What exactly is a low-code BPM platform? | Blaze

Business process management (BPM) helps organizations effectively manage and coordinate its different processes. You are unlikely to ever find a business process that exists in its own vacuum—development, financial management, customer relations, team management, and other processes will all be interconnected.

To help solidify this connection, businesses will often need a comprehensive management platform. A business process management (BPM)platform helps make it easy for businesses to coordinate their various component and achieve their long-term goals.

Of course, as you will soon discover, there are a lot of BPM platforms available to choose from. With many different options available, it can be difficult to know which BPM platform is best for your business or even know the type of platform that you want to use.

Fortunately, accessible BPM solutions are well within reach.Blaze.tech, for example, makes it easy for businesses to immediately launch a custom platform—with little to no coding required—and improve your enterprise application strategy.

Let’s take a closer look:

What is a BPM Platform?

Let’s start by defining what a business process management platform actually does. Broadly speaking, the term “business process management” can be used to describe any practice intended to increase a business’s performance in some way.

For business process management to be effective, a business will need to start by identifying its organizational goals. In most cases, the underlying goal of business optimization will be to increase the company’s bottom line. But in many other cases, peripheral goals—such as expanding, reducing wasted resources, etc.—might also be incorporated.

Without clearly defined goals and processes, it will be almost impossible for your business to succeed. Ideally, there will be hard data that can confirm whether the business has achieved its goals, such as sales figures, industry benchmarks, and more. 

The BPM platform is the specific “hub” where managing these highly connected processes takes place. A good BPM platform will not only be intuitive to use but will also make it easy to connect multiple different components of a business. For most businesses, this includes functions such as accounting, operations, product development, team management, and more. 

Naturally, the larger a business becomes, the more complex its operations will be. Eventually, the business might need to switch to using a new BPM hub. As we will further explain below, there are several advantages to using a low-code platform.

What is a “Low Code” Platform?

In the past, developing a custom BPM platform would require a considerable amount of coding and ongoing tech support. In other words, most people—even many who consider themselves “tech savvy”—could not manage the platform entirely on their own. As a result, the utilization and deployment of these platforms would often be delayed and inefficient.

The low code alternative, on the other hand, can be used by just about anyone. Rather than making platform changes with backend code, a low code platform allows users to simply drag and drop easy-to-identify visual elements. 

So, what exactly does this mean for the typical platform user?

Suppose you want to modify the platform’s portal so the“share” option is on the left side of the hub, rather than the right. Instead of having to know the code needed to do so (the old way), users simply have to log in and drag the share function to wherever they want it to be. It really is that easy.

This has transformed the way that all sorts of applications and platforms are actively utilized. The spread of low code tech has been especially beneficial within the BPM space, where the need for platform efficiency is exceptionally high.

Low-Code BPM Platform: A Modern, Affordable, Solution

A low-code BPM platform, as the name suggests, applies the principles of low-code development to the dynamic and ever-evolving BPM space. In other words, a low-code BPM platform is an enterprise-specific platform that uses little to no code, while also helping the business achieve its broader operational goals.

To clarify, the principles of low-code can be applied to a wide variety of different apps—not just apps that are specific to managing business processes. However, as we will further explain below, there are quite a few reasons enterprises of all types and sizes will consistently choose a low-code development process: 

The Benefits of Creating a Low Code, BPM Platform

By 2030, the entire low code industry is expected to grow to reach a market size of $149 billion. People across all industries are recognizing the benefits that low-code technology can provide and are adjusting their development strategies accordingly. There are quite a few reasons low code tech is so appealing.

  • Ease of Use: perhaps the most obvious reason low code tech has grown is that it is extremely easy to use. When an organization relies on the “high code” alternative, that means IT likely needs to get involved in order to make any platform changes. With low code tech, on the other hand, most users can immediately make needed changes.
  • Low Cost: when the coding process is more complex, naturally, the cost of implementing any changes will be much higher. And when a business is operating on a larger scale, the inefficiencies will compound. Low code and no code tech is the most affordable way to launch a functioning application.
  • Increased Efficiency: when it is easier for users to make changes to their platform, bottlenecks can easily be removed. Rapid application development really can make a major difference. Rather than waiting weeks (or longer) for changes to be made, low code apps can be immediately modified.
  • Flexibility: old applications used to be limited by the underlying code. Newer, low code platforms, on the other hand, give users a considerable amount of flexibility, allowing them to easily make changes and improvements.

There is a lot of evidence clearly indicating that low code technology is the future. While there are still a few platforms that might require direct coding, the vast majority of modern platforms can easily be modified with limited tech.

Blaze.tech is a leader in helping businesses of all kinds launch low code BPM platforms and can help your enterprise content management (ECM) team achieve its operational objectives.

Tips for Creating the Best Low Code BPM Platform

If your business has decided to implement a low code BPM platform, that means you are already moving in a positive direction. However, there are still a lot of things you will want to do to ensure that your movement to low code BPM is a complete success.

Here are a few tips that can help you get started:

  • Identify Your Goals: in order to get the most out of this application, you’ll need to have clearly defined goals. What business functions do you hope to integrate? What KPIs will use to measure your performance? How will you know if the migration was a success, and how will you know if any changes are needed?
  • Work as a Team: one of the most obvious benefits of low code platforms is that they can be used by many members of your team. Be sure to inform your team about how to use the platform and what each member’s role will be.
  • Consistent Innovation: just because you’ve switched to a low code BPM app, that doesn’t mean your work is done. Don’t forget to periodically check up on the platform’s functionality and get feedback from other team members.
  • Find a Reliable Partner: even though low code platforms are easy to use and modify, there is still a lot of tech involved. By working with a proven low code BPM partner, such as Blaze.tech, you can continue tweaking your existing application until it is absolutely perfect.

It’s clear that the platform and app development industry is moving in a very specific direction. Low code, without a doubt, is the way of the future. If your business is hoping to optimize its current performance or is otherwise hoping to improve, switching to a low code BPM platform might be the best place to get started.