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TABLEOFCONTENTS

ForewordGarryKasparov

IntroductionMattCalkins,CEOofAppian

FromBigBoxestoIntelligenceEverywhere:TheChangingFaceofAutomationNeilWard-Dutton,IDC

HowtoTurnYourCompanyintoaMasterofDigitalTransformationGeorgeWesterman,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology

SurvivaloftheQuickest:HowtoHackaPandemicwithIntelligentAutomationLakshmiN,TataConsultancyServices

FromHurricanestoCOVID-19andBeyond:HowLow-CodeHelpsourUniversitySidneyFernandes&AliceWei,UniversityofSouthFlorida

FinTechandtheForcesofChangeinFinancialServicesChrisSkinner,FinTechExpert

ABusiness-mindedCIO’sPerspective:WhyLow-CodeisIndispensableforTransformation

IsaacSacolick,StarCIO

Low-CodeJourneyintheEnterpriseJohnRymer,Forrester(Emeritus)

PeoplePower:TheX-FactorofDigitalTransformationLisaHeneghan,KPMG

SpeedistheKeyinPandemicResponseDarrenBlake,BexleyHealthNeighborhoodCare

DigitalInnovationisMorethanaSideHustleRobGalbraith,InsureTechExpert

ATechnologyBusinessNeedsSimplicityRonTolido,Capgemini

AnEconomicRevolutionMichaelBeckley,Appian

ForewordGarryKasparov

Weareinatimeofcrisis,asapandemicwreakshavoconhumanhealthand theglobal economy.With all our focuson theperilouspresent, itcan be difficult to look ahead. We can easily fall behind relying ontactical reactions, losing sight of our bigger goals. Strategic planningbecomes even more valuable in a crisis—not only for escaping thecurrentone,butforbeingbetterpositionedforthenext.

Oftenourinstinctinacrisisistogoonthedefensive,tobecomemoreconservative in the hopes of weathering the storm. There is nothing

necessarilywrongwiththisimpulse—aslongasweareawareofitandrefusetobedominatedbyit.

If we concede reason to instinct, we forfeit the greatest survivalmechanism of all, the ability to adapt. This isn’t a chess insight, orbusiness strategy; it’s basic Darwinism. Natural selection rewards thecharacteristics that best suit the circumstances, gradually producingchangeandevolution.Acrisisacceleratestheprocess—orendstheline.

Humans and our technology are subject to similar pressures, but wedon’thavetowaitforrandommutationsorgenerationsoflifeanddeathtoevolve.Wecanobserve,analyze,experiment,andstrategize.Wecanbuild new tools to meet the demands of the moment, whether it’s afinancialcrisis,pandemic,orboth.

Thisabilitydoesn’tmeanwewill alwaysuse it correctly,ormake therightmovestoadaptinthebestway.Butwehavethepotentialtodothatandmore—to come through the crisis and thrive bymaking the rightdecisionswhileothersfalter.

This cannothappenunlessweestablish the right conditions—orat thevery least itwill bemuchmore difficult and painful to achieve.Deeppreparationwasmy trademarkwhen Iwas theworld chess champion.Therewasnowaytobepreparedforeverything,butIknewIcouldbebetterpreparedthanmyopponents.

I also discovered that my preparation produced benefits evenwhen itdidn’t go as planned, evenwhenmyopponent avoided it entirely.Myreadinesswascumulative,multifaceted,enablingmetoadaptonthefly.

Itturnedoutthatpiecesofpreparationdesignedforonescenarioappliedsurprisinglywelltoothersituationsthatseemedunrelatedonthesurface.

Adaptation and creating the preconditions for adaptation—that’s thehumanwayofevolution.Itappliestoindividuals,corporations,andourentire society. When a crisis hits, those who possess the rightcombination of characteristics have the advantage, but those who canacquirethosecharacteristicsondemandwillthriveinanysituation.

Now we’ve arrived at the topic of my first conversations with MattCalkins, the founder andCEO ofAppian. It turned outwewere bothfascinatedbythepotentialofusingincreasinglyintelligentmachinestomaximize this ability to adapt.We both see artificial intelligence as atoolthatmakesusbetterprepared,betterabletomeetacrisis—ifweuseitwisely.

Myinterest inworkingwithAIcame thehardway:mychessmatchesagainstthesupercomputerDeepBluein1996and1997.Themachine’svictory in the rematch was hailed as an achievement on par with theWrightBrothers’ first flightand themoonlanding. Itwasdescribedas“TheBrain’sLastStand”onthecoverofNewsweek.Nopressure!

Ofcourse,my loss toamachinewasstillahumanvictory.DeepBluewascreatedbyatalentedteamthatspentyearsofresearchandworktocreate a machine that could beat the world champion at a game longconsideredanexusofhumanintelligence.

Afterlosingthatfinalgame,Iwentouttoanicedinnerwithfriendsandtalkedaboutpolitics.AndwhatdidDeepBluedo?Whatelsecoulditdo,

other than play chess? Nothing, of course. It couldn’t even celebratebecauseitdidn’tknowithadwon.Allthatwork,allthatcapabilityandcutting-edgehardwareandcode,couldn’tberedirectedintoother tasksinanyamountof time. Itcouldn’t learnandcouldn’tadapt. ItclimbedMountEverest,butitwasalsoadeadend.

Mypersonaladaptationwasaformof“ifyoucan’tbeat’em,join’em.”Ifhuman strategic thinking and understanding could be combined withmachinespeedandprecision,mightitnotproducethebestchessever?Insteadofhumanversusmachine,whynothumanplusmachine?Andso,AdvancedChesswasborn.

My idea was simple, if heretical. Grandmasters would face off, eachwithacomputerbytheirsiderunningthebestchesssoftwareavailable.My brainchild saw the light of day inLeón, Spain, in June 1998.Myopponent was one of the world’s top players, Veselin Topalov ofBulgaria. Playing with computer assistance was a strange sensation,althoughby then Iwasquiteused tousingamachine tohelpmewithanalysisandpreparation.

Itturnedouttobefarfromthebestchessever,althoughtheresultwasinstructive. I had crushedTopalov in amatch of regular rapid chess afew weeks earlier, a 4-0 sweep. But in León, it was a 3-3 tie. Themachine’sruthlessaccuracyhadneutralizedmyadvantageincalculatingtactics.TopalovandIfailedtouseourtimeefficiently,unsureofwhentoconsultourmachinepartnersandforhowlong.

AdvancedChesscouldhaveendedthereasacuriosity,buteventuallyitfound its natural home on the internet. In 2005, a popular chess site

hosted what it called a “freestyle” chess tournament in which anyonecouldcompete in teamswithotherplayersorcomputers.Luredby thesubstantialprizemoney,severalgroupsofstrongGrandmastersworkingwith several computers at the same time entered the competition. Atfirst, theresultsseemedpredictable.Theteamsofhumanplusmachinedominatedeventhestrongestcomputers.

The surprise came at the conclusion of the event. The winner wasrevealed tobenotaGrandmasterusing top-of-the-linehardware,butapairof amateurAmericanchessplayersusing three regularPCsat thesametime.Theirskillatmanipulatingand“coaching”theirmachinestolook very deeply into positions effectively counteracted the superiorchess understanding of their Grandmaster opponents and the superiorcomputationalpowerofotherparticipants.

Thisledtomyformulation:Averagehuman+averagemachine+betterprocesswassuperiortoastrongcomputeraloneand,moreremarkably,superior to a strong human + fast machine + inferior process. It wasabout then that I started to prefer AI as “augmented intelligence.” Itdoesn’t replace us, it enhances us, and allows us to adapt faster byadapting our tools faster than ever. The humanmind is an unmatchedanalogy engine, able to apply experience and new information to newcircumstancesalmostinstantly.Machinescan’tdothisthemselves—notyet—butwithourguidance, theycanhelp feedour insatiableappetiteforever-greateragility.

Process is king, a multiplier that turns human plus machine into atransformative advantage. AsMatt Calkins says in his Introduction tothisbook:it’sallaboutbringinghumananddigitalworkerstogether,to

unitethemintoaworkflowthatisfargreaterthanthesumofitsparts.That’swhat thoseAmerican chess amateurs did to beatGrandmastersand supercomputers, and that’swhat every companymust do today tosurvive,andthrive,againstunexpectedchallenges.

Icouldpickoutmanyofmyownfavoritepartsfromthisbook,suchasJohnR.Rymer’sessentialexplanationoflow-codeplatforms,orDarrenBlake’sreal-lifeexampleofhowadaptablesoftwaretoolssavelivesinapandemic.ButI’ll letyoureadthemallyourselfwithoutfurtherdelay.Afterall,aseveryauthortofollowexplains,speedisoftheessence!

Garry Kasparov was the world’s top chess player for 20 years andwrites and speaks frequently on decision-making and the human-machine relationship. He is the author of Deep Thinking: WhereMachineIntelligenceEndsandHumanCreativityBegins.

IntroductionMattCalkins,CEOofAppian

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, big changeswere underway inenterprisesoftware.

Corporations had become deeply reliant on software applications toautomate their essential behaviors. Those applications, in turn, werestubbornlyhardtoupdateormodify.

Software had become the spinal cord of a business. Every action andeverysignal thatpassedthroughthecompanywascarriedbysoftware.Every new behavior required software to enable and regulate it. Thismadesoftwarethelimitingfactoroncorporategrowthandchange.

Ascompaniesgrew,theyneededtocreatenewapplications.Demandfortheseapplicationsroseexponentially,fasterthanthelaborsupplycouldgrow, making “software developer” one of the world’s best-paidprofessions.Budgetsrose,butstilleverycompanyhadalongbacklogofprocessestobuildandsuffereduniversallyfromsoftwaredelays.

Changewasslow;costswerehigh.Thestagewassetforarevolution.

***

In the case of a crisis, every business was going to be dangerouslyinflexible.Acompanycouldmovenofasterthansoftwareallowed,andifnewprocesseswereslowtoencode,soalsowouldcorporatereactiontimesbeslow.

It isa fact thatacorporationbefore2020couldchangeanyof itscoreassetsmorequicklythanitcouldchangeitssoftwareprocesses.Itcouldreplaceitsleadershipteam,rebrandwithanewlogo,ormovetoanewphysicalheadquartersfasterthanitcouldrewritethesoftwareonwhichthe corporation’s behavior depended. Not only did this create internalinefficiency,italsoledcustomerstofeeltheyweretreatedimpersonallyandrobotically.

The“digitaltransformation”movementsoughttousenewtechnologytoovercomethisimmobilityandunresponsiveness.Itwasdiscussedmuch,

but accomplished little, due to a general misunderstanding about thedepthof theproblemand theurgencyof its solution. Itwould takeanexogenousshocktotrulyfocusattention.

***

COVID-19 set the spark for the next phase of the enterprise softwarerevolution.Inthepandemic,businessrealizedthatchangewasamatterofsurvival.Everycorporaterelationshipdependedonanagileresponseto thecrisis:customersand regulatorsdemandednewbehaviors,whileemployeesneededassurancesofsafety.

Mostbusinesseswereunabletoquicklyadapttothenewcircumstances.Becausetheycouldn’tchangetheirapplicationsfastenough, theywereunable toexpress theirnewplans innewbehavior.Forexample,mostrelied on non-technical systems to return their employees to work,despitetheobvioussafetyandprivacydisadvantages.

Companiestodayneedtobereadyatalltimestowriteanapplicationonwhichtheirbusinessmightdepend.Thenewmandateisforagilityinallapplications,especiallythemostimportantones.

COVID marked a turning point in enterprise software, an event thatforcedbusinessestofindwaystochangetheirapplicationsfaster.Evenwhen such an event ends, the preference for speed remains. Speed isaddictive.OncepeopleexperiencedGoogle’s sub-second search times,orAmazonPrime’s2-daydelivery,theywereunlikelytogoback.

***

“Automation”meansbringinghumananddigitalworkerstogetherinthesameworkflow.(Inanearlierera,“automation”meantreplacingpeoplewith technology, but now it means complementing them with digitalhelpers.) Automation is a uniting technology, and it comes along at aperfect time. Today, digital workers (like Artificial Intelligence andRobotic ProcessAutomation) are powerful enough to collaboratewithpeopleonrealtasks.Today,workersaremoreseparatethaneverbefore,andmoreinneedofbeingconnected.

Automation has a self-evident value proposition: different types ofworkers have different strengths, so they’ll be better in combination.RPA Bots are fast and inexpensive but cannot handle exceptions orchange. AI is great at evaluation, recognition, translation, and givingadvice;butgenerallycannotmakethefinaldecision.Peoplearebestatmaking decisions and talking to customers. Without a doubt, thesedifferentworkerscancompletejobsmoreefficientlyasateam,togetherinasingleworkflow.

Thepandemichasforcedpeopletoworkremotelyfromeachotherandcollaborateoveradistance.Theworkflowhas replaced theworkroom,asacoordination technology.We’veneverneededsmartworkflowsasmuch aswe do now, nor the full range of automation technology thatfillsthem.

***

Hyperautomation is automation at speed. It’s a combination betweentechnologiesthatallowfasterapplicationauthorship(likelow-codeandno-code) and automation technologies that coordinate differentworker

types. Both are essential in the new decade. Businesses will want todeployworkersmoreefficiently,andtheywillwanttoinventnewworkpatternsfaster.

The world has changed. Tomorrow’s enterprise will need agility,unification, speed, and collaboration. In a word, it will needhyperautomation.

FromBigBoxestoIntelligenceEverywhere:TheChangingFaceofAutomationNeilWard-Dutton,IDC

Alookathowtheworldofbusinessautomationhaschangedthroughthedecades, and how new technology capabilities have created newbusiness possibilities. This chapter examines how new technologiescometogetherwithlow-codedevelopmenttodeliverhyperautomation.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:

Neil Ward-Dutton is Vice President, AI and Intelligent ProcessAutomationEuropeanPractices,atIDC.PriortojoiningIDC,NeilwasFounder and Research Director of MWD Advisors, a technologyadvisory firm focusing on digital technologies and their impacts onbusiness.Neil is recognized as one of Europe’smost experienced andhigh-profiletechnologyindustryanalysts.HehasregularlyappearedonTVandinprintmediaoverhis20-yearindustryanalystcareeraswellasauthoredmorethan10booksonITandbusinessstrategy.

FromFlourMillstoPCs:250YearsofBusiness-AutomationHistory

The history of business automation goes back a lot further than youmight think. In 1785, American inventor Oliver Evans built anautomated,water-powered flourmillnearNewport,Delaware.Usingavarietyofautomatedmechanisms,Evans’inventionenabledthemill tooperatewithjustonepersonratherthanfour.Whenitworkedoptimally,italsoproducedflourfromgrainmoreefficientlythananon-automatedmill. In subsequent decades, the invention and refinement of controlsystems enabled evenmore automation, of all kinds ofmanufacturingprocesses,atgreaterscale.

SecondWorldWar-eramilitary efforts, and later,NASA’s spaceflightprogram through the 1960s and 1970s, fueled the nextmajorwave ofinnovationinautomation.Thefirstcomputersstartedtobesettoworkinbusiness administration settings, aswell as inmanufacturingprocessesandscientificenvironments.ItwasaBritishfoodcompany,Lyons,thatoperated the first business applications on an electronic computer,

starting in 1951 with a custom-built system to calculate valuations,process payroll and assess inventory. Through the 1960s and 1970s,computers in business were principally used to automate the work ofclerksinaccounting,payroll,andotherrelativelysimpleadministrativefunctions,atscale;automating“standalone”functions;andcreatingandmanagingsimple(iflarge)setsofadministrativerecords.

Through many subsequent inventions and refinements in businesscomputing—theintroductionofdigitalcomputers,time-sharingsystems,mainframesystems, local-areanetworking (LAN) technology,PCsandsoon—businessescontinuedtofocustheirautomationeffortsondistinctadministrativeproceduresandprocesses,albeitatvastlyincreasedlevelsof scale and variation. It was only with the emergence of EnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP)asabusinessdiscipline,inthelate1980s,thatIT systems were built and operated to integrate automated businessfunctions at scale: from HR to finance and accounting, productionplanning,andsoon.

Fromthefirstintroductionofcomputersinbusinesscontextstothemid-1990s, the story of how businesses introduced automationwas one ofcentralized design and development, high cost, concentrated use ofspecializedtalent,andlonggestationperiods(withtheirattendantrisks.)Large-scale, complex IT deliverymodels could only be applied to themost gnarly business challenges or the most obviously profitablebusiness opportunities. The resulting systems operated at scale bynecessity and could typically only be changed at significant cost andrisk.

It’s tempting to fast-forward to the present day and highlight how

modernbusinessautomationtechnologyhaschangedthegame.But,it’snotthatsimple.Wegotatasteofwhatisnowhappeningatscaletodayforarelativelybriefperiod,fromtheearly1990stotheearly2000s.

RapidApplicationDevelopmentintheClient-serverEra

In the early 1990s, an explosion of invention in networkingtechnologies, server and PC platforms (together with a major shift intechnology spending, away from centralization to distributed spendingledbybusinessunitsandfunctions)createdahugewaveofopportunitytomakecomputingmoreaccessibletoawiderrangeofbusinesses.Thisexplosion, however, also created a huge wave of complexity for anyteamwanting to build business software.At the same time, themass-market availabilityofnewGraphicalUser Interface (GUI) technology,popularized by Microsoft, was making a massive impact. Combinedwiththesuccessofthecompany’spartner-centeredbusinessstrategy,theresultwasafast-growingecosystemofpartnersofferingnew,low-cost,PC-basedproductivityapplicationswithmass-marketappeal.

Forthefirsttime,softwarevendorsoffereddevelopmenttoolsthattookadvantage of new GUI environments and point-and-click techniques.The resultwas an explosion of tools that relatively non-technical staffcould use to create relatively simple business applications. With thehugely popular Microsoft Visual Basic (introduced in 1991), Access,Delphi and PowerBuilder, together with niche products like Dynasty,Forte,JAM,ProgressandUniface(andmanymore), teamsofbusinessanalysts and self-taught programmers were able to participate in (andoftendevelop)end—to-end—businessapplicationsusingvisualtools.

This included so-called Rapid Application Development (RAD)techniques,basedaround thenotionof iterativedevelopment.Throughthe 1990s, business function teams (and software development firmscontracted to them) built and deployed tens of thousands of relativelysimple,team-focusedbusinesssoftwareapplications.

Someof these tools still remain.Andperhapsunsurprisingly,manyofthe applications they were used to create are also still in use inbusinesses worldwide. At the end of the 1990s, though, a newtechnology-platformshifthappenedthatmostofthesevendorsstruggledto embrace: the shift to web-based applications, where development-platform activity consolidated around Java and Microsoft’s .NETprograminglanguages.

DigitalTransformation:TheImperativethatDrivestheStory

Curiously,theproductivityadvancesthatmanyofthe“first-wave”low-codeapplicationdevelopmenttoolvendorshadmadeintermsofvisual,model-based development—not only of user interfaces, but also ofbusiness logic,datadefinitions,andsoon—wereforgotten in theearly2000s.AnewwaveofdevelopersflockedtonewJava-and.NET-basedtoolsthatrequiredmoretechnicaldevelopmentskillsinordertobuildanewwaveofe-commercewebsitesandapplicationsthattheRADtoolsofthetimewerepoorlyequippedtohelpwith.

Today,though,thependulumofdemandverydefinitelyhasswungbackfrom the early 2000s, when web-based application development was

dominated by technical developers working with relatively low-leveltools. There are many reasons for this swing, but perhaps the mostimpactful is today’sdigital transformation imperative,whichexists forbusinesseslargeandsmallineveryindustry.

The internet-based platforms for application and data hosting that firstbecameusableintheearly2000shavebecomecommodities.Hyperscalepubliccloudplatformprovidershavecreatedanabundanceof scalablecomputing, storage and network capacity for rent. This has allowedwaves of new “born-digital” businesses to compete for market sharewith established businesses across multiple industries—from bankingandretail,totelecoms,utilitiesandevenmanufacturing.

For established businesses, the response to new “born-digital”competitorshastobetofindwaystoleveragedigitaltechnologies—notonly to implementmore sophisticatedonlinemarketingandcommercecapabilitiesonthe“outside”oftheirorganizations,butalsotointegrate,streamline and increase the agility and scalability of the core businessprocessesanddecisionsthatdrivethe“inside”oftheirorganizations.

Ofcourse,thesamerentalmodelsforcomputinginfrastructure(knownas Infrastructure-as-a-service, or IaaS) and business softwaredevelopment platforms (known as Platform-as-a-service, or PaaS) thatnewborn-digitalindustrydisruptorshaveleveragedarealsoavailabletoestablished businesses. It’s the globalmovement to take advantage ofthese platforms—to digitize business activities inside organizations, aswellasoutside—thatisdrivingthenewautomationandthatthisbookisallabout.

ANewWaveofAgileBusinessAutomationDemand

Most organizations starting their digital transformation journeys beginbyaimingtoreinventcustomerexperiences—aimingtomatchthekindsof omnichannel, immediate, easy-to-use, personalized, and transparentinterfaces that born-digital competitors place at the heart of theirstrategies.

However,organizationsquicklyrealizethatonlyfocusingonthe“digitaloutside” is not enough. An end-to-end customer journey is not onlydelivered with excellence through a great personalized website or acompelling mobile app. If, for example, your customer onboardingprocess is still largelymanual, or if your billing systems are a legacyhangoverfromwhenyoucouldonlysendpaperbills tocustomers, theend-to-end experience for customers as they use your products andservices is still likely to be poor. It could be argued, indeed, that byimplementingabeautifulwebappormobileappyouhaveactuallymadethings worse than if you’d made no changes at all: you’ve made“experience promises” to customers and prospects that the innerworkingsofyourorganizationsarenotequippedtodeliver.

Formanyestablishedorganizations,mattersaremademorechallengingby internal operations historically developed to serve needs that arealmostdiametricallyopposedtotheneedsofmoderncustomers.Moderncustomers have expectations such as seamless service availability,integrationandsimplicity.Theoperationsofestablishedbusinessesweredeveloped and managed to drive efficiency and scale—very oftenmeaning that operations are siloed, globally dispersed (to lowest-costlocations), and delivered through complex networks of specialist

partners.

Delivering excellence in modern customer experiences relies on theconsistent, fast, transparent and agile execution of a whole chain ofbusinesstasksandprocesses.Thisiswhatdrivesustowardsdigitizationofthesetasksandprocesses.Becauseeverychainisonlyasstrongasitsweakest link,no link (taskorprocess)canbe ignored.Addressing thisdigitization requirement across a complex, often siloed, businessoperations landscape is challenging, and hard to tackle with “big IT”projects,which are just too slow, too expensive, and too rigid in theirapproaches.

Luckily,theinfrastructureandplatformcommoditizationwe’vealreadyhighlighted has also created new economic conditions and capabilitiesthatorganizationsareleveragingtoenablesmaller,quicker,cheaperandmoreiterativebusiness-automationprojects.Therearedozensofcloud-based business application development platforms now available thatcanbeaccessedthroughmonthlysubscriptions.Often,theyoffertieredpricingschemes,soorganizationscangetstartedonautomationprojects—delivering new digital business processes and related applicationfunctionality—very quickly, and at low cost. This is one wayorganizations can now effectively address the kinds of “long tail”problemsandopportunitieswithdigitizationthatwerenevereconomicaltoaddressinpreviousdecades.

RoboticProcessAutomation:ANewVectorforAutomation

While cloud-delivered, subscription-based business application

developmenttoolshaveseenarapidriseinpopularity,anotherapproachtobusinessautomationhasbeenhavingafast-growingimpacton“longtail”businessautomationrequirements.

RoboticProcessAutomation(RPA)tools,whichfirstemergedinthelate2000s, were initially implemented by IT outsourcing and businessprocessoutsourcing(BPO)serviceproviderstohelpthemtransformtheprocesses they were carrying out for clients. The aim was improvingservice-deliveryqualityaswellas improving theirownprofitmargins.Specifically, RPA tools were used to automate the often highly-repetitive tasks that service delivery personnel were carrying outmanually.

Suchprocessesandtasksrevolvedaroundtheuseoflegacysystemsfordataentry,datamanipulation,reporting,andsoon.Withclientsunlikelyto approve the potentially expensive, risky replacement of legacysystems, RPA tools were designed to automate the tasks by running“software robots” that would copy the mouse movements, clicks andkeystrokes of human users. Soon, RPA tools also started to be usedwithin enterprises themselves, particularly (but not exclusively) inshared services centers responsible for business support functions likefinanceandaccounting,HR,procurement,andsoon.

By promising to free data and functionality locked away in legacysystemsandautomateroutinedata-entryandadministrationtasks,RPAtechnology brings the potential to “upgrade” slow, expensive, error-prone,manually-drivenoperationstomakethemmorefit-for-purposeinthe context of a business shift towards always-on, transparent, agiledigital service delivery. It also provides low-impact, low-risk ways to

accelerate technology change programs, such as large applicationmigrations. RPA tools and cloud-based business applicationdevelopment platforms address the opportunities and challenges ofbusiness automation from different directions, and they’re also highlycomplementary. For example, organizations are increasingly using theworkflow application functionality provided in modern applicationdevelopment platforms to implement robust exception handling forRPA.

This provides a scalable, transparent, controlled and auditablemechanism by which an operation can ensure that when RPA Botsbreak,theworktheyhavenotcompletediscorrectlyfinalized.AndBotsdobreak,forexamplewhenthelegacysystemsthey’reworkingagainstchange, or stop working unexpectedly. Organizations are also usingworkflowapplicationfunctionalitytodigitizebusinessprocessesandco-ordinatetheprocessworkthatteamsofpeopledo.Increasingly,theyarecomplementingthiswithRPAfunctionalitytoautomateindividualtaskswheredataneedstobeenteredorreadfromoneormorelegacysystems.

There is a third force shaping the new business automation toolkit,which takes us into theworld of “IntelligentAutomation.”This is theabilitytoapplyArtificialIntelligencetoolsandtechniquestoanumberoftypesofwork—eithertoautomatehighlystructuredtaskscompletely,or to augment more creative or expert tasks that people do, usingintelligentrecommendationsorpredictions.

TheNewWorldofAI:WorkAutomation+Augmentation

Everywhere you turn, there’s discussion of Artificial Intelligencetechnologies: discussion about what’s possible today, how fast thetechnologies are changing, and the opportunities and challengesassociatedwith implementation. It shouldbenosurprise thatAI-basedtechnologies have several roles to play in today’s business automationlandscape.Nevertheless,notalloftheserolesareequallyobvious.Let’slookatthreeoftheserolesinparticular.

The most obvious application of AI-based technologies for businessautomation is enabling system interactions based on natural languageandspeech.ThepossibilitiesofusingsomethinglikeAmazon’sAlexa,Google’s Home or Microsoft’s Cortana to provide instructions tosystems, or to have systems read out information to us, are easy tounderstand.

Evenwithout anaudiblevoice,modern text-basedchatbot frameworksmake it relatively easy to build fairly sophisticated conversationalinterfaces for customer-facingmarketing, sales, and support functions;as well as employee-facing service functions (such as HR, IT,procurement and so on). Where implemented well, chatbots candramatically increase employeeproductivity and customer satisfaction,aswellasdecreasetheserviceworkloadsofemployeesindealingwithrelatively simple requests. This enables workers to spend more timehelpingpeoplewithmorecomplicatedchallenges.

ThisfirstkindofapplicationofAIinbusinessautomationisperhapsthemost transformational because it signals a shift in how automatedsystemsandpeople interact.From theearliestdaysofautomation—allthewayback toautomated flourmills in the18thCentury—untilvery

recently, the introductionofautomationhasonlybecomesuccessfulatscalebecausehumanshaveadaptedtheirbehaviorstotherequirementsofthoseautomations.

In factories andwarehouses that leverage automation, humanworkersandautomatedsystemshaveveryclearlydemarcatedboundariesaroundtheirrolesandoperations.Tobesure,inmanycasestherearephysicalboundaries that prevent people from getting in theway of automationtechnology. In office environments,we have learned towork inwaysthat suit our computers: typing andmovingmicewith our hands, andlookingatrectangularscreenstofindinformation.

Yes,GUIshaveimprovedtheease-of-useofmoderncomputersystems,but we’re still dancing to a computer’s tune.ModernAI technologiesand techniques are starting to enable a new kind of collaborationbetween human workers and automated systems—enabling automatedsystemstoadapttothewaysthathumanswanttowork,ratherthantheotherwayaround.

BeyondthisfirstkindofapplicationofAI,therearetwomorethathavethe potential to make significant impacts in the world of businessautomation.ThesecondkeyimpactareaforAIisindocumentanalysisand processing. As we’ve already discussed, it’s common fororganizations pursuing digital agendas to introduce new onlineapplications and systems—very often delivered via both “traditional”websitesandmobileapps—toenhancecustomers’experiences.

However, particularly in business-to-business commerce, manyinteractions(apartfrommarketingandsomesalesinteractions)arestill,

for a variety of reasons, carried out by document exchange. What’smore, the specifics of those document exchanges can vary widely. Insome business-to-business environments, fax is still a widely-useddocumentexchangemedium.Inmanyindustries,contractsandcustomercorrespondenceofallkindsaresentonpaper,scannedorexchangedashuman-readablePDFs.

When it comes to high-volume transactional document exchange (forexample,exchangeofpurchaseorders, invoices,deliverynotes,andsoon) scanned paper forms or human-readable PDFs are still often thenorm.It’snotuncommonforlargemultinationalfirmstoprocesstensofthousandsofhuman-readableinvoicesandpurchaseorderseverymonth.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology has been in use fordecades, but it has important limitations: it can be brittle (being very“finicky”abouthowdocumentsarepresentedforautomatedreading),itcansufferfrompoorrecognitionrates,anditcanbeslow.WithmodernAI-based approaches, though, human-readable documents canbemorequicklyandaccurately“cleanedup”forautomatedreading—evenwhentheinitialclarityoftextandothertargetelementsispoor.

These documents can be more readily and quickly recognized andcategorized, and key information can be more quickly and accuratelyextracted. In addition, AI-poweredmachine-translation algorithms cantranslate between human languages with high accuracy. And naturallanguageprocessingalgorithmscanquicklydeterminethenatureofthecontentofadocument(forexample,identifyingthekeypartiesinalongcontractdocumentandflaggingtheclausesthatdivergefromastandardmodelcontract).

The third key impact area for AI in business automation is in thecreationofreal-timepredictionsandrecommendations.Forsomeyears,specializeddatascienceteamshavebeenabletousepredictiveanalyticsplatforms to analyze large data sets in order to produce predictivemodels, with the aim of forecasting, for example, the primary factorsthatwillcausecustomerstochurn,or,perhaps,whenanexpensiveitemofmachineryislikelytofail.

Until recently, computingcostsmeant that thesemodelscouldonlybecreated and updated relatively infrequently: by organizations and usecases that could pass high bars for business returns. The large hyper-scalecloudplatformprovidersarehavingabigimpacthere,though,bymaking large-scaleAI-basedpredictivemodelsmuchcheaper tobuild,andcheaperandeasiertoupdatefrequently.

Asaresult,AI-drivenpredictivemodelsareshowingupinmoreplacesand can be executed in real time against individual work cases andcontexts.Nowit’spossibleforcontact-centersoftwaretosurfaceareal-timepredictionofacustomer’slikelihoodofacceptingagivenoffer,inthemoment theyare talking toacontact-centeragent. It’spossible forpotentially fraudulent transactions to be flagged in near real-time; andit’s possible forworkflows and decisions to bemore risk-based— forexample, only sending customer product-return request cases formanagementreviewwhenapredictivemodelflagsthereturnrequestaslikelytobefraudulent.

CopingwithSkillsGaps:Low-CodeApproachesDemocratizeAutomation

Althoughtheeconomicsofcomputinghaveshiftedhugelyoverthepasttwodecadestoenablebroad-baseddigitalbusinessexperimentation,notall crucial resources have becomemore available. Organizations haveseriouschallengeswhenitcomestohiringandretainingpeoplewithin-demandtechnologyskills.

The availability of skills has always lagged the availability oftransformational technology. Even back in the days of the firstautomatedmills, itwas relatively easy to find sites onwhich to buildmills.Butfindingthetechnicalskillsandlabortobuildthemwasmuch,much harder. For decades, the growth in automated milling wasconstrainedbythelackofavailabilityoftechnicalexpertise.

Taking a traditional approach to software development to create newdigitally-powered business capabilities can be challenging for manyorganizations.Consequently,moreandmoreorganizations—particularlythoseinindustriesthatcannoteasilycompeteforexpensive,rare,digitaldevelopment talent—are turning to new “low-code” automation toolsand approaches to bring back many of the same capabilities andtechniquesfirstseenintheRADtoolsofthe1990s.Butcompaniesarerecastingthesetoolsfortoday’stechnologyandbusinessenvironments.

All low-code development technologies share one commoncharacteristic: they provide visual design tools that enable users tospecifyaspectsof softwarebehaviorwithout resorting tocoding.Theytheneithergenerateexecutablecodefromthosevisualdesigns,or theygenerate an intermediate language that represents thosevisual designs,and then interpret that intermediate language using a proprietaryexecutionengineatruntime.

Usinglow-codetoolstodesignanddeliverbusinessautomationprojectscan speed up capability development dramatically. It can also dosomethingelsereallypowerful:itcanenablecross-functionalteamsthatbring together relatively scarce technical specialists, business subject-matter experts, analysts, and less technically experienced staff tocollaborate on projects. This matters because business automationprojects are not purely technical projects: they are business changeprojectsthataffecthowpeoplework.Whenitcomestobusinesschangeprojects, involving the people whose work will be changed early andoftenisacriticalsuccessfactor.

It’s important to note, moreover, that low-code approaches todevelopment aren’t only being promoted and used in businessapplicationandworkflowdevelopment(althoughthat’swherethetrendis perhaps most obvious). The power of low-code tooling is alsofundamentaltothecurrentsuccessofRPAtools—wheredeveloperscanspecify the behaviors of robots by either recording and capturingsequences of user actions, or by dragging and dropping actiondefinitionsontoagraphicaldesigncanvas.

What’smore,evenAI toolsareadopting the low-codephilosophy: theworkbenchesandplatformsnowofferedby the threemosthigh-profilehyperscale cloud platformproviders (AWS,Google andMicrosoft) allinclude“AutoML” tools that relatively inexperienced teamscanuse todesignandmanagecertaincategoriesofmachine-learningsystemswithgraphicaltools.

Lower-levelsoftwaredevelopment toolsandplatformswillcontinuetoplay important roles indefinitely. That’s as true for enterprises in

financial services,healthcare,utilitiesand retail (andmore)as it is forthe companies that deliver commercial software tools, platforms andcloud services. Low-code tools can’t do everything; they work bestwithin designed-in constraints with which their graphical tools havebeenoptimizedtohelp.Therewillalwaysbeedgecaseswherelow-codeapproachesareapoorfit.Thatsaid,theadvantagesoflow-codetools—both in termsof rawspeedandsupporting iterativeworkwithincross-functional, multidisciplinary teams that can understand and influencebusiness change—makes them a perfect fit for any organizationseriouslypursuingadigitalagenda.

Automation+Intelligence+Low-Code:ScalingforSuccess

In thischapter,we’veexplainedhowtheworldofbusinessautomationhas changed through the decades, shown how new technologycapabilities have changed what’s possible—and how very oldconstraints (talent!) remain in place.We’ve alsohighlightedhow low-code tools are permeating the business automation landscape. Thecombination of these trends around automation, artificial intelligence,andlow-codedevelopmentistheheartofhyperautomation.

As you start to explore opportunities to apply these new automationtools and techniques, there’s onemore thing to consider: how shouldyousetupyourorganizationsothatinitialsuccessescanreallyscale?Aslow-code approaches increasingly dominate, and as cloud-basedsubscription services become increasingly popular, access to tools andskills is not the constraint it oncewas. In fact, asbusiness automationrisesupcorporateleadershipagendas,it’smuchmoreofachallengeto

managehowbest toapply toolsandskills to the rightproblems in therightways.

Of course, it’s important that youpick technology tools andplatformsthat scale: both in terms of supporting applications that can supporthundreds or thousands of users and high processing volumes; and intermsofsupportingtheparalleldevelopmentandmaintenanceofmany,perhapstensorevenhundreds,ofapplicationsbymanydifferentteams.

However, themost important enabler of all comes down to answeringone vital question: how can you best set your organization up so thatmany individual teams can address their own opportunities andchallengeswith their own projects,while ensuring that teamswork inwaysthatreinforceeachother,thattheybuildoffeachother’sworkandlearnings,andthattheirworkmeetskeyenterpriserequirementsaroundoperationalscale,security,quality,reliabilityandsoon?Inotherwords:howdo you best balance between enabling freedom and flexibility ononehand,andmaintainingcontrolandgovernanceontheother?

As we explained above, the fundamental promise of low-codeapproaches in today’s context is all aboutmaximizing participation intheprocessofautomationdesignanddevelopment.Widerparticipationbrings improved application quality at lower risk; enablesbusinesspeopletodrivefeaturesandrequirementsmoreinlinewithrealneeds; speedsdelivery; andminimizes relianceon expensive specialistsoftware developers. However, broadening participation can lead tochaos, unless you exercise some level of control over how teamsproceedwithdevelopmentwork.

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Leadingorganizations typicallycreate thisbalanceofparticipationandcontrol through a Center of Excellence (CoE) that straddles theboundarythatsooftenexistsbetweenbusinessandITteams.Ifcreatedandruneffectively,aCoEcanplayacentralrolewithinyourbusinessautomationoperatingmodelto:

Provide best-practice guidance and/or training to individualprojects, in a way that helps teams not only to use thetechnologies at hand to their best effect, in the rightcombination, to suit theneedsof eachparticularuse case;butalsotousethetechnologyinwaysthatservetheorganization’swidergoalsandstrategies.

Provide implementation and administration services to projectteams,wherethoseteamsneedspecializedresourcesthatdon’tnecessarily make sense to manage full-time (for example,relating to specialized topics like identity management,applicationintegration,aspectsofUIdesign,etc).

Manage centralized platform licensing and upgrademanagement forproject teams, toensure theorganizationgetsthebestdealforitslicensespendwithitsvendor(s).

Harvest Intellectual Property (IP) from successful projects,identify assets that have potential to add value in multipleprojects,andworktomakethemreusable.

Review and approve applications prior to “go-live” to ensurethatrelevantstandardsandgoodpracticeshavebeenfollowed.

It’svital to realize that there isno“onesize fitsall”model foraCoE.Organizations with highly centralized operating models can get greatvalue from an all-encompassing CoE that delivers all of the servicesabove; in contrast, in amore federated operating environment, a CoEthatfocusesprimarilyonpromotinggoodpracticeandtrainingcanbeabetterfit.

WhateverCoEmodelisrightforyourorganization,though,it’scrucialthat you look beyond technology choice. Delivering intelligentautomation at scale—delivering real transformation with low-codeautomationtechnologies—canonlycomefromusinggoodtools, in thecontext of an operating model that encourages a healthy balance offlexibilityandcontrol.

HowtoTurnYourCompanyintoaMasterofDigitalTransformationGeorgeWesterman,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology

Digital transformation is aboutmuchmore than technology capability.Leadershipcapability is essential toguideabusiness throughdramaticorganizational change. Vision, an ability to bridge the IT/businessdivide,andeffectivegovernanceallmustgohand-in-hand.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:Dr.GeorgeWestermanworksattheintersectionofexecutiveleadership

and technology strategy. He is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT SloanSchoolofManagementandPrincipalResearchScientist forWorkforceLearningat theMITJameelWorldEducationLab.Westermanhasco-authored three award-winning books, including Leading Digital:Turning Technology Into Business Transformation and The RealBusinessofIT:HowCIOsCreateandCommunicateValue.Hiswriting,teaching, and consulting focus on helping leaders make sense ofcomplex transformational challenges created by technological andmarketinnovations.

DigitalTransformationIsn’tReallyaTechnologyChallenge

Inrecentmonths,muchoftheworldhasmovedswiftlytoconfrontthecoronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has infected and killedmillionsofpeopleacrosstheglobe.Theoutbreakwasaflarealertingustosystemicproblemsinourabilitytoadapttoafast-movingthreatthathasdisruptedeverythingintheglobaleconomy.

Organizations around the world moved quickly to digitally-distancedworkprocesses,suchastelemedicine,digitallearningandworkingfromhome.But,whilemanyadopteddigitalmethodsquickly,fewwereinapositiontodoitverywell.Theyusedtechnologytoconnectpeoplebutnottochangewhattheydid.

Likewise,every largebusiness—inonewayoranother—is respondingto the existential threat of digital disruption. The problem is that veryfew are doing it well. Most are adopting digital technology. But fewhavethecapabilitytodriverealtransformation.

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The best companies, which we call “Digital Masters,” do two thingsbetter thaneveryoneelse:Theyarebetter atputtingdigital technologyintocustomerexperience,operationsandbusinessmodels.Andtheyarebetteratenvisioninganddrivingorganizationaltransformationoverandover again. Of the two—digital capability and leadership capability—leadership is themost important. Perhaps nowmore than ever, digitaltransformation isn’t about being a digital company. It’s about being abettercompanybecauseofdigital.

DrivingChangefromtheTop

Thehumansideoftheequation—theorganizationalandculturalaspects—are critical success factors in the digital transformation journey. Infast-moving,born-digitalorganizations,peopleareasourceofcontinualinnovation.Thisshouldbethecaseineverycompany,butit’snot.Inaworld of Moore’s Law, where technology capabilities improveexponentially,weneedtorememberwhatIcalltheFirstLawofDigitalTransformation: technology changes quickly, but organizations changemuchmoreslowly.That lawmeansdigital transformationismoreofaleadershipchallengethanatechnologychallenge.

In our research, we observed how strategic-minded, digital leadersfocusedontransformationmorethantechnologyadoption.Theylookedatdigitaltransformationasacapabilityandnotjustaproject.Andtheyused the following three levers to get the most out of their digitaltransformationstrategy:

Create a strong vision for how to be a different kind of

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companybecausedigitalmakesitpossible.

Engageemployees tohelp themunderstand thevisionand theroletheycanplayinhelpingthecompanymoveforward.

Implement governance to ensure the organization iscoordinating, sharing, and driving transformation in the rightdirection.

Ilikenthistodrivingacaronajourney.TheVisionisyourdestination.Engagementisyourgaspedal.Governanceisyoursteeringwheel.Youneedallthreetogetwhereyou’regoing.Then,whenyougetthere,yousetanewdestinationanddoitallagain.

StartwithaVision

The vision is your destination. Sometimes it’s perfectly clear and youwanttogetthererightaway.Othertimesit’smoreofagoal,butyou’llfill in the details on each step of the journey. The vision shows howthingsshouldbeandmakesitlegitimatetodothingsdifferentlyfromthepast. As you consider building a vision for the future, make it bigenoughtoencompassrealchange—apowerfuljourney,notjustatriptothegrocerystore.Aimtomakethevisionclearenoughtosetdirection,butopenenoughthateveryonecanhelptofillinthedetails.

Afterall,leadersinlargeorganizationsdon’tactuallydoanything.Theirjobistogetotherstodothings.Iftheydoitwell,thecompanysucceeds.If not, then the company finds a new leader. That’s why vision is soimportant. If it’s compelling for you and your employees, they’ll help

youmakeprogress.They’llevenhelpyoufillinsomedetailsorsuggestnewwaystogo.Butifit’sonlycompellingforshareholdersorleaders,youcanexpect littlehelpfromthepeoplewhoactuallydotheworkinthecompany.

Company leaders at Rio Tinto, a $43 billion mining and metalscompany,hadavisiontounderstandoperationsbetterthantheyeverdidbefore.Andso,theyconnectedtheirfar-flungminestoacentralcontrolcenter, giving company leaders better visibility into local miningactivities.Then,theleadersrevisitedtheirvisiontofigureoutwhatelsethey could do. They took a hard look at improving the dangerous,routine work being done by workers inside the mines. For example,miners were driving huge vehicles around the mines in potentiallydangerous conditions. But today, many of these vehicles have beenautomated,whichhas transformed the environment forworkers.Otherchanges, such as autonomous drillingmachinery and driverless trains,soon came online. Company leaders also found better, safer work forminers to do and and made continual improvements from there. Theresultwasaminethatwasmoreefficientforshareholdersandsaferforworkers.Itstartedwithacompellingvision.Next,theyexecutedthroughengagement, governance, and just plain project management. Finally,they revisited the vision to see what else they could do with theirtransformedsystemsandprocesses.Thisiswhatleadershipcapabilityisall about. It’snot rocket science,but it’soften forgotten in the rush toadopttechnologyinsteadofdrivingtransformation.

TheImportanceofEngagingYourEmployees

As I said earlier, the First Law of Digital Transformation holds thattechnology changes quickly, but organizations change much moreslowly.Yes,technologycanbeausefultool.Butovercomingtheinertiaofalargeorganizationisaleadershipchallenge.

This brings us back to the people part of the equation. There’s nodenying that the convergence of Robotic Process Automation andArtificialIntelligencehasmadeitincreasinglypossibleforcompaniestodo work without human involvement. But don’t make the mistake ofthinking that you can use automation to push your organization toreplace humanworkerswhile constantly ratcheting up pressure on theworkers who remain. This is a near-sighted strategy that could turnemployment intoapurely transactionalrelationship,whichwouldhavenegative implications for workers and companies alike. Digitaltransformation needs a heart. And it needs to capture the hearts ofemployees.

Digital leaders create environments where technology augments thecapabilities of human workers; where computers help employees tocollaboratefluidly,makedecisionsscientifically,andmanagebetterthantheyevercouldwithoutthem.Inthelongrun,companiesthatengagetheheartsandmindsofemployeeswilloutperformthosethatdon’t.

ThecompanieswecallDigitalMastershelptheiremployeesseeagoodplaceforthemselvesinthefuturevisionofthecompany.Theyengageinaregulardiscussionaboutwherethecompanyisgoing,andhowitcanget there. They not only tell employees to change but also enlistemployees in deciding how to change or identify new ideas for thecompany.Forexample,DBSBank,oneofSingapore’slargestfinancial

institutions, engaged their workers in a vision of “Make BankingJoyful.”Employeesareclosesttothecustomer,andtheyseemostoftheproblems that the company creates for customers—long lines, difficultloanprocesses,etc.Byaskingemployees tohelpmakebankingjoyful,the company identified and implemented a major transformation thattookitfromworsttobestofthetopfivebanksinthecountry.

GovernanceDoesn’tHavetoBeaDirtyWord

Moving at the speed of digital matters, but operating fast withoutcompromising governance is more important than ever. In the worst-case scenario, governance can be a dirty word—a synonym forbureaucracy. In contrast, good governance is lean and agile, notbureaucraticandslow.

Governanceisthesteeringwheel—it’showyoukeepyourorganizationmoving in the right direction. You move a bit with each project orexperiment.And thenyouadjust so thatyoukeepmoving in the rightdirection.Youhelptherightefforts,killthewrongones,andplantseedsfor more growth. But be careful, since governance can sometimes beseenaspreventingproblemsratherenablingprogress.

If done right, governance will provide the right levels of sharing andcoordinationacrossyourdigitalefforts.Itwon’tbeabout“youcan’tdothat”butinsteadwillbeabout“here’sabetterway.”Yes,thismaystillmeancommitteesandreviewsandsharedresources.Butifdonewiththerightmindset,you’lllearnwitheachstep,andeachstepcanbuildonthenexttocreatepowerfulchange.

DigitalPlusIT,NotOneortheOther

Aswe interviewed heads of companies and large business units,whatweheardoverandoveragainis:“DigitalisfastbutourITdepartmentisslow.So,theonlywaywe’llbesuccessfulwithdigitaltransformationisto leave theITpeopleoutof theroom.”Ourresearchshowedthat thiswasapoorchoice.DigitalMasters foundways for ITandBusiness tocollaborate on digital. Sometimes the IT people led digitaltransformation.Sometimes itwas theotherwayaround.Butnomatterwholed,theyfoundwaysfordigitalandITandbusinessleaderstoworkcloselytogetherindrivingtransformation.

Thepoint is,youcan’tbesuccessfulatdigital transformation—beyondtheoccasional,isolatedproject—withouthavingITpeopleintheroom.Muchofanorganization’slegacyknowledgeandprocessesresideinIT.So, if you exclude IT from theprocess, you endup trying to competewithstartupswithoutusingthefullpowerandknow-howofyourentireorganization.

Butthatcallsforchangeonbothsides.BusinessleadersneedtoengageITpeopleintheirbusinessdiscussions.AndITpeoplehavetobecomethe types of people that business leaders want in the room. If yourcompanyleadersthinktheCIOisactuallythe“CI-No,”thenyouneedtomakechanges.And ifyour ITunit is slowand stodgy rather than fastandagile,morechangeisneeded.

Agile is a good starting place if you do it correctly. It helps IT to befaster and more innovative. And it helps IT and business people tocollaborate more closely on making solutions happen. This produces

better products faster, and increases the understanding that IT andbusinesspeoplehaveforeachother.

Additionally,it’sessentialforITleaderstoshowvalueformoneyintheIT unit—to demonstrate that you’re providing the right services at therightlevelofqualityandtherightprice.Ifyoucan’tshowyoudoyourpartwell,it’llbehardforotherstodependonyoufortheirneeds.Andifyour legacy platform is amass of spaghetti, take steps to improve thesituation, either by cleaning it up or putting good wrappers on keyfunctions.WesaymuchmoreaboutthisinourbookTheRealBusinessofIT,whichmanyCIOscallacookbookforturningITfromordertakertostrategicpartner.

Next,gainbetterunderstandingofthebusiness.Notonlybusinessterms,butalsowhatreallymatterstoeachexecutive.Howdoesherpartofthebusinesswork?Whatareherbigchallenges?Whatcanyousuggestthatmight help her run her business better or more profitably? Not all ofyourideaswillbeaccepted.Butonthosethatare,bepreparedtodeliverquickly and well. By doing this repeatedly, you’ll make your C-suitepeerswanttospendmoretimewithyou.

CIOscanleaddigitaltransformation,butoftenanotherleaderdoes.I’veseenmany cases where that becomes a reason for conflict, with eachtryingtounderminetheother.Whenthathappens,theCIOrarelycomesoutontop.Farbettertogetclearonrolesandtocoordinateclosely,sothatyoucanimprovethecompanytogetherasateam.

ABetterStrategy,EnabledbyDigital

Schindler Elevator doesn’t just sell elevators and escalators. It sellsurbanmobility.An integrated suiteofdevices adjusts for traffic levelsand other conditions minute-by-minute. The company aims to domaintenancebasedontheactualconditionofeachmachineratherthanafixed schedule. For Schindler, that’s a whole different way of doingbusiness—turningtheirproductsintoservices.

AsianPaints,transformedfromsellingpaintdifferentlyin13regionsofIndia to a unified supplier of paint, painting services, and buildingservicesinalmosttwodozencountries.AsianPaintsisabettercompanybecauseofdigital.Butdigitaltechnologywasnottheanswer.Repeatedtransformation, enabledbydigital,was. Inotherwords,your companydoesn’t need a digital strategy. It needs a better strategy, enabled bydigital.

There’snodenyingthetermdigitaltransformationhasbeenover-hyped.Googleitandyou’llgetmillionsofresults.It’sbeenthatwayforoveradecade.Keep inmind that technologyhasalwaysenabledchange,andthisiswhydigitaltransformationwillberelevantnowandinthefuture.But don’t get caught up in “magical thinking” about the powers ofdigital transformation.Don’tbelievethemarketinghypethat:“IfIbuythisshinynewtechnologyandplugitintomyorganization,it’sgoingtomakeusbetter.”Itwon’t.

It’s way more important to understand how your organization works.You don’t become a Digital Master by just buying technology andpluggingitin.There’sanawfullotoforganizationalchangethathastohappenfirst.Simply investing inArtificial Intelligenceandautomationis not going to do that. Better to figure out how to leverage these

technologiestodobusinessdifferently.

E-commerce is not about the internet. It’s about selling differently. Inthesameway,analyticsisnotaboutdatabasesandalgorithms;it’saboutunderstanding customers better, optimizing maintenance processes, orhelping doctors diagnose cancermore accurately.AndThe Internet ofThings is not just about identifying objectswithRFID tags; it’s aboutradicallysynchronizingoperationsorchangingbusinessmodels.

GetDigitalEnough:ThreeKeystoBuildingaDigitalCulture

There’s a famous quote by Charles Darwin that says: “It’s not thestrongestofthespeciesthatsurvives,northemostintelligent…Itistheonethatismostadaptabletochange.”There’saparallelinbusiness:ifyoudon’tknowwhattochangeorhowtochange,youwon’tsurvive.

It can be tempting to emulate the cultures of digital darlings such asAmazon,Google,Netflix,oryourfavoritedigitalstartup.Theyarefast,innovative,andexpertatusingtechnologytodriveopportunity.

But traditional companies can’t copy everything the digital-born starsdo.Mostcompaniescan’thire,incent,orfirethewaythesefast-movingbusinesses can. Instead ofwebsites and apps that can change quickly,mostcompaniesbuildphysicalobjectsthatdon’tchangeoncebuilt.Andthey often have to follow regulations that startups sometimes dodgewhile they are small. That doesn’tmean traditional companies shouldgiveup;theyshouldjustbesmartaboutthedigitalculture“secrets”they

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trytoadopt.

Abetteralternativeistogetdigitalenough.Thismeansbeingfasterandmore innovativewhile following regulations and giving your people adecent work-life balance. I wrote about this strategy this year in anarticle called “BuildingDigital Culture in TraditionalOrganizations.”Basically,therearethreekeystogettingdigitalenough:

Become more Agile—more experimental and self-organizingthe way that digital companies do. In other words, do Agile.Don’tjustsayyou’redoingit.

Keep thepractices that foster integrityandemployeestability.Youcanstillbeinnovative,andyourworkerswillrewardyouwithloyaltyandgreatideas.

Finally, rethink what it means to manage to numbers andcustomer needs. The best companies are tracking customerinteraction data every minute, every day, not every quarter.Turnsoutthebestcompaniesarealsoconstantlyexperimentingtoseewhatcustomerswantratherthanaskingcustomerstotellthemwhattheywant.

ChangeContinuestoAccelerate

It’s like 1999 all over again. In retrospect, the run-up to Y2K was acatalystforchange,andtheinternetwasanexcitingwaytorethinkhowwedidbusiness.NowCOVID-19isacatalystformorechange.Itmadeusrealizethatthingsweoncefeltcompaniesandcustomerswouldnever

accept—working fromhome, telemedicine, etc.,—canwork verywell.We’remore able to innovate today because cloud, containers,mobile,sensors, machine learning, and other technologies are becomingubiquitous, interoperable, and increasingly capable. Along with that,innovationsinsoftwaredevelopment,suchasAgile,DevOps,andlow-code, are helping organizations be faster and more innovative inapplyingtechnologytomaketransformationhappen.

Looking ahead, if you’re trying to anticipate what to expect over thenextfiveto10years,considerthatthepaceoftransformationalchangewill continue to accelerate in the digital economy. Every organizationwill need to get much better at being Agile, being innovative, andleveraging existing assets for new opportunities. There’s a growingsenseofurgencyforeveryorganizationtobuildthecapabilityrequiredtotransformoverandoveragain—andmakethatafundamentalpartoftheir core culture. In other words, for every company, becoming aDigitalMasterisanexistentialchallenge.

The bad news is that there are many ways to fail at digitaltransformation. Overcommitting to the wrong strategy. Focusing toomuchontechnologyasasolution.Tryingtocopythecultureofdigitalleaderswithoutconsideringhowthepracticesfityourworld.ExpectingITleaders(ordigitalleaders)todoittotallyontheirown.Investingtooheavilywhenthemarketisnotyetready.Andtherearedozensmore.

The good news is that you can do something about this. For starters,focus on building leadership capabilities—for vision, transformation,andculture—notjusttechnologyskillsandtools.Aimtounderstandthebusinessbetter,soyoucanhelpyourC-suitepeersfindnewandbetter

ways to solve business problems andmeet customer expectations.Butthemostimportantcapabilityforanyorganizationtoinvestinrightnowis the ability to innovate quickly. In the age of digital transformation,thisshouldbeacorepartofeverycompany’sculture.

SurvivaloftheQuickest:HowtoHackaPandemicwithIntelligentAutomationLakshmiN,TataConsultancyServices

How is your organization preparing for the massive volatility anduncertaintyoftheglobalCOVID-19recession?Youcanstacktheoddsin your favor by augmenting human capabilities with intelligentautomation,gettingintoanAgilemindset,andfindingandencouragingdiversityofthought.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:Muthulakshmi (Lakshmi) N is Global Head of Intelligent ProcessAutomationandAIatTataConsultancyServices(TCS),India’slargestinformationservicescompany.Shehasmorethan18yearsofexperienceinmanaginglargetransformationprogramsforFortune100ClientsintheU.S.andEurope.LakshmihasalsoledandplayedacrucialroleinavarietyofstrategicinitiativesincludingTCS’sMFDM™(MachineFirstDeliveryModel)whichreimaginedhowdigital transformationdeliversexponentialvalue.

Nobodyknowsforsurewhat thepost-COVID-19worldwill look like.Butyoucancertainlybet it’s going tobedifferent.Thepandemichasalready pummeled the global economy and exposed weaknesses insupply chains and vintage software systems. At the same time, it hasacceleratedautomateddeliveryofgoodsandservices,andautonomouscustomer interactions. It has also forced companies once skeptical ofwork-from-homeculturetoembraceitmorethaneverbefore.

And,yet,formanyexecutives,amajorroadblocktoscalingautomationis themisconception that aggressive, holistic automationwill result inwidespreadjobloss.Thisdystopianviewfailstoimaginethenewtypesof jobs that will come from automation liberating employees fromroutine work that can be done faster, better, and less expensively byArtificialIntelligence(AI).

AstheglobalheadoftheintelligentprocessautomationpracticeatTataConsultancy Services (TCS)—a $22 billion IT services companywithmore than 443,000 employees worldwide—I know firsthand that

intelligent automation is not just about replacing humanworkerswithdigitallabor.But,it’salsoaboutdeliveringbusinessvaluewithArtificialIntelligenceandanalyticsineveryaspectoftheenterprise.

ToremainrelevantintheageofCOVID,businesseswillneedquicker,smarter, and more flexible digital capabilities. This seems prettyobvious.Buttherewereenterprises—despitebeingawareofthedrasticimpactofthepandemic—thatwerestillillpreparedtoadaptandevolve.Thequestionis,howisyourorganizationpreparingforthepost-COVIDworld?DoyouhavetheRoboticProcessAutomation,BusinessProcessManagement,AI,andanalyticscapabilitiesyouneedtoquicklyadapttoface the massive volatility and uncertainty of the global COVIDrecession?

It seems that everything turns out better when we’re prepared. Andduring a pandemic, being prepared costsmuch less than being caughtunprepared.It’s importantthatweshouldworkovertimetocompeteinanenvironmentofvolatility anduncertainty thatwill last awhile.Butyou can stack the odds in your favor if you leverage automation toaugment the capabilities of yourworkforce and drive long-term valuefor your customers. At TCS, we call this empowering the humanworkforcebygivingthemthefirstrightofrefusaltoanytechnologythataugmentstheircapabilities.

GivingFirstRightofRefusaltoTechnology

Thereare somany thingswecansayaboutautomation.We’vebuilt adigital economy on it. And while we can be cautious about adopting

automation, that would be a mistake. Nevermind the hype aboutautomationkillingjobs.Strategicallyspeaking,automationisnotaboutreplacing the humanworkforce. It’s about using digital technology todrivelong-termbusinessvalueineveryaspectoftheenterprise.

Thedifficultyofscalingautomationisfundamentallyanorganizationalchallengeasmuchasatechnologychallenge.So,atTCS,we’veadopteda Machine First mindset that redefines the traditional approach toenterprise automation. It doesn’t necessarily view automation as aheadcountreducer.Rather,it’sadigitaltransformationstrategybasedongivingthefirstrightofrefusaltotechnology.

So, what exactly does it mean to give technology the first right ofrefusal?Itmeanslookingateverybusinessactivityperformedmanuallyinyourorganizationandasking:“Canamachinedoitbetter?”Thisisatransformativemindset that focuses onwhat customers and businessesreallyvalue.

It’sthebestwaytogetthemostbusinessvalueoutofcloudcomputing,ArtificialIntelligence,andanalyticsineveryaspectoftheenterprise.So,for example, even if you’re talking about building and deploying anapplication to transformanHRorMarketingorganization for a client,every human worker should be empowered to give the first right ofrefusaltoanytechnologythatwouldaugmenttheirowncapabilities.

With the astonishing evolution ofAI, automation is no longer just aninterloper. It has become an integral part of our lives.Whenyou tuneinto Netflix, if you don’t like it, if it doesn’t meet your expectations,you’ll just switch to another service. Future generations of digital

consumerswillbeevenmoredemandingthanthat.

Low-Code:ElevatingtheAutomationGame

I’ve been with TCS for almost 15 years now. But my journey withintelligentautomationbeganabouttwoyearsago,beforeCOVID,socialdistancingandlockdownsbecameareality.Thepandemichitushardinmid-March,whichpromptedmanycustomerstoputlong-termstrategicinitiatives on hold. The opposite was true of demand for intelligentautomation. It offered clients a better alternative to the unprecedenteddisruptionthepandemiccreated.Ourmostsuccessfulclientsunderstoodthat setting up the right automation foundation would give them astrategic advantage by allowing them to adapt faster than theircompetitorstotheongoingvolatilityofthepost-COVIDeconomy.

Speaking of adapting to COVID, before the outbreak, only 20% ofTCS’semployeesworkedfromhome.Today,nearly90%workremotelyand mostly because of the pandemic. How remarkable is that—empoweringmorethan400,000employeestoworkfromhomeinjustamatterofdays?Wewereabletodothatbecauseofthestrongfoundationof intelligent automation and Agile methodology we already had inplace.

BeyondAutomatingStuff

Yes, low-code offers unsurpassed efficiency in building applications.But beyond that, it also takes the complexity out of combiningtechnologies, orchestrating processes and optimizing human-machine

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interactions. This changes the automation game completely. Let’s say,for example, youwant to automate the lendingprocessof abank.Forstarters, therewill bedigital screenentries, paperdocuments, anddatacollected fromforms,anda systemforapproving loans.This iswherelow-code comes in. It gives you the capability to quickly developapplications that connect and automate across systems, people,processes, and data to take friction out of the customer and remoteemployee experience. As the global economy grinds to a halt amidCOVIDlockdownsandmassivejobloss,expertsareurgingbusinessesto get more aggressive about transitioning to a more automatedeconomy.

“… Simply put, you need a foundation for rapid process automationnow. If your organization is alreadyusing a low-code,DigitalProcessAutomation, or Workflow management platform, apply it actively toautomateallprocessesthatcanbeautomated.”

SosaysForresterResearch.

Withthedevastationofthepandemic,theU.S.economycouldshrinkbya whopping 5.6% in 2020 and end the year with a double-digitunemployment rate and millions of people forced into isolation. ButCOVIDwon’tjustshutdowntheeconomy.Critically,itwillcontinuetoexposeweakspotsinthevintagetechnologythatmanyorganizationsarerunningon.

IBMrecentlyreportedthat:

92of the top100banksusemainframe technology toprovide

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customerservice.

70%ofenterprisedataresidesonamainframe.

71%ofFortune500useamainframe.

23 of the world’s top 25 retailers use the mainframe forcustomerservice.

AllTop10insurersusethecloudonthemainframe.

Butthepandemicwillendoneday.Themaskswillcomeoffandstay-at-homeorderswillend.Inthemeantime,though,howcanyougettheflywheelspinningonbusinessrecovery?Andifyou’reeagertodothat,howdoyoucombinedigitalandhumanlabortoquicklyrespondtothecoronaviruscrisisandrallyyourbusinessafter thepandemicsubsides?Automationisanessentialpartoftheequationtodothat.Butwemustalsogetseriousaboutadvancingthenextgenerationofwomenleaderstotakeustohigherlevelsofinnovationandeconomicgrowth.Thethingis,nottomakethemistakeofthinkingthatgenderbiasisjustawomanproblem. It’s abug in the system that affectsus all.Studies show, forexample,thatprioritizingcareeradvancementandpayparityforwomenwouldaddastaggering$12trilliontotheglobaleconomyby2025.

Whichalsocallsforustoseriouslyconsiderhowtheexponentialgrowthof intelligentautomationandAIwillaffectgenderequity in thework-place. It also means rethinking the connections between digitaltransformation and gender parity. What the strategies should be toachieve it, what the policies around it should be, and what kind ofpragmaticactionneedstobetakennow.

But change is hard. And, so, we see progress for women in businesscontinuingtomoveatglacialspeed.FemaleseniorexecsatFortune500companiesaremostly invisible, “hidden figures” so to speak.Too fewwomenget thecorneroffice.Atamacrolevel, justoneinfiveC-suiteexecs are women. And only one in twenty-five is a woman of color.Femalesmakeupabout25%ofthetechworkforcebutholdonly5%ofthe leadership positions. Gender and racial exclusion is toxic toinnovation.Much better to have more women and people of color inpowerpositionstokeepthingsmovingforward.India’sDebjaniGhosh,President, of the National Association of Software & ServicesCompaniessaiditbest:

“Wearehavingrealconversationsnowaboutgettingmorewomenintoevery level of our organizations and onto boards, and that’s a goodthing.Butweneedtogetbeyondconversations.Weneedtoget to thepointwhere everyCEObelieves that ifwedon’t do this,wewill loserelevance and customers, and realize that competitors who areembracingdiversitywillwin.”

EvangelizingEnterprise-WideAutomation

Overtheyears,I’velearnedthatfederatedorganizationsstruggletoscaleautomation. Individual unitswithin a complex organization tend to bedrivenbydifferentpriorities,whichcangetinthewayofevangelizinganenterprise-wideautomationstrategy.Consequently,automationintheenterprise tends to happen in silos where it’s mostly driven byefficiency. I’ve also seen situationswhere toomany people in a large

company didn’t understand the technology being evangelized or thebusinessvalueitrepresented.

So,howdoyoufixthedisconnect?Youdoitbystartingwithaplatformforgrowth,alow-codeplatformthatallowsyoutoquicklycombineandorchestrate different technologies. From a governance standpoint, itmeansputtingpoliciesinplacetosafeguarddataaccess,andsecurity.Italsomeanseducatinginternalteamstounderstandhowtheorganization,customersandend-usersbenefitfromintelligentautomation.

DigitalInclusivity,ACriticalSuccessFactor

Irecentlytalkedtoawomanthoughtleaderabouttheproblemofdigitalexclusion.Wetalkedaboutthebusinesscaseforattractingmorewomenintotechnologyjobs,andabouttheurgentneedtoadvancethecareersofwomenandpeopleofcoloralreadyworkingintheindustry.Focusingondiversity matters because we’re operating in an increasingly diverseworldwheredemographicshiftshavefragmentedthemarketmorethaneverbefore.Modernconsumersaremoreintergenerational,amixtureofBabyBoomers,Millennials,GenXersandmore.

Inthenextdecade,understandingdiversitytrendswillbekeytocashinginonemergingopportunities thatmightotherwisegetoverlooked.Duediligence helps us see the unseen. In the United States, for example,millennials—who now represent 30%of the population—are themostdiverse generation in U.S. history according to Deloitte. Ethnic andracialminoritiesmake up roughly 44% of the cohort. But beyond thedigits,acriticalpartoftheinclusionnarrativeisdebunkingthemyththat

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women don’t want to be leaders. The inherent leadership skills thatwomenbringtothetablearereallyneededinthepost-COVIDeconomy—skills like collaboration, being open to learning and buildingrelationships.Wealsoneedmorewomenintechjobs.Butwedon’tneedtosacrificeonefortheother.There’sroomforboth.

Some companies care about the appearance of diversity—not figuringout how to turn inclusion into business outcomes. But diversity andinclusionaren’tjustaboutcheckingaboxonadiversitychecklist.Inadiverse world, it’s difficult to be a customer-focused business if youdon’tbuildtechnologythatworksforeveryone.Andit’shardtodothatin an organization that doesn’t value gender parity and diversity ofthinkingasabusinessstrategy.Whenyouignorethestrategicvalueofbeinginclusive,youdiminishyourabilitytobeamarketleaderintermsofproductivityandprofitability.

On the other hand, if you care enough to think strategically aboutinclusion, it’s hard to ignore the following five connections betweendiversity,performance,andprofitability,basedonrecentresearchfromMcKinsey:

Companies with the most ethnically and culturally diverseboards worldwide are 43% more likely to experience higherprofits

Companiesinthetop-quartileforgenderdiversityonexecutiveteamswereover20%morelikelytooutperformcompetitorsonprofitabilityandvaluecreation

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The best performing companies on both profitability anddiversityhadmorewomeninrevenue-generatingrolesontheirexecutiveteams

Companiesthatledonexecutiveteamdiversitywere33%morelikelytohaveindustry-leadingprofitability

Brands in the bottom quartile for gender and ethnic/culturaldiversity were 29% less likely to achieve above-averageprofitability

Acrosstheglobe,thepaceofdigitaltransformationisaccelerating.Thecoronavirus pandemic has forced us to invest in automation to getthroughthelockdowns.Ithasforcedustoadaptourbusinessmodelstomeet increasingly diverse and demanding customer expectations. Theevolution of technology is continuing to blur the boundaries of thephysical and digital worlds, redefine traditional borders betweenindustries, and fundamentally change howwe live, work, and interactwithmachines. I also see a future of contactless customer experience,createdbya combinationof the InternetofThings,AI, and intelligentautomation that will create a brave new world of magical customerexperience.

End of the day, it all boils down to the fact that the most successfulorganizationswillrecognizethesecrettosuccessasleveragingdiversityand inclusion. But it’s hard to do that without women and people ofcolor.Thesameistrueofdigitaltransformation.It’sentirelypossibletofactor thediversityofa targetmarket into theapplicationwecreate toserveit.Butbusinessesmustgetbetteratthat.Itwilltakeanenormous

amountofeffortandpersistencetogetthere.ButasIlooktothefutureofautomation,tothenextdecadeandbeyond,I’moptimisticthatthearcofdigitaltransformationwillbendtowardinclusion.

FromHurricanestoCOVID-19andBeyond:HowLow-CodeHelpsourUniversitySidneyFernandes&AliceWei,UniversityofSouthFlorida

Seasoned low-code practitioners discuss automating and mobilizing amajor university for student success, operational efficiency, and cost-avoidance, and low-code’s vital role in helping the universitycommunicateandcoordinateduringtimesofcrisis.

ABOUTTHEAUTHORS:

SidneyFernandesistheVicePresident/CIOforInformationTechnologyfortheUniversityofSouthFlorida.Sidneyfostersaculturefocusedontransformation,influence,collaboration,strategyandvision.HeandhisleadershipteamhaveevolvedtheUSFITworkenvironmenttohaveanAgilemethodologymindset,beclientcentered,andreflectcorevaluesofrespect,focus,openness,commitment,courage,andagrowthmindset.

AliceWeiistheUniversityofSouthFlorida’sSeniorDirectorofDigitalInnovations.

Bythesummerof2017,wehadalreadybeenusinglow-codetechnologyat theUniversityofSouthFloridaforafewyears.Wehadexperience,and we had successes under our belts. So, when Hurricane Irma waspredicted to hit—and to hit very hard—that summer, using low-codewasnaturallypartofourresponse.

We needed to create some solutions very quickly. In the daysimmediatelyfollowingIrma,weneededtoconnectwithourcommunityofstudents,faculty,andstaff.Openinglinesofcommunicationbetweenconstituentsbecameatoppriority.Weneededtoknowhowpeopleweredoing,andanswerquestionswithreal-timeupdates.

Usinglow-code,wewereabletogetanappupandrunninginamatterof hours.Literally, overnight.We started at 3 or 4pmandby8am thenextmorningwehad automations in place to connect our constituentsand streamline information flow and processes.We could proactivelycollect information and run analytics about what people were callingabout,andhowwecoulddirectandrespondtothosequestions.

We were able to move that fast because, as established low-codedevelopers, we already had building blocks in place. We hadauthentication,wehadstudentrecords,facultyrecords,andmore,whichwewereabletostitchtogetherveryquickly.Thisarchitecturallibraryofcomponents and integrations is why low-code actually gets faster themoreyouuseit.

Intheend—andthankfully—Irmadidn’tinflictasmuchdamageonourregion as predicted.Our low-code response to thehurricane, however,didprovideexperiencethatwouldcomebacktobearintheCOVID-19pandemic.

With our large, 50,000-plus student community,we’ve seen how low-codesystemsprovideagility,flexibilityandcommunicationpathwaystocentralize accurate information about our people, where they are, andwhat they might need. Connecting our whole community in a timely

fashioniskeytocoordinatingourorganizationduringcrises.

In the wake of COVID-19 and the myriad challenges it presents, weagain looked to low-code tocoordinate thesafe returnofour students,faculty, and staff members to our three campuses across the state ofFlorida. Institutionsof higher learning likeours haveorganizationally-uniqueandcampus-specificneeds.Becausewe—likeallothercollegesand universities—now find ourselves in an ever-evolving environmentwithfrequentlychangingrequirements,weneededtoembraceaflexiblesolutionthatwouldallowustoquicklymakechanges.

Fromtheoutset,weknewhowimportantitwastogetstudents,facultyandstaffbackoncampusbutinawaythatprotectsthehealthandsafetyofallconcerned.OurCOVID-19TaskForce—launchedinMarch2020with folks from all aspects of the university—scoped out a dynamic,flexible plan designed to make it as easy as possible to maintaindistance, wear masks and, most importantly, self-report possibleCOVID-relatedsymptoms.Timewascritical.So,weneededanout-of-the-boxplatformsolution:asolutionthatcouldprovideaccurate,timelydatatobesharedwithleadersanddecision-makersatUSF.

TheresultwasourCampusPassapp,whichprovidesvitalhelpwiththechallengesof trackingstudentsandfollowingcasesbasedonreturn-to-campus surveys. Through low-code development, we were able torapidly stand up this incident-management application to support theuniversity’sgoalofkeepingtrackofallcases,includingcontacttracing—withspeedypersonalcommunicationandsustainedcompliancewithallstateandfederalregulations.

We knew we had to strike a fine balance: leveraging state-of-the artPlatform as a Service (PaaS) technology to coordinate the complexreturn-to-campus process and manage on-going health and safetyconcerns, while, at the same time, protecting sensitive healthinformation.AtUSF,weprioritizedatasecurityforhealthcaredata,sooursolutionrunsonaHIPPA-compliantandHITRUSTcertifiedsecurecloud. When you are a CIO, the first thing you think about is theprotectionofdata.That’swhyaplatformapproachiscritical.

In just amonthor two,wewereable tocentralizeandautomate time-sensitive data in an integrated, holistic solution to support on-campushealthandsafety.ButsuccessfullymanagingcriseslikehurricanesandaCOVID-19responseisonlyonepartofabroaderthemeweembraceatUSF:digitaltransformationinthecampussetting.

Digital transformation—whether in an enterprise setting or on auniversity campus—is hard work. For university chief informationofficers and campus IT execs like ourselves, the question is: Whatautomationtoolsareavailabletohelpgetourstudents,facultyandstafftothebestpossibleoutcomesintheirrespectivepursuitsintheacademicworld?

OurroleatUSFistotrytomakesureourstudentsandfacultyhavethebest overall experience while they are at the university. We’ve evenbeguntotalkaboutstudentsbeinglife-longstudents—students“forever”intermsoflearningthingsthroughouttheirlifeatUSF.We’refocusedon their experience before joining USF. Their onboarding experiencewhen they first comehere,whichcanbeaconfusing time.Then, laterwhiletheyareenrolledasundergraduatesandgraduatestudents.Finally,

wefocusonstudentswhentheybecomealumni.

Studentsuccessremainsfrontandcenterinourlistofpriorities.Forourfaculty,we’re focused onmaking sure they get to dowhat faculty dobest: teachourstudents todoresearch,and, in thecaseofourmedicalandhealthfaculty,serveourpatientsaswell.Simplyput,ourlong-termfocushasbeen:Howcanwecreatedigitalexperiencesforstudentsandfaculty that make their lives easier and simplify the complexbureaucracythatcanexistatauniversity?

TheJourneytoLowCode

In retrospect, thebackground toourpivot to low-codehas severalkeymilestones.

First,werealizedthatthewaywedidworkhere—saysomefivetotenyearsago(waybeforeallthedigitaltransformationbuzz!)—wasjustnotgoing to succeed for a large university setting. What universitiestraditionally do, as was the case at USF, is to hire a bunch of highlyskilleddevelopers—inourcasewewereaColdFusion,Python-shop—tocreatepoint-solutions forwhatever folkswere screamingabout.Wehad 16 programmers and about 150 built-from-scratch, custom-codeapps…andwehad tonsof technicaldebt thatwewerenevergoing togetto.

Itwasatoughsituation,tosaytheleast.Wehadabacklogofsome100-odd projects that our clients were still waiting on. And there was nocapacityfornewdevelopment.Therewasjustconstantconflictbetween“Dowefixupthisoldapplicationorbuildanewone?”Thatsaid,our

clientsdidn’twantustowastetheirinvestmentsonfixingtheoldstuff.So,theoldappsjustkeptgettingworseandworse.Atthesametime,wedesperatelywanted to develop somenew fun,more complex solutionsfor student success. This included, for example, call-to-action-typefunctionson thewebpage—oneofwhichwouldhelpstudentsselectaprofession based on theirmajor. So,wewent looking for tools in themarketandspokewithGartnerandothersextensively.

That’swhenwe learned about the emergenceof low-code technology,and how it could provide us with tools to handle the baseline low-hanging-fruit applications (basic forms and more forms), while at thesametimefreeupourprogrammerstocreatesomeofthemorefunandcomplex student-facing solutions we wanted. We needed a robust,scalable platform that could improve our student experience whiledriving operational efficiencies for faculty and administration (HR,travel, faculty tenure,promotionandthe like).Ourvisionwas:a lotofthings our programmers built should be seen as components that arereusable.

For example, if you’re building a log-in screen, it’s the same log-inscreen for everyportal andappyou’vebuilt.Why shouldyouhave torebuilditagainandagain;whyshouldyouhavetomaintainthecodeforeach use case and go into each individual application and update it?That’showwehadrolledforyears.Butwedecidedtopivotandlookforatoolthatwouldallowforalibraryofreusablepieces,andalsoenableustodevelopapplicationsfaster.

Ideally, these reusable pieces would be like Lego parts that we couldtake apart and rebuild at very rapid speed to create an optimal 21st

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Centuryteachingandlearningenvironment.Wefoundthiscapabilityinanenterprise-grade,low-codedevelopmentplatformthat’squicklyableto deliver innovative applications which eliminate waste, improveperformanceandenhancetheend-userdigitalexperienceforstudents.

WhereWeareToday

AtUSF,wherelow-codeisnowverymuchpartofourdigitalDNA,ourinformationtechnologydivisionspansthefollowingtechnologyservicesandsupportofferings:

Teaching andLearning: technology in the classroom, smartcomputinglabs.

Administrative: management and integration of student andadminsystems.

Communication:onlinecommunityandcollaboration.

Analytics and Reporting: interactive dashboards, businessintelligence.

MobileandWebSolutions:dynamic,securewebandmobilesolutions.

Consulting: research, visualization, modeling, projectmanagement.

Cybersecurity: riskmanagement, data protection, encryption,

monitoring.

Tomeet thefast-movingandever-changingneedsofmultiplebusinessunits,wecouldn’tafford to relyonour“old”system,because it couldtakemonthsoryearstopushthroughanupgradeforacriticalsolutionorcreateanentirelynewsetofapplications.Incontrast,ourneedsarenowbeingmet in literallyweeksormonthswith an agile, enterprise-grade,scalablelow-codeappdevelopmentplatform.Insteadofbeingforcedtospend $10 million to $20 million for massive overhauls of existingstudent-information-systems, as some universities currently face, weonlyspendinthethousandsofdollarstogettime-criticalupgradesandnewappdevelopmentpushedthroughforourclients.

That’s becausewe need fewer of the very highly skilled programmerstypically required toexecuteonourmissionwithinourmoderndigitalecosystem,which includes a full range of technologies such as: ERP,BPM,RPA,low-codeandrelatedagileappdevmethodologies.

Why do universities need to use low-code as part of the strategicequationgoingforward?BecauseERPsatuniversitiesarenotabletodoeverythinguniversitiesneedtogetdone.Withthetraditionalframeworkof disparate teams of developers spread throughout the university andwith so many niche applications, it takes too long for central IT torespondwitheffectivestudent-successandautomation/processsolutions.Whatwe’vefoundatUSFis thatwecannowcodeat thespeedof theclients or sometimes faster, becausewehave a low-codeplatform thatcandowhatERPsareunabletodo.

What’smore, ERPs in education tend to bemore clunky. The people

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thatusethemonadailybasisareokaywiththat.ButpeopleunfamiliarwithERPs—likestudentsandfacultyandcertainstaff—oftenfindthemdifficulttodrive,sotospeak.Soinalotofcases,atvariousuniversities,youhavepeoplethinkingaboutacompleteERPreimplementation.Butat USF, we decided to integrate our existing ERP with a low-codeplatformthatwouldallowfacultyandstudents toquickly interactwiththeERPinamodernenvironment—includingbothdesktopandmobile—atthespeedoftheclient.

Here’swhyuniversityCIOsandtheirrespectiveteamsshouldconsideradoptingbest-of-breedenterprise-gradelow-code:

Itcreatessolutionsatthespeedoftheclient

It creates enterprise-grade solutions for large-scaleimplementationsbetterthanERPs

Universities, simply put, have an unlimited demand for automation ofprocesses. They traditionally have lots and lots of old-school, paper-based processes that are crying out for automation. Students may berequiredtosubmitformsforeverything—forclasses,forhealthservices,forchangeofadvisor,andonandon.Consequently,studentsmustalsobeabletocompletetheseinteractionsinanautomatedmanner.Turnsouttoday’s students—yes, these Generation Z students in particular—expecttoengagewithmobileappsandgetinformationquickly.So,youwanttobeabletobuildsolutionsforthisgenerationthathasessentiallygrownupasdigitalnatives.

Oneofthelow-codeinitiativeswearemostproudofhereatUSFareour

student-success, student-lifecycle case-management solutions. Theseapplications unite support personnel—including academic advisors,career counselors, financial advisors, residential life coordinators andmore—in a single web and mobile application to efficiently assist anindividual student’s progress to graduation. It’s all about proactivelyprovidingcareforat-riskstudentswhentheyneedit,whethertheyknowtheyneeditornot.

Wegatherallstudentdataonasingleplatform.Thisallowsforanyonewho wants to help the student to see the same data, update theinformation,andreachouttoastudentaswell.Thesolutionincorporatesrecords data-management, collaboration and predictive analyticscapabilities (including AI) to provide insightful and time-sensitiveinformation on individual students. We believe this low-code derivedapphashelpedimproveUSF’sgraduationratefromlevelsaround50%tomore than70%inrecentyears.Technologyhasplayedarole in theimprovedgraduationand retention ratesatUSF.But it’s impossible toknow to what extent. That said, we are moving rapidly to make thisdigital “triage” available across all of our geographically distinctcampuses.

When it comes to driving future technology investments at USF, ourvisionisfocusedonsupportingthehandfulofstrategicprioritiesthattheuniversity has identified: student success, promoting research andinnovation, and overall improvement of the customer experience.Webelieve theCIO role here—and similarly at othermajor institutionsofhigherlearningacrossthenation—israpidlyevolving.

Truth is, expectations of the CIO are quickly changing from merely

beinga respectedgo-toperson for identifyinganddeployinghardwareand software solutions to being a trusted partner of the business unitwhenitcomestodevelopingsolutionsinnearreal-time.Inotherwords,themodernCIO is expected to be a broker of technology solutions—increasinglymobile-firstapplications—acrossthecampus.Basedonthatstrategicshift,it’salsoincumbentontheCIOtoputinplacecertainkeyperformanceindicators(KPIs)andothermetricstoensureallITprojectsarealignedtobusinessgoals.

ROIofLow-CodeonCampus

Inadditiontothemanytangiblebenefitsintermsofstudentsuccessandoperationalefficiencies,lowcodeimplementationhasaverysignificantROIwhenitcomestocost-avoidance.Today,colleges,universitiesandalltypesofinstitutionsofhigherlearningacrossthenationfaceamajordebatewhenitcomestoupgradingtheir legacysystemsofrecord:fewinstitutions, to be sure, are actively thinkingof jettisoning their entire,generations-oldERPsystems.

These student-information-systems and related embeds are not goinganywhere.The problem is that they are overburdenedwith layer uponlayer of modifications and so-called bolt-ons that keep the overallsystems from living up to expectations. Technical debt abounds. AtUSF,we’vefoundthatbyadoptinglow-code,weareabletogainmoreaccessto—andmorefunctionalityfrom—corelegacysystems.Andthisatafractionofthecostsofamajoroverhaulorsystemicupgradetothestanding ERP. Why invest tens of millions of dollars, as manyuniversitiesarecontemplating,intermsofacomprehensiveERPrefresh,

when you can spend $300Kon enterprise-scale low-code tied into thesystemandbeabletoreleasenewappseverytwoweeks?

AtUSF,we’vecandidlyaccumulatedsomuchtechnicaldebtthatwe’dhavetodoitalloveragain…buyandbuildanewfromscratch.Instead,low-code deployment and integration has allowed us to strip down allthese cumbersome, dysfunctional modifications from the ERP systemandmakewhatyoumightcall“micro-investments” toenhancestudentsuccessandoperationalefficienciesinrollingoutuser-friendlystudent-facingappsandworkflowsolutionsforfacultyandstaff.Thisenhancedfunctionalityhascomeatjustafractionofthe$10millionto$20milliontotalcostforamassiveERPoverhaul,whichcertainlyappealstotheC-suiteattheuniversity.

In the end, digital transformation is all about incremental change. It’sabout incremental improvement to your current non-digital processes.What low-code allows you to do verywell—as opposed to traditionalprogramming and specifically large-scalemodification of the ERP—isto transform tactically, swiftly, and at low relative cost. Digitaltransformation is not a big bang; it’s positive incremental changes tohow people work, and, specifically, how apps are transforming theirworkpractices.

And we’re also seeing virtuous cycles develop. We’re changing theculturehereatUSF.Ourclientsareworkingwithlow-codeteams,andinturn,they’vestartedtotransformtheirownpractices.Why?Becausetheyunderstandthecostoffailureislow,andtheyalsoknowthere’sahuge low-cost opportunity in front of them for being able to deliversolutionsforimmediateneedsinafasterandrobustmanner.We’renot

justchangingtechnology—wearechangingthecultureofexpectationofhow quickly you can do something differently, and how rapid-codingapplications built on low-code platforms can service the way peoplework.

Notably, there’s an additional ROI from low-code deployment on theuniversitycampus—thedevelopmentofagrowingworkforceofstudentand staff low-code practitioners. We offer a “Low-Code SkillsWorkshop” toundergraduate andgraduate students, aswell as toUSFemployees at no cost. The workshops provide several weeks ofimmersion in the technical aspects of low-code platforms and themethodologyoflow-codeappdevelopment.Studentssplitintoteamstobuild new IT applications on the platform. And it’s been a terrificsuccess.

In today’s market, with traditional developer skills both costly andscarce, we’ve been able to develop a growing, capable resource fromwithin.Westillneedtohire,albeitasmallernumber,ofhighly-skilledprogrammers and developers for specified roles.And,with the overallcost-savingsgained from low-codedeployment,we are able to remaincompetitivewiththeprivatesectorwhenitcomestosalariesforhiringinto specific, highly-sought-after roles, such as enterprise architects,cloud architects, and other preferred candidates for high-levelprogrammingtasks.Highly-skilledpeoplearecriticalforsuccess.Theyareenablers.YouneedthemforcriticalERPfunctionality,particularlywhenitcomestoanintegrationlayerthatallowsfortheERPstotalktolow-code.

Sinceweneedfewerhighlyskilledpeople,wecan investmoredollars

towards a single position versus trying tomaintain five of them.As auniversity,wecan’tcompeteonsalaryagainsttheGooglesoftheworld,or for thatmatter against local private companies.So for us it’s abouttapping into our student body for those who are looking for jobopportunitiesandexperience.Thatmodelallowsforustotrainthenextgenerationofdevelopers,whether theychosetocontinuetostayin thelow-coderealmormoveupintoseniorJavaarchitectrolesandthelike.ThisishowyoumakeitviableforanITorganizationwithinauniversityto compete for talent and optimize the mix of critical, highly-skilledpositionswithlargenumbersoflow-codedevelopers.

Inthelongrun,oneofthepotentiallyoverlooked,sustainedROI’sfromlow-code is thatwe can hire increasing numbers of home-grown low-code studentdevelopers righthereoncampus.Wecaneasilybringonourboot-camp-trainedstudentsduetohowlow-codearchitectureworks.We’lltrainthenextgenerationofdevelopers,righthereoncampus,andtheycangoontoexcitingcareersinIT,iftheyareinspiredtodoso.It’sworth noting that our top student developers are actually marketingmajors!

The university setting is quite favorable for low-code proliferation.Studentswilladoptthingsmuchfaster…andtheywillcode,withfreshnew use-cases, solutions for themselves whether they are undergrads,researchersorclinicians that teach.For the low-codevaluepropositionto truly take hold on campus, however, you also need seniormanagement that is willing to take a chance. But CIOs are generallyskeptical.Theyask:Canyoutakealow-codeplatformacrosstheentireuse-case scenario? Or, wouldn’t it be easier to transform the entireuniversity by outsourcing an ERP overhaul at a cost of up to $60

million? Better to have people in the trenches—from both the IT andclient sides—willing tomake digital transformation happen with low-code.Tobesure,welosthalfofourITteamwhenweintroducedlow-code.Theydidn’tgetit.Theydidn’tunderstandthatitwasn’tnecessarytotoucheverywidget.

Looking ahead, though,we expect low-code to start going viral soon.This will happen asmore andmore people realize they have to thinkbeyondtheERPandcustomapplicationstocreatesolutions.Webelievethepushwillcomefromthebusinessside,andITwillhavetoreactforgovernanceandsecurityreasons.Wewouldloveformoreuniversitiestodo what we are doing and to collaborate and share ideas amongrespective teams. Low-code can be an amazing connector—anorchestratorofsomanyworkflowsandprocessesoncampusviaAPIs.Andthisorchestrationcanbecomethenewnormalatuniversitiesacrossthecountry.

UniversityCIOsandC-Suiteexecsoveralleventuallywillseethevalueofreducingtechnicaldebtasfastaspossible.Indeed,theywillquestionsending tons of developers to do things that yield zero value to theclient.Youdon’twanttopaymillionsindebtbeforeyoudonecessaryupgrades.Youcertainlydon’twant tohavetochucktheentireERPorlaboriouslydismantlenumerousappsoneappatatime.Thataddsuptomillionsinexpensedollarsthatmostuniversitiesdon’thave.Peoplearefinallystarting to realize thatERPshaveneverbeenable todeliveronthe demands being placed on them. The problem is the cost of theseunrealisticexpectationsishugeintermsofthetechnicaldebtstandinginthewayofprogressforstudentsuccessandoverallcampusoperations.

FutureChallenges:MakingSuretheCultureKeepsPacewiththeTech

The chief pain point in adapting a low-code platform in academicsettings comesdown to amind-set change. Inparticular, your teamofdevelopers shouldbewilling tomove forwardwith the timesand takeadvantage of low-code adoption for the good of the university. Thealternative is to remain burdened with old-school, piecemeal ERPmodifications and bolt-on approaches. But the willingness to changetakes a certain kind of forward-looking, somewhat altruistic (for thegoodof theuniversity, ifnotnecessarilygoodforme)mind-set.Somehighly-skilled programmers and architects may bolt for higher-payingrolesintheprivatesector.Inotherwords,CIOsandtheirdirectreportsmust be able to balance the mix of talent required to power theintegrationoflow-codeplatforms.

That said, the client side can also present it’s share of speed bumps.Some clients, for example, are still going to operate on slower, old-school timeframes—expecting solutions to be delivered over longer,extendedtimelines.Butthisistheoppositeoftherapid-firedeliverablesfromlow-codeteamsthatpartnerwithabusinessunitinthefirstplace.The truth is, there is little time towaste.Someclientswillneed togethiptothatfact inthetraditionallydeliberativecampusenvironment.Intheend,though,youneedacombinationoftechnology,partnershipandrealisticexpectationstomakeitallwork.

FinTechandtheForcesofChangeinFinancialServicesChrisSkinner,FinTechExpert

WeliveinaworldwhereyoungFinTechstart-upsareforcingtraditionalbankstomovefasteranddeliverbettercustomerexperiences.Thisnewworld demands a completely different business model from financialinstitutions. There are seven newways in which finance delivered bytechnologyischangingthegame.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:Chris Skinner is known as one of the most influential people in

technology, and as an independent commentator on the financialmarketsandfintechthroughhisblog,theFinanser.com.Mr.SkinnerhasbeenanadvisortotheUnitedNations,theWhiteHouse,theWorldBankand the World Economic Forum, and is a visiting lecturer withCambridgeUniversityaswellasaTEDxspeaker.

I am a technologist and have spent all of my career looking at howtechnology might change the future of finance and financial services.When looking to the future, it isdeterminedby four forcesof change:political,economic,socialandtechnological.

Forme,technologyisthecoredriverofchange,butthisdoesnotbelittletheothers.Allofthemimpactfinancialmarketsandbusinessesequally,and I am sure we can all agree that these changes have becomeparticularly frenetic in the last decade. This is partly inspired by theglobalfinancialcrisis,butequallyenabledbythetechnologystructuresthatwehavetoday.

Take Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), themobile phonenetwork and Open Banking, which incorporates application programinterfaces(APIs),which,inturn,provideplug-and-playcodethatcanbetakenanddroppedfromanyprovidertoanyotherservicethatyouwanttouse.Thesetechnologieshavetransformedthelandscapeoftheworldinthelastdecade,andarenowgreatlychangingbankingasfinanceandtechnologybecomeintegrated.Today,wecallthisFinTech.FinTechhasgrown from nothing to a market that received $111.8 billion ofinvestmentinstart-upfirmsin2018.

The first time that I encountered FinTechwas over a decade ago at ameetinginLondon,duringwhichsomeonehadtheideaoflaunchingabusinessthattheycalled“aneBayformoney.”Theirideawasthatyoucould have people who have money connected to people that needmoneythroughaplatformandanalgorithm.ThatcompanywasZopa.

Over the past 15 years, Zopa has done pretty well in the UnitedKingdom, as havemany other peer-to-peer lenders and FinTech start-ups.Forexample,36percentofallnewpersonalloanswereoriginatedby FinTech companies in the United States in 2017, according toBloomberg,comparedtojust1percentin2010.Thatisthereasonwhytheintegrationoffinanceandtechnologyissuchahotmarketspace.

According toKPMG, the $111.8 billion thatwas invested in FinTechcompanies globally in 2018 wasmore than double the amount of theyearbefore.Thatcoverspeer-to-peerpaymentsand lending,aswellaseverything to do with roboadvice through to AI, through tocryptocurrencies, and through to blockchain distributed ledgertechnology. There are thousands of things happening in each of theseareas.Facedwiththesechanges,Iclaimthatthebusinessmodelofthebankingindustryiscompletelybroken.

Thebusinessmodelofbankingisdesignedforthephysicaldistributionof paper in a localized network through buildings and humans.Technology was then implemented to cement that structure in place.Now,we need to rip that structure apart becausewhatwe are dealingwithtodayisthedigitaldistributionofdatathroughsoftwareandserversonaglobalnetwork.Thelatterisaradicallydifferentbusinessmodelforanybusiness,butisnowparticularlyrelevantforfinancialservicesdue

totheriseofOpenBanking.

The financial services industry has not been impacted much by thischange so far, when compared with the changes we have seen inentertainment, consumption, media, books and other markets. This ispurelybecauseithastakenalongtimetogettowhereweare.Infact,itisonlyinthelastdecadethatithasreallystartedtohittheroad.Youcansee it hit the road in the valuations, vision and rapid expansion ofcompanieslikePayPal,whichisoneoftheoldestFinTechfirmsaround.The samegoes forAntFinancial,whichmakesup a case study in thelastthirdofmybook,DigitalHuman.

If I had topickone standout start-up, itwouldbeStripe.Stripe ismyfavoriteFinTechstart-upandisalsooneofthebiggestFinTechunicorns(theindustrytermfortechnologystart-upsthathaveachievedpre-InitialPublic Offering valuations of $1 billion or more). If you don’t knowwhatStripedoes,itwaslaunchedin2011withsevenlinesofcodethatenableamerchanttosetupcheckoutonlinefastandeasy.It’splug-and-playcode.AnAPI.That iswhy theUbers,Airbnbsand IndiegogosofthisworldareallusingStripebecauseit is incrediblyeasyto justdropthatcodeinandthenyoucantakeandmakepayments. It issosimplethat after five years, in October 2016, the firm had a $9.2 billionvaluation,withjust400membersofstaff.

AnotherreasonwhyitisoneofmyfavoriteFinTechstart-upsisthatitwas started by Patrick and John Collison, two brothers from Ireland.Whentheylaunchedtheideafor thisbusinessbackin2010, theywerejust19and21yearsold.Andhereisakeypointabouthowtheworldhas changed with digitalization: FinTech has created an equal

relationship where almost anyone of any age can launch a financialservicesystem.

Forexample,VitalikButerin,thedeveloperwhofoundedEthereum,was19 years old when he started that company. Ethereum providesdistributedledgerservices,alsocalled“smartcontractsonblockchains.”The vision behind Ethereum was discussed in depth in my book,ValueWeb, and offers the potential to become the backbone of howcorporations, governments and businesses run their next-generationinfrastructures. In other words, Buterin’s code might become thebackboneofourworldtomorrowandbeasfundamentalasthecreationoftheinternetitself.

That is how fundamental this is. Kids who can code are dramaticallychanging the financialmarkets,but theydon’tunderstand the financialmarkets.Theydon’tunderstandwhybanks are regulated theway theyare.Theydon’tunderstandhowbanksgottowheretheyare.ThisiswhyIseeFinTechasaparent–childrelationship.TheFinneedstoactastheparent, mentoring and nurturing the child, which is the Tech. That isexactly what is happening today. A lot of banks are starting tocollaborate and work with the FinTech start-up community, includingtheStripesofthisworld.

However,themosttellingfiguresherearewhenyouanalyzethechangesin the big banks. For example, I often quote Stripe’s $9.2 billionvaluation from October 2016 to show how new firms providingplatformsfordigitalconnectivityaresmashingoldfirms’infrastructureforprovidingfinancethroughphysicalconnectivity.

Figure1.1ComparisonoffiguresformarketcapitalizationfromOctober2016

Comparing Stripe and Barclays Bank, you can see that the averageStripe employee generated a hundred times more value, by marketcapitalization,thanaBarclaysemployee.

Twoyearslater,Stripe’svaluationwasat$20billion.Thatisadoublingofvalueintwoyears.Barclaysismoreinteresting,however.Thefigureswent from130,000people generating$240,000of valueper person to83,500employeesgenerating$480,000ofvalueperperson.

Figure1.2FiguresformarketcapitalizationfromOctober2018

When comparing the numbers, Stripe had gone from generating onehundred times more value per person in October 2016 to just overtwenty times more value per person two years later. Stripe had notchanged.BarclaysBankhad.Infact,justincaseyoumissedit,BarclaysBankshedoverathirdofitsworkforceandincreaseditsvaluationbyathirdinjusttwoyears.

That turnaround isdown to somedrastic action,not anevolution. It iswhywearelivinginsuchinterestingtimes,becausewearelivinginaworldwhereFinTechismakingbanksdowhattheyhavealwaysdone,butcheaper,fasterandbetterwithtechnology.Ifbanksunderstandthat,thentheywillpartnerandcollaboratewith, invest in,andmentor thesethousandsofnewcompanies.Thisiswhythesestart-upfirmsaregettingbillionsofdollarsininvestmentfromsuchbankssothattheycanbepart

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of their marketplace, part of their community. In turn, it enables thebankstobringthecapabilitiesofthosestart-upfirmstotheircustomers.

ThisisadigitalrevolutionofplanetEarth,andgoesmuchfurtherthanjust changing banking, however. In fact, there are seven newways inwhichfinancedeliveredbytechnologyischangingthegame:

Real time:We are able to fund, save, spend, invest, transact,trade,borrowandmoreintimewindowsidentifiedasrelevantto us, not in annualized products offered by institutions. Theonlyreasonwhyproductswereannualwasbecause itwas toodifficult to service them more regularly in a physicaldistribution model with buildings and humans. In a digitaldistributionmodel, software, servers and algorithms can offereverything immediatelyand foras longasyouwant.Forgetayearlyservice,let’sjustborrowforthenextfewhours.

All the time and everywhere: The idea of any downtimeanytimeisunacceptable.IfIwantit,Iwantitnow,soletmegetit now. Whether I am in the Himalayan mountains or inTimbuktu, Iwant it and Iwant itnow.Anybarriers to accesswillbeseenasareasontoswitchtoanotherprovider.

Seamless: I don’t want to think aboutmoney and banking; Iwantitstitchedintothefabricofmylifestyle,andsupportiveofthe way I live. Banking should be invisible, frictionless andseamless. If I need to think about my money, it is purelybecause my devices are telling me that there is somethingimportanttothinkabout.Otherwise,Idon’twanttoknow.

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Personalized: If things are happening in my financial worldthatIshouldknowabout,thentellmetomyfaceor,rather,mydevice. I shouldn’t have to be concerned about covering mynext mortgage payment by moving funds from my savingsunlessmysavingsaccountisempty.Ifitisempty,don’ttellme“Yoursavingsaccountisempty.”Instead,tellme,“Chris,youhavefundsarrivingnextweekbutyourmortgagepaymentgoesouttoday.Don’tworryaboutit.I’vetakencareofitbyusinga12-hourloanfacilityatacostof$5.Ifyouwanttochangethis,swipehere.”

Predictive:That’skindofillustratedbythepointabove,butitgoesfurtheranddeeperthanthis.Withthedeepminingofmyfinancial lifestyle data, the bank should be able to predictmyfinancial lifestyle needs.My favorite example of this today isthebankthatfiguresoutthatIcatchtheundergroundeverydaybutalwayspaydaybydayratherthanbuyaseasonticket.Thatis because I do not have the funds for a season ticket. In thisinstance, thebank texts, “HeyChris, youcould save£1,000aquarterwithaseasonticketfor£2,500.Swipehereifyouwantone.”Okay,sothebankiswrappingupapersonalizedofferinaloanbutatleastithasminedmydata,workedoutwhyIcannotbuyaseasonticketandofferedmeonebasedonpredictiveandpersonalizedcontextualinformation.

Foreveryone:Whyshouldanyonebeunable tomovemoneybetween friends and family?Why shouldbankingonlybe forthe rich?Everyone shouldhave thebasichuman right to sendmoneyfreely,cheaplyandeasily toanyoneelse.This isbeing

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delivered by technology services for the unbanked,underbankedandunderserved.Infact,thebiggestchangeinourworld in the last decade is that digital services can reach theunreachable.Itisamajortransformationtoeverythinginlife.

Reachestheunreachable.Buildingonthelastpoint, thenewworldoffinancecanreachthelongtailofcustomerspreviouslyoverlooked,andcanstartdoingnewthingsforthem.Thelongtail are kids uneducated in money who now get financialliteracy through apps. The long tail is the elderly who arescammed and conned because they are financially vulnerable;theyarenowprotectedthroughconnectivitytothosewhocareabout them. The long tail are the addicts, the depressed, thegamblersandthementallyill,allofwhomneedhelpwiththeirfinancial accounts so that they do not drain themof funds onactivities that they are trying to get away from. All of thesepeoplearenowreachableandcapableofbeingsupportedratherthanoverlooked.

Thisiswhywehaveseenradicalchangetoourworldinthelastdecadeand there are many developments of non-traditional finance that arecreatinginclusivesocietiesandnewmodelsoffinance.Infact,Iwouldcitefiveareasofchange:

Financialinclusion:Thefactthatanyonewhocangetaccesstoa mobile telephone can now get access to finance is why somany people are getting engaged in trading and transacting.AccordingtotheWorldBank,69percentofadults—3.8billionpeople— now have an account at a bank or mobile money

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provider,asubstantial risefromthemere51percent in2011,allthankstothemobilephoneandtheinternet.Thatisfinancialinclusionforyou.Getaphone,getacredithistory,getabankaccount. It ismore than that though. It ismore todowith thefact that the internet andmobile telephone is a cheapway ofsupportinganyonewithabankaccount,whetherthatpersonhasafewcentsorafewmillion.Digitalischeap.

Financial literacy:Considering finance is themajor factor inourlivesforcomfortandwealth,itisalsooneoftheareasmostoverlooked in our school years. There are now many firmsfocused on providing financial literacy for children, usinggamificationtechnologiestomakeitfunandeasy.

Financialcapabilityforthefinanciallyless-abled:Thisbuildson financial literacy but is focused specifically on the mostvulnerablefinancialusers,suchasfinancialmanagementfortheelderly. Ifaparentgetsdementia,Alzheimer’s,Parkinson’soranotherdiseasethatmeanstheycannolongercope,theseappshelp their children—if they have them—to look after theirfinances or, at least, help them to avoid being ripped off byscammersandcriminals.

Financialwellness: Psychologists have found that those whohave theworstmental health problems are usually thosewhohave theworst financialhealth.Multiple studies reportpeoplewithmentalhealthproblemsaremorelikelytobeindebt.Andthose with addictions are most likely to be at issue. A greatexample of action is how UK challenger banks Monzo and

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Starlingarehelpingcustomerstogiveupgamblingbyofferinga block to prevent their financial accounts accessing anythingrelated to gambling. There are two million people at risk ofmental health issues caused by gambling in the UnitedKingdom,sothatisagoodthingtobeabletodo.

Sustainability and responsible banking: An area that theUnitedNations (UN) SustainableDevelopmentGoals (SDGs)are leading with the publication of the Principles forResponsible Banking in 2019. Sustainable finance, I think, isbest illustrated byAnt Forest.Ant Forest encourages users ofAlipayinChina,ofwhichthereare800million,toplayagameofgrowingvirtualtrees.Togrowatree,thesystemencouragesuserstoavoiddoingthingsthatincreasecarbonemissions.Forinstance, if you take abus towork rather than a taxi, yougetpoints towardsplantingyourvirtual treewhich,whenyougetenough points, becomes a real tree in real life.You getmorepointsthemoreenvironmentallyfriendlylifestylebecomes.Soifyouwalkorcycle towork,yousaveevenmore than ifyoutakethebus.

Infact, thereare19changesyoucanmaketoyourlifestyle tobecomemore eco-friendly, includingmaking online payments, going paperlessin the office, using disposable cardboard cutlery instead of plasticcutleryandrecycling.YoucanthenclaimcarbonpointsfortheactionsyouhaveperformedeverydayandsavethemintoyourAlipayaccount.ThesepointsareusedtowaterandgrowyourvirtualtreeinAntForestand, when the virtual tree grows tall enough through your constantwateringof carbonpoints,AntFinancialplants a real tree foryou.By

playingafunappwhilstmakingpayments,500millionChineseAlipayusers have planted over 100million real trees in InnerMongolia andGansuprovincethatcovernearly1,000squarekilometersofland.IthasbeenestimatedthatthiswillreducethecarbonemissionsofChinaby5percentbytheendof2020.

Thisiswherelessonsarelearnedbylookingatneweconomiesthathadlittle or no historical infrastructure. We see this occurring in India,China,acrossAsia,AfricaandSouthAmerica.Thesecountries startedtheir infrastructure projects in the internet age, and are turbochargingtheir economies as a result. I personally learned this lesson when IvisitedAntFinancialinHangzhou,China,asthecompanyhasamissionformobilefinancialinclusionandhasexporteditstechnologiestolocalpartnershipsinIndonesia,thePhilippines,Thailand,Pakistan,Indiaandmore.Thisisbringingsimpleandeasyfinancialservicestomarketsthathavehistoricallybeenignoredbybanks.

My favorite example is in India. This really brings home what ishappeningwith technology and financial inclusion. Paytm is amobilewallet that is used across all of India. It has around 400million userstoday whereas, just before demonetization in November 2016, it hadabout150million.Becauseofdemonetizationandothermovesby theIndiangovernment,thestoryofinclusioninIndiahasrisendramatically,andmuchofthisisthankstothemobilepaymentswalletnetwork.

VijayShekharSharmaisthefounderofPaytm.HeisalsoafanofJackMaandAlibaba, andwanted to copyAlibaba andAlipay in India.HewenttoseeJackMaandpersuadedhimtoinvestinhisventure.ThisiswhyAlibaba andAntFinancial owna substantial part ofPaytm.Core

technologiesbehindPaytmareprovidedbyAntFinancialthroughOpenBanking, open payments and open financial services. Using thesetechnologies has enabled Paytm to both grow and scale very quicklythanks to these cloud-based services. As already mentioned, AntFinancial and Alipay are not just doing this in India, but also withpartners in many other countries, from Pakistan to the Philippines toIndonesia,ThailandandSouthKorea.AntFinancialhasgoneglobal.

ItisworthnotingthatSharmaisIndia’syoungestmultibillionairetodaybut he was homeless ten years ago. He had been bankrupted by hisbusinesspartnersandwassleepingonfriends’sofastosurvive.Thatiswhat today’s digital network enables—opportunity and inclusion foreveryone.

We are living through a revolution of humanity through digitalizationwith technology. It is a fundamental change to how we think, trade,transact, talk, build relationships and build structures. It demands acompletely different business model from financial institutions. Theymustmovefasterthantheyhavehadtointhepast.Theymustbemorenimble,sotheycanchangeonadime.Theymustconstantlyadapttoarevolution in-progress. It is incrediblydifficult for these institutions tomake thesechanges, especially if their leadersdonotunderstand themandtheirITsystemsdon’tsupportthem.

ABusiness-mindedCIO’sPerspective:WhyLow-CodeisIndispensableforTransformationIsaacSacolick,StarCIO

The digitally-minded CIO must lead their organization away fromlegacypractices,address technicaldebt,developnewapplications,andestablishdataandanalyticsasacorecompetency.Aprimebusinesscaseforlow-codeisthatmostorganizationsdon’thavetheskills,breadthoftools,andmaturityinsoftwaredevelopmentprocessestomeasureup.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:IsaacSacolick isa successfulCIOwhohas leddigital transformation,product development, innovation, agilemanagement, and data scienceprogramsinmultipleorganizations.HeisPresidentofStarCIO,wherehe guides organizations on smarter, faster, safer, and innovativetransformation programs. Isaac is the best-selling author of the bookDriving Digital: The Leader’s Guide to Business TransformationThrough Technology, writes an award-winning blog called “Social,Agile, and Transformation,” shares best practices in “5 minutes with@NYIke,”andisacontributingeditoratInfoWorld.

DoubleProductivityviaLow-Code

Doublingproductivitymaybeanunderstatement.Consider theamountof expertise and time required to architect, develop, test, and deployapplications. Then, add in the time tomaintain, upgrade, and enhancethem. If you’re deploying the application to the cloud or data center,there’saddedinvestmenttoconfigureinfrastructureevenifmanystepscanbeautomatedtoday.

A significant part of the work and expertise required to develop andsupport applications can be eliminated or accelerated with low-codeplatforms.Anditstartswithsimplifyingthedeveloper’sexperience.Inalow-code platform, the platform provides tools and infrastructure toenable developers to create and enhance applications rapidly.No-codeplatformstakethisonestepfurtherbyenablingcitizendeveloperswithvisualdevelopmentparadigmsthatrequirenoorverylittlecoding.No-code platforms enable tech-savvy people thatmay notwork in the IT

department—but have the subject matter expertise—to developapplicationswiththesesimplifieddevelopmentplatforms.

Both low-code and no-code platforms offer significant operationaladvantagesbyproviding technicalguardrailsandenablingmoresecureapplicationsthatdeploywithminimalinfrastructureconfiguration.

These platforms can solve many common use-cases, includingapplication integrations, workflow automations, mobile applications,lightweight customer-facing applications, content management,customer relationship management, data integrations, and datavisualizations. Vendors optimize low-code platforms for building agroupofuse-cases,andtheadvantagesdiminishwhencustomcodingisstillrequiredwhenbuildingapplicationsinthem.

And there are stillmany use-cases that require software developers tocode applications when they have strategic advantages or specializedrequirements. So, CIOs and IT leaders must be involved in selectinglow-code platforms, and in ensuring that their teams and stakeholdersreviewwhenbesttoapplythem.

WhyCIOsandITLeadersShouldInvestinLow-CodePlatforms

CIOsarenotjustrunningthebusinessanddatacentersanymore.Everyorganization is looking todevelopnewproductsandservices, improvethe customer and employee experience, andbecomemoredata-driven.Thesedriversrequirethedigitally-mindedCIOtoleadtheirorganization

away from legacy practices, address technical debt, developapplications, and establish data and analytics as a core competencyinstead.

CIOs also need a different game plan, compared to large technologycompanies, for building and supporting this charter and deliveringbusiness impact. Most organizations don’t have the skills, breadth oftools,andmaturityinsoftwaredevelopmentprocessestomeasureup.

A CIO’s role on the executive team is to lead the organization awayfrom the “disruption cliff,” where too many organizations fail totransform themselves fast enough tomeetnewcompetitive challenges.TodayCIOshaveadditional responsibilities to ensure employee safetyand improve remote working in response to COVID-19 and the newnormal. Just putting up a collection of unintegrated SaaS tools orenablingvirtualmeetingsisn’tsufficienttoenablebusinessestosurviveandthriveoverthenextfewvolatileyears.

Here’sthebottomline.Ifyou’retheCIOoranITleader,thenyoumustacturgently.Otherwise,somebodyinyourindustryisgoingtofindwaystomovesmarterandfasterandleaveyourteaminthedust.

LeveragingLow-CodeforSaying“Yes”toMoreOpportunities

Yes, you’ll need full-stack developers, application architects, testautomationspecialists,andDevOpsengineersforstrategicapplications.Organizations still need innovation in strategic areas and require

technical skills to modernize mission-critical applications. But mostCIOs strugglewith high demand for people and platforms to respond.Business leaders struggle with aligning priorities, leaving CIOs in adifficultposition.DoestheCIOsay“no”tosomebusinessstakeholdersuntil technology teams are ready to address their needs? MustorganizationsonlylooktobuySaaSsolutionsthatmeetonlypartoftherequirements or ones where the expense outweighs the benefits?Additionally,everySaaSsolution isanother“pointsolution” thatmustbe evaluated, procured, supported, and integrated with otherapplications.

The thing is, enterprises need to be a lotmoreversatilewith the toolsthey’reusingtoimprovecustomerandemployeeexperiences, integratesystems,processdata,ordeliveranalyticsonmobileandotheremergingdevices.Meetingbusinessopportunitiesandgoalsarenotsimply“buildor buy” decisions as theywere just ten years ago.Back then, it camedown to either building everything ourselves or buying an enterprisesolutionandcustomizingitbeyondrecognition.

Considerlow-codeasdoornumberthree.

We are not going to build everything, and we are not going to buyeverything; we are going to put something in the middle—it’s calledlow-code. We’re going to use our highly-skilled architects anddevelopers to figure out the right platforms to solve pressing businessneeds, and low-code platforms as options to accelerate delivery andenableongoingenhancements.Doornumberthreeprovidesnewoptionstodevelopnewapplications, accelerate transitionoff legacyplatforms,orprovideamoreintegratedend-userexperience.

TheCIO’sStrategicRole:Low-CodeAdvocate

TheCIO should be directly involved in the selection of low-code andno-code platforms. These platforms must deliver the types ofapplicationsrequired,meetcompliancerequirements,andalignwiththeorganization’soveralltechnologystrategy.

Buthavingalow-codeplatforminthetoolkitisnotsufficient.TheCIOmustalsobeastrongadvocatewhenitcomestoendorsingthelow-codeplatformasa foundation forapplication initiatives. Inotherwords, theCIO should develop a vision of the “art of the possible,” showcasingwhat experiences are required and how the low-code platform enablestheproductivity andquality todeliver it. Is thisdigital transformation,enterprise 2.0, or the future ofwork?Whatever label the organizationdecides to use, the CIO must deliver business outcomes beyond thebuzzword.

Ontopofthat,businessanalystsmustunderstandthecapabilitiesofthelow-codeplatform.Anddevelopersmustlearnhowtogetthemostoutof it. The key is to adjust the development process and lifecycle toleverage the capabilities enabled by the platform. Finally, the CIOshould define where the platform enables self-service capabilities orcitizendevelopment,andthetypesofapplicationsbestdevelopedbyITusinglow-codetechnologies.

Theseareallaspectsofgoverningthedevelopmentandsupportoflowcodeplatforms. IT responsibilities don’t disappear in themix. Instead,theplatformsshouldmakeimplementationeasier.ForCIOswhofearthesprawl of spreadsheets, SaaS platforms procured by shadow IT, or a

messy landscape of siloed applications, perhaps the best solution is toextendgovernance,bestpractices,andcentersofexcellencetoinitiativesleveraginglow-codeandno-codeplatforms.

MyEarlyLow-CodeandNo-CodeExperiences

Many CIOs are aware of the benefits of low-code. But there’s adifference between hearing about it and experiencing it. In my ownexperienceasCIOatvariouscompanies,therewerenumerousinstanceswhere I couldnotget sufficient technologycapabilities tounderservedparts of the business. My development teams were all developingcustomer-facing applications and platforms, so areas like sales,marketing, finance, and operations didn’t have the workflow,integration,andanalyticstorunsmart,efficientdepartments.

Eventhoughatthattime,wewereattheearlystagesofapplyingAgilemethodologiesintheenterprise,weneededtoconsiderproductivityandquality.Wewere thinking throughhowtodevelopapplicationsrapidlyandpromoteiterativeexperimentationtogetthecustomerandend-userfeedback,withoutlaboriouslywritinglinesofcodeinJavaand.Net.

Candidly, Iwas looking forways to cheat: to build applications fasterand develop lighter-weight ones. I wanted to break the cycle ofcomplexity where business stakeholders—even with all the rightintentions—foundways towrite requirementsanddemandexperiencesthat lead to custom software development. I also wanted to developapplicationswithoutgettingintothetechnicalminutiae.Ontopofthat,Ididn’twanttoleavebehindamoundoftechnicaldebtwhennewerways

of applying technology could leapfrog implementations made justmonthsearlier.

I found the solution—thiswasbefore clouds andSaaS—throughweb-enabled low-code and no-code platforms. I discovered thatwith somestructure, some guidelines, some mentoring and the right selection oftools, stakeholders in underserved areas were able to developtechnologies by themselves. We did this with no-code platforms andshowedhow tech-savvy employeesoutsideof IT (with the right tools,practices, andmentorship) could develop and support applications fortheirbusinessneeds.

Wefoundmanylow-codeopportunities,forexample,whenwewantedtorapidlydevelopandeasilysupportanintegratedworkflow,amobileapplication that connected to multiple systems, or operational dataintegrations. We partnered with low-code and no-code technologyprovidersthat,atthetime,weremoreoftensellingdirectlytothelinesofbusiness rather than theCIOand the ITdepartment.SomeofmyCIOcolleagues labeled this shadow IT, but I knew this was shortsighted.Today,most low-code and no-code solution providers seek to partnerwith business and digitally-minded CIOs seeking to transform theirbusinessandleveragebest-in-breedplatforms.

KeyConsiderationsWhenEvaluatingLow-CodePlatforms

When evaluating the most appropriate low-code offerings for yourorganization, here are some of the core considerations Iwould embedintotheprocess.

First, it all begins with the realization that organizations have asignificant,inescapableandgrowingneedtodelivereasy-to-learn,easy-to-use experiences for people working in the office or remotely.Applications aren’t silos andoften connect employeeswith customers,partners, supply-chain providers, and a growing ecosystem ofparticipants. That means low-code and no-code platforms must besufficientlyopenwithAPIs,documentation,andalreadyintegratedwithmainstreamapplicationintegration,data,andIFTTT(IFThisThenThat)platforms.

The platform must drive developer productivity and enable them todeliverreliable,secure,performant,andenhanceableapplicationseasily.Forlow-codeplatforms,thatmeansdevelopersmustseethebenefitsinlearningandleveragingtheplatformtosupplementtheircodinginJava,.Net, JavaScript,PHP,Python,orothercoding languages.Forno-codeplatforms, the challenge is to enable tech-savvy people working forbusinessteamstodevelopandsupportapplicationswithoutitbecomingtheirdayjobs,sotospeak.

CIOs must select appropriate proof-of-concepts and pilots to validatewhere platforms deliver themost value. Another consideration is thatboth low-code and no-code platforms must also enable the CIO toestablishgovernancearoundthedevelopment, testing,deployment,andongoingsupportofapplications.

EightKeyQuestionsforEvaluatingaLow-CodePlatform

What thenshouldyouconsiderwhen reviewing low-codeandno-code

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platforms? Consider answering the following eight questions in yourreview:

Forwhat types of applications does the platform enable rapiddevelopment?Make sure to understandwhat’s easy,what’s astretch,andwhat’strulyoutofscope.

Does the technology enable a satisfactory user-experience, ormust end-users suffer through a user experience that doesn’tworkwell,say,onmobile?

How much of the application can be developed with theplatform’s visual productivity tools compared to customizingmuch of the experience, business logic or integration withnativecode?

Does the platform already connect with the integration toolsyour IT department utilizes, or does it integrate withmainstreamintegrationplatforms?

Doesthedeveloperexperiencetrulyimproveproductivity,anddoes the expected skill set align well with organizationalstrategy?

Can the platform’s hosting options and compliance standardsmeet your organization’s regulatory, compliance, and securityrequirements?

How can the platform’s development process and applicationlifecycle meet the minimal requirements needed to support

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ongoingenhancementstoproductionapplications?

Does theplatform’scostmodelworkwell for theapplicationsyouintendtodevelop?

Whatitallcomesdowntoisthis:Whenitcomestomoresophisticatedapplications, learning to develop on low-code technologiesmeans thatyou can address a business need that can’t be addressed affordablythrough traditional approaches to development. Low-code guardrailsmayalsoimprovequality,provideabetteruserexperience,andhaveamore secure hosting platform than applications developed with nativedevelopmentlanguages.

Butthatdoesn’tmeandevelopersshouldnotplayaroleinhelpingnon-expert citizen developers with best practices in building maintainableand supportable applications. Yes, a low-code platform may enablecitizen development by SMEs and other business drivers. However,business developers still need guidance on best practices in user-interface design, data architecture, naming conventions, testing, andotherdesignconsiderations.

EvaluatingtheLonger-TermImpactsofLow-Code

Manykeylow-codeandno-codeplatformKPIsarehardtomeasure.Forexample,areyougettingmorebest-in-breedcapabilitiesforyourdollar,and is developing on the platform going to lower application supportrisks?Also,willthetotalcostofoperatingtheplatformbesignificantlyless than utilizing mainstream cloud platforms and developmentlanguages?

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AddressingtheseconsiderationscallsfortheCIOtotakealonger-termviewandaskseveralotherimportantquestions:

Howeasyisittofindthetalentthatcanlearnandsucceedwiththeplatform?

Can the organization easily enhance and support theapplications,integrations?

Will ongoing investment in the platform help teams developreusablecapabilitiesandbestpractices?

Does theapplication’sperformancemeetbusinessneedswhenthere’s growth in usage by end-user activity, stored data,integrations,andworkflowcomplexity?

Is it reasonably easy to knowledge-transfer an application’ssupport,basedonitsexperience,structure,anddocumentation?

Ifyouhave tomigrate the application in the future, howeasywillitbe,andwhatarethebestmigrationoptions?

Don’t make the mistake of trying to get answers to these questionswithoutdippingyourtoesintothewaterandtryingtotakeanapplicationfromproof of concept to pilot. If the application is developed quicklyand meets business needs, then move on to running it in production,gaining feedback, and then looking to improve the applicationiteratively.Thisapproachwillallowyour ITorganization toperformaretrospectiveontheplatformtoseehowtosucceedlonger-termwithit.Ultimately, low-code and no-code platforms should make developing

andsupportingtechnologyeasier.

Low-CodeJourneyintheEnterpriseJohnRymer,Forrester(Emeritus)

Low-codedevelopment,whichstartedasatacticaltool,hasevolvedintoa strategic capability. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated thatevolutionbecauseoftherapidresponsiveactionthatlow-codeenables.But using low-code at the enterprise level demands that certainrequirementsaremet.Thischapteridentifiesthekeyelementsofalow-codeenterprisestrategy.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:

John R. Rymer is a former Vice President & Principal Analyst atForresterResearch.Hecoined the term“low-codeplatforms”and ledForrester’s research on low-code development platforms. He is aleading expert on enterprise application development practices,technologies, and platforms for more than 20 years. ForresterrecognizedhimwithitsprestigiousBillBluesteinResearchAward,andLowcode.comrecognizedhimasatopinfluencerinitsLow-Code50.

HowaPandemicAcceleratedaNewErainBusinessTechnology

When theCOVID-19 crisis struck theworld in earlyMarch 2020, thefirstcasualtywasbusiness-as-usual.Thecrisisdisruptedtheoperationsofenterprisesofallsizesinboththeprivateandpublicsectors.Insomecases—cruiselines,restaurants,electivemedicalprocedures,andsportsleagues come tomind—firms and agencies shut down or severely cutbackoperations.

The immediate cause of this chaos: workers taking up their duties inhomeofficestoabidebyshelter-in-placeorders(orpolicies)designedtoprotect them from deadly coronavirus spread. Remote work brokebusiness processes, first, by separating people from paper files andclosing offices that administered paper-based processes. Onemunicipalitysimplystoppedcollectingsubscriptionfeesfor itsparkingfacilities;thecrisishitduringitspaper-basedannualrenewalperiod.

Adding time, space, and familial distractions to formerly face-to-facedecision-making routines caused process delays that customers

experiencedaslackofservice.Thesamewastrueforbusinessprocessesautomated with spreadsheets and email. Turns out, spreadsheets andemailworkwhen employeeswork in closeproximity.Customers (andagents)ofalargeNorthAmericaninsurancecompanyexperiencedthesebreakdownsaslong“waitstates”forrequestsandprocedures.

Buttherewasmore.Thosecarefullycrafted2020ITplansandbudgetswereinstantlyobsolete.Foururgentnewautomationprioritiesmuscledtothetopoftheapplicationbacklog.

First, firms needed new automated processes to get up and runningagain. New apps and tools for remote-employee collaboration wereincluded. Second, firms in all sectors needed brand new tracking andtracing applications. Initially, this need was most urgent in clinicalhealth, government, and other organizations deemed essential. Beforelong,theyquicklybecamevitalforallenterprisesastheycreatedplansto bring people back to offices and plants. Third, firms needed newsolutions to acquire and allocate equipment, materials, expertise, andpeople.Again,clinicalhealthandgovernmentswere thevanguard,butallocation and management quickly became a problem for mostenterprises.Andfourth, firmsandagenciesneedednewapplications toadminister the slew of new programs introduced to respond to thepandemic. These new programs ranged from temporary medicalfacilitiestonewtestingcenterstogovernmentalreliefprogramssuchasthePayrollProtectionPlanintheUnitedStates.

Bysummer2020,thelessonsofthecoronaviruspandemicforenterpriseleaderswerepainfullyevident:

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Lesson #1: Enterprises can no longer function withoutautomatedbusinessprocesses.Enterprisesanddepartmentswithfully automated business processes were resilient to radicaldisruptionslikeshelter-at-homeorders.

Lesson#2:Automationmustbeadaptablewithspeedandease.Enterprises have sunk trillions of dollars into automation, butonlyaportionofthatsoftwareinvestmentwasadaptableduringthepandemic.AhospitalsystemrelyingonJavarequireda20-day all-hands-on-deck effort to create a personnel check-inapplication for its facilities. That’s an awfully long time todeliverabasicdatabaseapplication.

During the early, crisis phase of the pandemic, low-code (and digital-process) platforms stood out as fast and adaptable. Firms that alreadyhad low-codeplatformswereable to respondfarmoreeffectively thanthose that didn’t. A national health system in Europe started anapplication to automate citizen health surveying (by volunteers) on aFriday and delivered it the following Monday. A European retailerrequired just weeks to stand up its own delivery service—for it, anentirely new business function—to supplement the swamped thirdpartiesitused.

Low-codeplatformsprovidedsurprisingadditionalbenefits.First,firmswith low-code platforms found it easy to expand their licenses to addusers and processing capacity. The most difficult part of scaling wasadapting budgets and procurement policies to emergency conditions.Vendorsgenerallyhelpedwiththoseissuesbyrelaxingand/ordeferringcommercialterms.

Second,low-codevendorsquicklyreleasedmostlyfreeapplicationsandaccelerators forproblems like tracingandemployeehealthmonitoring.That’s right, vendors of platforms for custom development quicklydelivered packaged apps (easily tailorable) and accelerators tocustomers. Why? Their platforms, through low-code development,allowed these vendors to deliver for customers faster than customerscouldservethemselves.

Low-CodeStartedwithTacticalApps,NowIsLargelyStrategic

IbelievetheCOVID-19crisiswillbethesecond“marketmoment”forlow-codedevelopmentplatforms.Astheevidenceemergesofhowwelltheseplatformsperformedduringthecrisisphaseofthepandemic,moreenterprises will not only adopt these platforms but also make themstrategic.

Thefirstmarketmomentforlow-codeplatformssparkedtheinitialwaveofenterpriseadoption.ComingoutoftheGreatRecession(2008-2011),companies sawnewgrowthopportunities only accessible throughnewmobile apps andotherdigital customer experiences.Noenterprisehadenough coders ormobile specialists to capture this opportunity. Low-code platforms met the need by making the new applicationsapproachable by non-specialists and raising the productivity ofdevelopersgenerally.Amarketwasbornandanenterprisejourneyintoanewsoftware-deliveryapproachbegan.

The journey for developers working with low-code platforms from

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tacticalappstoallenterpriseapplicationsis thesubjectof thischapter.How should software leaders embracing low-code platforms plot theirjourneystowardgreaterandgreatervaluefortheirenterprises?Whataretheprerequisitesforsuccess?Whatpitfallsawait?

Ravi’s low-code journey is typical. Ravi (not his real name) runs adevelopment team in the United Kingdom for a multinationalautomobile-services firm. His top automation priority is empoweringrepair technicians to ensure speedy, quality work. Attempts to buildtechnician apps using traditional coding and middleware fell short ondelivery speed and reliability. And so Ravi introduced a low-codeplatformtotacklethechallenge.

One of the first apps Ravi’s team built: A mobile app that makes itsimple for customers to transmit pictures of their vehicles to informrepair processes. Sounds like a minor function, but this app and theprocess it lives in must be rock solid—they are vital to customersatisfaction.NowRavi’steamisautomatingotheroperationsprocesses,includingbig,complexprojects.Hisdevelopers,whoinitiallysawlow-codeplatformsasathreattotheirlivelihoods,arenowboughtin.Herearefivereasonswhymostenterpriseapplication teamsadopt low-codejustlikeRavi’steamdid:

Their primary goal is to deliver business applications morequickly.The declarative development tools and automation ofdeployment and scaling provided by low-code platforms canslash app-delivery times by as much as 10x. The biggestadvances in delivery speed come from teams that applyAgilemethodstotheirlow-codeprojects.

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Theywanttouselow-codeplatformsforapplicationsthatlinkindependent services, often called “composite applications.”Themobile appRavi’s teambuilt integrated email, an image-processing service (accessible via an API), the camera oncustomer smartphones, and his company’s existing repair-management processes. The project wove these services andassetsintoaprocessratherthancreatingthemallfromscratch.

They want to visually configure the low-code platform’sfeatures rather than writing (and updating) configuration filesandscripts.The result canbebetterapplication reliabilityandsecuritycomparedtoappsbuiltwithtraditionalcoding.

Many traditional developers at first resist low-code platforms.Butmanyeventuallyembracethetechnologyasawaytoworkbetterfortheirbusinesses—eveniftheycontinuetousecodingfor portions of their work. In Forrester Research’s annualworld-wide developer survey, half of developers reportedhavingeitheradoptedorplanningtoadoptlow-codeplatforms.

Development teams that adopt low-code platforms almostalways start with modest-sized projects that help automatecustomer operations and then expand into more and morechallenging and mission-critical applications. In Forrester’slatest available worldwide developer survey, almost 20% ofdevelopers reported using low-code platforms to build “corebusinessapplications(e.g.ERP).”

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Low-CodeforCoreandMission-CriticalEnterpriseApplications

Good advice for development leaders introducing low-code platforms:Start small, prove the platform’s value, and expand as you learn. AsRavi did. Yet low-code development platforms hold even greaterpotential forenterprises thanstarterprojectsdemonstrate—as indicatedbythose20%orsoofsoftwareteamsinForrester’ssurveypushingintoEnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP)-classapplications.

Forexample:

OneoftheEuropeanpostalsystemsrebuiltandmodernizedtheapplicationsthatautomatepackageroutingtoits39distributioncenters.

An international custom manufacturer of infrastructureequipmentbuilt12applications tomanage inminutedetailallordersfrominceptiontodelivery,includingproductdefinition,supply operations, and worldwide factory allocations andplanning:fillingagapbetweenitssalesandfinancialprocesses.

A bigEuropean utility implemented a new custom payments-management application (to replace a legacy enterpriseapplication) to process payments from new digital paymentservices, as well as checks and credit cards. Millions oftransactions.

In these and dozens of other examples, developers are pushing the

capabilities of low-code platforms and their own skills into mission-critical territory. Forrester’s developer survey found, for example, thatthe average low-coder development team employing a low-codeplatform skews larger than traditional coding teams.Andmore than athirdofthesedevelopersreportbuildingenterprise-wideapplications.

Thesedevelopersrevealthecrucialproduct,softwarearchitecture,skills,andprocessesrequiredtouselow-codeplatformstodeliverreliableandsecureapplicationsthatperformunderheavyloads.

TheElementsofanEnterpriseLow-CodeStrategy

“A fool with a tool is still a fool,” goes the saying. Many softwareleaders approach low-code strategies as solely a product-selectionexercise. There’s much more to success than picking the right tool(althoughpickingtherighttoolhelps).

Success with low-code platforms at enterprise scale requires a fullstrategy. Low-code development platforms spark big changes toeverything about business software—development processes, softwarearchitectures, software-change frequency, team and organizationalstructure, and governance. Your strategy’s goal: Get the businessthrough these changes quickly and with minimal business disruption,whilebuildingastrategywithfiveelements.

StrategyElement1:GovernancePoliciesandImplementation

Governancewon’tmakeanyonepopular—particularlyanyonefromIT.To businesspeople governance is code for “we can’t give you the

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software you want because [insert reason]…” Yet without soundgovernance policies, low-code development will almost certainlyproduceasoftwaremess.Theworstcasewe’veseen:16,000low-codeapplicationsrunningonanobsoleteplatforminalargeNorthAmericaninsurancefirm.

Low-code development governance must balance two competinginterests: creativity and control. Software development is a creative-engineering endeavor; governance establishes rules, norms, andconstraints.High limitson low-codedevelopmentactivitiesareagoodwaytolimitrisk.However,highlimitswillcrushthehighcreativitythatlow-code platforms foster. Low-code development governance is amovingtarget.Astheexpertiseofyourstaff,maturityofyourdeliveryprocesses, and understanding of your platform grow, the risks torevenue,healthandsafety,andcomplianceshrink.

Startwithrestrictivepoliciesbutrelaxsomeorallofyourconstraintsonlow-code development as your people learn. Traditional softwaredevelopment lifecycles (SDLCs)willbe ineffective forgoverning low-code development. Those regimes are designed to control the risks ofserial development processes unfolding over manymonths. Low-codedevelopment proceeds much more quickly and iteratively, allowingteamstoconvergeandcompressphasesinthetraditionalSDLC.

Thefiveessentialpoliciesforlow-codegovernanceare:

Who builds apps on the low-code platform? Professionaldeveloperscome inmanyflavors.Whicharebest suited for—and motivated by—low-code software development in your

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organization?Senior developers bring advancedknowledgeofarchitectures and algorithms but may lack knowledge aboutbusiness processes and data vital to success with low-codeplatforms. Six Sigmas and other process specialists may bebetter choices but only with training and support indevelopment. What about business analysts? UI specialists?Testers? System administrators? All have knowledge aboutsoftwareprojectsandthebusinessthatmaybeuseful;peopleinthoseroleshaveallbecomelow-codedevelopers.

Lastly, what role will businesspeople (“citizen developers”)playinyourstrategy?Pairingbusinessexpertswithdevelopersworking on low-code platforms is a low-risk, high impactmodel.Allowingyourspreadsheetjockeystoworkonmanagedplatforms is riskier but can expand your software labor force.Definingwhichoftheserole-playerswillworkonthelow-codeplatform,and inwhatcapacity,willhelpensure thequalityofthe resulting apps and establish clear responsibility andaccountabilityforindividualapplications.

How are apps built on the low-code platform? Whatdevelopmentanddeliveryprocesswillyourorganizationapplyto the low-code platform(s) it uses? Low-code platformsnaturally lend themselves to Agile methods, continuousintegrationanddelivery(CI/CD),andDevOpspractices.Manylow-code teams use Scrum, for example. Low-code platformsobviate the need for much of the scripting associated withCI/CDandDevOpsbut offer the samebenefits of automationandplatformstandardizationtospeedappcreationanddelivery.

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Platformsdesignedforenterprisedutytendtohavemoretestingand lifecycle-management features than average. “How” alsoaddresses 1) development conventions and 2) applicationchange management. Development conventions promoteconsistent and maintainable application architectures anddesigns. Change-management processes reduce the risk ofupdates that break apps and introduce unfathomable newuserexperiences.

Whichappsdowebuildonthelow-codeplatform?Acrucialquestionwhen startinga low-code journey:Whichapplicationuse cases will we build on the new platform? In Forrester’s2019 Business Developer Surveys, the five most popular usecases among developers using low-code platforms are (inpriority order): complete customer-facing apps (web and/ormobile), business process and workflow apps, web and/ormobile front-ends only, complete mobile apps, andadministrative apps for gathering, tracking, and reporting ondata.

Conservative governance policies focus on process andwork-flowautomationforinternalconsumption,internalmobileappsforfieldpersonnel,and/oradministrativeappstobettermanagebusiness operations.Moremature (and confident) groups takeoncustomer-facingprojectsthatseektoadvancetheirbrands.

When do we build apps on the low-code platform? The“when” refers to the priority of application projects. Becausedeveloperscandeliveravarietyofapplicationsmuchfasteron

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low-codeplatformsthantheycanusingcode,customerstendtobuildalotofappsrelativelyquickly.Prioritizingthetimingandfunding of these projects will ensure the most importantprojectsaredonefirst.

“When”alsoapplies to thepriorityofupdates, improvements,and changes to applications. In a modern software deliveryprocess, change management is more active than traditionalmaintenance. It is vital to progress from “minimum viableproducts” to full-featured applications. Lastly, delivery ofcommonservicestosupportapplicationprojects,suchassinglesign-on, data models, and back-office integration links, issubjecttoprioritydecisions.

Where in the organization are the apps built? Whichdepartmentsandteamsintheenterprisewillowndevelopmenton the low-code platform?Most customers begin by allowingjustonedepartment–usuallyeitherITorsales–todeveloponlow-code platforms. Some create a newCenter of Excellence(CoE)toownthatplatformanddeliverprojectsonitformanydepartments.Enterpriseswithgreaterlow-codematuritytendtoallowmanydepartmentstodeliverapplications.

Strategy Element 2: Organizational Structures and the “CitizenDeveloper”Opportunity

When a department other than IT owns the enterprise’s low-codeplatform,itisalmostalwaysinpartnershipwithIT.Soundssimple,butit’s not. Most enterprises are only slowly introducing organizational

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structuresthatbreakcentralIT’smonopolyonsoftwaredelivery.Low-code platforms hasten this change. Indeed, in Forrester’s DeveloperSurvey, the top reason to adopt low-code platforms was “empoweremployeesoutsideofITtodeliverapps.”

Traditionally,acentralITgroupisresponsibleforallsoftwaredelivery,either through its own efforts or in conjunction with implementationpartners. Businesspeople submit requirements in written form todevelopment teams, acceptance-test the final product, and gripe aboutthe process and its resulting application. Agile development practicespioneered by coders introduced a small but profound variation to thisorganizationalstructurebyincludingbusinesspeopleonsoftwareteams.

Thisorganizationalinnovationisfareasiertoimplementthanotherneworganizational structures enabled by low-code. These includedistributing developers into business units with only dotted-linerelationships to central IT and empowering businesspeople either todeliver applications entirely on their own or with the help of ITprofessionals.

Yet,thefutureissurelysomeversionofcentralITprovidingsupporttodistributedpro- and citizendevelopers.To reach this future, startwiththe idea that business units or departments are best equipped to setapplication priorities and deliver many applications themselves. Low-codeplatformssupportdistributedsoftwareorganizationalstructures intwomajorways:

Allow citizen developers to self-serve on managedplatforms.Mostof thevendorsoffereasy, inexpensiveaccess

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to their platforms for tryouts and ongoing work. The leadingplatforms add guidance, help, and support to the startupexperience, often eliminating the need for training.And usersbuild and deploy all apps on managed platforms, openingopportunities for IT organizations to influence, support, andevencontroltheeffortsofcitizendevelopers.

Allow IT platform groups to delegate software work todistributed and citizen developers. The leading platformsprovide a range of tools and controls to help IT pros set upidentities, roles, and permissions, and provide guardrails tospeed application creation, administer platformoperations andupdates,andtroubleshootperformanceandreliabilityissues.AnAsianmanufacturerandaUKgovernmentagencyadoptedthisapproach, turning their IT people into advocate-trainers forbusinesspeopleworkingonlow-codeplatforms.

The goal of the above organizational structures is to empowerdevelopersandother role-players in thebusinessunits to self-serveonthelow-codeplatform.Thus,bothestablishedformaltrainingandguide-linesearly,butareimplementingthoseplansslowlytoavoidtheriskofchaosbreakingout.

StrategyElement3:EnterpriseApplicationArchitectures

Designing and implementing software architectures for enterpriseapplicationsiswithincentralIT’spurview—andgoesbeyondprovidingplatform-engineering support to distributed developers. Enterprise

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applications demand careful attention to structural design for threereasons:1)toaccommodatelargenumbersofuserswithperformance,2)tooperatereliably,and3)tosupportefficientupdatesandotherchangesover time. Applications aren’t endowed with these properties simplybecause developers build them on low-code development platforms.Rather, developers have to bring an architecture to their low-codedevelopment.

The four key elements of enterprise architecture for low-codedevelopmentare:

Data architecture. Enterprise data architectures are built togrow in size, complexity, and usage while maintainingperformance. They support not just one application’srequirements, but many. For this reason, low-code dataarchitecturesseparatemasterdatafromoperationaldata.

Modularservicedesigns.Enterpriseapplicationsarestructuredto allow applications to scale up (and down) and gracefullyevolve. They require careful design of modular services todelivertheapplication’sfunctionality.Modularservicedesignsallow developers to scale, manage, and change discretefunctions independently of one another. The alternative isspending months regression testing tightly coupled logic andfunctionalmodulestoeitherscaleorupdatetheapp.

Built-in security. Developers may start the enterprise’s low-codejourneybydefiningidentities,roles,andpermissionsforasingle application. Enterprise low-code requires a

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comprehensive set of identities, roles, and permissions, alongwith a management process to keep everything up to date. Italso requires careful attention to data security as a separateconcernfromaccesssecurity.

Layers to preserve flexibility across a big app portfolio.Lastly, enterprise low-code requires an architecture thatrecognizes that:1)onlysomeof theapps runningon the low-code platform have the same requirements and 2) most appswill heavily rely on external data and functional services. Forexample, your core data models should provide reliablefoundationsformanyapps,butsomeappswillenrichandadddata in their own specific add-ons. Your integration volumesand control requirements may be best solved by a separatearchitecturallayerdevotedtointegration.

StrategyElement5:Alow-CodePlatformthatcanMeetEnterpriseNeeds

Thelaststrategyelementisthelow-codedevelopmentplatformitself.AtForrester, we’ve been seeing for years developers applying low-codedevelopment platforms to enterprise projects.A private research studyfrom2019added to this anecdotal evidence formalproofof enterpriselow-codeuse.Inthestudy,84%ofrespondentsinlargeenterpriseshadalreadyadoptedlow-codeplatforms.Ofthattotal,about70%wereusinglow-codeplatformstodelivertheir“highestvalueapplications.”

Clearly, of the approximately 100 vendors providing low-code

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platforms,somearecapableofaddressingthefullspectrumofenterpriseneeds from tactical to strategic. Which ones? How can IT decisionmakers recognize the platforms most likely to support all of theirapplicationrequirements?Lookforplatformsthatprovide:

Development features and tools for the most common data-base/transactional and process automation use cases availableviaWebandmobileinterfaces.Butgofurtheraswell:Lookforsophisticated forms, page navigation, and progressive Webapps,aswellasdeepfeaturesincaseandcontentmanagement,nativemobileexperiences,natural languageprocessing,event-management,andaccesstomachinelearningservices.

Features to organize and automate development processes,including collaboration tools for the various role playersworkingonprojects,catalogsofsharedservicesandtemplatestospeedandshapetheworkofthoseteams,andfullapplicationlifecyclemanagement.

Tools to design and analyze application architectures forscalability,security,manageability,andupdates.Effectivetoolsfortesting.

Development experiences designed to empower citizendevelopers—iftheyarepartofthestrategy.

Operational-management features to help enterprises ensuretheycanmeettheiruptimegoals(fromnodowntimetoseveralhours);data lossgoals(fromnoloss inafailure toanhouror

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more of data loss); audit requirements (from no audits tocontinuous audits); and compliancewith relevant independentsecuritycertifications.

Evidence (reference accounts) that the vendor’s platform cansupportexpecteduserand/ortransactionloads.

Commitment by the vendor (backed by a track record) toimplementsupportfor the latestoperatingsystemandbrowsertechnologiesastheyemerge.

At this writing, most enterprises had repaired the business-processwreckage of the early COVID-19 crisis andwere planning their post-pandemic“nextnormals.”Manywillrequirelotsofnewautomationtostreamlineandmakeresilienttheiroperations.Manyotherswillrequirenewsoftwaretoreinventthemselves.

We expect many enterprises to incorporate low-code developmentplatforms into their post-crisis strategies. They’re persuaded by thestrong performance customers with these platforms showed in theirCOVID-19 responses, including the resilience of business processesrunning on low-code platforms. And mission-critical applicationsdeliveredon low-codeplatformsprove theseproducts are effective formorethandepartmentapplications.Amarketmomentwillresult.

PeoplePower:TheX-FactorofDigitalTransformationLisaHeneghan,KPMG

There isadisconnectbetweenthecultureofdigital transformationthatCEOs say they aspire to create and the organizational behavior theyactuallyhave.Bridging thisgap is critical todriving innovation.ChiefDigital Officers must devise a framework for innovation that breaksdownsilos (technologicalandcultural), embracesdiversity to findandcultivate creativity, and effectively drives change across theorganization.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:AsChiefDigitalOfficer and amember of theExecutiveCommittee ofKPMG, UK, Lisa Heneghan leads the firm’s digital and technologypractice, which helps large organizations navigate the complextechnology, risks, and organizational aspects of businesstransformation.Heneghanisaseasonedexecutivewithover25yearsofexperience. She is also the driving force behind KPMG’s own digitaltransformation. She is a champion of inclusion and diversity in thetechnologyindustryandsponsorsKPMG’s‘IT’sherFuture,’aprogramaimedatbridgingthegendergapintechnology.

TheChiefDigitalOfficer(CDO)existstodrivethetransformationroad-map for an organization. But they also have a second side to theirresponsibility,whichistodrivestandards,consistency,andoptimizationacrosstheorganization.So,theyhaveanimportantroletohelptheCIOdeliveronhisorherenterpriseITstrategy.Butjustasimportantly,theCDO’sroleistochallengethebusinessandhelpittransform.

When large organizations launch digital transformation initiatives, thechallenge of integrating new technologywith existing systems usuallygetsprioritizedas thebiggestchallenge.Butcustomerexpectationsarewhat really drive business transformation. It’s also true that beingcustomer-centric isn’t just about technology. It’s actually about theculturalchangerequiredtofundamentallyshifthowthepeople inyourorganizationgetbehindthecustomer.

Functionally speaking, organizations tend to be silo-driven. Butdelivering on customer experience requires that you challenge silos to

collaborate, drive and understand the value your company deliversagainst customer expectations.AtKPMG, our research shows that thefastest growing and most profitable organizations do the best job ofsegmenting customers and then tailoring their services based on thatsegmentation.Thebiggestchallenge, though, isremovingthesilos thatpreventanend-to-end(orconnectedenterprise)viewofthecustomer.

There’s also the challenge of keeping employees engaged, which canmakeorbreakabusiness.In2017,Microsoftdidastudyinwhichover60%ofworkerssurveyedsaidtheywereanxiousabouttheintroductionof new technologies. Over half were concerned about the impact ofautomationon jobsecurity.And49%said they feared the introductionofdigitaltransformationinitiatives.Muchofthiscomesdowntoseniorexecutives educating workers about the benefits of embracing digitaltrends.

Whatwe’re seeing atKPMG, for example, is thatCEOs—in theUK,more so than the global average—are realizing the importance oftransforming their organization from end-to-end. This kind ofmindsetmakesthetransformationmandatethatmuchclearer.

In fact, our CEO survey showed that the overwhelming majority ofCEOsin theUKrecognize theyneedtobeaccountablefordrivingtheconnected enterprise. Now, when you get that message from theexecutive table, it becomes yourNorth Star,whichmakes people feelthatmuchmoreempoweredtomakechangehappen.

It’s also true that in the age of COVID-19, digital transformation isaccelerating faster than many of us ever expected. The coronavirus

pandemichaselevatedtheimportanceofautomationwellbeyondbasicand enhanced process automation. The truth is we’re entering a newdecade of cognitive automation. And the impact of this fast-movingrevolutionwilltoucheveryindustryonavarietyoflevels.Thisincludeseverything from strategic planning and compliance, to financialreportingandsupplychainmanagement.

BridgingtheDiversityGap

Acrossindustries,we’reseeingalotofactivitywhereorganizationsareimplementing Agile methodology programs, not just for technicalimplementation,but to fundamentally change thewayworkgetsdone.This is happening across the board, in banking and financial services,government,education,insurance,engineeringandmore.

But there’s a disconnect, a gap between the culture of digitaltransformation that some CEOs say they aspire to create and theorganizationalbehaviortheyactuallyhave.Everyboard,everyexecutivecommittee, andCEOs everywhere are saying that bridging this gap isabsolutelycriticaltodrivinginnovation.

And,yet, themythpersiststhatinnovationisaboutsmartpeoplegoingoffandcreatingsomethinginisolation.Butaninnovationmindsetistheopposite of that. It’s about driving creativity across the entireorganization, testing it and, where appropriate quickly bringing it tomarket.

The question is, how do you do that in a large organization that’straditionally slow to embrace change? Most organizations invest in

innovation within specific functions. But that approach doesn’tencouragediversityofthinkingandcreating.Bettertoconsolidateyourinvestment around an innovation framework that people can accessquickly. Critically, in the early stages, this means bringing togetherpeople from across your organization to flesh out ideas and determinewhethertheyarefeasible.

AFrameworkforInnovation

From there, you can formally get customers to work with you to testideas in the market. This is where having an innovation frameworkcomesin.Itenablesyoutodrivetheinnovationprocess,showbusinessvalueandmeasureit.Butit’salsohardtotalkaboutinnovationwithoutconsideringtherolegenderdiversityplaysintheprocess.

Some researchers, for example, argue diversity can be a competitiveadvantage in the hiring process. Harvard Business Review recentlyreported that 67% of job seekers look at workforce diversity whenevaluating an offer. Over 60% also evaluate the gender diversity of apotentialemployer’sleadershipteamwhendecidingwheretowork.

So, if it’s true the best people prefer towork at companies that valuegenderdiversity,and if it’salso true thatdiversitydrivesperformance,thenit’sriskyforabusinesstoignoretheopportunitycostofexcludingwomenfromthedigitaltransformationjourney.

Genderparityisamassiveissueintheageofdigitaltransformation.Foranyorganizationtotrulybeabletotransformandbeadigitalbusiness,itmust be customer-centric. Studies show that customers are becoming

morediverse thaneverbefore.So,being trulycustomer-centric,meansembracingdiversityofthinkingandexperiencetobetterunderstandyourcustomers.

Thebadnewsisthatthegendergapstillpersistsatmanylargeprivately-heldcompanies.Only7%ofboard seats atbigcompaniesareheldbywomen. But the most successful organizations prioritize the businessvalue of connectingwith the inherent skills and attributes thatwomenoffer—the ability to collaborate, build relationships and be open tolearning new things. These organizations understand that womenactuallybringmassivenaturalcapability toenablingsuccess in theageofdigitaltransformation.

ButIwouldalsoarguethatit’stimetotakegenderdiversitytothenextstage. Which means pushing for diversity of thinking to match thediversity of the customers businesses serve. I’ve personally seen thevalue of this in the dynamics of our executive committeemeetings atKPMG.Womenrepresentmore than30%ofour team,whichhelps todriveafarmoreeffectivediscussion.

It’shard to talkaboutdiversitywithoutmentioningquotas.Critics saywe don’t need them. But I believe, actually, we do. I believe this isunderstoodattheexecutivelevel.WhenIlookatmycolleaguessittingattheexecutivetable,Iknowthatallofusinstinctivelylookfordiverserecruitmentandpromotionbecausewerecognize thebusinessvalueofit.

It was encouraging to see Goldman Sachs’ CEO announce that hisorganizationwouldonlycarryoutIPOsforcompanieswithatleastone

woman or person of color on the board. Resistance to that kind ofchangeisdrivenbyfearoftheunknown.So,unlessyouhaveadiversitypolicy,there’llalwaysbeareasonfornotbridgingthediversitygap.

Which reminds me of what happened at a dinner party I recentlyattended. A senior person there from another financial servicesorganization was pontificating about Goldman’s diversity policy. Hewas very vocal about his opposition to it. He said that it couldn’t beenforced.Healsosaidhehadseenmanywomenpromotedwrongly.Butthis is thekindof rigidmindset somepeoplehavearound the issueofgenderparity,andIgenuinelythinkunfairlyso.

MotivatingPeopletoEmbraceChange

Whenwethinkaboutsuccessfuldigitaltransformation,wetendtofocuson organizations that are really good at integrating systems and newtechnologies. But there’s also the X-factor of transformingorganizationalculture.Thetruthis,youcanhavethebesttechnologyintheworld,butunlessyourorganizationembracesit,you’llneverseethebenefitsofit.Whichiswhyit’ssocriticalfordigitalleaderstomotivatepeopletoembracenewsystemsandtools.Butthat’shardtodowithoutunderstandingthedemographicsofyourorganization.

For example, at KPMGwe have something like 19,000 people in theUnitedKingdom.Theyaverage27yearsofage. Incontrast,whenyoulookatpeopleinmostgovernmentdepartments,theyaveragearound50yearsofage.Atbanks,workersgenerallyaverageover40yearsofage.So,ifyouthinkaboutthechallengeofharnessingpeoplepowertodrive

technology adoption and cultural change in your organization, itprobablycallsforasetofstrategiesthatalignwiththedemographicsofyourorganization.

KPMG has a program of “digital ninjas.” Basically, these are peoplewho are passionate about digital transformation. They understand thedigitalworld,engagewithiteffectivelyandembracewhatwe’retryingto do. They also help us drive adoption throughout the rest of theorganization.So,it’snotjustaninitiative.Itisamovementfocusedonharnessingthepowerofourworkforcetodrivechangefromwithintheorganization.

Butit’salsotruethatnoteveryCIOhasaseatatthetoptable.Andnotall CIOs have the influence to drive change across the organizationoutsideofIT.WhichiswhymanyorganizationsarecreatingthepositionofChiefDigitalOfficer(CDO).Theseexecutivesmostlycomefromthebusinesssideoftheorganization.So,inpracticalterms,whatdoesthatmeanfortheCIO?

Well,fiveyearsago,CIO’swereverywaryoftheCDOroleandworrieditwouldreplacethem.Butthat’snotthecase.TheCIOroleisactuallycriticalbecausethey,liketheCEO,areoneofthefewpeoplewhotrulyhaveanenterprise-wideviewoftheorganization.TheCIOcanbringagreatdealofvaluetotheorganizationwiththeirabilitytounderstandtheopportunities and threats represented by technology trends. But it’sessentialforCIOstofocuslessonmanagingtheITestateandmoreonactively collaborating and supporting the business and making surepeoplehavetherightskillsintherightplacewithintheorganization.

What about the CIO of the future? He or she will become part of acritical technology network rather than just own technology across anorganization.ThemodernCIOwillworkwiththeCDO.Andcompanieswill also put in place Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) to drivebusiness transformation. Today, the CDO drives the transformationroadmap. They are responsible for driving standards, consistency, andoptimization across theorganization. In short, theCDOhelps theCIOdeliveronhisorherenterpriseITstrategy.

But, equally, theCDO’s role is to challenge thebusiness andhelp theorganizationtransform.AsfortheroleoftheCIOofthefuture?Sheisnotasoletrader.Sheshouldbeanenablerofdigitaltransformationandnotjustanownerofit.

What’sAhead?

Somepeoplebelievethenextdecadewillbebetterthanthelast.Betteropportunities,bettertechnology,abettertimefordigitaltransformation.On the flip side, the pessimists fear the future will bring diminishedresources and fewer opportunities. But here’s the thing: The futurehappens every daywhetherwe’re ready for it or not. The question is:What will we make of it? As we enter a new decade of digitalinnovation,willwechoosetobehopeful?Orwillwechooseadystopianvisionofwhatthefutureofdigitaltransformationwillbe?

As a CDO, I’m massively excited about the future of digitaltransformationoverthenextfiveto10years.Ithinkthisisprobablythebesttimetohaveacareerintechnology.We’vegonethroughadecade

of people trying to get their head around what digital transformationmight mean. The uncertainty around cloud technology is vanishing.Cloudisnowabsolutelyaccepted.It’snowfoundationaltechnologyforeverybody’s digital transformation strategy. The technologies that areouttherearenowmuchbetterunderstood.Andso,we’vemovedintoadecadewherewecanmakethemostofdigitaltransformation.

We can drive significant change in a far more continual way. That’swhat’ssoexcitingaboutthe2020s.It’snotabouthavingatwo-orthree-year transformationprogram that cost hundredsofmillionsof pounds.Wenowhaveamixtureofcloudandlow-codeplatformsthatgivesusthe ability to make change happen for the business quickly andconsistently.

For me, that’s just powerfully exciting. Technologists are suddenlyfeeling like they’re not confined to the back office anymore. They’renowvaluedfortheirknowledgeandabilities.Nodoubt,thenextdecadeisgoingtobeafantastictime.

SpeedistheKeyinPandemicResponseDarrenBlake,BexleyHealthNeighborhoodCare

Healthcare providers everywhere are reeling from the gut punch ofCOVID-19.Fordecades,providersresistedinvestinginsystemupgradesandorganizationalreform.Thosethingswerehardandcostly.Formanyhospitals and nursing homes, it was easier to simply stand pat. ButBexleyHealthNeighborhoodCaredidtheoppositeofthat.TheLondon-based provider rebooted resource management, staffing and caredeliverywithlow-codeautomationtooperatemoresafelyandefficientlyintheirfightagainstcoronavirusspread.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:Darren Blake is the Chief Operating Officer at Bexley HealthNeighborhoodCare (BHNC).Bexley is part of the South-East LondonSystemwithintheUnitedKingdom’sNationalHealthService.

It’s easy to get hooked on the endless scroll of bad news about theCOVID-19pandemic.But, at somepoint,we’regoing tocomeoutonthe other side. Which is why UK healthcare provider Bexley HealthNeighborhood Care (BHNC) turned to low-code automation to flattentheCOVIDcurveandkeeptheorganizationmovingforwardinthenewcoronavirusnormal.

Healthcareproviderseverywherewereslammedbythesoaringdeathtollof COVID-19, as it pummeled under-resourced hospitals and nursing

homes.Thesituationisalreadybleakbutwillbecomeevenmoredireforcare providers unable to adapt as the outbreak sweeps throughvulnerable populations in the UK and elsewhere. Like every otherprovider, Bexley was in uncharted waters with the pandemic. Thechallenge was to quickly implement new national guidance andprocedures to ensure compliance within the National Health Service(NHS) across the primary care and local health& social care system.Buttheproblemwascompoundedbydisconnectedlegacysystemsandmanualpaper-basedprocesses.

MitigatingMayhemwithLow-CodeAutomation

With the help of low-code automation, we were able to quicklystreamline compliancewith theNHS’s COVID-19HospitalDischargeService Requirements. That allowed us to safeguard our frontlinehealthcare staff, support peer-to-peer assistance and deploy a COVIDapplication in less than a week, all of which helped us to avert themayhemofafull-blownpandemiccrisis.

For context, BHNC serves the London borough of Bexley coveringapproximately 245,000 people. We oversee 22 general practicesessentiallyofferingprimaryandcommunitycareforpatientsregisteredagainstagroupofgeneralpractices.Organizationally,wewraparoundallofthesepracticestoprovideat-scaleservicestolocalresidentsviaaGP(primarycare)hub,anursinghub,andarecentlycreatedCOVID-19hubthatwelaunchedwithalow-codeplatform.

We factored automation into our COVID response because we were

underenormouspressuretoadaptourworkflowstothevolatilityofthepandemic.Remarkably,thatdecisionallowedustotransformBHNCtototaldigital triage in justamatterofweeks.Whenyou’redealingwithanoutbreak, you can’t just have a patient come in for an appointmentwithoutfirstbeingtriagedtodetermineifit’ssafetoseethem.

Patientsaretriagedthroughthedoorbystaffwearingmasks,protectiveequipmentandthelike.Asaprecaution,we’vealsozonedhotareasofour sites for treating COVID patients. Asymptomatic or non-COVIDpatientsaretreatedinwhatwe’vedesignatedascoldzones.

So,thingshavechanged.Inthepast,patientscouldjustwalkintooneofour facilities and sit and wait for assistance. But we’ve adapted frombeing that kind of physical one-to-one service to a remote triageapproach. Today, the first thing we do is assess the service a patientneeds and the best for them to access it. We also look at whether adigital solution (as in a video or telephone consultation) can be usedinsteadofaphysicalappointment.

Overall, we’ve aggressively embraced digital care, which represents amajor transformation in the patient experience at BHNC. In fact, ourgeneral practice has changed massively in terms of how we provideservices in the age of COVID. Increasingly,more of our services arebeingprovidedthroughdigitalplatforms.

GainingInsightintoPatientandStaffAvailability

Changing human behavior isn’t easy, but it’s essential to fightingCOVID. This is why businesses are mandating customers wear face

masks amid spikes in pandemic cases. It’s also why organizationseverywherearesteppingupeffortstoeducateemployeesandcustomerson the newprotocols for safely getting back towork.We’re basicallywitnessing a transformation in the behaviors of patients, staff, and thecultureofproviders.

It’s likea revolutionandanevolutionhappeningat thesametime. It’sall beingmotivated by a growing sense of urgency to adapt processesand workflows to the new COVID normal. And, yet, many legacypatient systems out there are still heavily dependent on manualprocesses,paperforms,spreadsheets,etc.Incontrast,BHNCwasabletostandardize operations and align our processes across all of ourpractices.Whichmeanswecanoperatesafelyandmoreefficientlythaneverbefore.

Butthere’salsothechallengeofminimizingtheemotionalimpactoftheCOVID lockdown. Forget about arguing and debating whether thegovernment acted early enough, fast enough, or efficiently enough toovercome the pandemic threat.Nevermind forecastingwhat the post-COVID future will look like. What really matters now is to getaggressiveaboutautomationtotaketheemotionalstressoutofdealingwithCOVIDforstaffandpatientsalike.

The question is: how do you do that in a COVID red zone wherepandemic-relatedimpactscandevastatefirstresponders,nurses,doctors,and other front-lineworkers?We’ve experienced the emotional toll ofthatfirsthandatBHNC.Someofourstaffhavetakenill.Sadly,someofour GP colleagues have actually died. So, for us, it’s impossible toignorethehumansideofthepandemicequation.

1.

2.

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GettingThroughtheCareHomeCrisis

WhichbringsustotheuniversallyhighcasualtyrateforCOVIDpatientsin care and nursing homes.Care homes have been aweak link in thefighttokeepCOVIDatbay.Thetruthis,manycountrieswereslowtorespond to the threat of COVID, and the consequences have beendevastating. Turns out the pandemic is the leading cause of death formalecarehomeresidents.Itaccountsforathirdofalldeathsandisalsothe second most-common cause of death for female residents—afterdementia and Alzheimer’s disease according to the UK’s Office ofNationalStatistics.

In the U.K nearly one in three COVID-related deaths (over 13,500fatalities) have happened in British nursing and residential homes,according to news reports. The same is true in the U.S. whereapproximatelyone-thirdofallCOVIDdeathshaveoccurredinnursinghomes. So, why are care homes struggling with coronavirus spread?Threebigreasonstopthelist:

Infections can spread quickly via close contact betweenresidents.

Care-givers can unintentionally spread the infection withoutappropriateprotection.

Manyelderlyresidentshaveunderlyingconditions.

Care homes are a critical part of the safety net for the disabled andelderly. So, we launched a low-code automation pilot to establish a

baseline for thedigitalmaturityofour carehomes.This enabledus toidentify where we would get the fastest impact from digitizing ourworkflows.As a result,we ended up automating howpatients registerwithageneralpractice,whichallowedustocollectpatientinformationfasteranddigitallytrack,audit,andmakesureresidentsareabletogettherightcareattherighttime.

GettingSafelythroughtheCareHomeJourney

Getting through the COVID crisis means empowering care homes toadapt.Which is anotherwayof saying automation is key to providingquality care, complying with regulations, optimizing care homeresourcesandstaffinglevels,andisolatingCOVID-positiveresidents.

Empowermenthas tohappenbeforeyoucandeliver safe,qualitycare.But, and it’s a huge but, care homes everywhere are struggling to getpersonal protective equipment and other critical resources for staff.Providersaregettingrockedbystaffshortagesasworkersfallillorareforced to self-isolate. We were able to minimize these problems bydigitizing our workflows to boost staffing levels, service quality andefficiency. Today, we’re fully remote. And we’re planning to getthroughthepandemictoimmunizationandavaccinewithinthenexttwoyears.

For all theways that technology is transforming thewaypeople shop,bank,andtravel,ithasyettomakemajorinroadsintohowtheyreceivehealthcare,accordingtoMcKinsey&Company.Basedonresearchfromover30countries, theadoptionofdigitallyenabledtoolsfordiagnosis,

treatment,andmanagement,forexample,hasbeenslow.Andadoptionofelectronicmedicalrecords(EMR)isstillnotapartofroutinecare.Infact,EMRadoptionrangesfromjust3%to35%inEurope.

It’salsoworthnotingthatthebiggestbarriertodigitaltransformationforhealthcare providers isn’t technical. It’s a combination of culture,organizationalmindset,andgovernance.Incounterpointtothat,BHNCenvisions a future where more of our services will be delivered topatientsdigitally.Digitaltechnologyhasalreadybeeninfusedintoallofourgeneralpracticesurgeries.Patientcontact,forexample,isprimarilybeing handled through video consultation. Before COVID, digitaltransformation was already in motion at BHNC. The pandemic justacceleratedourjourney.

Intheageofstay-at-homeordersandsocialdistancing,millionsof thepoorandelderlyare forced tochoosewhether topayforWi-Fiorpayforfoodinthecoronaviruslockdown.Howcanwegetthemostoutofdigital transformation if we allow this digital exclusion to benormalized?Disparities in existing healthcare will get evenworse forpeoplewho can’t access digital care.Better to blend digitalwith non-digital solutions, and educate at-risk patientswho have been excludedfrom the digital revolution.Low-code can play a huge role inmakingthathappen.

AdaptingtotheNewCOVIDNormal

We’rejustmonthsintoanewdecadeandalleyesareonthecoronavirusdeath toll, plummeting tax revenues, and the grim prospect of local

governmentsslashingfundingforhospitals,schoolsandfirstresponders.Governments everywhere are struggling to meet health criteria forreopeningtheeconomy.

RewindtoJanuary.WefirststartedtoseecasesinChina.ThenLondon.Atfirst,itdidn’tappeartobesoserious.Butthencamesomealarmingmodeling and the situation in Italy escalated fast. Soon after that weknewwewereamidaglobalpandemic.ForhealthcareprovidersintheUK,itfeltlikeatsunamiwasjustoverthehorizon.TheentireNationalHealth Service went into emergency planning mode to deal with themassivenumberofpeoplethatwouldbecomingthroughourcommunitycarehomesandhospitals.

AtBHNC,we quicklymobilized to respond to theCOVID surge.Asemergency measures were put into place, we turned to low-codeautomation toquicklydevelopanapplication to trackback-office staffandimproveourabilitytodohealthcheckswithstaffandseewhowasavailable to work. Critically, our low-code applications helped usmanagethephasedredeploymentofpeopleandservicestoourprimarycare sites as the crisis escalated.Wewere able to do that in real timewithourlow-codeplatform.

BridgingtheStaffingGap

Speakingofredeployingpeopleandresources,theUKhassetagoalofrecruiting 30,000 new clinical and non-clinical staff into primary carenetworks. BHNC responded to that challenge with a quick six-weekdevelopment project to create a recruitment, on-boarding and training

applicationforourprimarycarenetwork.Fromarecruitingstandpoint,low-codegivesusthecapabilitytotrackandinteractwithpeopleacrosshiring teams, including clinical directors and candidates themselves.Also, becausewe’re building applications on a low-code platform,wecanlaunchnewsoftwareinweeksnotmonthsoryears.

ThePost-COVIDBacklog

TheCOVIDlockdownhasmadeitincrediblycomplicatedforpatientstoget the care they need for pre-existing and non-COVID conditions.Without an aggressive push for automation, care providers couldpotentiallygetoverwhelmedbyamassivebacklogofcasesontheothersideofthepandemic.AcrosstheNHS,expertsestimatethatasmanyas400,000casesarealreadybeingbackloggedpermonth.

At BHNC, non-COVID related emergency department visits havedeclined 50 percent. We’ve experienced a 75 percent reduction inpresentations forsuspectedcancers.Fiftypercent lesspresentations forchestpain.Andwe’reseeingacohortofpeoplecontinuetostayhomedespiteneedingtreatmentfornon-COVIDconditions.Torespondtothispotentialcrisis,BHNCispushingaheadwithphasetwoofourlow-codeautomationstrategy.

Weexpecttheprojectedbacklogofelectivecaseswillforceproviderstocomeupwith innovativeways tomeetpatient expectations forcriticalnon-COVID cases for heart disease, cancer and other diagnostics. So,BHNCwillcontinuetogetaggressivewithdigitaltechnologytoreducewaittimes,improvesafetyandservicedelivery,andbasicallyhelpusget

themostoutofstaffandresources.

But aswe embrace automation,we’ll also link our applications to theclinical systems our practices use. Critically, low-code works withlegacy systems, which allows us to pull and push data between ourapplicationsandclinicalsystemsacrossourpractices.Havingthatkindofcapability isessentialwhenyouhave toreact fastwithsystems thatotherwisewouldn’tbeabletotalktoeachother.

Low-codeallowsustotrackapatientthroughtheircareassessmentandpull related data from different agencies into a single application andhaveitallinoneplace.It’slikehavingabird’seyeviewofeverythingwe’redoing tomeetapatient’shealthandsocialcareneedsacross theentirespectrumofcareweprovide.

SustainingMomentumforChange

COVIDcreatedmomentumforhealthcaretransformation.BHNCwantsto create an environment where everyone benefits from the digitalrevolution.Yes,patientshavehealthneeds.But theyhavesocialneedsaswell.Itcouldbeahousingproblem.Oranelderlypersondepressedbecausethey’relonely.

Themagicof low-code is that itallowsus to track thesocialneedsofBHNCpatientsandmapthemtovolunteerresources.Forexample,werecently developed a new digital solution that allows us to manageworkflows across a large health and social care network. It’s calledShareMyCare and itallowsus to trackeverythingwedo forpatientsacrosssixpilotsites.

Inanothercase,weintroducedanapplicationprograminterface(API)tocreatedigital recordsfor residents inourcarehomes.Thisgaveus thecapability to unify resident data in one place and track triageassessments, care delivery and care planning for residents acrossmultipleagenciesinallofourcarehomes.Wejustdidn’thavethatkindofcapabilitybeforeCOVID.

NobodyknowsforsurehowCOVIDwillplayout.Butithasforcedusto reimagine all of our processes, map them to the care journey andmakethemsaferandmoreefficientthanweeverimagined.It’struethatwecan’tpredictthefuture.Butwecan’tgobacktowhatwehadbefore.

ToparaphraseDr.MartinLutherKingJr.:IntheageofCOVID,weareconfronted with the fierce urgency of change. In this unfoldingconundrumofmassivedisruption, there “is” such a thing as being toolate. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time forvigoroustransformation.

DigitalInnovationisMorethanaSideHustleRobGalbraith,InsureTechExpert

Tobecompetitivetoday,insuranceprovidersmusttransformallaspectsofthevaluechain,fromdistributionallthewaytothebackoffice.The“threeA’s”ofAlgorithms,Agility,andAutomationwillshapethefutureof competition in the industry. But low-code automation is key tounlockinggreaterpotentialfromallthreeandreducingriskinaddressingthesevenfatalflawsofinsurance.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:Rob Galbraith has more than 20 years of experience in the financialservicesindustry,includingexpertiseinProperty&Casualtyinsurance(P&C), banking and investment markets. Galbraith is a recognizedthought leader on Property and Casualty insurance, a best-sellingauthor and notable insurtech commentator. Also known as “TheMostInterestingMan in Insurance” for his thought-provoking commentary,Galbraithisafrequentconferencespeakerandhighly-rankedinsurtechinfluencer. He is on a mission to help organizations everywhere turninnovationfromaside-showintoafunctionaldiscipline.

When you think of digital transformation, you may not think ofinsurance.But over the next decade, technologywill revolutionize theinsuranceindustrymorethanithasinthepastthreedecadescombined.

WhenIwroteTheEndof InsuranceAsWeKnow It, Iwanted to helppeopleeverywhereunderstandthemagnitudeofthischangeandhowtoprepareforitandhowtostayrelevantinthisnewworld.Ialsowantedto educate technologists, entrepreneurs andothers outsideof insuranceabouthowtheindustryisdifferentthanmanyothers.

Insurance is a financial instrument and a legal contract all rolled intoone.It’shighlyregulatedandbuiltontrustwithlow-levelsofconsumerinteraction. So, there are many things that make insurance a uniqueindustry.Butthatdoesn’tmeanitcan’tbedisrupted.

That’swhere insurtechcomes in.Some industryveteransmaynot likethe term:“insurtech.”Theyarguethatwe’vealwayshadtechnologyin

the insurance industry. And in some ways that’s correct. There’s acommon misperception that insurance is slow to embrace technologywhen, in some ways, the opposite is true. Insurance companies, forexample,were among the first organizations to adopt largemainframesystems in the ‘60s and ‘70s and go beyond manual, paper-basedprocesseswithnewpolicyadministrationsystems,claimsystems,billingsystems,andsoforth.So,technologyandinsurancehavealonghistorytogether.

And, yet, when you think about companies that have brought newtechnologyintothisspaceoverthelast10yearsacrossavarietyofusecases throughout the value chain, you tend to think of insurtech—companiesthatarecollaboratingwithinsurerstotransformallaspectsofthevaluechain:fromdistributionallthewaytothebackoffice.

Whatwe’veseenisthattheemergingtechnologiescreatedbyinsurtechsare helping insurers to be more agile, nimbler, quicker, and moreresponsive to customer needs. This transformation matters becauseinsurersneed tobea lotmoreflexible inmeeting theneedsof today’sconsumer.OnewaytodothatisthroughwhatIcallthe“threeA’s”thatwill shape the futureofcompetition in the industry:algorithms,agilityandautomation.

Let’sstartwithalgorithms.

Ibelieveinsurersaregoingtoessentiallycompeteonalgorithmsinthenextdecadeandbeyond.Theyalreadydothistosomeextenttoday,butIthinkit’sgoingtobeevenmorethecaseinthefuture.Insurance,eventhoughithasalonghistoryinsomeways,istheperfectproductforthe

digital age because it doesn’t require massive investment in physicalcapital.

Forexample, thinkaboutTeslabuildingaGigafactory in thedesertofNevadatocompeteagainstFordandToyotaandMercedes,andthefactthat it doesn’t require a global supply chain where you’re managingshipments from all over the world and assembly and the like. Nowcontrast automanufacturingwith insurance,which is inmany respectsjustaboutbytesonthecomputer.Idon’twanttooversimplifyit,butit’sverymuch about data. It’s about risk-pricing algorithms, underwritingalgorithms,frauddetectionandmore.So,algorithms,firstandforemost,arehowcompaniesaregoingtooutcompeteeachother.

Thesecond“A”Iwanttotalkaboutisagility.

Agility needs to be much more individualized and personalized.Everybodyhasauniquesetofexposures,whetheryou’retalkingaboutan individual or a business. Too often, though, insurance has beenviewedasaone-size-fits-alltypeindustry.Bybeingagileandhavingthecapability to quickly incorporate new offerings and new valuepropositions from strategic partners, having this kind of flexibility isgoingtobemoreimportantthanever.

Whichbringsustothelast“A,”automation.

Turns out that automation is a huge competitive factor. And with theeconomic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, there’s astrong argument that back-office automation is more important thanever. There are tons of back-office tasks in insurance. It’s alsoworth

considering that for every dollar that’s spent on premiums, about 30centsgoestocoveringexpenses.That’sabout10xmoreexpensivethanthecreditcardindustry,whichishighlyregulated,haslargeentitieslikeVisa,Master-Card,issuingbanks,andlotsoffraudandregulation.

And,yet,thesecompaniesareabletooperateforexchangefeesofabout3%. It’s true that insurance is a little bitmore complicated than creditcards.Butitshouldn’tbe10Xmoreexpensive.Alotoftheproblemhastodowiththeinefficienciesofmanualprocessesandverification.

It’s also worth noting that plenty of third parties are involved ininsurance contracts—beyond just the agent, the carrier, and thepolicyholders. So, just trying to bring everybody into the insuranceecosystemisachallenge.In2020,we’vestillgotpeoplethataretakinginformationinononescreenandtypingitintoanotherscreen.

And that’s just one example of where automation can really driveefficiencies for insurers. Obviously, better efficiency leads to lowerpremiumsandallowscarrierstobeevermorecompetitive.Thisisalsowherelow-codeautomationplatformscomein.TheseplatformsenablethebenefitsofallthreeA’sthatImentionedearlier.Theygivebusinesspower-users or IT staff the ability to deploy solutions and appsmorequickly. They allow users to quickly make changes to improve thecustomerexperience,automatebackendtasks,andalso implementnewproductsandnewratingalgorithmsandthelike.

Low-code enables you to build custom applications faster than thetraditional way of coding and testing them. In contrast, traditionalapplicationdevelopmentprojectshavea lotof costs, a lotofoverhead

and take a lot more time to complete. The old way of buildingapplications just doesn’t move at the speed of today’s economy.Researchshowsthatlotsofcompanieshavekickedthetiresondifferentautomationsolutionswithoneor twohigh-volumeworkflows, suchasprocessing documents in amailroom. But I think there’s just a lot ofanxietyaboutscalingup.Arecompaniesworriedabouthowautomationwill impact the jobs of people who are doing manual work? Areorganizations concerned about the challenge of displacing people andredeployingtheminthecompany?

Andwhatabouttheimpactofautomationondevelopers?Inalow-codeenvironment, for example, are you going to need fewer developersbecause theplatformgivesyouautomated testing? Inotherwords, thehumanfactorplaysamajorroleinhowwereactandevolvewiththeriseofnewtechnologiesthatgiveustheabilitytoautomateworkflowsanddriveefficiency.

Nobodywantstonecessarilybethefirstmoverwhenitcomestoscalinguplow-codeautomation.ButIthinkthoseorganizationsthatstepuptolead in thisspacecangaina tremendouscompetitiveadvantage. In theinsuranceindustry,you’regoingtoseealotoffastfollowersoncefolksseeearlyadoptersbringdowntheircoststructure,offerlowerratesandbemorecompetitive.It’saboutgettingthatflywheelspinning.Nobodywantstobethefirstoneoutofthegate,particularlyininsurance,whichisaveryrisk-averseindustry.

Speakingofrisk,InthepastI’vesaidthatI’dgiveinsurancecarriersaB-minusorlessonmanagingrisk.Andthat’sbecauseofwhatIcallthesevenfatalflawsofinsurance:

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5.

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7.

Expensive

Confusing

Veryeasy togamethesystem,so thereare lotsofchecksandbalancesagainstfraud

Acashdrainthattakesawayfromyourliquidity

Doesn’tfullycovereverycauseofloss

Doesn’tcovereverythingthatyouwouldwantinsured

Doesn’tcovereveryonethatyouwouldwantinsured

Technology that improves any one of these seven fatal flaws in a $5trillion industry wouldmake a pretty good business. It’s important tounderstandthat insuranceisaneconomiclubricant.I’vetalkedtofolksfromallovertheworld,andwhatI’velearnedisthatthere’snorobustinsurance market in some countries. This is a drawback to economicdevelopmentbecauseitdiscouragesrisktakingandentrepreneurship.

The truth is exposures are changing faster than ever in the digitaleconomy.IntheageofCOVID-19,it’smoreimportantthanevertobeable to respond quickly to threats and expectations, and to be able tooffercustomersmorecustomproductsatamuchlowerpricepoint.Theproblem,ofcourse,isthatitcouldcosttonsofmoneytostandupanewsystemormodifyanexistingsystemtocoveranewthreat.

Butitdoesn’thavetobethatway.

With low-code automation, it’s much faster—eight to 12 weeks—todeployanewproductor serviceout to themarketplace.Whichmeansyou’re talkingaboutdeployinga criticalbusiness application inweeksormonthsrather thanyears. Insuranceproductshaven’t reallychangedverymuchfromdecade todecade,so therehasn’tbeenaneedfor thatkindofagilityuntilnow.

There’saninnovationruleofthumbthatsaysittakesabout10yearstobuildanewplatformandanother10yearsforittocatchon.So,whenIlook at the next decade andwhich technologies will have the biggestimpactontheindustry,IthinkfirstandforemostofourITsystemsasaplatform.

Whatdoesthatmean?Inthepast,wewereinthemainframeworld.Youhadthesereallybig,powerful,veryfastandefficientsystems.Buttheyonly did a few things well, like quick transactional processing. Youprobably had some large data warehouses for analytical purposes, buttheselegacysystemstendedtohaveasinglepurpose.Carriershad,forexample, a policy administration system, a billing system, a claimssystem,andso forth.Typically, thesehavebeenon-premises solutionsthat didn’t really talk to other systems, and if they did talk to othersystems—internalorthirdparty—theinteractionwasverylimited.

If therewasanewsystemortechnologyyouwantedtoworkwith, thecost of integration was exceedingly high. In today’s world, though,we’vegotapplicationprogramminginterfacesandyoucancreateanAPIlayer and basically kind of open your system in a secure manner topretty much anybody out there. And the insurtech space is critical toallowing insurers to quickly integrate with third parties and offer

innovativesolutions.We’reespeciallyseeingthishappenindevelopingcountriesthatdon’thavetheburdenoflegacytechnology.

Insurers in these countries are coming up with some very innovativewaystopartnerwithotherproviderstoallowcustomerstoquicklyaddacoverage—for something like an e-scooter—and calculate the ratebehindthescenes,premium,andsoon.

So,youcanfindsomeprettycoolapplicationsoftechnologyoutthere,mostly in the specialty or niche space.But I expect that over thenextdecade,theseapplicationswillbecomemoremainstreamforcompaniesthatdon’t allow their legacy IT systems tohold themback inamulti-yearjourneytodigitaltransformation.

Whichbringsusbacktolow-code.

Enabling technologies like low-codeautomationallowyou to leverageyour legacy system investment. Low-code is also a way to bridgetechnologiesthatcanhelpmakeyourorganizationmoreagile.Itallowsyoutoworkatthespeedoftoday’seconomywithouthavingtowaitfiveyearsforthatfulltransformationjourneytotakeoff.

Companiesthatembraceenablingtechnologieslikelow-codearegoingtobeinamuchbetterposition10yearsfromnow.Additionally,it’salsoessential toprioritizeinnovationasafunctionaldisciplineratherthanasideshow. What do I mean by that? Think about the core functionswithinaninsurancecompany.

These include anActuarial department, Underwriting, Claims,HumanResources and Finance to name a few common examples. These

functionalareasarecriticalforoperatinganinsurancecompany,whichiswhy insurers appear to bepretty similarwhenyou look at their orgchartintermsoffunctionaldisciplines.

But innovation is theopposite of that. It tends to be all over themap.Some organizations have dedicated innovation teams. In othercompanies innovation is everyone’s responsibility. Sometimesresponsibilityforinnovationisdrivendowntothedepartmentlevel.Atothertimesyou’llfinditattheenterpriselevel.Thepointis,there’snoconsistency to where you find responsibility for innovation in largeorganizations.

Addtothatthesonganddancethatinnovationteamsoftenhavetodotoprove they’readdingvalue to theorganization.So, innovation tends tobekindofasideshow.Nobodyaskstheclaimsdepartmenttodoasongand dance to justify their existence. Nobody expects the underwritingdepartment or the actuaries to do it. Why? Because we intuitivelyunderstandthevaluethesefunctionsbringtothetable.

So,what’sthesolution?

Certainly, it’s important to have innovationmetrics. You should havegoals. You should have accountability and trust that your innovationpeople are adding value to the organization. There’s also a strongargument formaking innovation a core competency in your company,just like Finance, HR, Underwriting and Claims. Start by tyinginnovation to business strategy. Too often innovation teams becomekind of glorified procurement departments—the front door to the realdecisionmakerswhocalltheshotsonmajortechinvestment.

Innovationasafunctionaldisciplineneeds tobemuchmore integratedthan that. These teams can certainly play a vetting role to scope outpotential technology investments.Business experts need to be broughtintotheinnovationprocessmuchearlierthanistypical.Don’tmakethemistakeofsegregatingtheinnovationteamtodoallthethinking-of-the-futureworkandhaveeveryoneelsejustfocusonday-to-dayoperations.

Makeinnovationapartofeveryone’sresponsibility.Companiesmustbeabletododuediligencetounderstandwhichtechnologiesrepresentthebiggestopportunity.Itcan’tjustbeaboutrecycledforksinthecafeteria.It is critical to focus innovation on activities that can drive businessresults.

Ideally,yourinnovationteamshouldhavebothoffensiveanddefensiveobjectives. Defensive innovation means looking for processimprovementopportunities.Thisisaboutidentifyinginefficiencies.Thisis important, but itwon’tnecessarilypropelyour company to thenextlevel.

In contrast, there’s something called a moonshot. These are high-riskactivities that may not pay off. But if just one or two pays off, yourorganizationcanscoreinabigway.Icallthisoffensiveinnovation.Butyou really have to understandwhere your organization is going to besuccessfulwiththisstrategy.

It’s essential to understand the business roadmap and not just whatyou’reexecutingonthisyearintermsofyourprojectportfolio.Lookatwhat’sonthehorizononetothreeyearsout,orthreetofiveyearsout.So, by the time you get to 2021 or 2022, you can figure out the

unknownsandexecutewithmoreconfidence.Seniorexecutivesshouldalways have a long-term strategy that they validate every sixmonths,andtheyneedtomakeinnovationasacorecompetencyabigpartoftheconversation.

Inretrospect,alotofcompaniesembarkedonthedigitaltransformationjourneyintheearlytomid-2010s.And,quitehonestly,alothaschangedsincethen.Perhapsyourcompanydecidedtogodownacertainpathin2015,andperhapsyouwentwithalargeon-premisessolutionthatcamewithamulti-yearimplementation.

Fast forward to 2020 and a cloud-based solution probably looks a lotmoreattractivethanitdidfiveyearsago.Thepointis,whenyouembarkon a digital transformation journey—because of the timeline and costinvolved—it’s easy to get stuck. You can get path dependent with amindsetthatsays:“I’mhalfwaythroughmyjourney.So,I’vegottojustsuckitupandfinishit.”

But that’s the wrong approach. We live in a world of acceleratingchange. Change is happening faster and faster all the time. So, whenyou’re on a really long journey like digital transformation, there aregoingtobetwistsandturnsintheroad.It’snotastraightshot—nottheway you mapped it out at the very beginning. Leaders must build awillingnesstotakesomedetoursintoyourprocessesandbudget.

It’s imperative to build in some ability to pivot in your digitaltransformation journey,so thatyouendup inamuchbetterplace thanhadyounotembarkedonthejourneyinthefirstplace.

ATechnologyBusinessNeedsSimplicityRonTolido,Capgemini

Simplicity is the secret to delivering digital transformation businessvalue. This chapter discusses dimensions of simplicity across businesstechnology infrastructure, applications, data & analytics, processmanagement,userexperience,andcollaborationtools.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:

RonTolidoisExecutiveVicePresidentandChiefTechnologyOfficeratCapgeminiInsights&Data.Thischapter,whichincludescontributionsfromCapgeminicolleaguesEmmaHunterandGunnarMenzel,isbasedonseveralcomponentsofCapgemini’sTechnoVision2020trendseries.

NomatterhowlongyoumayhavealreadybeeninIT,thepaceatwhichtechnology is currently evolving is staggering—clearly furtheraccelerated by the impact of the pandemic. The fleetingness oftechnologytrendsissuchthatwhatwasadisruptive,digitaldriverjustafewyearsagocouldnowalreadybethenewlegacy.

Forthatmatter,wordssuchas“disruptive”and“digital”justdon’tseemtoshinethewaytheyusedto.Thebusinessandsocietallandscapesaresoswarmedbyblackswansthatunpredictabilityandextremevolatilityareagiven,notsomethingremarkable.Also,digital technologyisnowintimately entwined with business change, to the extent that “DigitalTransformation”hasactuallybecomeapleonasm.

Asa consequence,wemightwant to call abusiness that has achievedsymbiosis with technology, simply, a Technology Business. Withbusinesssointimatelyinfusedwithtechnology,thequestforsimplicity,however, becomes paramount, notably also in the areas of applicationdevelopmentandprocessmanagement.

Simplicity is indeed key to quickly and effectively creating the nextgenerationofapplicationsolutionsandservices,intheclosestproximityof thebusiness.For solutiondevelopers, technologyaugments them inthe creation of solutions and services—whether software, analytics,

algorithms,AI,“things,”oracombinationofallofthat—atablisteringspeedwithouttheneedfordeepcapabilitiesinareassuchasbaremetalinfrastructure,softwareengineeringanddatascience.

But simplicity is also needed to handle the surge of data and events,coming from an exploding number of internal and external sources.Simplicity is needed to deal with the broadest variety of technologysolutionsanddeliverypathswehaveeverseen.Simplicityisneededtodeal with the eminently complex, highly interconnected and volatilebusiness models of original economic, political and socio-culturallandscapes.

Butaboveall, it issimplicitythatconsumerswant.Astheygetusedtotweets ruling the world, they expect simple messages, instant action,zero friction (whichnowhasbecome relevant in averydifferentway,due to the pandemic), and a continuous flow of safe, exciting andrewardingsignaturemoments.

Let’shavealookattheimpactofsimplicityontheBusinessTechnologylandscape,exploringthedimensionsof“simple”inITareasasdiverseasinfrastructure,applications,data&analytics,processmanagement,userexperience,andcollaborationtools.

Infrastructure,WhereArtThou?

NootherareaintechnologyillustratesthequestforsimplicitymorethanIT infrastructure. The retail-style catalog of available infrastructureservices,madepopularbyAmazonWebServices,isnowthebenchmarkfor industry providers and internal IT departments alike. Serverless

computing eradicates the very idea of infrastructure services,demonstratingjusthowimperceptibleinfrastructurecanbe.

Yet simplicity brings its own challenges. Specialized suppliers canprovide an element of simplicity to an organization, but at the cost ofbecomingdependentuponthem.Beingoverlydependentonspecializedsuppliersmaybeunacceptabletosomeorganizations,butsoisthecostofbuildingone’sowncapabilities.Openindustrystandardsmaywellbethemosteffectivewaytobenefitfromsimplifiedinfrastructureservices.From virtual machines and cloud deployment to containers andserverless computing, a multitude of examples exist to simplify anddemocratize access to powerful and complex resources, withoutdependence.

UnchainMyApp

Ah, the app. Still the primary means to deliver information or makesomethingdosomethingforus,but theyarecertainlystarting tomoveawayfromcenterstage—ifnotlookingentirelydifferentthantheyusedto.Botisthenewapp.Simplechatsystemsandvoiceassistantsformafront-end, seamless interaction with the user: never exposing anapplicationservice,letaloneacomplexnavigationmenu.PowerfulNo-Code and Low-Code tools enable a Technology Business to quicklybuildtheseapplicationservicesanywhereintheorganization,withaBotandvoiceassistantcherry-on-top.Noappharmed.

Needless to say, themore established applications are still out there—albeit as white elephants, eating too much and delivering little value.

Thereisnothinglikethebreathoffreshairthatcomesfromasuccessfulapplication rationalization to highlight the virtues of simplification,which consolidates and de-customizes applications—decommissioningtheredundantones.

To thrive,aTechnologyBusinesscanonlybebuiltona foundationoftidy, well-organized and secure application services, offering security,privacy,responsibilityandethicalbalance.Anequilibriumbetweenthesimpleandcomplex,betweentheindividualandtheenterprise.

Well…Hello,Data

IfTechnologyBusiness is thecar, thendatabecomesthefuel.Comingfrommanydifferentsourcesandinvariousformats,datacanmakeanybusiness moment ignite. Activated data can create magically simplebusinessexperiences.AnAIalgorithmcanseerightthroughafraudulentnetwork of financial transactions, predict supply chain outages,determine the credit riskof anewclient inmicrosecondsor anticipatesocialdistancingissuesminutesbefore theyactuallyarise. Itcanknowwe are bored before we even know it ourselves. Data becomesunderstandable,prescriptiveandactionable.

Unlimited access to all that oozing data goodness throughout theorganizationiskeyforanyTechnologyBusinesses.AItotherescue!Itcanfindtherightdata,integrateitfluentlyandkeepitallaligned—evenifthebusinessisn’tcentralizeditself.Astheclichérightfullystates,‘thewhole is greater than the sum of its parts’—and this is true providedthere is “good” data to begin with. Furthermore, while it is perfectly

feasible tohaveacomputer that says, “no”, “42”or“tomorrow,” suchsimplicity can only be gained with trust, transparency and ademonstrableunderstandingofhowthedatahasbeenusedtocomeupwith such a verdict.Data holds thepower to ignite, but it needs to beusedwisely.

PrettyFlyforaProcessGuy

Isn’t it ironic? In such a short space of time, Robotic ProcessAutomation(fondlyknownasRPA)hascompletelyredefinedthenotionof ‘automation’, thus proving its own—very efficient—point. Not solongago,automationwasperceivedas theuseof technology toaidorreplacehumanwork.Now“humanwork”isaseamlessinteractionofaperson with a screen andmultiple applications, becoming the all-newtargetforautomation.

RPA is surely a great thing when it brings automation to mundane,repetitive and error-prone tasks—never a place for lively careerambition. But what is next for all the office workers who have beenglued (voluntarily or not) to their screens for years, when they arereplaced by software? Evenmore so, consider the potential impact ofintelligentprocessautomationandthetouchless,“hands-free”processesthat bring the same cognitive capabilities we thought were unique tohumans—until now. For businesses that increasingly run on processesthattakecareofthemselves,thereisaclearneedtodevelopEmotionalIntelligence:“TechnologyBusinessEQ.”

WasThatEvenanExperience?

We need to admit it, as consumers today we have limited attentionspans.Weareaccustomed to swift, seamlessexperienceswhereverwego and whatever we do. And the less we are exposed to potentiallyharmfulphysicalactivities, thebetter itseemsthesedays.Theultimateuser experience is the pinnacle of technology-enabled simplicity as itwraps itself around us in a cuddly warm blanket, adapting to ourexpectations, needs, safety requirements and behaviors. It becomesalmost psychic in its ability to anticipatewhatwewant andwhenwewant it—whether itbenewshonedtoour interests,orcoffeedeliveredbyadrone—rightontime.

Bots, voice assistants and software avatars—with the aid ofAI—onlyneedabreath(orathought)togetajobdoneusingtechnology.Butcanthese‘non-experiences’makelifetoosimple?AsweturntoTwitterforour main news source, or Netflix recommendations as our only TVguide, a potential “default bias” is never far away, locking us into acomfortable bubble ofwhat always has been and therefore becomingwhatwillmorethanlikelybetomorrow.Theantidote?Aproperdoseofserendipitytohappilydiscoverinacoincidentalandunplannedmanner.

InItTogether

Uniqueaswemaybe,wecanonlyexpressourselveswhenweconnectwithothers.Afterall,asoundisnotasoundunlesssomeoneistheretoexperience it. Technology makes it so much easier to connect, createnetworks, work collaboratively and co-create. As individuals,consumers, and citizens, we are part of a dense social network—aworldwide pulse that resonates in real-time.Whatever the subject, we

effortlessly tap into the collective knowledge and brainpower of ever-evolvingcommunities.

For business, “pluggable” enterprises connect in the blink of an eye,seizing opportunities and adapting to new circumstances as they arise.AIsystems jump into themix,working togetherwithhumans (orwithotherAI systems, or evenwithboth) to create anything frombusinessmodelsandservices,tonewproducts,andevenart.Connectionsappearanddisappearquickly.Informationisseeminglycreatedoutofnowhere.The challenge for organizations is to find out what is still real, whatdeservestrustandwhatpartnershipsstillmean,frombothabusinessandconsumer standpoint. Ultimately, it is about fulfilling the corporatepurposeand—wecanhappilyconclude—therewon’tbeacaseof ‘NoPurpose’anytimesoon.

ApplicationsUnleashed

Zooming in a bit further on the power of “Simple” in the world ofapplications, there is one, all-telling rule of thumb: show me yourapplicationservicesportfolioandI’lltellyouaboutyourcompany.Inaworldofdigitalrealitiesandacceleratedvirtualization,thisistruerthanever. The new reality of Technology Business demands applicationservices to be built and delivered at high speed and in variousincarnations, as close to the business as possible. And for sure, theseapplicationservicesnolongerresembleapplicationsasweusedtoknowthem,witheventheverynotionofuserinterfacesrapidlymeltingaway(“Alexa, terminate my GUI”, anyone?). Although Agile methodologyworking through Minimum Viable Products now seems to be the

establishednorm,thequalityofapplicationsneedstobeenterpriselevel,asthetrustbalanceoftheorganizationisalwaysatrisk.

The applications portfolio of a thriving Technology Business ismuchmore light-weight, easy to connect to, and built on the shoulders oftypical cloud-native qualities. Yet, applying this new applicationsblueprintisfarfromstraightforward,asexistingcoresystems—comingfrom a different decade or even decades—are a reality to all but theyoungest startups. To unleash the Technology Business applicationsblueprint,variousstepsshouldbeconsidered.

First of all, existing applications need to be simplified, rationalized,consolidated and decommissioned. What may have once beendifferentiatingsolutionsfororganizationalgrowtharenowalltoooftenpetrified, budget-devouring nuisances. Standard, industry best-practicesolutionsfromthecloudareaquick—thoughpossiblydisruptive—waytobreak the inertia.Loosely coupled layerson topof silo applicationsare another—through Robotic Process Automation and APIs. In allcases, it needs thededicatedmindof a tidying-upguru to actually getthingsdone.

Existingornewlydevelopedapplicationscanbeaugmentedbyaddingatouch of “smart” to them.AI services in areas such as vision, speech,language,knowledge,andpredictiveanalyticsareroutinelyavailableasmicroservices, so no need for application developers to dive into thepossiblyalienworldsofdeep learning,neuralnetworks, reinforcementlearning and computer linguistics. Again, by adding easy-to-use,conversational interfaces, such as voice assistant and Bots, on top ofapplications services, it makes solutions much more accessible and

acceptabletousers.

WhenCodeGoesLow…

NewapplicationsarerapidlybuiltandreleasedDevOps-style—inquickiterations by joint business and IT teams, leveraging microservices,APIs, software containers, serverless computing, and radicallyautomated,high-productivity“No-Code”and“Low-Code”tools.

Whencodegoeslow,businessgetsonahigh!Theorganizationmaybeblessedwithbrilliantideasforkillerapplicationservices,butitwillneedtodeliverthemblazinglyfastandwiththerightquality.Classicsoftwaredelivery based onmanualwork, complex programming languages andmoremythicalmanmonthswillonlygetyousofar.Itisnoweasierthanevertoconstructapplicationswithouthugecodingefforts.Thesecretisin powerful, AI-enabled tools that leverage API catalogs, prebuilttemplates and automation to the fullest extent. And these tools are sopowerful—yet easy to use—that they get the popular vote of bothbusinessandITpeople.

The unleashed application works in the most fluent, seamless way:seeminglyanticipatingtheintentionsofitsusersalmostbeforetheyareexpressed. It’s not a beast to be tamed; it’s the silent, reliable enginepoweringbusinesstechnology.Assimpleasthat.

Finally

Technologyhasthepowertodeliversimplicity,andthatisneedednow

more than ever. And it goes way beyond augmenting the way wedevelopanddeliverapplications,AIandprocesses.Ithascreatedvoiceassistants that seem toknowhowwe feel, “psychic” shoppingbasketsthatanticipateexactlywhatwewant,andunmannedprocessesthatrunandself-optimizedayandnight. Itbroughtussmartphones thatunlockwhen their owners look at them, autonomous vehicles that drivemoresafelythanhumans,andbusinesstransactionsthatregisterthemselves.Itevenproducespressreleases,marketingcampaignsandpassableworksofart.

Still, simplicity requires good judgement. If one were to denycomplexity and go for oversimplification, shallowness would ensue,makingusoblivioustounderlyingfacts,causes,reasonsandtechnologyrealities. The choices to be made in matters of trust, ethics,responsibility,manageability,andcontrolaretaxing—butindispensable.

Finally, simplicity can only come after having dealt with all thecomplexitiesthatareunderneath.AtoughcallforTechnologyBusinessstrategists,architects,developersandprojectmanagersalike.

AnEconomicRevolutionMichaelBeckley,Appian

Authentictechnologyrevolutionsareeasytospotbecausetheyarealsoeconomicrevolutions.Hyperautomationisthepracticalaugmentationofthe speed and accuracy of human work with technology in relentlesspursuit of a 10x-100x improvement that will unlock entirely newbusiness models and drive economic and social change beyond ourcurrentimagining.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR:

Michael Beckley leads Appian’s technology vision and overseescustomer initiativesworldwide inhis roleasChiefTechnologyOfficerandChiefCustomerOfficer.Michaelserveson theIndustrialAdvisoryBoard for theUniversity of Virginia’s Computer ScienceDepartment,the Advisory Board of the Center for a New American Security, theAdvisory Board of 1843 Capital, and is a Board Member ofContactEngine,aconversationalAIsoftwarecompany.HeisafounderofAppian.

FutureShock

Hyperautomationmaysound likesomefuturistic techprediction,somefar off requirement that may never come to pass. But sometimes thefutureisalotcloserthanyourealize.WhentheUSfederalgovernmentannounced the Paycheck Protection Plan, or PPP, to provide financialsupporttosmallbusinessesduringtheCOVID-19shut-down,bankshadonly a few days to build new apps and automations to handle theprocessingofbillionsofdollars in loans tomillionsofapplicants.Notsurprisingly, many took the expedient approach of using just RPA toautomatesubmittingapplicationstothegovernment.Othersusedafull-stack automation approach with low-code apps, no-code API dataintegration, andRPA.Some, in fact,were able to build new low-codeautomationsinjust24hours.

Whenthewebsitecouldn’thandletheloadgeneratedbyRPAbots,theyshut-down all Bot access. Banks that had taken a hyperautomationapproachwith low-codewere either unaffected or quicklymigrated toAPI submissions or automated human workflows. Meanwhile I got

panickedphonecallsandemailsfromconsultantssupportingbanksthattaken this hyperautomation approach and relied exclusively on RPA.They wanted to know—how were these banks still in business, stillservicing loans? I told themall the same thing:Youshouldnever relyexclusively onRPA formission-critical systems.Augmenting humanswithautomationisalmostalwaysthebetteranswer.

HyperHype

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and techno-speak, but authentictechnologyrevolutionsareeasytospotbecausetheyarealsoeconomicrevolutions.From the steamengine to the siliconmicrochip,wheneverwesucceedinreducingthecostofproductionbyanorderofmagnitude(10-fold), new business models become possible and the old order ischallenged. By two orders of magnitude, 100-fold, and the old ordercrumbles as economic changes unleash social change. Matt Calkinscoinedtheterm“Inverse-Moore’sLaw,”todescribefocusingoncuttingin half the time and cost required to build applications and automateworkevery twoyears. Inspiredby IntelCEOGordonMoore’s famousobservationthatasthenumberoftransistorsthatcouldbecrammedintoamicroprocessordoubledeverytwoyears,wecouldexpectperformanceto rise and prices to fall accordingly. Low-cost, high powermicroprocessors didn’t eventually just put computers in every home:theychangedhowwework,howweplay,andhowwelive.

Hyperautomation is thusbestunderstoodas thepractical augmentationofthespeedandaccuracyofhumanworkwithtechnologyinrelentlesspursuit of that 10-fold and 100-fold improvement that will unlock

entirely new business models and drive economic and social changebeyond our current imagining. Driven by the COVID crisis, we havealreadyseendramaticchangesinthepatterns,methods,andtoolsofhowweworkinamodernsociety.Thesechangeswillonlyaccelerateinthedecade to come to the point where, by 2030, one can expect that theoffices we left behind in March 2020 will look as anachronistic astelephones,rolodexes,andlegalpads.

Whenwefoundedoursoftwarecompanyin1999,Iwasobsessedwithfindingthese10xand100xopportunitiesandviewingtheworldthroughthislens.Iwantedtohelpbuildaworldofcreators,notjustconsumersoftechnology.ButIwasn’tjustthinkingaboutsoftware.Atthetime,Iwrote an analysis of the US Space Program and the “Space LaunchInitiative” (SLI) that suggested a NASA-built hypersonic space planewould be more reusable than the Space Shuttle and finally open upaccesstospacetravelforeveryone.MyobservationatthetimewasI’dheardthisscriptbefore:thatNASApromisedusin1980thattheSpaceShuttlewouldfly100timesperyearormore,cuttheprice-per-poundtoorbitbya factorof ten,andsoonwe’dallbevacationingonMars.Ofcourse,itwasnottobe.

The Space Shuttle was, in many ways, a technology and politicaltriumph.Buttheprogram,forallitsaccomplishments,wasultimatelyahuman tragedywith two fatalmission failures.Butbehindall that, theSpaceShuttlewasaneconomicfailureonitsownterms.Congresslostsight of the program’s goals. As the Shuttle program morphed intocongressionally-mandatedjobsprogramsspreadacrossthecountryinatangledwebofinefficiencieswithbillionsincost-overruns,theoriginalprice-per-poundobjectivethatjustifiedbuildingareusablespaceshipin

the first place, was entirely forgotten. Instead, much like some othermassive private and public sector-digital transformation initiatives, theShuttlehad tokeep flying fornationalprideandbecause ithadgrowntoobigtofail.EnterElonMuskandSpaceX,whichmaintainsNASA’soriginalvisionrootedintheprice-per-poundobjective.

Why are you looking for hyperautomation? Never forget your goal.Measureit,holdyourselfaccountabletoit,always.

PathwaystoSuccess

While there are an infinite number ofways to fail, the experts in thisbook have outlined the paths to success with hyperautomation. Theyhave shown you the way, with lessons and case studies that covereverythingfromhowtouselow-codetohowtobuildstronganddiverseteams to sustain “the momentum for change,” all while becoming abetter leader.Asa leader, it’syourresponsibility toset loftygoalsandthen assign clear,measurable, non-subjectivemilestones to your team.UnlessyouworkatSpaceX,BlueOrigin,orNASA,youprobablydon’tneedto lower theprice-per-poundtoorbit,but ifyouwant toradicallyimprove customer experience, you’re going to have to find your own10xand100xgoals.

Inadditiontothecasestudiesandsuggestionsalreadydiscussedinthesepages, one easy place to start that comes up frequently with CIOs Ispeakwithispaper.Decades-oldpromisesofthepaperlessofficeleftuswithalegacyofmillionsofPDFs,spreadsheets,Worddocs,anderror-prone OCR workflows. Organizations are still drowning in paper —

evenifitisdigitalpaper,it’sstillamassofunstructureddatathatcan’tbeeasilyworkedon.

JustscanningthesedocumentswithOCRisa$12billiondollarbusinessifweonly count the software licence costs.Add in thewastedhumantime and effort setting up or finding and fixing errors every time aninvoice or insurance claim form changes at one of your thousands ofvendorsor suppliers,or trying tocreateand trainnewOCRtemplates,andyoueasilygetto$100billion—justtostartyourwork.

Start by measuring your hyperautomation project like your economicgoal, in this case it’s probably your price-per-page—and not just thesoftware license costs, the human costs, the errors, the lost time andproductivity. If youhave toupdate200,000 legacycontractswithnewLIBORratesandeachcontractisbetween80and180pages,yourpriceperpageisthetimeittakesyourlawyersandlawclerkstoprocessandvalidate about 26,000,000 pages with whatever OCR and workflowtechnologyyouhave.Ifanerrortakestenminutesforahumantolocateand correct, eachpercentagepoint of error you can reduce is likely tosave you at least $4million—and that’s with some very conservativemath.

A hyperautomation approach to this problem uses no-code integrationwhere available and RPA where it is not in order to marshall thedocuments from different sources into amodernworkflow, where themostefficienttechnologyisusedateachstepoftheprocess.Documentsare classified if necessary by AI, known document structuresautomatically extracted, while AI algorithms for natural languageprocessingandimageprocessing“read”thedocument10xoreven100x

faster andmoreaccurately than traditionalOCRever could.When theAI fails, humans don’t have to hunt for the errors: the systemautomatically delivers the suspect field and document to a human forvalidation or correction—and the system learns from each of theseinteractions to improve over time. The result is augmented humandecision making and work, and much more rewarding, higher valuework at that, supervising anorchestra of digitalworkers.And a price-per-page that should fall 10x to start and continuously improve fromthere.

TheCaseforPlatforms

Hyperautomationcanbeachievedinmanydifferentwaysbutthisbookadvocates a platform approach. A high-performing team can custombuildmanyoftheelementsofhyperautomation,leveragingopensourcetools,andachieveremarkableresults—sometimesevenwithgreatspeed.But there are three principal reasons why the platform approach tohyperautomationiswinning:thescarcityofskilledcomputerscientists,the need and benefits of future-proofing your hyperautomationinvestments, and third, the need for resilience in your systems andprocessesasdemonstratedbycriseslikeCOVID-19.

The scarcity of skilled programmers and computer scientists is aproblem that the market is correcting for, but not in the traditionalmanner.Inthepast,demandforlabormightdriveupwagesenoughtoinduceagenerationtolearnandenteranewprofession,asinthegreatindustrial revolutionwhen farmworkersmigrated to thecities to learnmachinesandworkinfactories.Inmorerecenttimes,technologyitself

combinedwithanewinternationaltradeorder,makingitpossibleforthefirst time to open up a global labor market and outsource digitaltransformationtoothercountries.

Evenso, theUSand theworldwerenevergraduatingenough talent tomeet the needs of a rapidly changing world, one where nearly everycompany and organization in every industry faces the reality andnecessityofbuildingmoreapplicationsandautomations.Perhaps10xor100xmorethaneverbefore.AndnowCOVID-19hasonlyexacerbatedgeopolitical tensions in ways not seen since the Cold War. Thoseoverseasdevelopersgraduatingeachyear aredependingonwhereyouare located and what trade tensions are brewing this week, perhapsrenderingthemnolongerevenavailabletoyou.Andevenifyoumanageto employ them, they may soon have powerful incentives, sometimesinvolvinggovernmentactors,pressuringthemtocompromiseyourdataandintellectualproperty,iftheydon’talready.

This is the fundamental case for a low-code platform approach tobuildingstrategicappsandautomations.Get10xto20xtheproductivityfrom the skilled developers you havewhile opening up your teams tohire legions of non-traditional developers from non-traditionalbackgroundslikemechanicalengineers,musicmajors,andevenpoliticalscientists like myself, as well as leverage citizen developers where itmakes sense. A platform approach to hyperautomation insulates youfrom today’s skills shortages and provides AI-assisted DevSecOps toprotectyoufromyourleastexperiencedormostmaliciousdeveloper—insideoroutsideyourorganization.

Building your hyperautomation program around low-code automation

platforms can future-proof your technology investment by limiting theamount of tech debt your team is taking on with each new app andautomation. Low-code platforms eliminate and abstract much of thecodethatwouldotherwiseberequiredbyinterpretingadesigner’sintentand rendering it in the platform. Future-proof platforms encouragedevelopers to stay inside theplatform formostdesigns andonlywritetraditional code as integrations or plug-ins through well-defined andsecuredentrypointstotheplatform.

Eachnewgenerationalupgradeoftheplatformshouldbeabletoeasilyupgrade apps and automations without costly delays to refactor orrewrite your apps. For example, if the platform upgrades the userexperience with a new Javascript framework, every app built with itshould getmore elegant, engaging, accessible, render faster, andworkonmoderndeviceswith the latestbrowsersandoperatingsystems.WeliveinaworldwhereiOSandAndroidupgradeeachothereachyearandbasic deployment infrastructure is being revolutionized withcontainerizationandAI.Everystageinthesoftwaredevelopmentcycleis being enhanced, and the viable business cases for open source andcustomcodevs.future-proofplatformdevelopmentarenarrowing.

Hyperautomationplatformsarelikelytodivergeonthedegreeoffuture-proofingtheywilloffer,assomewillfavorfulldeveloperflexibilitytowritecustomcodeinanylanguageandburyitdeepintoanapplication.Platformsthatevolvedfromtherapid-developertoolbackgroundandaremarketedandsoldprimarilytodevelopersareparticularlyvulnerabletocreatingthis typeofhiddentechdebt.Youcangofastwithaplatformlike this, but eventually you may find many of your applications toocostly to evolve or upgrade and the sustainability of your

hyperautomation gains may suffer. Applying a weighty best-practicesgovernance frameworkcanhelp,butcanalsoslowdownprojectswithextrareviewcycles—contrarytotheentirehyperautomationmission.

Stand-alone RPA products are perhaps the worst offenders when itcomes to future-proofing your hyperautomation investment. Bots aregreat when APIs aren’t available and speed is of the essence, ANDsystems are stable. But introduce change and variation in workload,networks,andsystems,andBoterrorrateswillcreepup.RPAvendorshave recently responded to their failure to scale the vast majority ofprojects beyond 50 Bots by bolting on a variety of quick fixes(monitoring tools, notifying humanswhenBots break), but they don’taddressthefundamentalproblemthatBotsaren’tbestforeverythingandthemoreBotsyoupileonyourlegacyenvironment,themorebrittleandfailure-proneyourdigitalworkforcecanbecome.

YourJourneyStartsNow

Hyperautomationcallsforaholisticapproachfromthestarttoachieveafuture-proof model of augmenting, not replacing, human strategicthinking and work. Model your end-to-end process with humans incharge and augment them with RPA Bots and other automationtechnologieslikeAI,businessrules,andAPIintegrationsformaximumefficiency.Uselow-codeifyouneedanewapp,addautomationorstartwithautomationifthepriorityisworkingwithdatainexistingapps.Butmonitor, optimize, repurpose, and retire legacy systems and legacydigital workers (Bots or algorithms) as circumstances evolve. If youkeeptothesefundamentals,yourhyperautomationgoalof10xand100x

improvementiswithinyourreach.