Low Code Research

Date: 2025–2026
Lead: Linh Nguyen

Developer and User Requirements

Objectives

Requirements

Requirement User Story Category Poll Importance Notes
Accessibility that meets W3C federal requirements Refer to the UCI Accessibility site UI Must Have
Be able to collect form data in a robust/flexible manner A form to request new equipment UI Must Have
Validate/Verify Data Validate the employee ID number; Form input validation to prevent SQL injection; Validat against an external datasource; Lookup information UI + Interoperability Must Have
Workflow (routing tasks to another person) Users would like to delegate a task to another user Workflow Nice to have
Send Notifications Email notification sent out when a certain action is completed Workflow Must Have
Data Protection Sensitive data can be stored, and meets P3/P4 Compliance Security Should have For P3/P4, make sure the system is going through the OIT Security Risk Assessment if it is a cloud solution.
Authentication Required UCInetID to login (Shibboleth, Single Sign On) Security Must Have
Authorization Required KSAMs integration Security Interoperability Nice to have
Access Control Allow certain groups or users specific access (permissions) Security Must Have
Internationalization Allow for forms to be in different languages UI Should Have
Integrates with Payment Processing Paying for a UCI event or promotion; Integrate with TouchNet Interoperability Must Have
Simplification of Upgrading and Maintenance 1- highly complicated, 2 - moderate, 3 - easy with less vendor support Development Should Have
Backward Compatibility Development Should Have
Upload Documents and Files Workflow Must Have
Report Generation Allow users to quickly generate a report Reporting Nice to have
Application Version Control Allow developers to roll back to the previous version. Development Nice to have
Document Version Control Development Nice to have
Deployment Control Development Must Have
Interoperability DocuSign, FileNet, TouchNet, etc.; Predefined modules, plugins, connectors Interoperability Must Have
Integrate with Web APIs Ability to consume external web APIs Interoperability Must Have
Testing Tools Allow developers to have a console for debugging purposes. Development Should Have
Low Learning Curve Development Must Have
Multiple Environments (e.g., dev., stage, and prod.) A vendor won’t charge an additional fee for dev or stage environment. Development Nice to have
Custom Code Ability to create a custom field Development Must Have
Responsive (mobile) Friendly UI Should Have
Data Retention Control Security Nice to Have
Branding (look and feel) UI Nice to Have
Data Modeling and Integrations Connect to External Database Interoperability Must Have
User Interface Customization UI Should Have
Logging Provide a powerful logging framework, configurable for different levels (trace, debug, error, etc.). Reporting Must Have
Individual Workspace Ability to log in to an individual workspace as opposed to a shared server environment Development Should Have

Candidate Platforms and Systems

This exploration focused on two candidates: Microsoft Power Apps and ServiceNow

License Cost

Training Sites

Support Functionalities and Features

Requirement User Story Power Apps Features ServiceNow Features
Accessibility that meets W3C federal requirements Refer to the UCI Accessibility site Power Apps and Power Pages are designed with accessibility in mind, helping developers build applications and websites that comply with W3C standards. Control property item called AccessibleLabel for Text Inputs, Drop Downs, but not sure about all controls.
Be able to collect form data in a robust/flexible manner A form to request new equipment Power Apps is built for this. You can create custom forms to collect data, which is then stored securely in Microsoft Dataverse or other data sources like SharePoint Online. Easily create forms with many different input controls including, date input, rich text editors - attach files
Validate/Verify Data Validate the employee ID number; Form input validation to prevent SQL injection; Validate against an external datasource; Lookup information Power Apps and Power Automate both have built-in capabilities for data validation and verification. You can use formulas in Power Apps and conditional logic in Power Automate flows to ensure data integrity. Use validation functions to validate data submitted to the database.
Workflow (routing tasks to another person) Users would like to delegate a task to another user This is a core function of Power Automate. It’s designed to automate business processes, including routing tasks, approvals, and other workflows between people and systems. Flow is excellent workflow tool. Run tasks on a schedule, button, or email.
Send Notifications Email notification sent out when a certain action is completed Power Automate can send notifications through various channels, including email (via Office 365 Outlook connector), Teams messages, and push notifications to mobile devices. Email notifications can be defined and sent in code or as a step in a workflow (Flow).
Data Protection Sensitive data can be stored, and meets P3/P4 compliance. For P3/P4, make sure the system is going through the OIT Security Risk Assessment if it is a cloud solution. Data in the Power Platform is protected through Microsoft Dataverse and Azure security features. Data is encrypted both at rest and in transit. Azure database automatic backup - entities, access control
Authentication Required UCInetID to login (Shibboleth, Single Sign On) The Power Platform uses Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) for authentication, which provides a secure and centralized method for user sign-in. Login AD required, growing pains access controls
Authorization Required KSAMs integration Microsoft Dataverse provides robust authorization controls through role-based security, which can be configured to grant granular access to data and functionalities. KSAMs, home grown solution
Access Control Allow certain groups or users specific access (permissions) Access to apps and data is managed at multiple levels. Power Apps can control who can access an app, while Microsoft Dataverse security roles and business units control who can access specific data within the app. What permission that users can have in the system
Internationalization Allow for forms to be in different languages Power Apps and other components support multiple languages and regional settings, allowing for the creation of applications that can be used globally. For global applications Power Apps can properly write out dates, times, currencies, and numbers based on language.
Integrates with Payment Processing Paying for a UCI event or promotion; Integrate with TouchNet Power Apps could in theory redirect users to a payment processing service. Once an order is processed, we can get a response to allow the user to proceed; however, that might not be the best option for handling internal recharges. SharePoint Online and Dataverse can be used to store KFS account numbers and identify the fiscal officer for each account. Power Apps and Power Automate Approvals can be used to get approvals from the fiscal officer, who can approve, change, or reject orders which woudl then be processed using KFS Service Billing, which is outside of the Power Platform, to process monthly recharges after receiving approvals from the fiscal officers. Not sure how hard it would be to integrate, but can be done a with third party connector.
Simplification of Upgrading and Maintenance 1- highly complicated, 2 - moderate, 3 - easy with less vendor support Microsoft manages the underlying platform, so updates and maintenance are handled automatically. This is a key benefit of the cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) model. Since this tool is online upgrades and maintenance are done automatically.
Backward Compatibility Power Automate and other components are designed to maintain backward compatibility, ensuring that flows and apps created in older versions continue to function with new updates.
Upload Documents and Files Power Apps can be used to upload documents and files, which are then typically stored in SharePoint Online or Microsoft Dataverse. Power Automate can automate the process of moving and processing these files. Documents can be easily uploaded with exception to binary files, which need an extra step to save.
Report Generation Allow users to quickly generate a report Power BI is the primary tool for this. It can connect to data from the Power Platform and other sources to create advanced reports and dashboards. Power Apps has a Report Wizard, which will step users through creating a report based on a select statement: columns, where, group by, etc… - Power BI CDS
Application Version Control Allow developers to roll back to the previous version. Power Platform’s Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) capabilities, including pipelines and solutions, allow for comprehensive version control and source control integration with tools like GitHub or Azure DevOps. Power Apps keeps a list of saved versions of your application from which you can publish a selected version.
Deployment Control Power Platform pipelines provide a streamlined way to manage deployments across different environments (dev, test, prod). This is a feature within the Power Platform’s ALM. Power Apps provides a list of saved versions from which you can publish a selected version
Interoperability DocuSign, FileNet, TouchNet, etc.; Predefined modules, plugins, connectors The Power Platform has extensive interoperability. Power Automate and Power Apps can connect to hundreds of different services and APIs through built-in and custom connectors. OData web API, Azure SQL and Blob services, DocuSign
Integrate with Web APIs Ability to consume external web APIs This is done primarily through Power Automate and Power Apps by using custom connectors to interact with various web APIs. Ability to consume external web APIs
Testing Tools Allow developers to have a console for debugging purposes. The platform includes a variety of testing tools. For instance, Power Apps Test Studio and Power Automate’s flow checker can be used to test applications and workflows. Has a built in Testing page with a Record button in a experimental state
Low Learning Curve The Power Platform is a low-code/no-code environment. This is a core design principle, making it easier for non-developers and citizen developers to build and use applications. With technical knowledge your average programmer can learn how to build an application with in a few weeks. Functional users not suitable
Multiple Environments (e.g., dev., stage, and prod.) A vendor won’t charge an additional fee for dev or stage environment. The Power Platform Admin Center allows for the creation and management of different environments to support a full application lifecycle. Has a Publish button, which can be used after the application version is fully tested. Sandbox,
Custom Code Ability to create a custom field Power Apps supports custom code through the Power Apps Component Framework (PCF) to create professional, code-based components that can be used in low-code apps. Power Apps applications are event driven where you can add code to each event. The code is easily understandable, but a little verbose.
Responsive (mobile) Friendly Power Apps canvas apps can be built with responsive design in mind, while model-driven apps and Power Pages are inherently responsive for mobile devices. Depending on the type of applications are or not responsive: not: canvas, portal is
Data Retention Control Microsoft Dataverse and Microsoft 365 provide options for data retention policies to ensure compliance and data management. Collections retain there state through out the lifetime of the running of the application.
Branding (look and feel) Power Apps allows for significant UI customization, including branding, themes, and overall look and feel. Power Pages has a design studio specifically for this purpose. This can be achieved by selecting one of many theme color combinations from a drop down or templates
Data Modeling and Integrations Connect to External Database Microsoft Dataverse is the main tool for data modeling within the Power Platform. It allows you to create a robust and interconnected data structure. Integration of over a hundred of connectors databases, Google and One Drive, Office, Google Docs, Outlook, Gmail, Trello, Slack, DocuSign, WordPress and ServiceNow.
User Interface Customization Power Apps and Power Pages offer extensive user interface customization to build tailored experiences for users. UI customization is a strong point of Power Apps. Controls can be placed on the page via drag and drop, customized by changing a myriad of properties.
Logging Provide a powerful logging framework, configurable for different levels (trace, debug, error, etc.). The Power Platform Admin Center provides logging and monitoring capabilities to track application usage, performance, and user activity. Power Apps automatically monitors the health of the application and Flow will monitor and email any errors that occur within the workflow.
Individual Workspace Ability to log in to an individual workspace as opposed to a shared server environment Users can have personalized workspaces within different Power Platform components, such as a “My apps” list in Power Apps or individual dashboards in Power BI. Sandbox each other