yayabobiBuilding applications, workflows, and automation is no longer reserved for coding experts. Citizen developers, business users, and people with non-technical backgrounds can make their ideas a reality with low-code process automation.
According to Forrester, a staggering 79% of developers now rely on low-code, no-code, or digital process automation solutions on a daily basis. This statistic isn't surprising considering the ease of use and accessibility of these solutions. However, finding genuinely valuable use cases for low-code automation that go beyond simple script replacements can be a real challenge.
What is low-code process automation?
Rather than writing lines of code from scratch, low-code platforms allow users to visually configure and connect different application services and functionality to create tailored process automations. Low-code process automation refers to the use of visual, drag-and-drop tools and pre-built components to quickly build and deploy automated workflows and applications with minimal coding.
This approach opens the door for non-technical users to rapidly build and deploy automations that streamline repetitive business tasks and workflows. A prime example of low-code process automation in action is the ability for business analysts or operations teams to build custom applications that automate their organization's invoice processing. Instead of relying on IT to build a custom invoicing system from the ground up, these users can leverage low-code tools to visually design a workflow that connects data capture, payment processing, and reporting---all without writing a single line of code.
Low-Code Process Automation vs. No-Code Process Automation
While both low-code and no-code platforms aim to empower users to build custom applications and automated workflows, there are some key differences between the two approaches:
Low-Code Process Automation
Low-code automation platforms are designed to meet users with some existing technical knowledge or coding experience "halfway." They offer moderate flexibility by incorporating coding options with customization and advanced functionality, providing the infrastructure for executing and monitoring workflows. Plus, some low-code platforms support additional tools such as authentication to APIs.
No-Code Process Automation
In contrast, no-code platforms enable users with little to no technical background to build automations from scratch. These tools typically feature intuitive, drag-and-drop interfaces that abstract away most of the underlying complexity. No-code empowers citizen developers and business users to quickly solve their automation needs without relying on stretched IT resources.
3 Benefits of Low Code Process Automation
1. Ability to Self-Serve
Low-code platforms enable a wide range of users to build tailored automations without waiting weeks for developers to become available. This self-service model allows organizations to be more proactive and responsive in addressing their automation needs.
2. Faster Time-to-Value
The visual, drag-and-drop nature of low-code tools allows users to quickly configure and deploy automated workflows in a fraction of the time it would take to build them using traditional development methods.
3. Increased Flexibility
Low-code platforms provide high extensibility, allowing users to easily adapt their automations to changing requirements. Rather than being locked into rigid, one-size-fits-all solutions, low-code gives users the power to optimize their digital processes as needed.
3 Limitations of Low Code Process Automation
While low code tools offer an impressive feature set, they aren't without limitations.
1. Limited Customization
Low-code platforms often rely on pre-built components and templates, which can restrict the level of customization possible. This limitation can be problematic for teams with unique processes that don't fit neatly into pre-defined molds.
2. Integration Challenges
While low-code platforms typically offer some integration capabilities, integrating with legacy systems or private third-party APIs can prove difficult or, in some cases, counterproductive. .
3. Limited Control
Low-code platforms may offer limited access to the underlying code, making troubleshooting issues or implementing fine-grained customizations difficult. This limitation can be frustrating for experienced developers who are used to having greater control over their applications.
How to Get Started with Low Code Process Automation
Now that we've explored the benefits of low-code process automation, let's look at the key steps to getting started.
Identify Process Bottlenecks
The first step in building any automation, including low code, is to assess your organization's operations and identify areas where it could have the greatest impact. Look for repetitive, time-consuming tasks or processes that are prime contenders for low code automation. For example, tasks like pinging a co-worker to review a pull request.
Secure Stakeholder Buy-in
Engaging key stakeholders, whether developers, operations teams, or business users, is crucial to building momentum and ensuring the success of your low-code automation initiatives. You could start by speaking to team members about pain points, referring back to a pull request example, and finding out how often your team needs to be reminded about a review.
Leverage a Low-Code Automation Platform
Some workflow automation tools like Zapier are good options for straightforward automation without coding, but their parameters can limit more complex automations. If you're looking for a concrete implementation, check out AutoKitteh's samples repo.
6 Use Cases for Low-Code Process Automation
1. API Documentation Automation
Keeping API documentation up-to-date with constant changes can be challenging. Low-code automation can streamline this process by regenerating documentation updates each time a new version is published. This use case ensures that developers always have access to the most current information.
Implementation tips:
- Integrate your API documentation generation tool (e.g., Swagger, OpenAPI) with your CI/CD pipeline. Every time a new build is successful, trigger the documentation regeneration.
- Consider using AutoKitteh to monitor code changes and automatically initiate documentation updates whenever relevant modifications occur.
- Explore tools that allow you to embed interactive API documentation directly within your developer portal, which improves usability.
2. Infrastructure Approval Workflows
Low-code automation can significantly improve the infrastructure provisioning process. By building automated workflows, you can streamline approvals for new infrastructure requests and notify the ops team when these requests are made.
- Integrate with your infrastructure provisioning tools (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation) to automatically trigger provisioning once approvals are granted.
- Implement notifications (e.g., email, Slack) at each stage of the workflow to keep stakeholders informed.
3. Building a Domain-Specific Knowledge Base
Keeping company knowledge bases updated is always a challenge. Each time new documentation is created, you can trigger an automation that feeds this information into a large language model as training data. With this use case, you can build a company-specific knowledge repository that grows more valuable over time.
Implementation tips:
- Choose a suitable large language model (LLM) that can be fine-tuned on your company's data.
- Set up AutoKitteh workflows to extract and preprocess new documentation as it's created, making it suitable for LLM training.
- Consider building a chatbot or search interface powered by the LLM to provide easy access to the knowledge base.
4. Employee Onboarding Process
HR onboarding processes can go beyond just payroll automation. Creating a low-code workflow that automates tasks such as setting up email accounts, granting necessary system access, scheduling orientation sessions, and sending welcome packages will save a huge amount of time.
Implementation tips:
- Map out your current onboarding process to identify tasks that can be automated.
- Use AutoKitteh's to design the onboarding workflow, including tasks like account creation, system access provisioning, and sending welcome emails.
- Integrate with your HR systems, IT tools, and communication platforms to streamline data exchange and task execution for other IT process automation use cases.
5. Test Automation
Enhance your testing process by automating parts that typically involve generation. This could be creating workflows to make and clean up dependencies for end-to-end tests or generating unique mock data using OpenAI.
Implementation tips:
- Identify repetitive and time-consuming test setup and teardown tasks that can be automated.
- Integrate with your testing framework (e.g., Selenium, JUnit) to trigger automated tests as part of the CI/CD pipeline.
- Explore using LLMs like OpenAI to generate diverse and realistic test data, improving test coverage.
Implementation tips:
- Identify repetitive and time-consuming test setup and teardown tasks that can be automated.
- Integrate with your testing framework (e.g., Selenium, JUnit) to trigger automated tests as part of the CI/CD pipeline.
- Explore using LLMs like OpenAI to generate diverse and realistic test data, improving test coverage.
6. Release Coordination
Low-code can be leveraged to coordinate software releases using low-code automation. Similar to the pull request reminder, each time a release is created, a notification can be scheduled to be sent to members of the QA team on Slack.
Implementation tips:
- Define the key stages of your release process and the stakeholders involved at each stage.
- Use AutoKitteh to build workflows that automatically notify relevant teams (e.g., QA, development, operations) when a new release is created or deployed.
- Integrate with your version control system (e.g., Git) and deployment tools to trigger notifications at the right time.
Create Workflows Without Parameters With AutoKitteh
While low-code offers immense benefits across the board, knowing when it fits your use case is key to realizing its full potential. Low-code automation is revolutionizing the way organizations develop applications and streamline processes, enhancing productivity, reducing costs, and achieving faster time to market.
Some workflow automation tools are good options for straightforward automation without coding, but their parameters limit what you can do. AutoKitteh's durable workflow automation platform, you can use code to create any workflow automation without limitation. Users can simply write the code (the business logic of the automation), and AutoKitteh provides all the infrastructure, including: authentication, connections to external systems, scalability, secrets management, workflow monitoring and management, logging, and more.
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