Address IT brain drain with No-Code

Companies are run by people and their knowledge. When talent leaves, so does subject matter expertise that drives company processes. The aging workforce along with higher staff turnover rates are bringing new organisational challenges, particularly brain drain, to the fore.

Legacy Technology Dependence

Brain drain has huge implications for IT. The knowledge required to maintain and support critical legacy systems often sits within one or few individuals. The emergence of modern coding languages such as python means new talent have less familiarity with older formats. Many companies still have applications that are running in languages such as COBOL – there are still 220 billion lines of COBOL code in use today. Other companies may rely on an incredibly useful, albeit complicated, excel system.

The departure of legacy system subject matter experts often leaves a serious skill gap and introduces risk. Suddenly system maintenance becomes slow and expensive, and improvement potentially impossible.  

So how do companies prepare for these bumpy transitions? Sometimes its mentoring programs and knowledge repositories that preserve office know-how. The emergence of cloud has helped dramatically, as resources can be stored online (nowadays if it’s not digital, it’s likely lost).

But simple business continuity is not enough these days. To seriously guard against the risks of brain drain, it’s often best for companies to jump in the deep end and replace legacy systems altogether.

Modernise, Scale and Future-Proof with No-Code

No-code tools can replace ossified, ungoverned legacy systems and set businesses for up continuous, sustainable improvement. They eliminate brain-drain in three important steps:

1. Modernise

   Replacing legacy applications feels like hard work but it need not be. The training overhead for learning how to configure and deploy apps on Softools’ no-code platform is low. A week’s worth of training will enable the type of person who can create a spreadsheet process to create and deploy applications.

   Another benefit is interoperability with core ERP, CRM and BI solutions. This can enable new opportunities for aligning business processes across the enterprise resulting in efficiencies and greater insights. This not only modernises the IT network, but dramatically simplifies it. A patchwork of technologies has different coding languages, data structures and most importantly, different system owners whose knowledge can wash away in the brain-drain. A platform like Softools modernises, standardises and centralises key institutional IT knowledge.

    

2. Scale

   Scalability enables a cross-company digital infrastructure. Softools is both size-scalable – apps can be increased from 1 to 1000 apps – and administratively scalable – an increasing number of business units and users can access the single platform without increasing the administrative overhead. By digitally enabling a wide range of processes and serving all business verticals, Softools delivers an important by-product: exponentially increasing the number of IT stewards and system experts. This IT model is not over-reliant on a single employee and builds cross-enterprise capability.

    

3. Future-Proof

   With innovation happening at warp speed, software life cycles are shorter and shorter, so obsolescence is closer than it appears. No-code on the cloud gets you up-to-date and keeps you there. Solutions built on Softools are future-proofed through connection with emerging tech. The platform utilises the MS Azure services - including Analytics and Cognitive Services making it possible to build advanced IOT / Ind4.0 solutions with virtually no code.

Get proactive

Recently, a client inquired about replacing their long-time information management system with Softools. They had generic concerns like system speed and risks of data loss. Above all else though, the system had zero program support – the original software creator had left the company. It’s a common problem today that can be easily averted. Get in touch for more information info@softools.net

Address IT brain drain with No-Code — Softools