low code | VSoft archITekt

Data migration in 4 minutes and 30 seconds with the VSoft archITekt platform

Today, IT companies do not exist without specialised tools. These can be commercial solutions, open source, as well as those created internally. At VSoft, when creating systems for our customers, we rely on the internal low-code platform VSoft archITekt. This helps us to implement solutions faster, in a more flexible and optimal way. Over these 26 years, we have created dozens of systems for a variety of industries. A major success is that we create many of them together with our customers. We have developed procedures for working on projects simultaneously, so that such cooperation accelerates the intellectual and business growth of both teams. When executing dedicated projects, we practically always have to deal with data migration. It takes place once or iteratively several times - depending on the type, quantity and quality of the data. This time it was not easy, we migrated several thousand insurance policies from the old system to our VSoft Insurance Platform. The data to b...

Unusual logistics processes in a manufacturing company – how to deal with them?

Unusual logistics processes have long been a challenge for companies whose business model is to make short batches of bespoke products. Until now, most companies have had to manually handle every step of the process. Rapidly developing technology and low-code platforms, which are gaining in popularity, come to the rescue in such cases. They provide the possibility to create applications tailored to the individual needs of a manufacturing company and map the actual processes occurring in logistics. Thanks to their use, order processing can be performed considerably faster and more efficiently. Which logistics processes may be challenging? The main task of logistics in a manufacturing company is to optimally manage the flow of raw and semi-finished materials and the resulting final products to be delivered to the customer. This involves a number of various stages, such as the organisation of procurement, warehousing, distribution of goods and handling of returns. All of this requires extremely careful plann...

How can low-code help a manufacturing company?

Regardless of what area a manufacturing company operates in - almost all seem to face similar challenges. Whether it's the food industry, heavy machinery manufacturing or perhaps a pharmaceutical company - evolving systems, computerisation and process automation affect the way a business operates. To keep up with the technologically developing world, you might need to hire a professional and constantly learning, and preferably a large team of IT specialists. Manufacturing companies rarely have a vast pool of such specialists, they are usually individuals. Fortunately, today's low-code solutions offer assistance that proves almost invaluable given the high demand for IT workers and relatively low supply of them. What is low-code? Using a low-code development platform (LCDP) consists in replacing traditional programming by a manually typed code with the possibility of applying tools that are mostly (but not entirely!) available in a graphical form and allow for software development by the ...

Low-code: does performance matter?

"Begin with the end in mind" that’s the second one of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. Does it apply when implementing a low-code platform? In my opinion, yes, and very much so. I have recently had a talk with a potential customer who is having problems with a system based on low-code. The very construction and implementation of the system took place without any problems, but over time it turned out that the platform used is completely not adapted to the size of the business and is not able to support the required amount of data (although from the perspective of "traditional" systems, these volumes are nothing extraordinary). Unfortunately, this pattern is repeated relatively often. There are many manufacturers of low-code platforms who have focused only on the fancy user interface and the speed of building small applications. However, they often lack experience or an idea how to approach more complex systems that appear in large organizations. They promise nirvana and u...

VSoft archITekt now available in the cloud

Our clients, in particular financial institutions, pay special attention to data security. For this reason, until recently, most of them preferred to store data on their own servers. Therefore, VSoft archITekt was used primarily in the on-premises model. In recent years however, the perception of data storage has gradually changed. Companies not wanting to deal with maintaining their own servers are increasingly choosing to use cloud services. To meet these needs, we have provided a service that allows you to run applications built on our platform in the cloud. Thanks to Microsoft Azure, it is possible to meet the highest standards in terms of availability and security. Companies already having an Azure subscription, can now purchase archITekt from Azure Marketplace just like any other service. Users can conveniently install and run applications in the cloud, directly from archITekt Studio. Our partners and clients appreciate flexibility, therefore archITekt is still available free of char...

archITekt – Generating documents in investment advisory

After publication of my last post, "How to Create a Mail Merge System in 5 Easy Steps", I received a lot of feedback from users of our platform. It turned out that I focused on how to build a complete application, but I passed over the extensive capabilities of the Document Generation Module itself. In the following paragraphs I will try to make up for it by using an example of an advisory and sales process for investment products. A day in the life of an advisor Imagine an investment advisor. She acts like a broker in the sale of various types of financial products and at the same time advises clients on their choice. As it is with bigger amounts and long-term obligations, each of her proposals must be delivered in the form of the written offer. In addition to typical elements (customer data, investment size, security), such a document contains descriptions of the proposed products and specification of all options selected by the customer. It also depicts a simulation of costs and reven...

How to create a system for mail merge in 5 simple steps

The need to generate and send personalized documents or otherwise, mail merge is still very common in many companies. It is used in communication with clients or partners. Formerly, printed and sent by post, now the same documents are sent to customers by e-mail. There are many business cases here: invoices, settlements, various types of letters and contracts. Companies deal with this challenge in two different ways: In large organizations, IT team implements specialized modules which, after integration with other systems, generate documents on demand. Unfortunately, these modules are often very "technical": integration requires programming work and document templates must be prepared, for example, in the form of XSLT transforms (sic!). More often, however, companies use simple mechanisms such as mail merge available in MS Office or simply fill out documents by hand. Still, the lack of automation makes this process tedious and prone to human error. Is there a ...

How to choose the right low-code platform?

A low-code tool can bring revolution to IT landscape of your company. It can boost development and prototyping of business applications if you suffer from lack of experienced programmers. In my personal opinion, it has tremendous value and you should at least consider it. But decision to use low-code is just the first step. There are many platforms available, and they differ from each other. To choose the one that is right for your needs, you need to answer yourself several questions. In the following article I’ll try to ask such questions and suggest possible answers. What exactly are your business needs? As many other things in IT, low-code is just a tool. It’s pointless to implement low-code just to “implement cool low-code”. Such approach may solve some of your challenges by accident, but at the same time it may generate many problems. To avoid that, firstly, you need to realize your business needs and determine deeper purpose for the tools you are going to implement. Here are sev...

What is the difference between low-code and no-code?

The term “low-code” is not new. It has been coined by Forrester in 2014 to classify “development platforms that focused on development simplicity and ease of use. These platforms allowed developers and users of all skill levels to code applications, without having the outright need to know coding.” The trend caught on like wildfire. But in the meantime - frankly, I could not determine when exactly – the “no-code” term appeared. And it caused lot of confusion to determine what is what. In the following paragraphs I’ll try to show my point of view and clear it up. The low-code / no-code definition The trick is that at the first glance both terms seem to be self-explanatory. And many sources just define them as: Low-code – platforms that speed up development by allowing to build rough applications graphically for further customization. They limit demand for coding, but still require such to build final product. No-code – platforms that allow to buil...

What is the role of low-code in an organization

There are some producers of low code platforms promising that with their tool you can build almost everything in nearly every situation. That’s an overpromise. And it’s toxic. I spoke to many CIO’s who had believed in such a message and were disappointed by reality they experienced afterwards. My experience is that low code is not going to flood the entire IT market. It has its own role, hand in hand with bespoke software and out-of-the-box products. Large organizations Formerly, there was a golden rule for the IT landscape of large organizations to implement fully tailored solutions to support core business and to rely on out-of-the-box products in all areas of support. In effect, an organization could fully invest in custom development within the area that would differentiate it from the competition and bring the greatest added value. At the same time the company benefited from more affordable prices and business knowledge embedded in out-of-the-box products. Sounds perfect, ...

Tag: low code