--- title: A Ramp, Not a Cliff — VMG Labs description: Why the learning curve on a no-code ERP platform moves from syntax to design, and what that means for the people on your team. --- [![](https://vmglabs.com/hubfs/vmg-site/assets/logo-full-mono-white.png)![VMG Labs](https://vmglabs.com/hubfs/vmg-site/assets/logo-full.png)](https://vmglabs.com/) Services [Industries](https://vmglabs.com/industries) [Partners](https://vmglabs.com/partners) Company [Insights](https://vmglabs.com/insights) [Schedule a call](https://vmglabs.com/contact) [Home](https://vmglabs.com/)›[Insights](https://vmglabs.com/insights) Nextworld · No-code # A Ramp, Not a Cliff ![](https://vmglabs.com/hubfs/vmg-site/assets/leaders/sm/anleo-pienaar.jpg)Anleo Pienaar Oct 8, 20264 min read “Won't moving to a new ERP platform mean months of retraining before anyone is productive?” I've worked with ERP systems for more than a decade, including years as a JD Edwards user. From the business side, the development learning curve on a traditional ERP always looked like a sheer cliff: something only specialists climbed, and only after months of training. When I started building on Nextworld myself, the ramp-up felt more like a flat plane, or at most a gentle incline. That's not because the work got easy. The cliff didn't disappear. It moved from syntax to design. ## What the climb used to look like On a traditional ERP, even a small change to a business rule needed a specialist developer: someone who knew the development toolset, the programming language, the object model and the build-and-deploy process. Then, at every upgrade, those changes had to be carried forward into the new release. Oracle's own documentation calls this “retrofitting”. Nextworld is a no-code platform. Tables, applications, business logic and workflows are built in visual designers, not written in code. Nextworld runs a one-week training programme for both technical and non-technical developers, and that matched our experience. The first thing we tackled was the Capstone project, and within a week we had a working application. ## Where the effort goes now No-code doesn't mean no thinking. The hard questions are still there, they're just the right ones: - **The data model.** Which tables you need, how they relate, and what belongs where. - **The business rules.** What has to be validated, calculated or triggered, and when. - **The workflow.** Which states a record moves through and who is allowed to move it. - **Security.** Who sees what, and who can change it. This is where experience pays off. Someone who understands finance or supply chain processes, but has never written a line of ERP code, can become productive far sooner than before. And experienced developers spend their time on the business problem instead of fighting the toolset. ## Room for end users, with guardrails A gentle ramp isn't only good for developers. It leaves room for end users to help themselves. In one case reported by Nucleus Research, a manufacturer's college intern built dashboards for every user in the business. That's the upside of no-code: the people closest to the work can shape their own views, reports and simple apps without waiting in an IT queue. The guardrails still matter. Security roles decide who can build what, core data structures stay with the people responsible for them, and changes go through a sensible review. Done well, end users get their independence and the system stays clean. ## A real example: building our Nextworld team At VMG Labs we've built a large Nextworld team, and its members came from everywhere. Some had worked on other ERPs such as JD Edwards, NetSuite and SAP, or on IBM i. Others came from SQL and data work, Python and JavaScript development, business analysis or test automation. Between them they'd worked in automotive, financial services, retail, manufacturing, construction and distribution. Different starting points, same ramp: within weeks the team was delivering production work. I'm a good example myself. My background was entirely functional, not technical. On Nextworld I went from that to leading a development team implementing end to end across the system. ## The takeaway A new platform doesn't have to mean starting your team from zero. On Nextworld, the time that used to go into learning a toolset goes into understanding the business, which is where it should have gone all along. The ramp is gentle. The thinking still matters. That's the right way round. **Think moving platforms means months of retraining?** [Get in touch with VMG Labs](https://vmglabs.com/contact) and we'll talk it through. ## Sources - Nucleus Research Y40: The Value of the Nextworld Enterprise Applications Platform (one-week training programme, intern-built dashboards; dated April 2024, hosted on Nextworld's site) - Oracle JD Edwards documentation: Understanding Retrofitting Custom Modifications - Nextworld: Developer Studio (no-code application development) - SoftwareConnect: Nextworld review (independent review: no-code customisation without developer help) ![Anleo Pienaar](https://vmglabs.com/hubfs/vmg-site/assets/leaders/sm/anleo-pienaar.jpg) Written by Anleo Pienaar Team Lead, Integration, VMG Labs [Connect on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anleo-pienaar-4026a74a/) ## Table of contents: [Introduction](https://vmglabs.com/insights/a-ramp-not-a-cliff#article-top) [What the climb used to look like](https://vmglabs.com/insights/a-ramp-not-a-cliff#sec-what-the-climb-used-to-look-like) [Where the effort goes now](https://vmglabs.com/insights/a-ramp-not-a-cliff#sec-where-the-effort-goes-now) [Room for end users, with guardrails](https://vmglabs.com/insights/a-ramp-not-a-cliff#sec-room-for-end-users-with-guardrails) [A real example: building our Nextworld team](https://vmglabs.com/insights/a-ramp-not-a-cliff#sec-a-real-example-building-our-nextworld-team) [The takeaway](https://vmglabs.com/insights/a-ramp-not-a-cliff#sec-the-takeaway) [Sources](https://vmglabs.com/insights/a-ramp-not-a-cliff#sec-sources) Share [mailto:?subject=A%20Ramp%2C%20Not%20a%20Cliff&body=A%20Ramp%2C%20Not%20a%20Cliff%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fvmglabs.com%2Finsights%2Fa-ramp-not-a-cliff](mailto:?subject=A%20Ramp%2C%20Not%20a%20Cliff&body=A%20Ramp%2C%20Not%20a%20Cliff%0A%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fvmglabs.com%2Finsights%2Fa-ramp-not-a-cliff) ## More insights ### [Databricks: A Smooth Fit](https://vmglabs.com/insights/databricks-a-smooth-fit) How Databricks settles into the cloud, languages and data you already run, and why multi-skilled engineers make the fit smooth. 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