Joe Stangarone is a 30+ year veteran of the IT industry and president of mrc—the software company behind the award winning development platform, m-Power. Joe shares his leadership and technology insights through the Cup of Joe Blog, focusing primarily on ways businesses can save time, money, and increase productivity using technology.
Summary: These days, every business wants new ways to improve productivity. For many, the answer lies right under their nose. While they may not realize it, they’re wasting hours of time every week completing manual tasks that could (and should) be automated. What common tasks should your business automate?
Today, I’ll bust one of the most common myths about low-code software: The idea that low-code means low customization.
I see this myth repeated across most low-code articles these days. The articles claim that low-code software improves development speed (which is true) at the expense of customization and flexibility.
To be fair, some low-code tools DO have this drawback. But, all low-code tools are different. Some create websites. Some create basic web applications. Others are built for enterprise applications. Some offer customization. Others do not.
Placing all low-code tools in one big category is like saying that cars, bikes, and rollerskates are equal because they’re all ‘modes of transportation.’ While true, they’re very different things. The same is true for low-code tools.
The reality: Some enterprise-level tools offer unlimited customization–even down to the code level. When you get into the enterprise-level low-code tools, you’ll find that customization is critically important. Why? Here are a few reasons. The amount of customization available in the tool determines:
How well the tool fits your business needs
The amount of limitations you run into over time
Whether or not you get locked into the tool
What customization features should any enterprise low-code platform provide? We created a video on this topic that covers 6 different customization features to look for, and explains why each is important. You can find it here:
Want to learn more, or see a customizable low-code platform in action? Set up a demo here:m-Power demo.
Low-code development usage is growing fast. According to Gartner, the low-code market will grow 20% this year. They expect it to grow even more next year.
But, you’ve probably heard these stats a thousand times. The low-code market has grown steadily for years. No one will argue that point.
The bigger (and more important) questions: We know that adoption is on the rise, but…how are these businesses using low-code? What are the practical use cases? What can you build with low-code?
Low-code development has taken the tech world by storm. According to Gartner, the low-code market will grow from $18 Billion in 2021 to $32 Billion by 2024. It’s picking up steam and shows no signs of slowing down.
The problem: As demand grows, so does the total number of platforms on the market. Anyone looking around for a low-code tool will find hundreds to choose from.
The worst part is, they’re all different. They all have different capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Some focus on mobile while others focus on workflow. Some offer reporting/dashboarding features while others don’t. I could go on.
How do you know which one is best for your business?
The answer: It depends on your business, needs, budget, etc… To help you cut through the confusion, we’ve written up whitepaper that goes into more detail on the topic. It explains key areas to consider when looking for a low-code tool, and will hopefully make the process less painful. You can find it here: How to Choose the Best Low-Code Platform for Your Business
We just released a new video that shows you how to create a database CRUD application in 5 minutes using a low-code development tool. If you’re not familiar with CRUD, it stands for Create, Read, Update, and Delete, and it’s a fundamental concept in database management.
A CRUD application lets you perform these four basic operations on a database table. I know…this might not sound very exciting. But CRUD applications are the backbone of most modern software applications.
When most companies look atlow-code software, they’re trying to fix a specific need. Maybe they get it to create a specific web application or system, speed up development, or help their end users create the applications they need. Of course, it’s great for all of that. But…it can be so much more.
The fact is, most companies aren’t getting the maximum value out of their low-code investment. If you’re only using it to solve one problem or help in just one area of the business, you’re missing out.
Summary: It has been a crazy ride over the past few years–especially for CIOs. They’re faced with a job that’s both more important and more challenging than ever. How will you address the challenges in the coming year? In this article, we explore 5 challenges that CIOs and IT leaders should watch in 2023. …
If your business had a choice between an off-the-shelf CRM system and a CRM that’s custom-built to your needs, which would you choose (assuming you’d get either one immediately)? I’d say the vast majority of businesses would prefer a custom CRM. After all, custom CRM systems offer a number of advantages, such as:
Scale without user fees: Off-the-shelf CRM systems typically charge per user…which can quickly drive up the cost in larger companies. With a custom CRM system, you can scale across your entire company without user fees!
Custom Workflow Processes: You can build custom workflow processes into any aspect of your CRM. For instance, you can create customer onboarding workflows that fire automatically when a lead becomes a customer.
Integration with existing software or third-party tools: For example, you might want to update your ERP system or pass data to a third-party tool using an API.
Deploy anywhere: Most off-the-shelf CRM systems only run in the cloud. A custom CRM can run in the cloud or on-premise. The choice is yours.
Control the security: Every business has different security needs. With a custom CRM, you can control how much or how little security you’d like to have.
With these advantages, why doesn’t every business opt for custom CRM systems? It all comes down to development time. Building a custom CRM from scratch can be expensive and easily take months.
The big question: What if you could create custom CRM systems in days or weeks? What if you could get all of the benefits of a custom CRM with non of the drawbacks?
It’s not as hard as you think. We recently released a new video that shows you how easily you can create a custom CRM system using low-code development. In the video, we create a CRM system that includes custom workflow processes, API integration with third-party software, and ERP integration. The best part: The whole process only takes 45 minutes. You can watch the video below:
Want to learn more? Set up a demo here: Set up a demo.
In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to celebrate in true m-Power fashion: We made a data-driven web application! Better yet, it’s all about Thanksgiving Football! We grabbed all the Thanksgiving Football Game statistics we could find and put them in a database. Then, we created a few handy web applications that answer questions like:
What is my team’s record on Thanksgiving Day?
Which teams have made the most appearances on Thanksgiving day?
While we were building the applications, we ran across some great facts about the Thanksgiving Day football games. So, we’ve pulled some of the more interesting “fun facts” and listed them below. Enjoy!
Thanksgiving Football Fun Facts
The Detroit Lions(82 appearances) and Dallas Cowboys(54 appearances) have appeared in Thanksgiving Games most frequently, but…have never played each other.
The Lions and the Cowboys have only ever played home games on Thanksgiving (which explains the first fact).
Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson holds the NFL record for most rushing yards (273) in a Thanksgiving game.
Reggie White won John Madden’s first-ever “Turkey Leg” award, which was given to the MVP of the Thanksgiving game starting in 1989.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are the only current team who have never played on Thanksgiving Day.
The only current teams who are winless on Thanksgiving are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Jacksonville Jaguars (because they haven’t played)
The Detroit Lions have the most Thanksgiving day wins (37), as well as the most Thanksgiving day losses (43).
The Brooklyn Dodgers are in the top 10 teams with the most Thanksgiving Day appearances…despite having folded in 1945.
Finally, from all of us here at mrc, we wish you safe travels and a very happy Thanksgiving!
In this article, we’ll explore actionable ways that your business can improve productivity. Since this is such a broad topic, I’m focusing only on improving productivity through the use of technology.
In the spirit of productivity, I don’t want to hide these tips behind a long intro. Rather, let’s get straight to the point with a couple of notes before we dive in. …