Citizen development is revolutionizing the way organizations approach software development and digital transformation. By empowering non-technical professionals to develop and deploy software applications, organizations can reduce their reliance on IT departments and build custom software more quickly and cost-effectively. Simply put, the traditional development model is being outperformed in every metric: time to delivery, total cost of ownership, and the ability to respond to changing business needs.
The immediate & obvious impact of citizen development in small businesses, enterprises, and academia is the empowerment of citizen development for software development and digital transformation.
Small Businesses
SMB has traditionally been excluded from the software development process due to the high cost of hiring professional developers and the complexity of developing and deploying software applications. Citizen development, however, has opened new doors for these organizations. With the help of citizen development tools and training, small businesses can quickly and easily develop solutions to their business challenges.
From a business owner to an office manager, to even a field worker – citizen development provides a level of democratization that allows everyone to take part in the long-term value of digital transformation. One of the fundamentals of citizen development, low code technology, has been picking up substantial steam in the small-medium business space.
Additionally, many citizen development tools and platforms provide a low-risk environment for experimentation. This encourages users to be creative and take risks that are often necessary for innovation. Small businesses are able to experiment and iterate to find the best solutions for their needs without the risk of a costly failure.
Enterprises
Large enterprises have long been able to afford the resources to develop custom software solutions. However, the process is often slow and complex. Citizen development has allowed these organizations to accelerate the development process and reduce the costs associated with custom software development. By embracing citizen development in a digital transformation, an enterprise’s culture can evolve from one of cautious silence to one of collaboration and innovation.
The Project Management Institute has established industry-standard training for implementing and participating in citizen development. The PMI Citizen Development certification is a comprehensive program that trains non-technical professionals to develop software solutions. By following the PMI’s best practices, enterprises can ensure the success of their projects and reduce the time and cost associated with software development.
PMI’s citizen development methodologies are unstoppable when combined with a low-code platform such as TrackVia. TrackVia is a cloud-based platform that empowers non-technical users to quickly and easily develop custom software solutions that can be deployed in minutes. Whether it is a simple task management application or a complex HR system, TrackVia’s competitive user interface, quality documentation, and unparalleled customer service make it the ideal low-code platform for enterprise citizen developers.
Academia
Citizen development is also transforming the academic landscape. With the rise of citizen development, universities are now able to provide their students with a mindset challenge that will not only help them better understand the development process but also increase their job prospects. Citizen development provides students with the skills and tools needed to become proficient software developers, while also teaching them how to think outside the box when it comes to problem-solving.
When AI replaces programmers – citizen development will prevail
If you have been watching the news, you may have heard of ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a machine learning platform that can generate code from natural language. This technology is still in its early stages, but it already has many developers worried about their job prospects.
If we look into the future, citizen development will be more important than ever. The technology behind ChatGPT, GPT-3, LaMDA, and other AI systems raises the question: “do we really need programmers anymore?” The answer is a resounding yes. AI technology can be used to generate code, but it can never replace the creativity and critical thinking skills of a human developer.
Citizen development is the perfect way to bridge the gap between AI and human developers. By combining the creativity and problem-solving skills of non-technical professionals with the automation capabilities of AI, organizations can create powerful software applications that are both efficient and cost-effective. The future of AI-augmented business personnel is beginning, and the potential of citizen development is limitless.
Taking infrastructure out of the equation
As the concept of citizen development heavily relies on low code technology, which is typically hosted in the cloud as a service, the need for infrastructure is eliminated. This lessens the workload of traditional developers, who would otherwise have to spend time managing and maintaining the infrastructure in a DevOps mentality. This shift in responsibility will not only save organizations money, but also free up senior engineering resources to focus on pure innovation.
The cloud-based nature of citizen development also provides organizations with unparalleled agility and scalability. Since applications can be deployed and modified instantly, organizations can quickly adapt to changing market conditions. Furthermore, applications can be easily scaled up or down depending on the organization’s needs.
Citizen Development = Faster Digital Transformation
Citizen development is revolutionizing the way organizations approach software development and digital transformation. By empowering non-technical professionals to develop and deploy software applications, organizations can reduce their reliance on IT departments and build custom software more quickly and cost-effectively. With the help of TrackVia, PMI, and other revolutionary tools and training, organizations can take advantage of the many benefits of citizen development. From small businesses to enterprises and academia, citizen development will increasingly become the go-to development model as organizations embrace digital transformation.
Visit our Citizen Development page to learn more about how Citizen Development can help your business.
Or if you’d like to see how a low-code application platform works, Request a Demo from TrackVia today!
