Pros of Citizen Development: Why You Shouldn’t Miss Out
The pivotal role of citizen development and why it’s key to business success
What is citizen development?
Citizen development is the practice of having business users involved in the building of applications with the help of low-code/no-code technology. A business user engaged in problem-solving and low-code/no-code development platforms for business application scaling is a citizen developer.
Citizen developers may lack coding skills in comparison to software developers. However, their direct association with the issues on hand gives them a better understanding of the situation.
Benefits of implementing citizen development
With the right implementation, citizen development nurtures an inclusive and empowering space for business users to innovate and deliver outstanding results.
Encourage operational agility
Citizen developers can create applications and make systemic changes immediately, saving the organization time and development costs.
Address developer shortage
Citizen development empowers business users with little to no coding experience to build applications and optimize workflows by themselves.
Boost business and IT productivity
Citizen developers are directly involved with the creation of IT-sanctioned solutions allowing the IT department to focus on other critical tasks.
Enable continuous improvement
By staying involved with app development, citizen developers can derive actionable insights and constantly improve their processes.
How do organizations without citizen development perform?
The volatility of the industry requires businesses to weigh the pros and cons of citizen development. Many believe it to be essential to increase efficiency and gain leverage among competitors. What does the absence of citizen development entail for a business, then?
Prevalence of Shadow IT
Third-party applications may speed up tasks, but these are not IT-sanctioned solutions. Shadow IT doesn’t follow compliance standards, risking the reputation of the organization and the trust of clients.
Increased Security Risks
Hand-in-hand with the prevalent use of shadow IT is the organization’s exposure to cyberattacks and insider threats. Without IT-sanctioned technology for application development, employees risk leaking critical data.
Slow Technology Implementation
Lack of resources can affect the speed at which an organization can implement citizen development. Disinterest among employees also hinders an organization from embracing industry-leading solutions.
Low Quality of Applications
Access to low-code/no-code technology is not enough to enable citizen development. Business users have to be familiar with using these development platforms to build efficient applications and solve problems.
Prevalence of Shadow IT
Third-party applications may speed up tasks, but these are not IT-sanctioned solutions. Shadow IT doesn’t follow compliance standards, risking the reputation of the organization and the trust of clients.
Increased Security Risks
Hand-in-hand with the prevalent use of shadow IT is the organization’s exposure to cyberattacks and insider threats. Without IT-sanctioned technology for application development, employees risk leaking critical data.
Slow Technology Implementation
Lack of resources can affect the speed at which an organization can implement citizen development. Disinterest among employees also hinders an organization from embracing industry-leading solutions.
Low Quality of Applications
Access to low-code/no-code technology is not enough to enable citizen development. Business users have to be familiar with using these development platforms to build efficient applications and solve problems.
How can citizen development boost IT?
The sparse number of available software developers motivates businesses to adopt citizen development. Citizen development enables non-developer business users to design applications and address problems without relying on IT.
Reduce backlogs
Understaffed IT departments are under constant pressure to govern and scale digital solutions. Citizen developers can take it upon themselves to come up with solutions and relieve IT with the convenience of low or no-code technology.
Business and IT collaboration
Citizen development bridges the gap between business and IT. With citizen developers familiar with the scope of work affected by a pressing issue, they can model and develop an application in a short window of time.
Mitigate shadow IT
With citizen developers around, shadow IT is no longer necessary to speed up work processes. Business users work with IT-approved low-code apps, mitigating cybersecurity risks and improving functions.
Enable operational agility
Citizen developers can tackle problems and come up with solutions on their own. Businesses gain a competitive advantage as citizen developers embrace change and take it upon themselves to bring ideas to life as optimized digital solutions.
Set the stage for citizen development
Citizen development is a game changing philosophy in the present scenario. Adopting a solution like Kissflow that engages in citizen development not only gives you more control of the way you work but helps engage employees better. Kissflow’s citizen development platform is a truly immersive experience that allows your business users to have a say in the way they work while giving them the power to make crucial decisions that best suit the business.
Forrester gave Kissflow the
#1 rating for developer experience
Kissflow stands out for its unique blend of simple and powerful features to enable citizen development.
Read the Forrester report
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What our customers have to say about Kissflow’s citizen development
I designed it, tested it, and. had it ready in a week. The platform is simple and highly intuitive so anyone can use it.
Ajit Singh,
Chief Product Manager
Our needs are fulfilled by Kissflow. We are able to use the platform its maximum potential.
Kelvin Kwok,
Business Analyst
