Why Low Code Application Platforms(LCAPs) that leverage Excel Makes Sense for Supply Chain Applications
I know what you’re thinking. You’ve just gone through 2 years of hell trying to plug the holes in your supply chain through the disruption that will go unnamed, and now I’m talking about new technology? You’ve heard of “low-code” applications over the past couple years, but what exactly does that mean in supply chain and why is it essential? In any case, you’ve already committed millions for ERP upgrades that will not only consume most of your IT budget, but also keep your IT staff fully occupied for the rest of the year, so low code is not on your radar. This is a mistake.
The truth is, low code applications are already all over yours, and everyone else’s, company. In the past, it’s been called “shadow IT”—you know, the applications that actually run your business. Many of these applications are run using what is called the Lingua Franca of business—Excel. As you undoubtedly know (as well as over 1B other users), there’s simply no better data environment (a grid of cells) on which you can model out virtually any supply chain, or other, business application. Forecasts, trackers, pricing, inventory, promotions, projects, production plans—the list of applications is endless.
Your “citizen developers,” otherwise known as your subject matter experts who know your business and its processes, have relied on Excel for years. Supply chain is no exception. In fact, 68% of companies with supply chain operations use Excel spreadsheets as the primary technology for planning, despite the fact that 92% of these companies already have supply chain planning applications (2021 Supply Chain Insights Global Conference). And, this continues even with the familiar problems with Excel –emailing or file shares, silos of data, error prone, who made the last change, what version are we on, is the data in the Excel file accurate, etc. Given that Gartner predicts that by 2024, more than 65% of application development activity will be low code, wouldn’t it be nice to find a low-code application platform that leverages all this process IP that you already have in Excel?
By working with a LCAP platform that runs in Excel, you can go from manually collaborating via email or a file share to automatically sharing cell-level changes via a cloud database. Imagine, being able to share data from inside Excel with other users. To have data from one Excel process flow into another. To gain visibility across all your Excel-based activity. To understand how all this data changes over time to power more insightful machine learning and predictive analytics. While at the same time, reducing your time spent chasing data by 75% helping you get to the right decision, faster.
Just think about how many applications are run manually in Excel today in your company—it’s time to turn this into a competitive advantage. Only by using a low-code application platform that directly leverages your Excel-based process IP without forcing you to recode it into another application, can you then be part of the 450 million low-code apps Microsoft says will be built over the next 5 years. The time to start is today.
