Recently we spoke with CreditExpo about MA!N as a low code platform for credit management. You read the interview in this blog.
CreditExpo interview
CE-iT develops credit management software since 2003. These days customers use their software MA!N in 75 countries and recently they launched MA!N Low Code as a separate solution. We talked to Wim Postma, product manager at CE-iT, about this launch and what benefits low code credit management software offer.
For starting: What is low code?
Low code lowers the threshold for developing software. You use a platform that provides the fundamentals and add new functions to it with visual components or own code. Both are relatively simple, because the underlying platform covers the real complexity.
“Compared to traditional software development, you can develop faster and cheaper with low code.”, says Wim. “And that’s important, because software increasingly determines how an organization distinguishes itself. Moreover, you want to be able to respond quickly to changes. Low code software makes this possible. We have customers who develop solutions with MA!N within 3 months, where it previously took them a year or more. “
How does credit management benefit from low code?
Low code offers flexibility and provides credit management software that fits like a tailored suit.
For most our customers, “one-size-fits-all” doesn’t fit. There’s always something that works slightly differently than somewhere else. This can be something common as calculating a DSO. Or a customer wants payment plans for future sales, such as our customer Agro-Energy.
There are customers that are more than happy with out-of-the-box software. But what if something changes? There’s new legislation, new payment methods or an acquisition. Do you wait for the software supplier to support this in the default? Or do you switch to custom made software? With the first you have no control and you have to wait. With the second, the costs are high and you often have problems with future updates of the software.
With MA!N Low Code, you take control. You implement new legislation within a few days to a few weeks. More important: you decide how. We saw the advantages of this with the introduction of the Collection Costs Act in the Netherlands. The law seemed unambiguous, but many customers implemented it differently. They aligned the law, within the framework of that law, with their own policy. With 100% standard software you depend on the explanation of the vendor and with low code your vision is leading.
In the case of AgroEnergy, the upfront payment plans were set up in 2015. This was a one-time effort that has benefited them to this day. It allows them to accept and manage high-risk customers with little effort. Our low code credit management solution has a direct positive effect to the company results.
That flexibility sounds great, but how does it work?
It starts with a focus on flexibility and convenience. The MA!N configuration must be accessible for different types of users. That’s why that configuration has been split into two layers. The first is part of the user interface. Here you set the settings for an action type with check marks. Most credit management software has this feature. Anyone with the right permissions can do with this, because it’s simple. You can easily overcome the most common options in this layer. If you want to go beyond the standard, this layer isn’t sufficient and you end up with the second layer.
In the second layer you mainly use SQL and XML. You add additional settings to the database with your own code. In this way, you can set up new windows or a score model based on different data sources and much more. If you want, you can build completely new software here. Like the web portals we build at CE-iT.
Every customer has access to both layers and can get started without the help of CE-iT. Although we understand that this is not feasible for everyone. For example, due to the lack of employees with the right expertise or the lack of time. Those customers often rely on CE-iT and we also help at the start too.
Standard updates and yet customized software
With MA!N Low Code we blur the lines between standard software, low code software and 100% custom software.It offers many standard credit management functions. Think of collection profiles and payment plans and with the low code part we go beyond the default. You get customization without the disadvantages of it. Each customer can update to the latest version of the software today, without our help. No matter the level of customization.
Why launching low code credit management software now?
To be fair, CE-iT has been offering low code software for a long time, but we didn’t call it low code. However, customers saw the options it offered. They saw the flexibility. This has always been an important reason for many organizations to choose our software.
By positioning MA!N Low Code as a separate product it becomes more visible.
Which companies benefit from low code credit management software?
“I think almost every organization. Many people do tasks a certain way due to technical limitations. It takes them more time or results are of lower quality.
For example, we have a customer for whom the approval of credit limits was cumbersome. People didn’t want to use another application and it required a lot of manual work. That customer therefore shifted the approval process to Outlook using MA!N as a background engine. People never see anything from MA!N and many of them don’t even know it exists. They approve or reject a credit limit in Outlook. MA!N retrieves this in the background and takes care of the underlying workflow.
I think low code credit management software is interesting for many organizations. Even if you use the standard for 97%, the remaining 3% can make a big difference. If someone is unsure about the added value of low code, they can contact me. Usually I can tell within five minutes whether low code is interesting for them or not.”
Read more about our low code credit management software.