Citizen Development

Citizen development is a disruptive solution to address the gap in technical expertise, especially
that of professional developers, that exists in the world today, and it offers a great way to foster a
culture of innovation. 
On one end of the spectrum is software you can build using drag-and-drop features, the so called
"What You See Is What You Get" (‘WYSIWYG’) functionality, without writing a single line of code.
no-code development is primarily intended for those who aren’t comfortable with coding their
own software, even those who have no knowledge of programming and application development.
low-code development is more complex than no-code, but it is not quite as complicated as
having to write actual code in a programming language. Low-code requires you to have at least
some knowledge of logic and analytical thinking. 

how low-code developers can create more complicated workflows that span software systems, so
called cross-line-of-business workflows.

Low-code development is designed to allow employees with software knowledge, such as process
development experts and professional developers, to build and integrate end-user processes and
applications, and to create WYSIWIG building blocks for no-code development

Enterprise Problems and LCNC Solutions

Hyper automation aims to automate as many of these kinds of data input and extraction tasks as possible.
 The Developer Continuum: Pro-Code, Low-Code, No-Code Builders

the people who fit specific job profiles and play particular roles within the LCNC development
landscape. They are the:

 Citizen developers
 Professional developers
 IT administrators

We also have citizen developers who do low-code development, for example, to build more
complex workflows that span lines of business. We call them power users, because they’re so
familiar with SAP systems.
Professional developers program and extend applications, foundational services, and use code
to integrate business systems. They can deal with sophisticated applications, cloud services, APIs,
and automations that are enabled by artificial intelligence and machine learning .

we differentiate professional developers into two distinct categories, line of business

developers and application developers.
Line of business developers are programmers first, and business experts second. They may not
have much, if any, specific business expertise. They work with the tools that power application
development, the programming, the mathematical, and technical analyses.
Application developers work on a more global or company-wide scale to integrate and enhance
applications across platforms.
Both types of professional developers:

 Can write code to develop an app, including complex business applications.

 Understand the concept of a development lifecycle, for instance testing and versioning.
 Are aware of permissions and roles.
 Can deal with governance and security issues and interfaces.
  Directly interact with IT administrators to ensure that an app goes live.
 Can design or have significant input into designing user interfaces and can work together
with user experience (UX) teams.

Both of these professional developer personas have a significant interest in understanding and
becoming skilled in low-code / no-code development for three reasons:

1. They will end up using some of the same development tools as citizen developers (for
example, using metadata instead of writing code).
2. They are likely to have a significant role in enhancing the apps that citizen developers
create, and then integrating those apps into the company’s systems.
3. At least some developers will end up helping to plan and execute training programs for
citizen developers.

The IT administrator group represents all the people who have the right and responsibility to
manage the lifecycle of business applications and processes, quality control, and governance.
IT administrators are, typically, part of an organization’s central IT department. They can publish
apps developed both by professional and citizen developers after ensuring the involvement of
relevant stakeholders and the integrity of the lifecycle process, including testing, governance
strategies, and security issues.
Benefits for Employees, Lines of Business, and Companies

Benefits for Non-Technical Business Personnel

As a non-technical businessperson, your job probably entails data extraction and input tasks,
especially tasks that might require you to spend extra hours trying to keep up. 

Benefits for Professional Developers

significant number of technical people are constantly dealing with problems, helping new
employees with technical onboarding, and dealing with updates, both in-house and for commercial
software products.
The beauty of LCNC development is two-fold. Firstly, low-code programming can help speed up
the time it takes professional developers to improve software applications. Secondly, it can help
them refine the no-code tools that citizen developers can use to automate their own tasks and
enhance the software tools they use.

Benefits for IT Administrators

Finally, let’s examine at least one-way LCNC and citizen development can be helpful to an IT
administrator, and that’s the avoidance of "shadow IT."

What is shadow IT? Simply put, it is any kind of technical workaround or software application that
employees, sometimes desperate, fed-up, out-of-patience, people, end up using to try to fix a
problem that affects them or their department.

Benefits to Organizations and Companies

 Maximizing the value they get of their existing applications, which means saving money.
 Increasing customer satisfaction.
 Freeing up time formerly spent on boring tasks and spending it instead on more value-
added and creative tasks.
 Increasing employee satisfaction by relieving them of these boring tasks.
Challenges, Roadblocks, and Coping Strategies
No Overarching Strategy or Roadmap
A first common challenge is a lack of overarching strategy.

A clear vision and a good strategy must explicitly outline the company’s needs and contain
specific, achievable goals that act as a roadmap for employees at all levels. 

Lack of Transparency About Software in Use

You don’t only need to know where you are going with a strategy, you also need to know where
you are now.
Incomplete or Missing Documentation
Another roadblock that can stop progress is a lack of documentation.
Good documentation also serves as the basis for two other important activities. These are enhancing
the software, and developing the training programs necessary for other people to be able to
competently use the software products.

Inadequate Training Opportunities

The Drawbacks of Shadow IT :
major roadblocks to hyper automation and citizen development that we’ve covered here. These
include:

 Not having a company-wide vision to guide the process

 Not knowing what tools and capabilities you and your company already have
 Not having complete documentation for processes, existing software and software products
under development
 Not providing adequate resources to provide training
 Having to deal with the consequences of shadow IT

Paving the Path for Low-Code/No-Code Adoption

there is a citizen development center of excellence established. This center of excellence takes
care of the following:

 Defining the strategy of the citizen development and low-code / no-code programs, to
ensure standards and consistency in line with the goals
 The administration of citizen development from an IT perspective
 Governance of citizen development to ensure corporate compliance
 The rollout plan for citizen development across the enterprise

Administration of Citizen Development from an IT Perspective

While the IT department may or may not use low-code / no-code tools themselves, they will need
to prepare the technical environments and manage the outputs of the builders.
Administration covers how the technology should be acquired and set up, integrations to other
existing software applications, and who should have what levels of access and permissions. It also
takes care of managing the lifecycles of automations and applications. This includes updates with
new versions, testing, and deployment.

Governance of Citizen Development

Governance is a decision-making process that a company uses to make sure that technical
activities and applications "add value." This means that they contribute to the company’s success.
good governance includes instituting clear procedures and specifications for the following:

1. Developing or acquiring an appropriate low-code / no-code platform to use.

2. Providing training for key employee personas, that is, the non-technical "citizen developer,"
professional developers, and IT administrators.
3. Setting up oversight processes, which, for our purposes, means establishing clear
requirements, approvals and integration processes, and rules for lifecycle management for
all low-code /no-code apps and extensions.
Rollout of Citizen Development Across the Enterprise
this would start with a very small group of "alpha" users, who help the IT department understand
how everything should work by tactically getting into the details and trying to build prototypes with
low-code / no-code.

This first group of users is slightly more technically savvy, so the Power User of the Citizen
Developer persona, and they help reveal key points or bugs that need to be addressed in the
setup and areas of confusion or conflict that need to be resolved.

the group of users is expanded slightly, and the rollout goes into a "beta" phase. This is the time
when they should involve a broader cross-section of citizen developers, even the business users
who have no knowledge about code. The beta phase will help the IT department to create the
ideal profile for a citizen developer in their company, the type of training they want to put into
place, and the certifications that builders require before allowing them to use low-code / no-code
tools.

Fostering the Growth of Citizen Development at All Levels

 We reviewed the different activities that the center of excellence should oversee, from administration, to
governance, to the rollout of citizen development to the entire company over time.

Finding or Creating Allies and Stakeholders

Training Citizen and Professional Developers on LCNC
Working with Pre-Built Content
Once you get through your initial training and feel ready to use low-code / no-code, the easiest way to get
started is to use pre-built content, also known as content packages or learning packages.

how to help the growth of citizen development at all levels in your work and in your team:

1. Find or create stakeholders. You need your colleagues to make low-code / no-code
available in your company and the right program in place to roll this out to citizen
developers.
2. Training is vital for you to get started, and it is also important for professional developers
and IT administrators.
3. You can realize fast wins by leveraging pre-built content. Look for low-code / no-code add-
ons that are already available and set those up first. After that, you can build new ones and
share them with your colleagues.