Citizen development is a business process that encourages non-IT-trained employees to become software developers, using IT-sanctioned low-code/no-code (LCNC) platforms to create business applications. This approach to software development empowers employees -- despite their lack of formal education in coding -- to become citizen developers. They create and customize existing software programs to suit a user's specific needs and improve operational efficiency within a company.
LCNC platforms include the necessary lines of code so users can drag and drop icons to create and update applications. Simple visual process automation tools allow different application functions to connect components across business units, apply actions, test to make sure the programming works as expected and publish the new code.
Citizen developers are empowered business users who create new or change existing business applications without the need to involve IT departments. Citizen developers are likely to be more agile than IT developers and can respond quickly to changes in the business landscape.
In the past, employees seeking even the smallest project faced frustration as their request waited for overburdened developers to get to it. This process could sometimes take months. During that wait, internal business priorities most likely changed, the business's competition continued to adapt, and new business problems emerged.
Citizen development initiatives can be an important part of digital transformation activities. Digital transformation projects can lead to development backlogs because IT teams have so many other primary tasks. A citizen development program helps organizations going through digital transformations streamline development initiatives and keep up with development demands.
Successful citizen development approaches not only speed innovation and the app development process but also reduce IT backlogs and free IT personnel to prioritize and address more pressing business needs. This approach prevents security problems associated with shadow IT and third-party apps through transparency, workflow management, and resource sharing and monitoring among citizen developers and IT professionals.
Businesses that devote time and resources to creating a citizen development community have seen an increase in efficiency and productivity. Previously, they wasted time waiting for IT personnel to solve problems that required application development work. Citizen developers can take on some of those tasks. They have become standard practice at many companies engaged in application creation.
Any employee who learns and understands the application of LCNC platforms can use it as a software developer or share that knowledge with a fellow employee. As the citizen developer community grows, organizations embracing the technology and associated processes are likely to realize operational efficiency increases.
Employees with an interest in citizen development probably have to spend time learning LCNC programming. It might be necessary to free up time that would otherwise go to existing project deliverables, attendance at meetings and other regular job activities.
Coordination with human resources is likely needed as well as support from IT employees overseeing the citizen development program. These two organizations will be involved in the screening process to select good citizen developer candidates.
Prospective citizen developers should be knowledgeable in the business processes and requirements to be addressed during their programming assignments. It might be necessary to designate space, such as a conference room, for these developers to work. They might also do all or some of their work at their normal workstation or even remotely but might benefit from a collaborative work environment.
The argument for or against citizen development depends on the time these projects will take, available talent and business requirements. The need for business applications will continue to increase. The question is whether experienced employees without IT training can produce applications that will meet the needs of end users faster than IT professionals. The latter can write complicated code but might lack the expertise, understanding or interest of a targeted end user.
Citizen development grew from business analysts' realizations that too much responsibility was placed on professional developers. They were required to both create new applications and troubleshoot existing applications. Most IT departments had a backlog of development requests, and projects could languish for months waiting to be worked on.
LCNC platforms now enable employees with no professional development experience -- citizen developers -- to create applications for fellow employees and customers. Citizen developers are more immersed in their part of the business than developers in the IT department. As a result, the apps they build and maintain are more likely to reflect the needs of users.
Citizen development is here to stay and will continue to expand its role in application development. Businesses must, therefore, strike a balance between the speed and suitability of citizen developers' targeted creations and the security and oversight professional developers provide.
Citizen development platforms help companies meet the demands of a changing market. They're sometimes called point-and-click platforms because they're easy to use and reduce the need to code applications. Here are some tools and resources available to the citizen developer community:
Find out more about the risks and rewards of citizen development and the LCNC approach.
06 Dec 2023