Business Teams Can Create Their Own Apps (with Occasional Help!)

Inspired by the growing opportunity for business professionals to leverage Low-code/No-code (LCNC) tools, I decided to take the SAP Build LCNC Learning Journey, share a few thoughts, and encourage fellow business Citizen Developers to join the SAP Builders group to connect to peers and experts.

Reprioritizing Opportunities

As inflationary pressures and marketplace conditions are challenging business leaders to focus on game changers and reprioritize investments, the need to move faster, increase automation, and become more productive is more important than ever.

As a business practioner, professional coding with SAP ABAP, JavaScript, Python, and Swift are incredibly admired, but too complicated and out of reach to work with hands on.

Until recently leveraging the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) to gain access to SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP SuccessFactors, and other SAP and third-party apps and data was best left to the professional coders.

For many of us, it was like standing on the side of a swimming pool and watching all the experts (aka coders) swim. We business people were stuck on the side to watch, admire, or hire a professional programmer to do the work.

With less professional coders than business experts, SAP Build represents a substantial opportunity for business teams to create their own apps (and yes, professional coders can give much appreciated tips and guidance).

Over time it has become apparent that Low-Code/No-Code (LCNC) apps, platforms, and tools are an important, growing part of the IT landscape. According to Statista, the LCNC platform revenue will grow from $22.5 billion (USD) in 2022 to ~$32 billion in 2024 (CAGR: 26.1%).

That stat along with many other indicators show that there is an enormous opportunity for business people to set free their expertise, provide significant value, and help their organizations do more with less.

Learning LCNC Requires Effort

Given this market trend I started on the SAP Build Low-Code/No-Code Learning Journey. It’s exciting to learn about the three key apps:

• SAP Build Process Automation – Automating workflow processes and tasks.
• SAP Build Apps (formerly AppGyver) – Creating enterprise applications without code.
• SAP Build Work Zone – Designing engaging sites to provide centralized access and a user centric experience across the enterprise.

Keep in mind that Low-Code / No-Code does not mean no effort. It takes focus and time to learn about these tools and put them to use. Each week I set aside some time to learn and deep dive into the Learning Journey concepts.

The good news is that the learning exercises to build these tools along with the free access to an SAP Build Apps sandbox makes it all very accessible.

For example, for years I wanted to work with certain SAP and third-party apps to set up connections to the open data application programming interface (Odata API) to fetch data, but didn’t have the coding skills or knowledge.

With SAP Build Apps I created my first mobile app using the scenario of scanning a barcode and pulling data (using the JSON format) from an OpenFoodFacts API to populate data around products and calories. I jumped for joy when it worked knowing that as a business practitioner the possibilities are endless.

Going forward – Unleash Expertise

Thankfully, the SAP Community provides many resources for Citizen Developers to connect, collaborate, and learn including:

• SAP Builders – Community topic page to learn, find updates, stay informed.
• SAP Builders Group – Connect with experts and peers including blogs and discussions
• SAP Build Low-Code/No-Code Learning Journey – Take advantage of this free course material with the option for certification.
• SAP Build Apps Sandbox – Learn for 30-days to evaluate and consider the next steps.
• Spotlight Interviews: How to get Certified in LCNC – Miguel Angel Meza Martinez | Pawan Kumar
• 2^nd Tuesday of every month – Monthly web calls led by SAP Build experts and guest presenters.

The future is bright where SAP Build apps and tools can make incredible impact in working with organizations, customers, and strategic partners.

Afterall, when working in SAP environments, leveraging SAP tools is a big advantage.

Clearly the teaming between business practitioners and professional coders is very helpful and worthwhile in terms of gaining LCNC insights related to expertise, support, tips, security, governance, and enterprise compliance.

In this business climate where doing more with less is paramount, business Citizen Developers can use their knowledge and experiences to work with SAP Build to leverage SAP and third-party apps, data, and tools, which were previously out of reach to unleash their expertise!

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Appreciate any comments…

• Are you taking the LCNC Learning Journey now or in the near future?
• What are your experiences with any of the SAP Build products? What have you built?
• Are you working on any interesting use cases?
• Please leave any comments below!