A Guide to Citizen Development

Here are the four crucial abilities business users need to have in order to construct a successful citizen development framework: 
 

• Knowledge of Business Operations in its Entirety - An expert understanding of numerous business operations, their shortcomings, and bottlenecks is required for citizen developers to create effective business apps. They can use this information to examine their company objectives and develop the best procedures and business applications possible. 
   
• Advanced Digital Proficiency - A deep understanding of business processes must be linked with sophisticated levels of digital skills in order to provide a robust citizen development framework. This encompasses knowledge of no-code automation, document creation, and workflow analytics. 

• Collaboration with Other Departments - Utilising citizen developers to their full potential across departments is one of the key goals of low-code and no-code platforms. In such a scenario, a citizen developer must serve as a liaison, guaranteeing seamless IT and business engagement in order to jointly accomplish organisational goals. 
   
• Strong Desire to Learn New Skills - The idea of citizen development has lately gained popularity, laying the groundwork for the next digital revolution. In such circumstances, having the motivation to constantly improve is crucial, and business users must try to educate themselves independently and become proficient in low-code abilities.

The use of citizen developers has several advantages that can benefit businesses of all sizes.  
 

• For one thing, using citizen developers allows companies to quickly build apps without having to hire expensive outside help.  
   
• Additionally, these applications are typically more secure than those developed by outside teams because they are designed specifically for the company's needs and are not open source like many off-the-shelf products. 

• Finally, using citizen developers allows companies to be more agile and responsive when it comes to developing new features, building solutions, or responding to customer needs.

Shadow IT is a term used to describe any software solutions created by employees outside of the authority or control of an organization's IT department. This term applies to both hardware and software solutions that may not meet security standards or corporate policies. Some examples include unauthorised cloud services, unapproved SaaS applications, unauthorised downloads from the internet, etc. While these solutions can provide quick fixes for certain problems, they often come with significant risks, such as data breaches, noncompliance issues, malware infections, etc., which can ultimately lead to costly repercussions for organizations down the line. 

When it comes to the development of software solutions, there are two main methods: Citizen Development and Shadow IT. Both have their own pros and cons, so understanding the difference between the two can help you decide which one is best for your organization. 

• Unlike so-called "shadow-IT," which takes place without IT's knowledge or oversight, citizen development is closely supervised by IT. However, just endorsing the work of these amateur programmers is not always a wise course of action. 
   
• With the advent of code-no-code platforms that require no programming knowledge at all, the line between citizen development and shadow IT has become murkier. IT governance is limited or nonexistent in many of the software solutions targeted at citizen developers that are now accessible. Simply giving the green light for a business to start developing its business apps is insufficient on the part of IT. The IT department must actively steer and control the entire process. 
   
• This compartmentalised citizen development strategy disregards how contemporary teams operate. Business developers very rarely create apps from scratch, without help, and then maintain them for the duration of their existence. Instead, most businesses use cross-functional teams that collaborate to develop apps and comprise experienced developers and business specialists. 

No matter how technically skilled the business users are, a "DIY" application they create might still not be able to address non-functional issues like security, stability, performance, and scalability. The worst-case scenario is that not all enterprise data sources might be able to be integrated with the application. 

However, a cross-functional development strategy delivers the whole-team collaboration needed for businesses to successfully utilise developer expertise and business understanding, making it a preferable solution. 

Employing experts from business and IT to collaborate on cross-functional projects that result in cutting-edge applications allows organisations to make the most of the diverse knowledge and skills they possess. 

Developers need a platform that enables them to quickly construct complete software solutions while collaborating with business stakeholders to develop crucial apps. Many IT teams continue to employ ad hoc, challenging-to-learn tools that necessitate deep coding or full-stack development skills. 

These obstacles prevent business professionals and even inexperienced programmers from making substantial inputs to application development. Instead of relying on code, frameworks, and libraries, a low-code, automation, AI (Artificial Intelligence), and visual development strategy using the Kettufy Low-code platform can enable whole-team application development. 

Most businesses are overburdened with their IT departments. The number of open requests for solutions is enormous, and they never seem to run out. In light of this, it is crucial to enable citizen developers, and all they require is a solid low-code platform to deliver on their promise of resolving both the financial and personnel issues. 

You may easily become a citizen developer with the help of Kettufy's user-friendly low-code platform. It contains a lot of excellent tools that are simple to learn and does not require much coding or technical knowledge to operate. To start designing applications at a low cost, sign up for a free trial right away.

Citizen development is becoming an increasingly trendy way for businesses of all sizes to quickly develop custom applications without having to rely on costly outside help. By leveraging low-code development platforms and empowering non-technical individuals within the organisation, companies can save time and money while still creating secure and reliable applications that meet their unique needs. If you are considering bringing in a citizen developer for your next project, be sure to do your research first so that you know you are making the right decision for your business! 

Whereas shadow IT poses a greater risk due to its lack of oversight from corporate governance; however, it is often chosen simply because it offers a “quick fix” solution or provides access to otherwise inaccessible technologies/applications/services that may not be available through official channels. Ultimately, it’s up to each individual organization to decide which approach works best for them—but understanding the differences between citizen development vs shadow IT is essential in making an informed decision.