Top 5 Reasons Why Citizen Development Is the Future of Agile Software Development

Businesses are focusing intensely on digitizing their operations. However, IT talent shortages make it difficult to implement complex software promptly. But no-code platforms for developing software are effective.

No-code platforms simplify development so business users, also known as citizen developers, can create solutions without knowing programming, APIs, or how to deploy mobile or web apps. In addition, most no-code citizen development solutions are packaged as SaaS or PaaS (software and services as a subscription). This allows business users and IT departments to be more agile and focus on creating functionality.

What are the benefits of no-code development? How can you implement them into your project teams?

A solution could be citizen development, which involves creating a group of non-technical members to handle some of the tasks IT teams cannot focus on because they lack bandwidth.

Gartner predicts that citizen developers will create 80% of all technological products in 2024, up 25% from 2014. This rapid spread can be attributed to the COVID-19 epidemic: organizations created new business models and processes as they tried to implement digital initiatives and cloud services to help remote workers. These events were triggered by adopting agile frameworks emphasizing speed and shorter development cycles. This, along with the developer shortage, has allowed citizen developers to fix many issues.

What impact does citizen development have on the world?

The impact of citizen development is growing across many fields as it continues to expand. Automated business processes are a common component of citizen development. These are the guiding principles.

Business users can now use AI and machine-learning tools that are low-code or no-code to make it easier to decentralise AI through better decision-making.

There are some areas in which citizen developers can be of huge value to organizations:

• Citizen development programs support Human Resources, Marketing, Supply Chain, and Finance.
• Citizen developers can improve corporate processes in apps or create more unified user interfaces for existing apps.
• A workflow automation system automates end-to-end processes that involve multiple systems or data sets.

Citizen development starting from an agility perspective

There is an enormous unmet need in today's organizations that central IT solution teams cannot address. Citizen developers can create solutions ten times faster if they are not limited to programming. Because they tackle problems as they occur, they create applications that are difficult for IT to build. Instead, developers and architects might focus on complex solutions that add value to the company. This results in higher overall productivity. Automation that uses low-code or no code can reduce the time required to develop custom apps by up to 50% or 90%.

Enabling citizen development

• Understanding citizen development is important; understanding how to scale it up is another. Your organisation must
• Set up a governance structure.
• Reimagine the rules of engagement between IT departments and business users.
• Re-skill and upskill your workforce to develop future capabilities, such as digital literacy and citizen development.

Make sure your workforce has the right tools; no code is required.

Citizen development applications not based on the above considerations can cause more harm than good. For example, they may lead to extra work and confusion rather than solving a problem. Therefore, your citizen developers need tools to design their applications in the context of the business as well as the whole organization.

Citizen development is the key to future technology

These are the points that support the notion that citizen development is the future of agile software development:

Business users take centre stage in citizen development

Developing enterprise applications using citizen development has a higher chance of success because users are better informed about their needs and processes. Businesses that create their own apps know what functionality is necessary, which results in more powerful and efficient apps.

Say goodbye to backlogs

App development is in growing demand due to the need for apps that streamline processes and functions. Unfortunately, this can lead to a backlog. Citizen development empowers every member of the team to pursue multiple projects simultaneously. This eliminates any chance for backlogs and makes it easier to achieve milestones.

Empower your teams with citizen development for unmatched resilience

A flexible and diverse pool of software talent is needed to meet constantly changing business needs. Citizen development is a way to increase the number of skilled people who can innovate, build, and add value. Organizations can leverage employees' expertise across departments to efficiently drive multiple projects, meet high innovation demands, and create unrivaled resilience.

Accelerate your process with Citizen Development

Citizen developers speed up development by increasing the talent pool and decreasing reliance on experienced software developers. Low-code platforms and no-code platforms speed up innovation and reduce delivery times. Multiple minimally viable products can easily be created with the help of citizen developers at the same time it takes to develop one without them. This results in significantly shorter cycle times.

Maximize efficiency and minimise costs

With the advent of low-code and no-code platforms, the need to have a large number of coders is gone. Companies no longer need to spend their time or money looking for skilled software developers. These platforms allow employees with minimal technical knowledge to create applications, which saves companies valuable time and increases their profitability.

No need to search for technical talent

Businesses are striving for digital transformation, and the demand for technical skills is increasing, especially in the tech sector. With proper training, citizen development can reduce lag time and speed up development. In addition, companies can train business users in software development, enhance existing expertise, and ease the burden on core development teams to deal with ad-hoc needs.

Increase Productivity With Agile Methodology

Citizen developers can maximise productivity and agility. Citizen developers streamline business processes and make it easier for teams to manage a greater workload. In addition, citizen development encourages employees to use technology in their everyday tasks. This fosters adaptability and increases productivity.

Last Words:

The rise of citizen developers accelerates the democratisation and facilitation of software development. Citizen development is a potential game-changer for organisations seeking to improve their agility by 2023. Organizations can reduce time, improve efficiency, and stay ahead by giving employees the tools to create custom applications. Organizations can quickly and easily develop the custom apps they need in a low-code or no-code environment, which reduces the time it takes to create them. This technology can also speed up the development of new applications by 50% to 90%. Citizen development is key to building agile future teams. Now is the right time to embrace this transformative technology.

It is crucial to encourage non-technical employees to work towards citizen development rather than burden remote IT staff with their day-to-day problems. No-code platforms allow business analysts, product designers, marketers, and other stakeholders to become civil engineers. This is democratising innovation and speeding it up.