Low Code / No Code platforms are nowadays a real alternative for application development, as the constant rise of application needs contrasts with the lack of developers, which creates some production issues. 2023 incoming, whether large scale or small scale enterprises are facing the need of creating more and more digital applications, while production deadlines are increasingly tight. Production must be the fastest and cheapest, while remaining as qualitative as possible.
However, these technologies can have an issue : Vendor Lock-in. Vendor lock-in refers to the situation where an organization becomes dependent on a particular vendor or supplier for a product or service, and switching to a different vendor would be difficult, costly, or impractical. It can bring several issues such as security risks, higher costs or even a lack of competition in the market.
You can actually avoid this Vendor Lock-in by choosing products and services that use open standards, which allow you to easily switch to another vendor if necessary. That means that you are not stuck with the current platform you’re using if this one occurs a major issue. As we might say, marriage is marvelous, but divorce is a nightmare...
This is where the Open-Source vision of a platform can be a game changer : Open Source software refers to a type of software that is available to the public to use and distribute freely. In the context of Low Code platforms, Open Source software can provide several benefits :
One of the main benefits of using Open Source software in Low Code/No Code platforms is that it can lead to lower costs. Because the software is freely available and can be modified and distributed freely, organizations can save on licensing fees and other costs associated with proprietary software.
Open Source is also a guarantee of technology perennity independent of the company that created it.
In addition to cost savings, open source software can also provide greater security and reliability. Because the source code is available for anyone to review, it can be more thoroughly tested and reviewed than proprietary software. This can help identify and fix potential security vulnerabilities or bugs more quickly, which can improve the overall reliability of the software.
Of course, if we find a lot of benefits, there can also be some challenges with Open Source : One of the main fears could be the lack of support, that enterprises or organizations would be abandoned to themselves...That is true : Generally, there is no central support center that can be contacted. This means you have to wait and wait for someone to respond to your help message or you have to fix the problem on your own. If you add to this point the fact that the documentation is usually poor, it quickly can become complicated for the user to fully understand and take advantage of the platform(s).
Fortunately, Enterprise grade Open Source software vendors do have a dedicated support team to answer issues. They provide support on their open source platforms in exchange of paid license fees for a given SLA (service Level Agreement).
As a conclusion, Open Source for Low Code platforms is a real driver of innovation and growth. It brings together essential factors for innovation, namely: modularity, a dynamic ecosystem, ease of access, great adaptability and very low costs. Moreover, Open Source illustrates very well values such as sharing and exchange, and this can only be beneficial to your company in different types of structures. Go for it !
Convertigo and Baserow team together to provide a complete and powerful Enterprise grade Low code & No Code stack combining Convertigo’s Front-end and Back-end business logic flows with Baserow’s no code database platform.
This provides a full stack open source offer from data to UI with strong Enterprise capabilities and powerful integration engines.
Convertigo users will benefit from Baserow’s unique no code data modeling capabilities enabling them to build data driven applications without writing a line of code, which will drastically simplify the database implementation.
Baserow users will be able to build value-added web & mobile applications enjoying advanced capabilities such as offline data, device cross platform, DevOps and enterprise connectors to major ERP CRM and PLM packages.
As Baserow and Convertigo share the same Open Source vision, these technologies will be available for free to the entire Convertigo and Baserow communities as Cloud or Self Hosted services.
Enterprise offers will also be available as licenses for cloud of self hosted clients combining Convertigo and Baserow SLA.
Convertigo and Baserow combined technologies will help enterprises to build ad-hoc digital applications in many verticals such as Field Maintenance, Fintech, Retail, Healthcare and Ecommerce, with great speed and low costs.
Olivier Picciotto, CEO of Convertigo, says : “ Baserow will bring very strong no code database capabilities to the Convertigo platform and will help No Coders to build digital applications running on multiple devices. With data hosted on prem or on cloud, Convertigo and Baserow make development of RGPD constrained applications possible.”
Bram Wiepjes, CEO of Baserow adds : “We believe in the need for Low Code and No Code to enable different types of citizen developers to build applications with various degrees of complexity and scalability. Convertigo and Baserow share the same vision on openness and interoperability of software. Users will be able to digitize their business process exactly as they want it, without the burden of lengthy and costly IT projects.“
About Convertigo:
Convertigo (https://www.convertigo.com/) is a privately held company, specialized in the open-source Low Code / No Code development platform. Convertigo’ s platform is B2B/B2E oriented and provide a complete solution for building web and mobile apps : A Low Code Studio to develop complex apps easier and faster with a similar result as a “native development”, and the No Code Studio enabling “Citizen App makers'' to build simpler apps without coding, usable by anyone in the enterprise. Convertigo empowers enterprises to digitize their process, helping them be more efficient with less resources and money.
Convertigo is headquartered in Paris (France) with presence in San Francisco (USA) with a R&D team based in the south of France.
Learn more about Convertigo on social media:
Contact: info@convertigo.com
About Baserow:
Baserow (https://baserow.io/) is a VC backed company offering a no code collaborative database platform. The platform enables non-technical users to create a relational database as easy as an excel sheet. Baserow helps HR, Marketing, Operations, Product and IT teams to organize, visualize and collaborate around data. Baserow is headquartered in the Netherlands with a distributed team across Europe and US. .
Convertigo, the leading open source enterprise low code / no code platform becomes a contributing member of the Eclipse Foundation.
As Convertigo Studio is based on Eclipse IDE, joining the eclipse foundation is obviously a key aspect for leveraging Low Code technologies within the Eclipse community.”
— Olivier Picciotto, CEO Convertigo
PARIS, FRANCE, February 17, 2022 -- The Eclipse Foundation is an open source community focused on collaboration and innovation. It is a huge and energetic environment, where significant innovation sellers, creative new businesses, universities, research establishments and people meet up to supplement and support the Eclipse Platform.
The Eclipse Foundation is made up of more than 320 member companies. They have always supported Open Source software as key enabler for business strategies.
Low code market is growing at a very fast rate at a CAGR of 27.9% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). Low code market growth is driven by the demand of organizations and enterprises to build, customize and deploy software applications without the hassle of writing thousands of codes lines. Low code tools help businesses to achieve their goals faster by reducing the time-to-market and cost of developing software applications.
Known as the Leader of Open Source Enterprise Low Code & No Code platforms , Convertigo has, since 2009, been working with Eclipse IDE and delivers its Low Code studio as an Eclipse plugin. This collaboration, which has lasted for more than 10 years now, is evolving as Convertigo officially joins the Eclipse Foundation as a contributing member, to be able to collaborate closely with the Eclipse Community.
As an innovative technology company, Convertigo’s objective has always been to provide efficient technologies to accelerate application development while maintaining freedom to the developer. The Open Source policy of the platform has created a real community around the project, so being now a member of the Eclipse Foundation will accelerate Low Code and No Code adoption within enterprises interested by open source technologies to avoid vendor lock-in.
Being a contributing member will also help building the next generation of Low Code and No Code platforms by using other eclipse foundation member technologies and benefit from the huge community of the foundation members.
About Convertigo:
Convertigo SA is a privately held company, specialized in the open-source Low Code / No Code development platform used by more than 150 000 low code developers worldwide. Convertigo’ s platform is B2B/B2E/B2C oriented and provides a complete full stack solution for building web and mobile apps, reducing development costs and time to market by 90%. The platform provides a professional Low Code Studio to develop complex apps easier and faster, and a No Code Studio enabling “Citizen App makers” to build simpler apps without coding, usable by anyone in the enterprise. Convertigo empower enterprises to digitalize their processes helping them being more efficient with less resources and money.
Convertigo is headquartered in Paris (France) with presence in San Francisco (USA) with a R&D team based in the south of France.
You may have some common beliefs about Low Code and No Code technologies but, check it out, they are maybe very useful for you !Actually it's really simple to understand and to use that kind of tools in your daily tasks.
Just here, and with the help of a video, we will show you how you could be mistaken about these technologies and how they can be the added value you need.
Common beliefs :
You may think that setting up a Low Code platform is complicated,
You are probably sure that Low Code does not allow you to make the apps of your choice,
You are convinced that Low Code can’t be interface to back end enterprise data,
So take 3 minutes of your time to learn about the real capabilities of these technologies!
Lisette Blanc, Marketing Manager at Convertigo, responded to some common misconceptions about Low Code technologies to clarify and understand the added value of these technologies.
Enjoy !
Back in the years, mobile and web applications development were only made by experimented Pro Code developers, as they were the ony ones who could handle the whole process ( Front and Back end) from scratch. The global digitalization all over the world - mainly in enterprises - has changed the way of the communication, the work efficiency or the data stocking. With this digitalization came new ways to develop applications, faster and cheaper : Low Code and No Code technologies.
However, when someone has been used to develop in a specific method, it's difficult to change their habits. Nowadays, enterprises are always looking for faster processes, faster deliveries, but their technical teams are generally reluctant to change development methods, as they are not confident about the product or they have some negative thoughts about it. Let's see how these technologies really are !
Back in 2007, Steve Jobs first presented the concept of PWA in front of the world, during the iPhone introduction. Years later, in 2015, the name “PWA” was invented by Chrome developer Alex Russel and designer Frances Berriman in an article that invited for a “deep shift in our understanding and tools” to “build better experiences across devices and contexts within a single codebase”. Since, PWAs haven’t stopped being more and more trendy on the market. Let’s see why.
First of all, PWA means Progressive Web Apps : These are optimized versions of a mobile site with native application functionality (usually unavailable on a browser).
PWA's are the combination of the best of the new web technologies and the best of native applications :
PWA’s combine the plurality of possibilities, security and ubiquity on all devices and Information Systems by Web ; and the autonomy, reliability, docks and task bars offered by native applications.
A PWA is consulted like a classic website, from a secure URL, but allows a user experience similar to a mobile application, without the constraints of the latter (submission to App-Stores, significant use of the device's memory, etc..)
Without any download on the stores, it allows you to:
Web applications can reach anyone, anywhere, on any device with a single codebase.These applications can be found directly on the web, and at Convertigo you can install the app via a QR Code.
Be careful : Not all of the web apps can be called PWA’s.A web application is qualified as a PWA only if it is composed of :
And any details that allow for the transition from a website to a mobile application.
Nowadays, with applications stores mainly handled by Apple and Android, it is quite difficult to have your application pushed into the App Stores if you don’t comply all the required conditions to be eligible.
That is where PWAs are becoming interesting : PWAs simply can be downloaded by the web browser ! This means that each PWA you want to download / provide can be accessible directly from the browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox etc..)
Time has proved that PWAs were awesome : The power of offline data, direct installation on devices without the apps store constraints in a few clicks etc.. We can expect that people creating /using PWAs will be more and more developed in a near future.
Convertigo’s Low code and No Code Platform both provide PWAs.
You already heard about the new Convertigo No Code platform, a plus for your business teams who will be able to easily build their own apps, with no technical constraints. Once the app has been imagined, created and put online, it is possible to transpose it into a PWA: Convertigo Forms will be available on all devices when the QR Code is scanned !
How does it work :
First of all, PWA means Progressive Web Apps : These are optimized versions of a mobile site with native application functionality (usually unavailable on a browser).
PWA = best of the new web technologies + best of native applications
PWA’s combine the plurality of possibilities, security and ubiquity on all devices and Information Systems by Web ; and the autonomy, reliability and ubiquity on home screens, docks and task bars offered by native applications.
A PWA is consulted like a classic website, from a secure URL, but allows a user experience similar to that of a mobile application, without the constraints of the latter (submission to App-Stores, significant use of the device's memory, etc..)
According to different searches, reports and analysis, Low code (and sometimes No Code) will disrupt the development market whether it is before, during or after the COVID-19. According to Gartner/Forrester, we’ll have :
The question is not about reinventing programming but quickly answering to immediate needs. This is why Shadow IT proliferates! Low Code suits perfectly to services/datas’ assemblies and tasks’ automatization. The time factor is important, especially for apps and projects that don’t need Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) or instantiating infrastructure resources that require authorizations and procedures, that may take several weeks.
Convertigo CEO, Olivier Picciotto, has been interviewed by the "Programmez" magazine to discuss about the Low-Code / No-Code revolution. Here's a summary of the discussion :
Interviewer : What about the actual Low Code market ?
Olivier Picciotto : The market has been dynamic for several years. Some large companies rule the market and the big suppliers want to penetrate it. Some european editors succeeded to take a place in the market, as Convertigo has done.
Convertigo is an European low code actor. How is the market behaving ? Being a european ISV, is it beneficial ?
That’s right : We are a french based company but we play in the international market. 30% of our turnover is made abroad (USA, Europe and Africa).
Traditionally, Europe ( and particulary France) is reluctant to adopt Low Code and No Code technologies compared to other countries. We have noticed in the past few years a real increase in France and other countries : companies have realised that to make up the time lost, they have to be innovative using new technologies to build their daily apps. It’s sure that we introduce ourselves as a european editor to our fortune 100 prospects, it’s better for support and proximity.
Low Code, No Code, sometimes it’s complicated to understand these two notions. What are the similarities and differences in each approach?
No Code is really zero code, no more no less ! It must remain within the reach of users with no technical knowledge. In contrast, Low Code never meant zero Code ! Developers write much less code compared to classic development. In Convertigo we consider a 1/10 to 1/50 ratio according to projects. Low Code allows to develop complex apps without functional limits.
The common point of each approach is the time and budget reduction to develop an app. The better is when we can combine the Low Code and the No Code approach in a single platform. This is what Convertigo proposes with his No Code Studio intended for “citizens” developers and his Low Code Studio intended for “professional” developers. And they interact between them.
We say that Low Code relates to business, logistic apps to automate some actions, agglomerate data / applications : How is the current situation ?
It’s totally possible to develop some complex projects with Low Code, it’s easier to make and it needs lower maintenance. There is on the market some “playground” Low Code products but also professional Low Code products that respects the development quality criteria required today (DeveOps, continuous integration, SDLC, fullstack, Microservices architecture, containers and scalabil). We belong in the second category.
How should Low Code be positioned in relation to developers ? Some editors don’t hesitate to oppose it. Rightly or Wrongly?
Wrongly ! This is understandable for No Code but not for Low Code. It would even be in the developer interest to learn Low Code. Thanks to it, he will be able to be more efficient in his development and increase his productivity. They will deliver projects faster. And potentially, he will increase his rate. All this while continuing to enjoy writing the 10 to 20% of complex code needed or by taking part in the Convertigo community.
If you want to read the entire article (in French), Get it here
Click here if you want to start a Convertigo Studio free trial.
You have a specific usecase you would like to discuss ? don't wait any longer and block a 30-minute demonstration with one of our specialists. Make an appointment by clicking here !
Some developers might have a bad opinion about Low-Code technologies, thinking that these are not suited for them. We found it useful to answer to these several "frustrations" that they may have, of course if they use Convertigo Platform!
To conclude, these frustrations are undoubtedly real but are largely outweighed by the efficience of today's low code platforms, especially if they are open source, open and based on market standards. To illustrate this movement, a Gartner study reports that in 2024 the Low Code will represent 65% of business applications!
Web and mobile applications are increasingly built using low-code platforms, which accelerate the development process because they do not require advanced coding skills. Vonage APIs have helped growing startups and agile enterprises enhance their customer experience and realize new business outcomes at scale, and now you can build apps with them via low-code development as well. Introducing Vonage APIs on Convertigo platforms!
Convertigo is one of the first open source low code / no code platforms to provide Vonage APIs, which allows you to add video, instant messaging, or voice calls into your applications with low or no development effort.
Enterprises face high demand for messaging and video communication features (especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic). Being able to integrate Vonage APIs and embed these capabilities in a few lines -- or without writing a single line —of code is a real improvement for Convertigo users.
Sample use cases for messaging and video communication in different industries include:
Being able to integrate APIs simply avoids long development processes and reduces costs. And because Vonage is a global company, API communications within Convertigo workflows are able to scale in accordance with the compliance required in markets around the world.
Adding Vonage APIs to Your Convertigo App Is Simple :
In technical terms, Vonage APIs are integrated into the Convertigo platform as a library. The library provides all the sequences you can use in your backend workflows to make voice and video calls as well as send messages via Facebook Messenger or SMS. The library also provides Mobile Builder Shared components, which you can use in your front-end apps.
To get started, explore the following sample app to learn how to integrate video conferencing in your Mobile or Desktop app.
To import your Convertigo Studio the lib_Vonage project, simply:
The Vonage library is now available in Convertigo Forms! Just add the component in your form and users can answer a form in a collaborative way by installing a chat room directly in the form.
What Vonage APIs look like in our applications :
Here is an extract from our Webinar partnering Vonage where we show the communication API use in a "real" use case : The integration of teleconferencing into the application.
(Insurance use case, fire damage)
If you want to see the full Webinar, just click here.
→ Have a look at the https://github.com/convertigo/c8oprj-lib-vonage#lib_vonage documentation
→ Click here to download Convertigo Studio
