The ability to quickly change workflows without input from IT staff could make low and no-code programming a powerful procurement tool.

Procurement teams are operating in a landscape defined by rising costs and increasingly common disruption. In this climate, CPOs are still facing pressure to not only contain cost, but unlock the strategic potential of their procurement departments

Increasingly short-staffed procurement teams need to find a way to provide their organisations with the resilience and agility needed to thrive in the current market. Procurement professionals need to be able to see more of their value chains than ever before. Not only that, but they need to be able to act on that visibility, and act quickly. 

One tool emerging as a potential solution is low code (or no-code) programming.  

Breaking free of the IT department with low and no-code 

In a recent survey, an overwhelming percentage of experts (97%) said that putting the ability to build or adjust workflows in the hands of non-technical end users would have a positive effect on their efforts to modernise the supply chain and procurement process. 

Conducted by GEP, the survey and subsequent report found that low and no-code development allowed organisations to “integrate citizen developers who drive change in a cost-effective and agile way,” into their efforts to digitally transform procurement. 

Low-code and no-code development has gained significant momentum recently. While the trend was gathering momentum already, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption. The strategy is crucial across multiple industries, as it allows individuals with domain expertise but no software engineering background to enhance business agility. 

Low-code and no-code solutions allow procurement professionals without coding or UX design skills to build a platform that can collect quotations from vendors and suppliers, compare offers, seek internal approvals, and award purchase orders based on customisable metrics. 

“Low code does not aim to replace traditional coding,” GEP’s report stresses. However it can leverage the expertise of “a broader range of people.” As a result, procurement organisations can “adapt and iterate quickly in response to external changes and competitive demands.” 

Low-code and no-code solutions are becoming increasingly popular. The global market for no-code development platforms was worth approximately $12 billion in 2020. Thanks in part to the pandemic, the market is forecast to grow to around $65 billion by 2027.

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