Organizations must innovate and be efficient in order to remain competitive today. Enter the concept of citizen development, a game-changing method that enables everyone within an organization to create change. This blog will go into the world of citizen development, focusing on its importance, implementation tactics, and the crucial role of governance in ensuring its success.
Who are Citizen Developers?
The concept of citizen developers has gained significant attention in recent years as organizations look for ways to drive innovation and efficiency. Citizen developers are non-IT employees who use low-code/no-code platforms to create applications and workflows. They play a vital role in driving innovation and efficiency within organizations by empowering employees to solve their own problems and design solutions that meet their specific needs.
Traditional IT departments alone may struggle to keep up with the pace of development required. Citizen developers can help fill this gap, providing a means for organizations to develop applications that meet their specific needs. By empowering employees from various departments to create their own applications, organizations can foster a culture of innovation and problem-solving, while also improving operational efficiency.
Importance of Citizen Developers
Citizen developers offer a number of benefits to organizations, including:
Increased Innovation: Citizen developers can bring new ideas and perspectives to the table, leading to more innovative solutions.
Improved efficiency: Citizen development can help to automate tasks and streamline processes, freeing up employees to focus on more strategic work.
Reduced Costs: Citizen development can help to reduce the cost of software development by eliminating the need to hire specialized coders.
Enhanced Employee Engagement: Citizen development can empower employees to take ownership of their work and make a real impact on the organization.
Understanding the Need for Citizen Developers
Organizations are increasingly relying on citizen developers to meet their app development needs for a number of reasons:
The Growing Complexity of Business Needs: Businesses today operate in a complex and ever-changing environment. To stay competitive, they need to be able to rapidly adapt and develop new solutions to meet new challenges. Citizen development can help organizations to respond to these changes more quickly and efficiently.
The Shortage of Skilled Software Developers: There is a global shortage of skilled software developers, making it difficult and expensive for organizations to hire and retain IT talent. Citizen development can help organizations to address this shortage by empowering employees to build the applications they need.
The Rise of Low-Code/No-Code Platforms: Low-code/no-code platforms make it easier than ever for non-technical users to create applications. This has enabled citizen developers to emerge and play a more significant role in software development.
How to Implement Citizen Development?
To get started with implementing citizen development in your organization, you can follow these steps:
Identify Potential Citizen Developers:
Look for employees who are passionate about solving problems and have a knack for technology. You can also consider offering training and support to help employees develop the skills they need to become citizen developers.
Define Roles and Responsibilities: It's important to define the roles and responsibilities of citizen developers, IT professionals, and other stakeholders involved in the program. This will help to ensure that everyone knows what their expectations are and how they can contribute to the success of the program.
Create Goals and Objectives: What do you hope to achieve with your citizen development program? Once you know your goals, you can develop specific objectives to help you achieve them.
Plan Out Use Cases: What types of applications do you want your citizen developers to build? Once you have a list of use cases, you can start to prioritize them and develop a plan for how they will be implemented.
Provide Training and Resources: Once you have identified potential citizen developers, provide them with the training and resources they need to get started. This may include training on low-code/no-code platforms, as well as access to documentation and support resources.
Establish a Governance Framework: As your citizen development program grows, it is important to establish a governance framework to ensure that it is aligned with the organization's overall goals and objectives. This framework should define the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, as well as the policies and procedures that govern citizen development activities.
The Need of Governance in Citizen Development
Governance is essential for the successful and secure implementation of citizen development. Without proper governance, there is a risk of:
To Avoid Shadow IT : Shadow IT refers to the development and use of IT systems and applications without the knowledge or approval of the IT department. This can lead to a number of problems, such as the use of unsupported software, security vulnerabilities, and duplication of effort. Governance can help to prevent shadow IT by providing a clear process for citizen developers to follow when developing and deploying applications.
Compliance Risks: Citizen developers need to be aware of and comply with all applicable regulations. This includes ensuring that applications meet security standards, are compliant with all relevant regulations, and do not introduce any new risks to the organization. Without proper governance, there is a risk that citizen-developed applications may not meet regulatory requirements.
To Meet Business Needs: Citizen developers may not always have a clear understanding of the business needs that they are trying to address. Governance can help to ensure that applications meet business needs by requiring citizen developers to work with business stakeholders to define requirements and get their approval before proceeding with development.
Quality Issues: Citizen developers may not have the same level of experience as professional developers. Governance can help to improve the quality of applications by requiring citizen developers to follow certain best practices, such as conducting thorough testing and getting their applications approved by IT before they are deployed.
How to Govern Citizen Development?
Here are some practical tips on how to govern citizen development:
Establish Clear Guidelines and Standards: Develop clear guidelines and standards that define the types of applications that can be built, the tools and technologies that can be used, and the approval process for new applications.
Create a Center of Excellence (CoE): The CoE should be responsible for implementing and overseeing the governance framework. It should also provide training and support to citizen developers and help to resolve any issues that arise.
Develop a Risk Management Plan: This plan should identify the potential risks associated with citizen development and outline the strategies for mitigating those risks.
Provide Training and Support on Governance Policies: Ensure that citizen developers are trained on the organization's governance policies and procedures. This will help to ensure that they understand and comply with these requirements.
Establish a Review Process for New Applications: Before any citizen-developed application is deployed, it should be reviewed by a team of experts to ensure that it meets all quality, security, and compliance requirements.
Monitor and Evaluate the Citizen Development Program: Regularly monitor and evaluate the citizen development program to ensure that it is achieving its desired outcomes. This may involve tracking the number of applications developed, the cost savings achieved, and the user satisfaction levels.
Tips for Successful Implementation and Governance of Citizen Development
Here are some additional tips for a smooth and productive implementation of citizen development in the organization:
Get Buy-in from Leadership: Secure the support of senior executives before launching your citizen development program. This will help to ensure that the program has the resources and backing it needs to succeed.
Create a Culture of Innovation:To encourage innovation and creativity among citizen developers, create a culture where new ideas are welcomed and mistakes are seen as learning opportunities. Provide citizen developers with the time and resources they need to experiment and develop new solutions.
Celebrate Successes: Recognize and celebrate the successes of citizen developers. This will help to motivate them and inspire others to get involved.
Share Best Practices: Establish a forum for citizen developers to share best practices and learn from each other. This could be a dedicated online community or regular in-person meetups.
Provide Access To Resources: Provide citizen developers with access to the resources they need to be successful, including training materials, documentation, and support from the IT department.
Conclusion
Citizen development is a powerful tool that can help organizations to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and reduce costs. By implementing citizen development and governance effectively, organizations can empower their employees to solve their own problems and build the solutions they need to succeed.
