In Japanese companies, where the shortage of IT human resources is becoming increasingly serious, low-code/no-code development platforms have gone beyond mere business improvement tools to become core infrastructure that influences company-wide DX. While the standardization of generation AI collaboration has reached a stage where complex business logic and DB designs can be automatically generated from natural language prompts, this is also a double-edged sword that can lead to serious governance failures if the implementation approach is incorrect.
Dilemma of speed of on-site development and shadow IT
The biggest strength of no-code is the speed with which the people in charge at the business site can immediately give form to their ideas. The speed with which approval and inventory management apps, which used to take several months to develop from requirements definition to development, are up and running in just a few days is overwhelming the traditional contract development model. However, behind this degree of freedom lies the trap of ``shadow IT’’. When stray apps proliferate at the initiative of the field, data linkage becomes fragmented (silos), and due to the transfer of creators, the risk of inability to maintain and maintenance becomes apparent. On the other hand, if the information systems department restricts development too strictly, the enthusiasm in the field will be lost and the progress of DX will slow down again.
Comparison of characteristics of two major trends in development tools
The tools currently available on the market can be broadly divided into two types.
- Field-oriented no-code (Glide, AppSheet, etc.): Its strength is its overwhelming development productivity, which allows non-engineers to build prototypes in a few hours to a few days. It is ideal for small-scale aggregation and application work within a department, but there are limits to company-wide control.
- Company-wide controlled low code (Power Platform, OutSystems, etc.): Handled by information systems and dedicated personnel, achieving detailed authority management, core DB linkage, and security integration. Suitable for company-wide customer portals and large-scale transaction processing.
Operational model of the “Citizen Developer Certification System” practiced by successful DX companies
Advanced companies have established a CoE (CoE) within their information systems to resolve the trade-off between the two. We provide a step-by-step training curriculum for field employees, and those who pass the exam are officially recognized as “citizen developers.” The created app will be released to the public after going through a security review in the information system sandbox. The combination of platform opening and automatic auditing is the key to making in-house production a competitive advantage.