Creating SARA: An Interview with ERP-One's Lead Developer
As a verified seller of Nextworld, we quickly saw the potential to create something on the Nextbot platform to leverage its power and to know what it’s like working in the software. The result? Our team created SARA, a security application. To share our experience, we interviewed Priscila, the lead developer with ERP-One. This is her experience.
1) Describe SARA, the application that your team recently built on Nextworld.
SARA (Security And Risk Advisor) was developed in Nextworld’s ERP system to enhance Nextworld’s security architecture capabilities. SARA is a powerful security application that was built with the purpose of ensuring that the information of an organization stored in the ERP system is being managed by the right users.SARA allows a company to track and have control of its users, roles, and permissions to sensitive information within Nextworld. It also helps managers, security admins, and auditors to make decisions and take the appropriate actions if there is any vulnerability that puts the business of the company at risk.
2) Nextbot is Nextworld’s no-code platform. No-code differs from traditional application development platforms or tools. Can you compare the effort and timeline of SARA to other, more traditional applications that you have developed in the past?
Each development tool, either no-code or traditional coding application, is unique and different in many ways. But at the end of developing a system, it will solve a business need. The effort and timeline may also vary according to the specific customers needs and complexity of the solution.
However, developing SARA in Nextbot has been much easier than if I developed the same project in a traditional coding application, simply because anything I needed to know to develop the desired application was available in the Nextworld platform. Nextworld offers a whole list of concepts and directions on how to use the different tools required, including built-in “templates” to start building a functional application without the worry of programming raw code.
Traditional applications that I have developed in the past, required more time and effort to develop both the front-end (user interfaces, forms, and/or reports) and the back-end (coding), understanding that both sides must interact together in order to make the application work.
3) How did the Agile methodology contribute to the success of developing the solution? What are the major differences in skillset required?
The application of the guidelines of the Agile methodology had an important role in the software development of SARA. Agile allowed us to set a clear goal of how to develop the solution and to have close communication with the team during all stages of the development phase, starting as early as its initiation.Agile also permitted us to have a better understanding of the users’ needs and wants, and to focus all efforts within a collaborative environment to achieve the delivery of a functional product that complies with their requirements, with greater quality within time and validated specifications as promised.
4) What do you see as the main challenges and benefits that no-code presents to businesses?
In most cases, challenges can be present throughout the development of software regardless of the tool selected. If we do not have a clear understanding of the user’s needs, then the vision, goal, and scope of the project will negatively impact the project timeline and costs.Challenges also can appear when the no-code platform has poor documentation or when the person creating different applications on the no-code platform has limited training or technical knowledge, lacks basic understanding of programming and/or basic foundations in relational databases. It may be challenging to understand how a database or data model works in conjunction with different applications. Therefore, proper training, along with a minimum level of experience and full documentation of no-code is highly required.Choosing a no-code platform can be challenging, as the company needs to assure that the no-code platform covers the business needs and processes and is the adequate fit for simple and complex applications that a company wants to develop.As for benefits, no-code platforms represent a practical way to develop software, because it offers user friendly and intuitive interfaces without the necessity of programming extensive code that can be frustrating at a certain point.The processing time of any business process implemented in a specific software can be less than using traditional solutions.All type of users such as business users, developers, auditors, among others, can track and optimize their business processes, customize their applications and reports in just a few steps using drag and drop, point and click configuration, among other capabilities and functionalities.In general, an appropriate no-code platform helps to optimize costs, time, and efforts, to develop a solution and move forward to plan more business applications.
5) How can businesses take advantage of the Nextbot platform to develop their own tools?
The world is changing constantly and the way of doing software and businesses as well. Companies need solution technologies that help their businesses with high efficiency and efficacy. That is why Nextbot, a robust platform within Nextworld ERP System, offers intuitive and practical tools dedicated to deliver the best experience to any type of users, when building and customizing applications.With this powerful platform, companies have the advantage of automating manual processes and workflows. It helps to maintain and keep control over the data, reducing time and completing jobs within the system.Nextbot no-code platform has the capability of developing everything in one tool instead of having to acquire multiple tools.Business users or internal/external stakeholders can use the tools offered by this platform without having specialized development skills.
6) What are your most important take-aways from this project? What did you learn that you’ll be able to apply to future development projects?
Well-managed communication is always critical when working on effective solutions to customer needs. As part of the development team, I am greatly satisfied to say that the best resource that a high-quality project can have is a collaborative team like the one we have at ERP-One and with our solution partner Nextworld.There are always new assets to acquire to improve our know-how. There are endless opportunities to keep improving and enriching our system as how to respond to end users’ requirements with more precision and agility, while recording all lessons learned including flaws and strengths along the project life cycle.
To find out how SARA can benefit you and your business CONTACT US or READ MORE.
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