3 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Business Using Codeless

Introduction

We’ve all heard talk of a looming recession, even if top economists disagree on when it will start, how long it will last, how severe it will be, or even how to define a recession at all. One top Wall Street prognosticator even questions whether we’re going to have a significant downturn, at least in 2022. 

There’s one thing we can probably all agree on, though. Businesses have to find a way to navigate through very uncertain waters (again). 

If there’s anything we’ve learned in the last two years, it’s the importance of adaptability. Change is inevitable, so the ability to pivot and be flexible is key to surviving any recession.”

—US Chamber of Commerce 

In the past, business people would say they had to “brace” themselves for the downturn and “batten down the hatches.” In the wake of COVID’s global disruptions, businesses are embracing a very different strategy.  “If there’s anything we’ve learned in the last two years, it’s the importance of adaptability,” argues the US Chamber of Commerce. “Change is inevitable, so the ability to pivot and be flexible is key to surviving any recession.” 

Sure, decision-makers may need to control costs with more rigor. But they’re also looking for ways to remain flexible and adaptable, and open to opportunities that they haven’t even considered yet. Digitization and automation of business processes—both internal and customer-facing—are obvious places to start, both to streamline operating costs and to rapidly bring customer offerings to market amid changing economic conditions.  

Too often, today’s “more efficient” development tools can take you a long way, but it’s that last few miles of customization that can consume so much precious time and resources—and that becomes a harder burden to carry in a lean economy. Fortunately, there is a new development paradigm that addresses exactly these challenges. 

The codeless difference

Low-code and no-code platforms have helped address the slowing of development that happened in the 2010s, as ecosystems became increasingly complex. However, a 100% Codeless Architecture goes the next step. 

Pioneered by Unqork, codeless enables developers (we called them Creators) to quickly and seamlessly connect front-end elements, back-end processes, and third-party integrations, thanks to an extensive library of pre-built APIs. In other words, you can quickly put your entire ecosystem—legacy systems, data sources, third-party systems, best-of-breed services—behind a single pane of glass and make development entirely visual and composable, all with zero changes to underlying systems.

Not only does codeless accelerate development, but also the speed at which the business itself can grasp and act on innovative ideas. That unleashes organizations to truly explore the art of the possible.”

—Harvinder Bhatia & Raj Konduru, partners at KPMG

“This intuitive interface allows business users to be easily trained on the Unqork platform and build their own applications under proper testing and design guidance,” says Brett Krasner, Principal Digital Engineering Consultant at Capco. 

The result? You can: 

• Quickly address the barriers currently keeping you from building the solutions your business needs today
• Build a proof-of-concept in days
• Get a new solution to market in a matter of weeks. 
• Spend less, deliver more, and focus talent on high-value activities.

And that’s a good place to be, no matter how the economy is performing. 

“Not only does codeless accelerate development, but also the speed at which the business itself can grasp and act on innovative ideas. That unleashes organizations to truly explore the art of the possible,” explain Harvinder Bhatia and Raj Kondur, in a recent piece on Medium.

3 ways to recession-proof your business codelessly

Here are three strategic ways businesses can leverage codeless development to meet the challenges of an economic downturn and create a solid foundation for expansion. 

1. Unlock the value of the tech investments you’ve already made 

When recession looms, businesses tend to cut back on technology spending, and 2022 is no different. The good news is, that doesn’t have to mean the end of ambitious innovation.

In the past, adding digital features often required costly and time-consuming development of custom integrations to backend applications and data sources. Even for so-called packaged solutions, upgrades has often required ripping and replacing existing systems—an inherently risky prospect. If you are like most businesses, you have already bought and paid for technologies that are still sitting on the shelf, or that have capabilities that you have never been able to use. In fact, it is estimated that 29% of SaaS spending is wasted. 

Unqork’s codeless platform can help you unlock the value of current investments by connecting them quickly, enabling you to integrate and manage them via a single pane of glass. That means you can use these systems in creative new ways, all without ripping and replacing any existing legacy systems—or investing in new ones. 

“We tell our [codeless] clients, they can ‘freeze-and-wrap’ their infrastructure,” say KPMG’s Bhatia and Konduru. In other words, they can build modern experiences without having to constantly update, replace, or laboriously integrate individual components. 

2. Accelerate delivery of sophisticated self-service functionality 

At a time when consumers and businesses are looking for ways to cut back on spending, poor service experiences provide the perfect excuse. Self-service might have begun as a way to lower costs, even when at the cost of lower customer satisfaction. But as self-service becomes more sophisticated, customers are coming to love it when done right, according to a recent ZenDesk report. 

Besides driving enhancing customer satisfaction, a 2022 McKinsey report found that self-service, done right, is the biggest single driver of reduced call center volume—especially valuable at a time when call-center talent is getting harder to find. 

One global institutional manager used Unqork to build an investor-facing portal in just 24 weeks and realized +$1 million in savings.

With a codeless platform like Unqork’s, you can build remarkably sophisticated self-service experiences. For example, wealth management firms are using self-service onboarding solutions that support highly automated workflows across complex account creation, product selection, and product origination processes. One global institutional manager used Unqork to build an investor-facing portal in just 24 weeks and realized +$1 million in savings.

“Unqork’s faster. It’s cheaper,” says Tyler Danielson, CTO, FOXO Technologies. “And even for complicated systems found in insurance or banking, it’s everything that you could possibly imagine, but were never able to get before.” 

3. Quickly digitize and automate complex backend processes

Manual administrative and other backend processes are expensive, and when they slow your ability to serve customers and prospects, you risk losing them to competitors. We know you know this. And maybe your organization is still manually managing critical workflows, because you assumed it would be too expensive, or just plain impossible, to automate them.  After all, just a few years ago, McKinsey reported that 70% of digital transformation initiatives failed to meet their stated goals

With the advent of codeless, it’s time to reconsider that assumption. 

When you develop codelessly, backend automation becomes far faster, easier, more affordable, and more flexible, even for complex business processes involving disparate legacy and third-party systems. You can rapidly connect applications, databases, and workflows in a completely secure and compliant manner. And business logic modules are built to scale process automation, best practices, and API-based integrations. 

Best of all, that power to innovate only gains momentum, because the components you create are also extremely easy to reuse. With our platform, you can also access the Unqork Marketplace, which offers an extensive library of reusable software snippets and pre-built integrations. You can easily stack dozens of these tested and verified components together to create a fully functional application without coding a single individual component—or the tissue that connects them. 

These productivity progressive gains are one reason why Unqork Creators produced on average the equivalent of 44,000 lines of code (44 KLOCs) in the second quarter of 2022, versus only 35,000 in Q1—a 25% increase in a single quarter! 

Codeless case studies

Rapidly develop innovative wealth management products

Broadridge Financial Solutions’ VP of Wealth Product Innovation Joseph Lo discusses how Unqork’s codeless platform enabled his company to build a secure, robust private market hub from the ground up at unprecedented speed.

“Unqork allows me to take my ideas and what we are hearing from our clients and bring them to life,” says Lo. 

Creating high-quality, quick-to-market software with codeless

FOXO Technologies’ Tyler Danielson (CTO) and Taylor Fay (Director of Product Management) discuss a complex re-insurance administration solution built at speed on Unqork’s codeless platform. 

“It’s faster, it’s cheaper. And even for complicated systems found in insurance or banking, it’s everything that you could possibly imagine, but were never able to get before,” says Danielson. 

Codeless Resources

Academy & Community Hub

With Unqork Academy, Creators can master no-code in no time with robust guided curriculums, certification assessments, courses, and resources. The Unqork Community Hub is an active, self-sustaining community of Creators for continued support, education, and feedback. 

Unqork Marketplace

Using the Unqork Marketplace, users can easily surface and integrate enterprise-grade pre-built snippets, templates, integrations, and accelerators designed by industry experts, Unqork technology partners, and fellow Creators to further expedite your application development.

Implementation Partners

If you need to get up and running right away, assistance is available. Accelerate the delivery of your solutions by partnering with Unqork Digital, Unqork’s own professional services team, or one of our Certified Implementation Partners with deep industry and Unqork expertise. 

Integration Ecosystem

Take advantage of Unqork’s expanding partner ecosystem and easily integrate specialized third-party functionality into your applications. Unqork’s API functionality empowers Creators to seamlessly add new external services to existing workflows and business processes.