money these businesses make from selling off-the-shelf products bundled with customization and integration services, but also about how their clients can end up becoming so reliant on their solutions that over time, the switching costs can become too high.

This helps propel healthy profit margins and has led to an explosion of new businesses and innovation in B2B-related software and IT services.

What is “No-Code?”

The notion behind “no-code” is literally that—no programming skills required to build software. You also have "low-code,” which obviously implies less coding being required to build applications and tools.

Businesses have built platforms and tools on the Cloud with graphical user interfaces that have been designed to be accessible and intuitive for both experienced professionals and non-technical users alike.

And the non-technical business user, a very large segment, is certainly one of the audiences they’re trying to appeal to.

That is, anyone (for a fee) is able to access a plethora of “plug-and-play” modules and components with easy-to-use features to build and customize applications for their specific needs and purposes.

Some of these platforms even sport ecosystems of no-code developers and agencies that provide ready-made templates and services to build something bespoke at break-neck speeds.

At first glance, it’s all very cool.

Want a messaging tool that looks and works like WhatsApp but is customized and secured for your workflow and company environment? Check.

How about a CRM platform that actually fits how your sales and business development teams operate? No problem.

What about a new direct-to-consumer startup looking to build a website and smartphone app with e-commerce and chatbot functionality? Can be done.

Oh, and a meme generator powered by AI to supercharge your tweeting prowess? Tons of those already, but if you’re willing to pay for it, sure.

If it can be written in code, it can likely be done with no-code in a fraction of the time and without bugs. In that sense, the possibilities are endless.

Statista estimates that the no-code and low-code industries will reach global revenues of $27 billion this year. To give some perspective, that’s around 5% of the global public cloud market. (I wrote an article on subscriptions and how they relate to the Cloud here.)

These industries are expected to more than double over the next four to five years.

Clearly, something interesting is happening here.

Some of the implications

What is this to the business user?

Imagine being able to test a business or product idea by quickly putting together a “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) on a no-code platform after brainstorming with your team and not getting stuck at one of the all-time classic blockers—needing a developer for the next step.

Heck, going one step further than that, having access to developers doesn’t even guarantee that you’ll be able to build what you had in mind.

Being able to communicate business needs into product specifications that development teams can work with and then balance everything during development is such a critical function that it has taken project management to entirely new heights.

So much so that it can cause rifts between business and development teams. I wish I was kidding, but I’ve seen it happen.

So the idea of no-code can be empowering to a business user. More control and capability in your hands at an earlier stage. This can help inform you whether you’re headed in the right direction before investing further.

There are even entire businesses built on no-code. It's impressive when you think about it.

If there were a ton of tech entrepreneurs before, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how many more there might be now because of something like this.

And while venture capital and private equity in tech may have deflated in light of the current economic climate, there does appear to be a very dedicated no-code following.

This movement will likely still be around when investors undoubtedly circle back towards growth sectors at some point.

Ever had a “go-to” person for Excel?

Having briefly dabbled with some of the no-code platforms out there, the prospect of building something from scratch without any kind of programming background is exciting.

But, in my opinion, I do feel that there is a fundamental issue with no-code.

I’d venture that anyone who’s worked with numbers, large sets of data, or had to manage complicated processes at work would be familiar with using Microsoft Excel. They’d also likely know of a “go-to” Excel person, or perhaps even be that person.

You know what I’m talking about. That individual who is a guru with spreadsheets.

Sure, most of us can cobble a few tables together with some simple formulas. You may have even received some admiration from the office crowd if you knew about conditional formatting and pivot tables.

But can you build complex spreadsheet models and dashboards that utilize macros and Visual Basic to dynamically update at the press of a button? Yeah, that Excel guru.

Outside of working with an development team, which isn’t the case for most businesses, I’m reminded of that person whenever I think about the use of no-code in the workplace.

Can building something in no-code be as simple as putting together an Excel spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation in a few hours? Yes, you could literally piece something together that would work in a live environment in a very short amount of time.

But just because you can build something doesn’t mean it’s good.

Now, don’t get me wrong, is no-code a step-change in terms of making software development more accessible to the masses? Yes, but don’t be fooled into thinking that you’re on a level playing field with a seasoned professional.

Software development is inherently complicated and nuanced, no matter how “accessible” you make it.

With that in mind, I do feel like no-code benefits an audience that has had a stranglehold on software development since the beginning—the development community itself.

Think about it, writing code and debugging take time. NCDPs would allow programmers to churn out applications and tools in a fraction of that time, potentially leading to large productivity boosts across a number of scenarios.

Over time, the “go-to” Excel person may just end up becoming the “go-to” no-code person.

Disruption by AI?

And this is timely, if you ask me.

Moving past the hype, advancements in AI and real-world use cases are becoming increasingly disruptive. (I wrote an article on the implications of generative AI here.)

We may just be on the precipice of being able to have AI do more things for us than ever before, including building software applications and tools.

If this is the direction we’re headed, why bother learning no-code or even how to program for that matter?

Don’t get me wrong; I think some knowledge and experience is always a good thing, but increasingly, the workplace is becoming an environment for generalists.

Where expertise is required, we look at procuring agencies and platforms offering such services. AI will only serve to accelerate this trend as it becomes cheaper to deploy.

Does this spell the end for software engineers, developers, and programmers? No, of course not.

But a field needed by much of the world to operate has historically been driven by a barrier of technical know-how and known for being very time-consuming. This has led to a sizable and relatively well-paid workforce.

I suspect that some of this will change. Being a “good enough” developer or programmer may just not cut it anymore.

A small team of great engineers who also understand the business could very well end up being far more productive at scale by utilizing no-code and AI than an entire department of good developers.

Final thoughts

Will this actually come to pass? No one can know for sure, but even if some of it does, I imagine it’ll be a gradual shift. Structural changes in the workforce often take time.

However, as someone who has had some experience managing software development projects and budgets, and has had to negotiate with different engineering teams, I can certainly see some of this happening.

So what’s the “TL;DR” (Too Long; Didn’t Read)?

I do think that no-code has revolutionized aspects of software development. It’s crazy to think that we can now build and deploy real applications and tools with “point-and-click” when we used to need to know entire programming languages to do so.

However, the implications may not be as far-reaching.

Just like with Excel, some business and casual users may end up having a general knowledge of no-code but will likely still rely on specialists to do the heavy lifting. This group, ironically, stands to benefit the most from this.

Great coders may just end up becoming legendary, while anyone who codes professionally could see some real productivity and efficiency gains.

But AI may end up being both a boon and a curveball to the no-code movement and software development in general.

It’s about to get a lot more competitive.

See you in the next one!