Citizen Developers

 

CITIZEN DEVELOPER EXIST ??

ever heard this kind of developer?

in Digital Transformation era, we heard sometimes asking “how are we actually going to do it?”. That’s why this year you should expect the term “citizen developer” to become the latest buzzword on the street. Analysts and businesses alike are preaching its benefits.

who are these “citizen developers”? They are individuals within a company who have access to a visual integrated development environment (IDE). Within this environment, the citizen developer is able to use drag-and-drop application components, connect them together in order to generate a new unique web or mobile application. This low-code/no-code software empowers employees to design and build powerful applications which can grow an adapt according to the needs of a business.

I’ve been told it sounds too good to be true. Of course, without the appropriate boundaries in place, there is a danger that this technology could become out of control. With their new-found power, will employees make changes to existing applications and add new functions left, right and center? This is currently putting a lot of enterprises off these new technologies. However, it’s worth mentioning that employees won’t be completely left to their own devices. The IT team will still be there to create the underlying enterprise IT infrastructure, and man the fort. But staff will have the low-code/no-code software to have the ability to build their own applications on top of that.

In terms of the advantages of permitting staff to become citizen developers, the cost benefits are enormous. Firstly, businesses won’t need to employ quite so many expensive developers with the knowledge and expertise of building extensive enterprise programs. Furthermore, by implementing low-code/no-code functionality, organizations are massively broadening the number of people who can assist in digital transformation.

And there’s more: low-code/no-code platforms have been found to help foster greater collaboration between internal departments. By using a platform with built-in Agile development tools helps business and IT groups collaborate, model, and build new functionalities together. It’s not only a way for IT to self-service its apps. It’s also a way to bring the business side into the development so that the final outcome is exactly appropriate to the organization’s specific requirements.

Lastly, speed is key. Low-code/no-code means that citizen developers can build apps far quicker because it is a visual process using pre-built modules. In fact, Forrester claims that they have the potential to make software development as much as 10-times faster than traditional methods. As a result, the time spent on app testing and development is significantly reduced. It also allows the organization to be more flexible in its approach to IT. Consequently, productivity levels will take a sharp upturn.

It may seem like the panacea for all enterprise’s digital transformation programs. However, low-code platforms do assume a certain degree of technical knowledge, whereas the more cutting-edge no-code platforms require less technical knowledge and skill in its business users who are supported by IT managing the technical infrastructure. Not all workers are tech savvy. But users do need to have an in-depth understanding of specific process and customer engagement challenges weighing their company down. They might lack the expertise to build using traditional programming, but they can create rich applications using graphical building tools.

Keeping staff informed of upcoming training will ensure minimal push-back. Management teams need to build in lessons about low-code/no-code platforms into their employee education plans so they can make the most of this new functionality.

"There’s no point in giving your workers tools if they don’t know how to use them!"