How to tackle challenges and realise opportunities at speed with a low-code application platform

by Stephen Murphy, CEO of genesis

These are uncertain times in capital markets as firms face the multitude of challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic. Business continuity plans and business resilience are being put to the test like never before, volatility spikes are testing technology resilience and capabilities, and margins continue to feel the squeeze. With every day that passes, it is abundantly clear that the path ahead will be beset by many more hurdles. Where there are challenges, however, there are always opportunities to explore options that can deliver immediate operational efficiencies and commercial and economic advantages.

In efforts to sustain the status quo, firms have learned an enormous amount about how their systems, processes and practices are standing the test of lockdown. Right now, many are assessing what works well and what needs improvement. Front of mind is how firms can ensure their infrastructure, operating models, software applications and end-to-end systems are robust for whatever the future may hold.

Drivers of change

Despite the current situation, capital markets participants are all too aware that issues of pressure on investment and trading performance while trying to navigate manual processes and legacy technology continue. Firms need to extract every ounce of value from investment processes by using advanced analytics and automation, while at the core of all efficiencies and potential gains, digital transformation is heralded as the way to address business priorities, solve operational challenges and provide cost improvement.

To achieve these goals, firms need to be agile, flexible, productive, efficient and capable of absorbing, or benefiting from, disruption. They also need market insight and competitive intelligence to create business opportunities that can be seized through collaboration, swift response, and development of smart, automated business solutions at speed.

Barriers to change

Standing in the way of change are the needless complexities and cost of legacy technology systems that are cracking under the strain of evolving business workflows. Traditional IT development processes take time and are resource intensive, and ad hoc solutions made of desktop apps that provide limited functionality cannot be scaled.

From a cultural standpoint, there is often a shortfall in convergence between IT and the business, a lack of technology skills and insight among senior employees, and a culture that can either drive change enthusiastically, or hold out against it.

These barriers to business growth can be overcome when capital markets participants take a proactive approach to change and develop solutions at speed.

Solution development delivery 80% faster than traditional methods

Innovative approaches to business and technology need to be based on strategic objectives, but able to flex when necessary, and include meaningful measures of success along the way, including assessment of adoption rates and return on investment. The mantra of start small and think big can also be helpful.

An approach that is fast gaining traction in capital markets is the use of a low-code application platform to develop solutions. The platform is built on microservices infrastructure and includes business components and tools that allow users to produce robust and secure solutions at unprecedented speed by radically reducing coding.

Where traditional IT development of business solutions can take months, or even years, low-code solutions are ready for use in days or weeks. Firms can address complex industry challenges from tough regulatory requirements to overcoming the limitations of traditional software methodology processes, and build solutions up to 80% faster than standard development time for a fraction of the cost.

A low-code platform allows users to build solutions from scratch, use tools already built by the platform provider, or extend ready-built solutions to meet specific requirements. Deployment is increasingly via the cloud (and on-premise to suit business requirements) to ease adoption of the technology and proofs of concept can be carried out quickly and cost efficiently.

Closing the gap between business leaders and technologists

In a time of crisis, leaders need to understand how technology can support the business and help forge a better future, but most aren’t technologists at heart. A low-code application platform can short-circuit this and give leaders insight into how technology can be designed and built to meet business requirements, bringing IT and business leaders together.

The platform’s ease of use also allows upskilling across an organisation, giving not only business leaders, but also non-technical teams and individuals the ability to identify business opportunities and build low-code solutions. This frees up time for exception management and higher value activities, and the benefits of the platform increase as employees gain greater understanding of, and confidence in, the firm’s technology roadmap and capabilities

Benefits of adopting low-code development [How genesis can help]

genesis is an established provider of an industry recognised low-code application platform designed to help firms adapt and innovate business models quickly in a challenging and changing environment.

The company’s Low-Code Application Platform, has been designed and built specifically for capital markets. The platform breaks down business problems into functional components to support flexible application development, and has been built on the core principles that solutions must be highly performant, resilient, robust, secure and compliant.

The platform offers three options:

● Platform – clients can harness the genesis platform to build their own solutions

● Solutions – a bespoke service using genesis’ capital markets business and technology expertise to have the genesis team build the client specific solution

● Products – genesis provides a catalogue of ready-built capital markets solutions

A no-code tool set for fast, visual, drag-and-drop interface development democratises solution design for business users, while integration with cloud technology provides agile solution delivery.

Understanding that the industry needed a different approach to software development, genesis dedicated four years to building its Low-Code Application Platform, which innovates with technologies including a microservices framework and business component library, as well as a web GUI that gives permissioned users access to the platform without the need to deploy desktop apps. Application programming interfaces (API) provide integration with existing systems, apps and data, allowing low-code solutions to work alongside legacy systems.

Looking ahead, genesis will continuously enhance the platform with new capabilities, add further tooling capacity, and fine tune the delivery that helps business users deliver change quickly and effectively in response to both challenges and opportunities.

Low-Code development for top business challenges

Now, more than ever capital markets participants need to act quickly to resolve problems and grasp opportunities. Low-code approaches can supercharge the pace of solutions delivery and is the new digital blueprint of software development now and when the coronavirus crisis eases.