I have worked with several corporations around the world, and one of the things that I have noticed is the popularity of low-code or no-code platforms.

One of the major reasons for using low-code or no-code platforms is that organizations can achieve the work of a developer and automate several mundane tasks without much learning curve. 

This is what organizations have to say, but what is the reality?
The reality is that low-code or no-code platforms are as expensive as hiring a full-time developer.

For example, launching a platform by some big tech company, let's say the Power Platform of Microsoft is already expensive to implement organization-wide, and when we want employees to learn it and use it, it is most of the time not that valuable.

This is because low-code platforms like these are way too technical for a person with no technical knowledge.

It is like asking a person who knows how to type on typewriter to draft a legal application or document.

One has to understand that most of the time the analysts that we hire are not programming professionals. Business Analysts or even Data Analysts that are expected to use these tools have no to limited knowledge about programming fundamentals.

They usually don't know statistics as well, and we expect them to think like a developer and develop dashboards and automated tools using these platforms, In the end, this results in low-quality tools, which are usually loaded with bugs and have too many errors to be handled by anyone in the organization.

Even several professionals don't understand how to use Power BI and Tableau and their expressions and they are asked to make complicated tools and automation which usually results in broken dashboards and unhappy clients.

What should be the solution?
In this article, I don't want to demean any data analyst or business analyst, but I want to draw kind attention to the fact that limited knowledge of something might not work every single time and with every client.

They may be able to work on a project with small requirements, but the quality of the tools might be compromised.

I have seen people developing complex approval systems on Power Platform, which Microsoft also claims that people can use without any prior technical knowledge, and with few trainings that are also expensive for those people to take, and when they use those platforms, the tools are not tested properly and have several errors and bugs that have to be removed.

The only solution to this is to bring mainstream coders and programmers to build the software and dashboard part. Even though some people might say that passion is also a thing and that passionate people will learn and be as good as professional developers.

But the reality is that only a few will be of that caliber, and not everyone. Not every Data Analyst can be a good Developer. Let alone a developer, they are not a good Data Analyst as well.

They use technical jargons and when asked about the basis of the same they are mook and will agree to anyone who has some more knowledge about the same.

Organizations should understand that low-code and no-code platforms are just marketed in that way so that you use it and you get sucked into a blackhole of possibilities that they claim can be done, but in actual it is as expensive as hosting your own servers and hired developers.

One of the example is of the user profiles that we can create on Power Platforms. For each user profile that we have to create we are charged again, and this is even with the enterprise version.

Power BI reports cannot be shared with the world as we will need individual accesses.

Why are organizations even promoting Power BI and tools like these which restrict them in usage and sharing capabilities.

I believe it is related to office corruption, and might be the higher managements are being bribed to use these worthless tools or they are idiots that don't understand the tech stack.

Get Qualified Professionals
A person with a classroom degree will have more knowledge than a person who has only studied remotely and that tool with a few resources.

Before implementing a low-code or no-code tool, try to understand that HTML, PHP, Java Scripts are much more capable in making a better dashboard and automation tool.

Conduct classroom training before onboarding your employees for any low-code or no-code project and that too with the help of professional trainers and not someone that has learnt basics of the tool as they are going to teach same to your employees, and hence they will be stuck with limited knowledge of the platform.

Don't just fall for big tech giants claims that low-code and no-code platforms can do wonders. They have some limits and it is always better to hire a developer to get things done fast and within quality standards.

Don't over promise your clients and under deliver which usually is the reason why unqualified people are hired to work on low code platforms.