Decoding No-Code

Imagine a person with no coding experience, building an app like Twitter using a drag-and-drop GUI in just few clicks. That person can be anybody, an entrepreneur, marketing manager.. etc. With  just an idea, applications similar to AIRBNB or a tool for Campaign Management  for upcoming holiday season, can be built without having to code and that too within few hours. No help needed from IT team or hassle to look for development resources. All this and more is possible thanks to a set of tools called no-code. As per estimates, less than 1% of the world's working population knows how to code and no-code tools aim to democratize the world of software development for the remaining 99%.

The world is creating more and more software than ever and need for software development skills is increasing every day. We are in a situation where demand for software developers is expected to rise across all industry sectors. For many companies, this means shortage of software developers and consequently slower product creation and iteration. No-code tools addresses this problem by abstracting some of the complexity around coding and allowing companies and entrepreneurs to build software faster and with fewer resources. Currently, no-code tools have powered mobile apps, websites, analytics software and many other categories of B2B and B2C software. A list of non-code tools available for various categories can be found here. VCs have invested over $1.4B ( 140% higher than in 2020) in no-code start-ups in first 9 months of 2021 alone. As awareness around no- code tools grows, broader market adoption and wide spread usage by businesses may happen much sooner than expected.

Telecom Perspective

In the telecom industry, a broader shift has been visible in terms of decoupling of functionality from proprietary hardware or hardware based appliances to software. Some examples of this shift are Software-Defined Network (dynamic network management), NFV (virtualizing network services) Open RAN( inter-operable RAN interfaces) and eSIM ( Software based programmable SIM). As the focus increases on software capabilities and consequently software development, arrival of no-code will further accelerate this shift.

Which Way?

No-code or low code has seen adoption in telecom industry in application such as Business Support Systems ( BSS), Enterprise Messaging and CPaaS among other categories. Most of the low end of software development for telecom software which is standard, can be seen as ideal candidates for no-code approach. However, any software which requires high degree of customization or certain special functionalities (complex video editing) will still require coding. Also currently software built and deployed using no-code tools have limitations in terms of scalability( # of users supported, storage) but those limits are getting improved constantly.

For the telcos, adopting low-code promises many benefits. The speed with which new software can be built and deployed using low-code tools can reduce Time to Market. No-code tools also enable faster iteration of software releases incorporating new functionality based on quick feedback loop from customer. Costs involved in application development also is expected to be lower with no-code tools. Lastly, no-code tools allow greater participation of Business and Product Management resources in application development in real-time ensuring that the application is built as per the requirements. Customer segments such as MVNOs/Operator 2nd Brands who are offering digital services to customers may benefit from no-code. Quick feature launches and product improvements needed by these digital service providers can be powered efficiently using low-code.

Future Aspect

Tech industry experts hypothesise that the first product company to be built completely using no-code will IPO in next 5 years. Other forecast peg 65% of app development to be low-code by 2024. As companies look to transform into composable enterprise, low- code tools are set to play an important role in fostering software innovation.