When applications are needed
Reading time: approx. 5 min.
Yes, it’s true: Digitalization affects us all. Nevertheless, many companies are still struggling with it.
This is neither advantageous for the company itself nor for the employees, because:
- it leads to bad user experiences and dissatisfied customers
- it makes the IT department look bad
It’s a shame, considering that there are ways to avoid both.
To counteract this, IT provides end users in the specialist departments with development environments to create their own applications that:
- Increase productivity
- Automate workflows and
- support teamwork in a modern way
These employees are called “Citizen Developers”.
The root of the problem
The source of the problem: IT often has far too little time to deal with the large number of requirements from all departments. Especially not at the same time.
However, many departments cannot afford to wait for IT to take care of the problem – both in terms of time and money. Employees from these departments therefore often take it upon themselves to find solutions – and not always to the delight of IT.
Curtain up for “Citizen Development”
“Citizen developers generally have no special IT or programming skills. However, due to their technical understanding, they have often already developed their own solutions – be it with Excel, Access, Lotus Notes or similar software. In some cases, this has been done without the knowledge or input of the IT department.
“Citizen developers” – often also the knowledge carriers and experts of processes within the department – are predestined for the creation of departmental applications, as they know exactly what problems their respective departments have and how these need to be solved.
If “citizen developers” are seen as problem solvers, they are not necessarily a completely new development, but only now are more and more companies realizing how important these employees can be.
But why do companies see it this way? In order to understand this, two different perspectives must be taken into account.
This is how IT sees it
On the one hand, there are the interests of the IT department: Its main task is to ensure that day-to-day operations run as smoothly as possible, i.e. that the administration works, for example. However, this is by no means the only task.
IT managers in particular are expected to square the circle: on the one hand, they are constantly required to keep the company’s internal infrastructure up to date. On the other hand, they have to develop applications that meet the high expectations of management and customers.
This pressure is intensified by the fact that they often have too few staff in their department to realize all projects and associated goals. There are simply not enough developers on the market at the moment. At the end of 2019, 32% of German companies were looking for developers.
Against this background, it would be very counterproductive if application development could only be carried out by a few people. So if the IT department wants to focus not only on maintenance issues, but also on “creative” issues, it is in everyone’s interest to involve the “citizen developers” in the process.
IT must jump over its shadow
There is another important reason why IT should do this: To control “shadow” IT. If end users do not receive the support they need, they are forced to resort to unauthorized applications and tools. However, IT will not be fully aware of the solutions created in this way. This can also lead to major security risks,
This is how the business side sees it
Technology and IT have long since become part of our everyday lives. In their private lives, customers are used to using applications that are mobile, simple and fast. The learning curve and level of understanding continue to increase. Although this does not lead to customers and specialist departments becoming IT experts, the daily use of new technologies means that the demands in day-to-day business are also constantly increasing. If it is now possible for consumers to simply submit applications online, then this expectation will also arise in business life.
It is even worse if the negative experience of employees also affects customers: In many cases, companies still work with numerous Excel spreadsheets and cumbersome Word documents.
When a customer service employee calls a customer, they often come across problems with data quality when rummaging through the messy web of information that is still commonplace in many a back office. In the worst case scenario, this leads to dissatisfied employees and customers.
This shows us very clearly that end users essentially need a triad in order to be able to complete their tasks more than just satisfactorily:
- The right technology
- The right processes
- The right IT support
“Citizen developer” and low-code
The core of “Citizen Development” lies in enabling end users to create applications with technology that is “approved” by IT and is also easy to maintain.
This is the case with low-code platforms. With these, applications can be created much faster and therefore more easily and cost-effectively.
Low-code platforms therefore help “citizen developers” to fulfill their core task: Namely, to create applications with which they can increase productivity in their departments or to optimize existing business processes. Of course, they do not do this in competition with IT, but as a helpful addition. A low-code platform gives the “citizen developer” the opportunity to develop ideas from which the entire company can benefit.
Conclusion
“Citizen development” is becoming an increasingly important part of in-house application development!
So if you want to ensure that application development in your company does not come to a complete standstill in times of a shortage of skilled developers, but on the contrary, is driven forward with all available resources, you should rely on “Citizen Developers”.
They should be given the necessary tools so that they can take sustainable action and support your IT department.
Low-code platforms help to significantly accelerate development work, which in turn has a strong influence on the economic success of your company.
They also ensure shorter waiting times: As the specialist departments do not have to wait permanently for the IT department, which is usually heavily overloaded, to take care of their problems, but can create solutions themselves, internal processes are accelerated. This in turn leads to greater employee satisfaction.
Another plus point is the issue of IT security: with low-code platforms, “citizen developers” are no longer forced to create solutions in “shadow” IT. Instead, these are placed in the official company context by IT within the framework of low-code platforms and monitored accordingly.
“Citizen developers” can make a significant contribution to the company’s success through their technical affinity, expertise from their specialist area and creativity – with the support of Low-Code!
Our recommendation on the subject:
Successful establishment of Citizen Development
In this guide, we will show you how to establish a Citizen Development framework in your company in three steps.
Read about the benefits of well-established Citizen Development for your company: it counteracts the shortage of skilled workers, eliminates the need for external service providers and enables companies to get the applications they urgently need much faster. In addition, the loss of control through shadow IT is avoided, as Citizen Development takes place under the supervision of and in cooperation with the IT department.
Read the whitepaper now
