Slides from my talk at CraftConf Budapest in May 2023 about how developers can embrace and shape low code applications in their organizations to help the business automate more

1. Surviving the
hyperautomation
low code bubble
@berndruecker

2. We need to speed up
our bank account
opening.
@berndruecker

3. @berndruecker

4. @berndruecker

5. 1. A broken end-to-end
automation
Local automations are
not integrated with one
another, the end-to-end
process is not fully
automated.
Lack of understanding
The end-to-end process
is not fully visible
and key metrics are
hard to track.
2. Lack of flexibility
Changing the end-to-end
process is difficult
since it leads to
potential changes in
many different systems.
3.
@berndruecker

6. @berndruecker

7. @berndruecker

8. @berndruecker

9. bernd.ruecker@camunda.com
@berndruecker
http://berndruecker.io/
Bernd Ruecker
Co-founder and
Chief Technologist of
Camunda

10. Pro code
approach
Hook in process
orchestration into
professional software
development.
“Developer friendly”
@berndruecker

11. Example
@berndruecker

12. @berndruecker

13. Runs anywhere
Supports any
programming language
Available as a SaaS service
Manage it yourself (in your own
cloud, your datacenter, your
laptop)
Clients for Java, C#,
NodeJS, Go, … available
Natively integrates into
your stack
@berndruecker

17. We need to speed up
our bank account
opening.

18. @berndruecker

20. Hyperautomation
ChatGPT, as of April 2023

21. @berndruecker

22. end to end
@berndruecker

25. 26
@berndruecker

26. Diversity of roles
27
or
or
Just code
in Spring
Boot!
@berndruecker

27. Diversity of processes
Criticality,
value,
complexity…
Use Cases
@berndruecker

28. Categorize your use case
@berndruecker

29. Criticality,
value,
complexity…
Use Cases
@berndruecker

30. https://blog.bernd-ruecker.com/
@berndruecker

31. The Process Automation Map
Unique
Standard
Desired
Unnecessary
Complex
Simple Process complexity
Process Innovation
Process
Big
Small Scale
Process
Task Scope
Planned
Ad-hoc or temporary Project setup
e.g. accounting software e.g. onboarding process that needs to
include a lot of legacy systems
e.g. insurances using telematics data
e.g. webshop selling
innovative products
e.g. integrating one
standard cloud system with
another
e.g. one business
department solving a local
pain
e.g. end-to-end loan origination
process invoking lots of other services
e.g. lots of applications, people or
developers involved. Large volume of
instances.
e.g. automating one single
task in a larger process
e.g. end-to-end processes like
customer onboarding, loan
origination, order fulfillment.
e.g. a budgeted ITproject resulting
in an application having a couple of
years life time.
e.g. a one-time data
adjustment for millions of
records
@berndruecker

32. “
Challenge
Solution
Results
Camunda worked immediately,
straight out of the box. This
solution allows us to show our
stakeholders where problems
are arising -- adding value
without any added coding.

33. The Process Automation Map
Unique
Standard
Desired
Unnecessary
Complex
Simple Process complexity
Process Innovation
Process
Big
Small Scale
Process
Task Scope
Planned
Ad-hoc or temporary Project setup
@berndruecker

34. Camunda’s open
platform supports our
individual needs in a way
that closed BPM suites
just cannot achieve. Our
BPMN process models are
executed directly, which
improved communication
between business and
development, which also
shortens development
cycles.
Marko Lehn
Software Engineering
Team Lead
Zalando
“

35. The Process Automation Map
Unique
Standard
Desired
Unnecessary
Complex
Simple Process complexity
Process Innovation
Process
Small Scale
Task Scope
Ad-hoc or temporary Project setup
Big
Process
Planned
@berndruecker

36. Desired
Process Innovation
Unnecessary
Commercial Off-the-shelf Unique
Process
Standard
Complex
Process complexity
Big
Scale
Process
Scope
Strategic
Ad-hoc or temporary Project setup
Simple
Small
Task
Low Code
Pro Code
Sweet
Spots
Commercial Off-the-shelf
Tailor-Made
@berndruecker

37. @berndruecker

38. Connectors Modeling
Experience
Low-code
Forms
Human Task
Orchestration
CAMUNDA
Low-code Pro-code
Process Orchestration
Kopfhörer
@berndruecker

39. “Solution
Acceleration”
instead of
“Low code”
@berndruecker

40. @berndruecker

41. @berndruecker

42. @berndruecker

44. OK – but what’s a
connector?

45. @berndruecker

46. @OutboundConnector(
type = "io.camunda:http-json:1", inputVariables = {"method", ...},
)
public class HttpJsonFunction implements OutboundConnectorFunction {
public Object execute(final OutboundConnectorContext context) throws Exception {
final var json =;
final var request = createRequest(context);
return httpService.executeConnectorRequest(request);
}
} {
"name": "REST Connector",
"properties": [
{
"type": "Hidden",
"value": "io.camunda:http-json:1",
"binding": {
"type": "zeebe:taskDefinition:type"
}
},
{
"id": "method",
"label": "REST Method",
"group": "endpoint",
"type": "Dropdown",
"value": "get",
"choices": [
https://github.com/camunda/connectors-bundle/tree/main/connectors/http-json

47. @berndruecker

48. https://github.com/camunda/connectors-bundle/blob/main/connectors/twilio/element-templates/twilio-connector.json
@berndruecker

49. @berndruecker

50. @berndruecker
Plus: tooling,
marketplace,
XaaS, ...

51. 57
or
or
Just code
in Spring
Boot!
enable
@berndruecker

52. Improving your team topologies
Traditional
Development
Models Business
folks Business analyst Development
team
Business
folks
or:
IT
New way of
working
Diversified
solution team
Enablement
and support
Input
@berndruecker

55. Camunda
+ x
Bank Account
Opening
Process Automation
Center of
Excellence
Fraud detection

56. Running an orchestration platform
Microservice A
Orchestration
Engine
Microservice B Microservice C
Orchestration
Engine
Ideally SaaS
(probably self-managed)
Every microservice (process solution) owns its process model, glue code, and any additional artifacts
Orchestration
Engine
@berndruecker

57. Platform or CoE does NOT mean unhealthy centralization!
@berndruecker

58. Microservices = decentralization & autonomy
Photo by born1945, available under Creative Commons BY 2.0 license.

59. Golden Paths
https://engineering.atspotify.com/2020/08/how-we-use-golden-paths-to-solve-fragmentation-in-our-software-ecosystem/
“We found that
rumour-driven development
simply wasn’t scalable”

60. Cognitive Load
Intrinsic cognitive load
Fundamentals
(“How to program with Java?”)
Extraneous cognitive load
Environment
(“How to deploy this?”)
Germane cognitive load
The real task
(“How to solve this business problem?”)
@berndruecker

61. Cognitive Load
Germane cognitive load
The real task
(“How to solve this business problem?”)
Reduce intrinsic cognitive load
. Higher abstractions, moving technical details
. Diverse mix of people
Reduce extraneous cognitive load
. Golden paths
. Platforms, PaaS, SaaS, Cloud Services
. Center of excellence
> Free up capacity to solve the real business problems
@berndruecker

62. Cognitive Load
Germane cognitive load
The real task
(“How to solve this business problem?”)

63. Microservices praise autonomy.
This does not mean to dump more cognitive load on teams.
It does mean to define proper domain boundaries.
Enable teams to concentrate on business value.
@berndruecker

64. 71
or
or
Just code
in Spring
Boot!
enable
@berndruecker

66. have more
impact in
process
automation
endeavours
...and focus
on tech!
help your
organization
automate more
@berndruecker

67. https://camunda.com/customer/goldman-sachs/
…
easy workflows like
“Approve access or
entitlement”
…
…
payment processing
…

68. Thank you!
@berndruecker