Understanding the Difference Between Low-Code, No-Code, and Pro-Code Platforms for SAP

Last week, I ran a poll asking for your thoughts on low-code/no-code (LC/NC) platforms for SAP custom application development. The responses highlighted a significant amount of skepticism and confusion in the market. Here’s a brief summary of the results:

• 31% believe LC/NC platforms are not meant for SAP and do not add much value.
• 31% think LC/NC platforms are great for citizen developers but not for IT developers.
• 23% feel LC/NC platforms are great for IT developers but not for citizen developers.
• 15% don’t know enough about LC/NC platforms to form an opinion.

The results are more or less evenly distributed between the first three options, with 15% stating they lack enough knowledge on this topic. I believe this even distribution stems from a basic misunderstanding that low-code and no-code are the same. Moreover, the decent number of respondents lacking knowledge makes it essential to take a step back and explain the concepts to the uninitiated.

Before delving into the specifics, it’s crucial to clarify a significant misconception: low-code and no-code are not the same. In fact, there is another category called pro-code, and all of them serve different purposes, cater to different users, and solve different problems.

What is a No-Code Platform?

A no-code platform is designed to enable non-technical users, often referred to as citizen developers, to build applications without writing any code. These platforms offer intuitive visual development tools that allow users to configure and deploy applications quickly.

Think of it as being given a set of Lego blocks: you can build anything you want with these blocks, but you are confined to the blocks provided by the vendor. If you need something beyond the provided set, you’re out of luck.

• Target Users: Business users, super-users, business analysts, and other non-technical stakeholders.
• Key Features: Visual interfaces, templates, pre-configured workflows, and easy-to-use design tools.
• Use Cases: Simple applications, departmental tools, workflow automation, and other scenarios where speed and ease of use are prioritized over deep customization.
• Pros and Cons: High speed to build simple apps; non-technical users can participate, but limited to simpler use cases.

What is a Low-Code Platform?

A low-code platform is designed for professional developers to accelerate their development process with minimal hand-coding. In the SAP world, these might be ABAP developers, Fiori developers, other developers who have transitioned to techno-functional roles, or even non-SAP developers who may not have SAP knowledge but want to build SAP applications.

Think of it as receiving a set of Lego blocks, plus an additional set of complex Lego blocks and a software development kit (SDK) to create your own Lego blocks. This means developers can write custom code and integrate it into applications.

• Target Users: Professional developers, techno-functional roles, IT teams, SAP COEs.
• Key Features: Drag-and-drop interfaces, pre-built components, integration tools, and extensibility with custom code.
• Use Cases: Medium-to-complex applications that require customization, integration with existing SAP instances, and flexibility to meet specific business needs.
• Pros and Cons: High speed to build medium-to-complex apps; developers can be highly productive, but some complex use cases may still require pro-code solutions.

What is a Pro-Code Platform?

A pro-code platform is similar to a traditional development environment but with visual accelerators, where developers write custom code to build applications from scratch. These platforms offer the highest level of flexibility and control but require significant coding expertise.

Think of it as having the raw materials (plastic, molds, and colors) to build your own Lego blocks of any shape and size. You have the freedom to create any block you need from scratch.

• Target Users: Highly skilled professional developers, IT architects, and software engineers.
• Key Features: Full coding capabilities, extensive customization options, integration with various systems, and high scalability.
• Use Cases: Extremely complex applications, highly customized solutions, large-scale enterprise systems, and scenarios requiring intricate integrations and performance optimizations.
• Pros and Cons: Can be used to build any use case from simple to highly complex, but requires significant time, effort, and cost

The Origin of the Low-Code/No-Code Confusion

The confusion likely arises from two main factors: marketing strategies and technological evolution. Marketing teams often lump low-code and no-code together, and as technology has evolved, low-code vendors have incorporated more no-code features. As a result, the market now refers to these tools collectively as LC/NC platforms.

Choosing the Right Platform

Understanding the distinction between no-code, low-code, and pro-code platforms is essential when selecting a solution. Giving a no-code platform to IT will not work, just as giving a low-code platform to citizen developers will not be effective. Each platform must be chosen and configured appropriately for the specific needs of its users:

• No-Code: Best for business users needing quick, simple solutions without technical expertise.
• Low-Code: Ideal for IT departments and SAP Centers of Excellence that require faster development with some customization; great for medium-to-complex use cases.
• Pro-Code: Necessary for highly complex and customized solutions requiring deep technical skills and full control over the codebase.

Addressing the Skepticism

The skepticism that LC/NC platforms cannot build SAP applications often stems from experiences with pure no-code platforms, which are not designed for such tasks. However, a state-of-the-art low-code platform can indeed build real, complex SAP applications, such as Fiori apps, warehouse apps on rugged devices like Honeywell/Zebra, workflow applications, mobile apps and much more.

Technology has advanced to the point where low-code platforms can handle SAP's complexities and address a majority of application needs. While there will always be complex use cases where professional code is necessary, a lot of day-to-day business needs can be easily addressed by low-code and no-code. Using a traditional development approach to address every use case from simple to highly complex is inefficient. Similarly, tackling every use case with a no-code platform is simply not feasible.

An organization might want to keep all three tools at its disposal: a no-code tool for simple use cases, a low-code tool for medium-to-complex applications, and a pro-code tool for highly complex applications. Using these resources effectively based on business needs is critical. It is crucial to understand these differences to ensure the right tool is applied for the right task, achieving the desired outcomes. To clarify, three tools do not necessarily translate to three separate and distinct tools. It could very well be one tool from one vendor that provides two or three of these distinct capabilities, or it could be more than three tools provided by the same vendor, addressing each and every moving part in application development.

Pro-code solutions have always been available to us in the SAP world, from ABAP in the good old days to Fiori and various technologies in SAP NetWeaver to SAP BTP. I highly recommend exploring the potential of no-code and low-code platforms for your SAP development needs while recognizing the specific use cases for each of these tools. This challenge arises when you start throwing all use cases into one tool at your disposal. Instead, I suggest you first look at the use case, determine which category it falls into, and then explore which tool exists to solve the problem most effectively, recognizing that you may or may not have the specific tool in your belt to solve the problem.

I hope this has been useful to understand the basic concepts of no-code, low-code, and pro-code in SAP. Stay tuned for more posts where I will delve deeper into the learnings and insights of these wonderful technologies. In the meantime, please feel free to add comments and feedback so that I can make the next news letter more relevant and meaningful to you.

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