There seems to be a misconception in the marketplace. People think that a low code / no code platform means the technology is easy to master.
Or some think that low / no code means low or no training and that's just not the case. Take in case certain RPA vendors who have nearly a hundred training classes. Why so many?
Difficult vs Complicated
Complex tools solve complex problems while simple tools need little instruction to conquer difficult work. Think about using a shovel to plow farmland - easy tool but difficult work. So do you really want a simple tool when a state-of-the-art alternative exists?
Today, our low code / no code platform for intelligent document processing called Grooper has seven training courses. And I've been told we're complicated. But that's not our customer's fault.
It's our fault because people like me want to talk about technology instead of tangible business outcomes. (I'm trying to change. I really am!)
Every other low code / no code platform out there seems to have an acceptance of a learning curve. Again, to point at RPA, no one feels slighted knowing they will have to take several classes just to get a simple process built. So why all the angst against intelligent document processing systems that require the same?
THE BIG POINT: Let's face it. You don't need much training to use a product.
BUT you need training if you're going to be the person who gets the credit for bringing automation to the organization.
If you're going to be a solutions administrator or architect, you don't have an issue going through good training classes that provide a tangible outcome.
BUT you will have an issue with wasting your time or getting saddled with a product that can't deliver. And no one wants to invest time and effort only to find out they can't deliver what the business needs.
Low Code / No Code Platform Training
We've introduced training subscriptions that train customers and partners at lower costs than ever before. We offer both unlimited training and tiered training programs that are a great fit for any company.
The way training should be.
THINK BACK: When's the last time you had a project that failed because of limited product knowledge?
Or rather, when's the last time you had a project succeed without proper product training?
Our Grooper software isn't difficult. It's complicated. It's easy to confuse one for the other. But powerful software has a lot of options, and without proper training, those options can be overwhelming.
Here are some examples of training for the right option or need:
- Do you have a lot of tables in your documents? Great, we have an entire class dedicated to that.
- Have difficult images and really need to see where Grooper has pushed the envelope in the image processing arena? We have a class for that too.
Why Stop at Individual Training Classes?
Training programs should offer more than just classes. We provide additional resources like:
- A video library
- Requests for specific subjects to be elaborated on in our online Wiki
- Expert-on-demand hours, where customers get a one-on-one with a professional Grooper technical person.
We all learn at slightly different levels and speeds - that's one of the reasons this training model is so successful. And with a dedicated instructor just an instant message away, fully remote learning is guaranteed!
Low Code / No Code Does Not Mean Easy
I've been selling, implementing, and using document and data capture software since the mid-90s. I was a support person and a sales engineer before I moved into sales. I try to stay technical.
But I'll admit, until the first training class for Grooper, it was difficult to do even the simplest thing. This was not because Grooper is difficult, but because I didn't know how to use the product.
One class solved that.
Now, I build my own demos and get data that I know no other product can extract. I know because I have a sample set of documents as my personal litmus test to know how good the product really is. Grooper is the only product that not only gets all the data but the correct data!
Low Code / No Code Platform for Intelligent Document Processing
What do I mean by "correct data"? There's a lot of "newer" engines on the market that will hand you back "Key-Value Pairs" of standard document types.
But without context, what good is the key-value pair? And did you need all of those or just that one Total Value needed for the next workflow step? Where other products fail is bad OCR - they depend on good, clean OCR to give you accurate data. Not Grooper.
We've embedded 30+ years of document and data extraction experience into the platform. We know when data is wrong, and we understand the underlying technology to know how to apply regular expressions (REGEX) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to fix problems you will run into.
Expertise vs. Competence
There's a huge gap between expertise and competence. And the Dunning-Kruger effect doesn't help us. See video below:
SO WHAT? We all think we're better than we really are.
But we don't usually need to be experts - we just need to be competent.
A Quick Comparison
I like to compare learning any software package to Excel. How long have you used Excel? Do you know all its features? Of course not.
Do you remember how to address a cell on another workbook without looking it up? I don't. Even a simple copy and paste can lead to a few trial and effort rounds.
My point is, we all use Excel with varying levels of expertise and get the results we need.
But true experts have spent more time in a platform solving the hard problems. That's what it takes to be good in Grooper - time spent solving hard problems.
Here's My Secret to Learning
I've always enjoyed troubleshooting. It's what made me good as a support engineer and as a programmer. And it's what continues to help me learn new things.
So I'll tell you a secret:
My troubleshooting is nothing more than stubbornness and a refusal to be beaten by an inanimate object. I spend a lot of time learning and testing and retrying and learning and looking up, and... you get the point.
We all want to be experts, but we want to have our cake and eat it, too. No one wants to admit how much time they spend learning something, especially to the level of expertise.
But that's where the genius is - after the learning has happened.
Some Platforms Make It Easier to Figure Them Out
Grooper is designed to facilitate learning and testing. Through a process called Textual Disambiguation, Grooper helps you test data models down to the single extraction level easily and quickly.
I can move through a batch of documents within the Grooper Design Studio by simply using the down arrow.
I can test at any level I want, such as:
- Page level
- Group level
- Section level
- Table level
- Or down to a single pattern that I'm testing - like a phone number or an ID number
And my results are live right there in the Design Studio.
I don't have to scan sample batches. I don't have to build an entire process to do my testing. I just copy and paste some documents, do minimal prep work (image cleanup, etc.) and start testing. This simple interface facilitates faster model building.
Difficult Problems and Great Outcomes Require Work
Difficult problems require work to solve. I'm not sure where the idea that incredible outcomes follow ease and simplicity, but that misconception is out there.
We've built Grooper as a no code / low code platform from the ground up to solve difficult problems, and we're doing it:
- We are helping clients reduce processing times from months to days and from days to mere minutes
- One of our customers who is extracting more than a billion items per day is reaping the rewards of their efforts
We were there with them, and we'll be right there with you during your automation journey.
We help you. We guide you. We'll even do it for you and train you on how we did it because we love solving the problems that no one else can.
