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The following Q&A article is based on a PMI webinar on the compliance and cybersecurity aspects of Citizen Development platforms. You can watch Part 1 and Part 2 of this webinar here and here . Topics: Compliance of Citizen Development platforms with GDPR, HIPPA, and ISO 27001 Common cybersecurity features in low-code, no-code (LCNC) platforms AgilePoint platform's cybersecurity features Citizen developers' security mindfulness and the LCNC platform's security features Best practices to avoid restricting citizen development activity from a governance perspective AgilePoint's adherence to best practices to prevent restricting citizen development activity Implementation of citizen-developed apps and best practices to identify security flaws Adoption of AgilePoint enterprise citizen development in large, hybrid organizations 1. Is it possible to determine whether a specific enterprise citizen development platform is GDPR, HIPPA, or ISO compliant? You can ask the platform provider if they are ISO certified, but understanding the regulations yourself can go a long way in your due diligence process. GDPR mandates lawful and transparent collection, storage, and processing of personal data with consent. HIPAA requires safeguards for protected health information, while ISO 27001 sets a framework for information security management. AgilePoint's governance and permission framework meets these standards, including compliance with GDRP, HIPAA, ISO, Department of Defense regulations, and Export control laws. We've partnered with renowned hosting providers who bring world-class physical security to clients' data centers, and AgilePoint has layered information security policies and practices in line with the world's most demanding Enterprise customers. Our integration capabilities make integration with existing privacy and security systems uncomplicated. Automated audit trails, alerts, and logging help with compliance requirements and data tracking. 2. What are the most common cyber security features on LCNC (low-code, no-code) platforms? The most common features of LCNC cyber security include authentication and authorization, data encryption, secure protocols, firewall protection, malware protection, and intrusion detection systems. Authentication and authorization help ensure that only authorized users can access the system, while data encryption helps protect data in transit. Secure protocols help to protect data transfer over public networks, firewalls prevent unauthorized access to the system, and malware protection stops malicious software from entering the system. Intrusion detection systems deployed by many LCNC vendors monitor the system for any suspicious activity and alert the appropriate personnel. These security features are essential for securing LCNC platforms and preventing malicious actors from accessing sensitive data. Most LCNC tools generate code and may offer additional security features such as code scanning, refactoring, and analysis features. 3. What cybersecurity features are available in the AgilePoint platform? AgilePoint is ISO 27001 and SOC2 certified, two of the most stringent industry benchmarks for information security and compliance. A third-party assessor verifies and audits our security practices, guaranteeing that our customers can be confident that their data is safe and secure. The AgilePoint platform provides cybersecurity features, such as identity and access management, automated audit trails, firewalls, intrusion detection, and system management through an easy-to-use and centralized settings module. IT can extend and ensure applications built on the platform comply with their organization's security and governance policies. It allows IT to change labels, display order, enforce global CSS, lock down BPMN, block users or IPs, control app-level CSS injector, and enable multiple authentication providers. AgilePoint provides IT professionals with streamlined tools for a secure and efficient operation by centralizing security features in the settings module. 4. Is it necessary for citizen developers to be mindful of app security even when low-code no-code platforms have their own security features? Low-code and no-code (LCNC) platforms vary in security and control options, offering organizations limited governance. While these platforms can enhance efficiency, they only partially replace the need for security mindfulness at the Citizen Development level. PMI's CD Canvas classifies projects based on financial, reputational, and other risks to guide development paths objectively. LCNC platforms still require content and security measures mindful of production and data protection. Security policies must comply with regulations and industry standards. While LCNC platforms streamline development, organizations must remain vigilant in security practices and procedures. 5. Do AgilePoint’s security and governance features eliminate the need for citizen development-level security mindfulness? AgilePoint is an advanced LCNC and BPMS platform with superior runtime, security, and governance mechanisms. Unlike generic LCNC platforms, AgilePoint is based on explicit process model-driven technology and does not translate user artifacts into code. It is the only LCNC platform that allows administrators to control and modify any specific workflow instances, even during runtime, making it a highly secure option while reducing the accumulation of technical debt. The AgilePoint's mature lifecycle management engine blocks broken or malfunctioning artifacts from migrating to the production environment, ensuring high availability and security. IT has fine-grained control over the system, applications, users, reports, and data entities using the following security features: Identity management Portal level permission Analytics level permission Application level permission Data level permission Role-based access control You get a very prescriptive approach with the combination of AgilePoint's advanced, layered security and governance and the PMI methodology to classify applications based on risk factors. 6. What are the best practices for avoiding onerous restrictions that discourage citizen development activity from a governance perspective? Without a high level of knowledge, citizen developers find it challenging to understand the development process and create projects that clear IT security checks. Some of the best practices include It sets clear expectations and guidelines for citizen development activities. All Citizen Developers should be informed about these policies and easily accessible for reference. It is essential to be open to feedback and suggestions from citizen developers regarding their development projects. One has to ensure sufficient time is allocated for development activities, as rushing a project can lead to mistakes, which can have costly consequences. 7. Does AgilePoint adhere to best practices to avoid restricting citizen development activity with burdensome regulations? AgilePoint recognizes that governing citizen-developed apps is crucial for highly regulated or business-critical applications. We empower the security faction of IT to pre-approve data entities and all other components of an application, including process actions, integration options, role restrictions, API security, and user interface. By doing so, your citizen developers can develop applications on AgilePoint that run at a scale not possible with generic LCNC platforms. You can now reach production levels faster with AgilePoint compared to generic Low-Code platforms. We believe enterprise Citizen Development has more detailed requirements as it supports strategic, enterprise-wide initiatives and, as such, will address a broader range of use cases and levels of information sensitivity. 8. Do Citizen Developers implement their own apps, or does the IT team have to implement them after ensuring there are no security flaws in the code? Citizen Developers can implement what they develop, but we recommend that you may involve an IT team for proper quality assurance. The IT team should be responsible for ensuring that all artifacts that Citizen Developers create are secure and do not contain any vulnerabilities. It helps ensure that any products or services developed by Citizen Developers are of high quality and adhere to applicable industry standards. Additionally, involving an IT team will help ensure the resolution of bugs and enable you to address technical issues promptly. Ultimately, adding an IT team to the development process will help improve the quality and security of any products or services developed by Citizen Developers. 9. How are citizen developers' apps put into production with AgilePoint's platform? It is essential to impose a stringent deployment methodology to successfully implement and operate any LCNC application, typically in an enterprise environment or if the application is developed as a business-critical one. Applications created by citizen developers in AgilePoint are composed only of components, features, or data sets already pre-approved by the organization's IT, enabling rapid security clearance and instant deployment. Furthermore, IT can allow quick migration based on the application's use case, data-access requirements, and users' roles. AgilePoint offers its enterprise customers up to three environments (tenants) for development, testing, and production. IT Security pre-approves components and permits select citizen developers to quickly move complete applications or certain artifacts from development to testing to production. Also, AgilePoint is based on explicit process model-driven technology and doesn't translate business process artifacts into code, even during runtime. No code translation combined with the fact that IT security can pre-approve components decreases the security risks associated with malicious code or any harmful content being executed or used. It eliminates unauthorized access to sensitive or confidential information in production. You can create applications with pre-approved components and get them into production faster than generic LCNC platforms . 10. Can you consider continuous development as continuous learning? Most LCNCs focus on a specific use case, i.e., forms. However, AgilePoint covers many use cases like forms, processes, integrations, chatbots, and mobile apps. AgilePoint is a singular platform for continued learning and allows citizen developers to start with simple use cases and ultimately graduate to the most valuable application type - cross-functional automation. Rather than continually acquire and learn new platforms to address new use cases, AgilePoint enables Citizen Developers to progress without changing platforms. Along the way, you can reuse every application or artifact in different applications. Bonus Questions When does a large, hybrid organization start adopting AgilePoint enterprise citizen development? There is no specific time to mark an in-production citizen-developed application as a business-critical application, but depending on the size and maturity of the company’s IT and governance policies, this may change. If a handful of users access a citizen-developed application and only solve irregular issues of a function, it doesn’t need to be as business-critical. However, if an application is likely to be or is used by many users spread across different departments and functions; it may make sense to allow IT to take ownership of the application after development. Citizen developers can remain an active part of the further development and enhancement of citizen developer applications. However, they must follow change management policies to ensure they do not impact any user or services relying on these applications. The AgilePoint platform enables IT to monitor the usage of applications created by citizen developers making it easier to decide when an application is ready to be marked as business critical and move it out of a function’s citizen developer incubator. What department typically launches governs and manages a Citizen Dev program in an organization? The CIO plays a critical role in launching successful citizen development initiatives by coordinating with IT, business, and end users to create a unified vision and culture of collaboration. Without this centralized approach, siloed applications can be created that do not meet the organization's needs. Proper training of business users and IT support is also crucial for success. AgilePoint offers a secure and governed environment for Citizen Development. With a layered security framework and governance controls, IT can manage and oversee the creation of business applications by Citizen Developers. The platform's analytics module allows continuous monitoring and reporting of security issues or breaches. IT can define data entities, policies, and access control, which enables granting critical roles to business users while maintaining data security. Supporting Citizen Developers: Do You Need Dedicated Personnel like Project Managers, Data Specialists or Developers? Citizen development tools empower business users to create their applications but still require roles and responsibilities from both business users and IT. Establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) under the CIO's leadership can promote and manage citizen development initiatives, reducing errors and preventing costly shadow IT. The CoE should involve stakeholders from different functions, including IT, for security and governance policymaking. The CoE is a gatekeeper for ideas and business applications, ensuring resources are not wasted on duplicate efforts. With a learning curve for citizen developers, the CoE should provide learning resources and certifications like PMI CD. A formal and well-structured CoE does not slow down processes but aids in the success of citizen development initiatives. To understand more about the security and governance tooling embedded in the AgilePoint platform, take a look at " Security and Governance " page and explore more about the enterprise Citizen Development platform .
We've all heard the buzz around Citizen Development. But what does it mean to you as a digital transformation leader in your industry? Citizen Development will be essential to your transformation strategy as you move your organization into the digital future. Citizen Development will gain more importance to succeed in a competitive marketplace that demands accomplishing more with less. The skill is helpful for large organizations as IT alone cannot cater to the rising demand for enterprise apps. Here are five things digital transformation leaders should remember as they approach citizen development initiatives this 2023. #1. Citizen Development will be a more significant movement than Process Automation or Process Improvement. According to a study by Gartner , Citizen Automation and Development Platform ( CADP), usage will rapidly grow in 2023—with a 30.2% growth forecast for 2023. It means that as more organizations embrace digital transformation and look for ways to streamline their processes, we'll see an uptick in demand for CADP solutions. CADP allows users, called citizen developers, to automate workflow management, build web-based forms and reports, bridge data gaps across multiple software applications, and create apps that IT would take too long to prioritize. With the help of CADP, organizations can take advantage of digital transformation by streamlining their processes, providing customers with a better customer experience, and enabling employees to do their jobs more efficiently. In addition, CADP allows organizations to create digital solutions that they can easily update, making it easier to deliver engaging customer experiences across web, mobile, and hybrid touchpoints. #2. There will be a greater focus on Citizen Development governance. You will have access to more governance tools within Citizen Development application platforms as these tools mature over time. Citizen development governance will be a big focus in the next few years because of the growth of the citizen developer community. As a result of the proliferation of l ow-code and no-code tools, organizations across all industries—including government agencies, hospitals, and educational institutions—have implemented them in their daily operations. With more low-code and no-code development tools , customers are looking for enterprise-grade governance capabilities in their development platforms. Governance ensures that citizen developers can build applications in line with security standards while creating a consistent user experience and implementing best-practice functionality. When teams build apps or digital solutions, it's essential to ensure they are made from the ground up with guardrails. #3. Citizen Development will enable hyper-automation. The goal of digital transformation is to enable organizations to become more agile, efficient, and profitable. It means that businesses must be able to take advantage of new opportunities and respond quickly to changing conditions. One way for organizations to achieve this level of agility is through hyper-automation. Hyper-automation is about applying intelligent systems such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) across business processes. Citizen Development will allow for hyper-automation, making business processes more efficient so that they can do more with less human intervention – such as identifying, vetting, and adopting solutions. According to Lisa Davis, SVP & CIO of Blue Shield California , " In the year ahead, I will also be looking to see more focus on hyper-automation – where organizations rapidly identify, vet solutions, and automate as many business processes as possible... Cloud technologies must become core to our operations to deliver digital capabilities anywhere and everywhere." Companies must invest in enterprise architecture to provide scalability and security for hyper-automation. #4. Citizen Development can support talent development. Citizen development allows people with a process- or project-management background exposure to coding. However, they might have yet to dabble beyond excel to automate workflows and process data flow. Citizen Development application tools empower them to build applications and platforms and create technical solutions for organizations. Not only does it connect IT and business —but it's also a workforce development tool that helps organizations improve their digital strategies and, at the same time, unlock new opportunities for employee growth. It's a practical approach to training employees through building skills that encourages them to think critically about their work and leads to more effective outcomes and increased productivity. Moreover, it empowers workers to be part of the innovation process and enables them to develop new connective solutions. As NTT Executive Vice President Amit Dhingra says, "Looking ahead, it will be exciting to see how organizations develop new connective solutions to replicate the in-office spark of collaboration within a digital environment... All major employee experience processes will be done by combining highly digitized corporate IT and service-delivery platforms." For example, a citizen development platform would help to achieve a digitally collaborative environment, especially during a recession. As organizations must accommodate the growing number of employees working remotely or on the move, they must also ensure that sensitive company data is secure within a collaborative environment. #5. Citizen Development can address developer hiring challenges Traditional recruitment practices have focused on finding developers who can write code. But with low-code adoption, digital transformation leaders are now expanding their talent pool to include citizen developers—those who may not know how to write code but want to learn and can use digital tools like AgilePoint NX. Anyone can learn how to code if willing to put in the effort—and they do not need to have advanced degrees in computer science or IT. Forrester's 2022 Developer Survey found that 20% of companies now recruit non-degree-bearing candidates, and 24% recruit university grads with non-IT degrees. It is not just about hiring more quickly or finding developers—it's about building better teams by leveraging new skill sets and perspectives, as citizen developers can come from different industries and bring their skill sets with them. Key Takeaway In conclusion, citizen development will not only continue to grow in popularity, but it will also affect how organizations operate. It will enable companies to create new digital solutions, products, and services faster than ever and help them stay ahead of their competition. AgilePoint offers a full-suite business solution for companies pursuing digital transformation through low-code development. Discover how AgilePoint helps you unleash automation at scale with citizen developer governance by requesting a demo today.
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Category: Citizen Development
The following Q&A article is based on a PMI webinar on the compliance and cybersecurity aspects of Citizen Development platforms. You can watch Part 1 and Part 2 of this webinar here and here . Topics: Compliance of Citizen Development platforms with GDPR, HIPPA, and ISO 27001 Common cybersecurity features in low-code, no-code (LCNC) platforms AgilePoint platform's cybersecurity features Citizen developers' security mindfulness and the LCNC platform's security features Best practices to avoid restricting citizen development activity from a governance perspective AgilePoint's adherence to best practices to prevent restricting citizen development activity Implementation of citizen-developed apps and best practices to identify security flaws Adoption of AgilePoint enterprise citizen development in large, hybrid organizations 1. Is it possible to determine whether a specific enterprise citizen development platform is GDPR, HIPPA, or ISO compliant? You can ask the platform provider if they are ISO certified, but understanding the regulations yourself can go a long way in your due diligence process. GDPR mandates lawful and transparent collection, storage, and processing of personal data with consent. HIPAA requires safeguards for protected health information, while ISO 27001 sets a framework for information security management. AgilePoint's governance and permission framework meets these standards, including compliance with GDRP, HIPAA, ISO, Department of Defense regulations, and Export control laws. We've partnered with renowned hosting providers who bring world-class physical security to clients' data centers, and AgilePoint has layered information security policies and practices in line with the world's most demanding Enterprise customers. Our integration capabilities make integration with existing privacy and security systems uncomplicated. Automated audit trails, alerts, and logging help with compliance requirements and data tracking. 2. What are the most common cyber security features on LCNC (low-code, no-code) platforms? The most common features of LCNC cyber security include authentication and authorization, data encryption, secure protocols, firewall protection, malware protection, and intrusion detection systems. Authentication and authorization help ensure that only authorized users can access the system, while data encryption helps protect data in transit. Secure protocols help to protect data transfer over public networks, firewalls prevent unauthorized access to the system, and malware protection stops malicious software from entering the system. Intrusion detection systems deployed by many LCNC vendors monitor the system for any suspicious activity and alert the appropriate personnel. These security features are essential for securing LCNC platforms and preventing malicious actors from accessing sensitive data. Most LCNC tools generate code and may offer additional security features such as code scanning, refactoring, and analysis features. 3. What cybersecurity features are available in the AgilePoint platform? AgilePoint is ISO 27001 and SOC2 certified, two of the most stringent industry benchmarks for information security and compliance. A third-party assessor verifies and audits our security practices, guaranteeing that our customers can be confident that their data is safe and secure. The AgilePoint platform provides cybersecurity features, such as identity and access management, automated audit trails, firewalls, intrusion detection, and system management through an easy-to-use and centralized settings module. IT can extend and ensure applications built on the platform comply with their organization's security and governance policies. It allows IT to change labels, display order, enforce global CSS, lock down BPMN, block users or IPs, control app-level CSS injector, and enable multiple authentication providers. AgilePoint provides IT professionals with streamlined tools for a secure and efficient operation by centralizing security features in the settings module. 4. Is it necessary for citizen developers to be mindful of app security even when low-code no-code platforms have their own security features? Low-code and no-code (LCNC) platforms vary in security and control options, offering organizations limited governance. While these platforms can enhance efficiency, they only partially replace the need for security mindfulness at the Citizen Development level. PMI's CD Canvas classifies projects based on financial, reputational, and other risks to guide development paths objectively. LCNC platforms still require content and security measures mindful of production and data protection. Security policies must comply with regulations and industry standards. While LCNC platforms streamline development, organizations must remain vigilant in security practices and procedures. 5. Do AgilePoint’s security and governance features eliminate the need for citizen development-level security mindfulness? AgilePoint is an advanced LCNC and BPMS platform with superior runtime, security, and governance mechanisms. Unlike generic LCNC platforms, AgilePoint is based on explicit process model-driven technology and does not translate user artifacts into code. It is the only LCNC platform that allows administrators to control and modify any specific workflow instances, even during runtime, making it a highly secure option while reducing the accumulation of technical debt. The AgilePoint's mature lifecycle management engine blocks broken or malfunctioning artifacts from migrating to the production environment, ensuring high availability and security. IT has fine-grained control over the system, applications, users, reports, and data entities using the following security features: Identity management Portal level permission Analytics level permission Application level permission Data level permission Role-based access control You get a very prescriptive approach with the combination of AgilePoint's advanced, layered security and governance and the PMI methodology to classify applications based on risk factors. 6. What are the best practices for avoiding onerous restrictions that discourage citizen development activity from a governance perspective? Without a high level of knowledge, citizen developers find it challenging to understand the development process and create projects that clear IT security checks. Some of the best practices include It sets clear expectations and guidelines for citizen development activities. All Citizen Developers should be informed about these policies and easily accessible for reference. It is essential to be open to feedback and suggestions from citizen developers regarding their development projects. One has to ensure sufficient time is allocated for development activities, as rushing a project can lead to mistakes, which can have costly consequences. 7. Does AgilePoint adhere to best practices to avoid restricting citizen development activity with burdensome regulations? AgilePoint recognizes that governing citizen-developed apps is crucial for highly regulated or business-critical applications. We empower the security faction of IT to pre-approve data entities and all other components of an application, including process actions, integration options, role restrictions, API security, and user interface. By doing so, your citizen developers can develop applications on AgilePoint that run at a scale not possible with generic LCNC platforms. You can now reach production levels faster with AgilePoint compared to generic Low-Code platforms. We believe enterprise Citizen Development has more detailed requirements as it supports strategic, enterprise-wide initiatives and, as such, will address a broader range of use cases and levels of information sensitivity. 8. Do Citizen Developers implement their own apps, or does the IT team have to implement them after ensuring there are no security flaws in the code? Citizen Developers can implement what they develop, but we recommend that you may involve an IT team for proper quality assurance. The IT team should be responsible for ensuring that all artifacts that Citizen Developers create are secure and do not contain any vulnerabilities. It helps ensure that any products or services developed by Citizen Developers are of high quality and adhere to applicable industry standards. Additionally, involving an IT team will help ensure the resolution of bugs and enable you to address technical issues promptly. Ultimately, adding an IT team to the development process will help improve the quality and security of any products or services developed by Citizen Developers. 9. How are citizen developers' apps put into production with AgilePoint's platform? It is essential to impose a stringent deployment methodology to successfully implement and operate any LCNC application, typically in an enterprise environment or if the application is developed as a business-critical one. Applications created by citizen developers in AgilePoint are composed only of components, features, or data sets already pre-approved by the organization's IT, enabling rapid security clearance and instant deployment. Furthermore, IT can allow quick migration based on the application's use case, data-access requirements, and users' roles. AgilePoint offers its enterprise customers up to three environments (tenants) for development, testing, and production. IT Security pre-approves components and permits select citizen developers to quickly move complete applications or certain artifacts from development to testing to production. Also, AgilePoint is based on explicit process model-driven technology and doesn't translate business process artifacts into code, even during runtime. No code translation combined with the fact that IT security can pre-approve components decreases the security risks associated with malicious code or any harmful content being executed or used. It eliminates unauthorized access to sensitive or confidential information in production. You can create applications with pre-approved components and get them into production faster than generic LCNC platforms . 10. Can you consider continuous development as continuous learning? Most LCNCs focus on a specific use case, i.e., forms. However, AgilePoint covers many use cases like forms, processes, integrations, chatbots, and mobile apps. AgilePoint is a singular platform for continued learning and allows citizen developers to start with simple use cases and ultimately graduate to the most valuable application type - cross-functional automation. Rather than continually acquire and learn new platforms to address new use cases, AgilePoint enables Citizen Developers to progress without changing platforms. Along the way, you can reuse every application or artifact in different applications. Bonus Questions When does a large, hybrid organization start adopting AgilePoint enterprise citizen development? There is no specific time to mark an in-production citizen-developed application as a business-critical application, but depending on the size and maturity of the company’s IT and governance policies, this may change. If a handful of users access a citizen-developed application and only solve irregular issues of a function, it doesn’t need to be as business-critical. However, if an application is likely to be or is used by many users spread across different departments and functions; it may make sense to allow IT to take ownership of the application after development. Citizen developers can remain an active part of the further development and enhancement of citizen developer applications. However, they must follow change management policies to ensure they do not impact any user or services relying on these applications. The AgilePoint platform enables IT to monitor the usage of applications created by citizen developers making it easier to decide when an application is ready to be marked as business critical and move it out of a function’s citizen developer incubator. What department typically launches governs and manages a Citizen Dev program in an organization? The CIO plays a critical role in launching successful citizen development initiatives by coordinating with IT, business, and end users to create a unified vision and culture of collaboration. Without this centralized approach, siloed applications can be created that do not meet the organization's needs. Proper training of business users and IT support is also crucial for success. AgilePoint offers a secure and governed environment for Citizen Development. With a layered security framework and governance controls, IT can manage and oversee the creation of business applications by Citizen Developers. The platform's analytics module allows continuous monitoring and reporting of security issues or breaches. IT can define data entities, policies, and access control, which enables granting critical roles to business users while maintaining data security. Supporting Citizen Developers: Do You Need Dedicated Personnel like Project Managers, Data Specialists or Developers? Citizen development tools empower business users to create their applications but still require roles and responsibilities from both business users and IT. Establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) under the CIO's leadership can promote and manage citizen development initiatives, reducing errors and preventing costly shadow IT. The CoE should involve stakeholders from different functions, including IT, for security and governance policymaking. The CoE is a gatekeeper for ideas and business applications, ensuring resources are not wasted on duplicate efforts. With a learning curve for citizen developers, the CoE should provide learning resources and certifications like PMI CD. A formal and well-structured CoE does not slow down processes but aids in the success of citizen development initiatives. To understand more about the security and governance tooling embedded in the AgilePoint platform, take a look at " Security and Governance " page and explore more about the enterprise Citizen Development platform .
We've all heard the buzz around Citizen Development. But what does it mean to you as a digital transformation leader in your industry? Citizen Development will be essential to your transformation strategy as you move your organization into the digital future. Citizen Development will gain more importance to succeed in a competitive marketplace that demands accomplishing more with less. The skill is helpful for large organizations as IT alone cannot cater to the rising demand for enterprise apps. Here are five things digital transformation leaders should remember as they approach citizen development initiatives this 2023. #1. Citizen Development will be a more significant movement than Process Automation or Process Improvement. According to a study by Gartner , Citizen Automation and Development Platform ( CADP), usage will rapidly grow in 2023—with a 30.2% growth forecast for 2023. It means that as more organizations embrace digital transformation and look for ways to streamline their processes, we'll see an uptick in demand for CADP solutions. CADP allows users, called citizen developers, to automate workflow management, build web-based forms and reports, bridge data gaps across multiple software applications, and create apps that IT would take too long to prioritize. With the help of CADP, organizations can take advantage of digital transformation by streamlining their processes, providing customers with a better customer experience, and enabling employees to do their jobs more efficiently. In addition, CADP allows organizations to create digital solutions that they can easily update, making it easier to deliver engaging customer experiences across web, mobile, and hybrid touchpoints. #2. There will be a greater focus on Citizen Development governance. You will have access to more governance tools within Citizen Development application platforms as these tools mature over time. Citizen development governance will be a big focus in the next few years because of the growth of the citizen developer community. As a result of the proliferation of l ow-code and no-code tools, organizations across all industries—including government agencies, hospitals, and educational institutions—have implemented them in their daily operations. With more low-code and no-code development tools , customers are looking for enterprise-grade governance capabilities in their development platforms. Governance ensures that citizen developers can build applications in line with security standards while creating a consistent user experience and implementing best-practice functionality. When teams build apps or digital solutions, it's essential to ensure they are made from the ground up with guardrails. #3. Citizen Development will enable hyper-automation. The goal of digital transformation is to enable organizations to become more agile, efficient, and profitable. It means that businesses must be able to take advantage of new opportunities and respond quickly to changing conditions. One way for organizations to achieve this level of agility is through hyper-automation. Hyper-automation is about applying intelligent systems such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) across business processes. Citizen Development will allow for hyper-automation, making business processes more efficient so that they can do more with less human intervention – such as identifying, vetting, and adopting solutions. According to Lisa Davis, SVP & CIO of Blue Shield California , " In the year ahead, I will also be looking to see more focus on hyper-automation – where organizations rapidly identify, vet solutions, and automate as many business processes as possible... Cloud technologies must become core to our operations to deliver digital capabilities anywhere and everywhere." Companies must invest in enterprise architecture to provide scalability and security for hyper-automation. #4. Citizen Development can support talent development. Citizen development allows people with a process- or project-management background exposure to coding. However, they might have yet to dabble beyond excel to automate workflows and process data flow. Citizen Development application tools empower them to build applications and platforms and create technical solutions for organizations. Not only does it connect IT and business —but it's also a workforce development tool that helps organizations improve their digital strategies and, at the same time, unlock new opportunities for employee growth. It's a practical approach to training employees through building skills that encourages them to think critically about their work and leads to more effective outcomes and increased productivity. Moreover, it empowers workers to be part of the innovation process and enables them to develop new connective solutions. As NTT Executive Vice President Amit Dhingra says, "Looking ahead, it will be exciting to see how organizations develop new connective solutions to replicate the in-office spark of collaboration within a digital environment... All major employee experience processes will be done by combining highly digitized corporate IT and service-delivery platforms." For example, a citizen development platform would help to achieve a digitally collaborative environment, especially during a recession. As organizations must accommodate the growing number of employees working remotely or on the move, they must also ensure that sensitive company data is secure within a collaborative environment. #5. Citizen Development can address developer hiring challenges Traditional recruitment practices have focused on finding developers who can write code. But with low-code adoption, digital transformation leaders are now expanding their talent pool to include citizen developers—those who may not know how to write code but want to learn and can use digital tools like AgilePoint NX. Anyone can learn how to code if willing to put in the effort—and they do not need to have advanced degrees in computer science or IT. Forrester's 2022 Developer Survey found that 20% of companies now recruit non-degree-bearing candidates, and 24% recruit university grads with non-IT degrees. It is not just about hiring more quickly or finding developers—it's about building better teams by leveraging new skill sets and perspectives, as citizen developers can come from different industries and bring their skill sets with them. Key Takeaway In conclusion, citizen development will not only continue to grow in popularity, but it will also affect how organizations operate. It will enable companies to create new digital solutions, products, and services faster than ever and help them stay ahead of their competition. AgilePoint offers a full-suite business solution for companies pursuing digital transformation through low-code development. Discover how AgilePoint helps you unleash automation at scale with citizen developer governance by requesting a demo today.
The world is changing. Citizen developers are becoming more relevant than ever before because they help enterprises use technology to their advantage so they can see the results of their efforts faster and more efficiently. This guide provides tips to help citizen developers continue learning, growing, and developing their skills in 2023 and beyond! Tip 1: Don’t bypass IT. If you're a citizen developer and want to develop something fast, don't circumvent IT just because it can slow things down. Instead of avoiding them, go through their process—and involve them! You should integrate your application with IT to get help and advice concerning its use. If your app is going to be used by more than one person, the IT department can advise you on how best to make changes or add new features before they are implemented in production systems so as not to interfere with other users' workflows. Tip 2: Choose your Citizen Development platform wisely. Suppose you want to create a successful citizen development project. In that case, it is essential that you pick the right low-code development platform with the right features and functionality to meet your requirements. It should also be easy to use, primarily if it's being used by non-technical users who don't have extensive coding experience. It must offer high levels of support for those using it daily to resolve all issues as quickly as possible without impacting productivity or workflow processes. Tip 3: Learn the foundation and best practices of Citizen Development. As citizen developers, you need to understand the foundations of citizen development and learn how they can be deployed effectively in the organization. It will help you avoid common pitfalls and ensure that the project succeeds. If you need to become more familiar with these foundations and best practices of Citizen Development, many resources are available online, like the PMI Citizen Developer Foundation Course . You can also check the PMI Citizen Developer Practitioner (CD-P) course, which offers downloadable application development templates and a citizen development suitability checklist. Tip 4: Don’t ignore the Project Management aspects of Citizen Development. Citizen development empowers Project Managers by giving the people involved in projects the power to innovate, accelerating innovation and putting it into action immediately, reducing operational expenses, and increasing project satisfaction. With citizen development, project managers can consider taking matters into their own hands with low-code and no-code technology solutions that they can implement themselves. For example, suppose there's a particular functionality requirement in one of the projects on your plate. In that case, whether it's for an application or process—you could quickly use low-code/no-code tooling to build it out so that you're not waiting months (or longer) while waiting on IT to come up with something through traditional means. Tip 5: Educate yourself about Security and Governance aspects. Organizations have different ways of managing security and governance; some have an IT governance process for citizen development, while others choose platforms like AgilePoint , which is developed with operational and platform security as its core pillars. An organization may have a robust governance setup where it chooses an enterprise-ready Citizen Development platform and imposes its corporate IT standards on the platform vendor and in-house Citizen Developers to ensure stringent guardrails are in place. As such, AgilePoint combines built-in safeguards with administrative controls. Either way, it's vital that you understand the security issues related to citizen development and how they affect your organization. Moreover, you must ensure that your organization has systems and processes that implement best practices around security and governance. Tip 6: Start small and scale gradually. If you're serious about creating a citizen development program, start small and scale gradually. Focus on projects that are smaller in scope or budget, and involve a limited number of employees and departments. Within a department or project, discover and experiment with different approaches to find the right one for your company's needs. Then roll out gradually so business leaders can develop a strategy for expanding such programs throughout the organization. As you scale, remember that it can take time for employees to adapt to new working methods. Be patient and flexible as you introduce new policies, processes, and tools to the organization. Tip 7: Get trained and seek help. If you’re a citizen developer, join the reskilling/upskilling program or online courses for citizen developers. It will help bridge the knowledge gap and ensure that you are well-prepared for your role as a citizen developer. You can also seek help from other citizen developers, IT and security teams, vendors, or service providers. AgilePoint NX Getting Started Training is an online, self-paced course that provides a quick overview of the platform's enterprise-class low code/no code software automation capabilities. With this, you can get insights into the fundamentals of automation, including how to apply it across your organization. Tip 8: Understand the unique value propositions of your Citizen Development platform. Before you decide which low-code platform is right for your organization, you must know how they work and what features they offer. As companies look for ways to innovate, improve their business processes, and save time and money, a citizen development platform with robust features can help them achieve these goals. A citizen development platform's value is its simplicity of use, ability to scale up as needed, and ability to evolve with changing needs over time as an organization grows or changes direction with new products or services being developed. Tip 9: Incorporate reviews and metrics. Reviews and metrics are an essential part of life as a citizen developer, and they help you get feedback on your work, which is vital for improving and refining your skills. You can also use them to identify opportunities for improvement in your projects or even see what other people think about specific features or designs you've created. While reviews are a great way to get feedback on your work, it's essential to also look out for metrics. Metrics can be used to measure the usage of a particular feature or design and help you identify any pain points in an existing implementation. Tip 10: Update your digital solutions as needed, and build a maintenance process. As technology changes and evolves, it's essential to keep up with the pace. You can update your digital solutions and build a maintenance process. It will allow you to quickly identify issues and fix them before they become more significant problems down the road. It also helps ensure that your solutions are still relevant in today's world. Lack of maintenance regime is one of the leading causes of not being able to scale your Citizen Development initiatives. Lasse Rindom, a subject matter expert, about process automation and the importance of solution maintenance in this podcast titled "Enterprise RPA and its scalability." Additionally, you should build a maintenance process that includes regular updates, bug fixes, and security patches. It will help ensure that your solutions are always up and running, so they don't break down at an inconvenient time.. Key Takeaway We hope this guide has helped you understand Citizen Development in 2023. The world is changing, and we're all going to have to adapt if we want to thrive. But the good news is that it's not as scary as it might seem—and now that you've got the knowledge, you can be a part of the change. If you want to begin automating your business, AgilePoint offers a free trial so that you can try out its latest functionalities and templates. Once your free trial ends, you can upgrade to a paid subscription for more features and support. Sign up now!
With an impending recession, today's organizations need future-ready employees and managers who can help and contribute to the digital transformation journey. Therefore, before you plan your next business manager hiring or internal promotion, you should reconsider which skills you seek to complement leadership, interpersonal, time-management, and problem-solving abilities. While most employees have an overwhelming number of soft skills—interpersonal and communication, creative thinking and negotiation, and practical managerial skills—when it comes to being future-ready, the most important skill might surprise you. The Skill of the Future: Enterprise Citizen Development As with soft skills, citizen development has proven to be critical skill organizations seek in their future managers. In today's fast-changing corporate environment, citizen development is one skill that every professional working in corporate America needs to possess. Business users must learn citizen development, which is the process of building applications using IT-approved tools, such as low-code or no-code platforms so that they can manage their data and create applications in-house. It is worth stating upfront that soft skills are essential. "Soft skills like decision-making, adaptive, time-management, and managerial skills are important, but the key is to mix these with strategic citizen development skills that will ensure you can play a vital role in your company's growth," says Jesse Shiah, Founder & CEO of AgilePoint, Inc. We couldn't agree more. Businesses face a talent shortage, especially in the information technology department and more so in the United States, which gets propelled by the high demand for IT professionals post-COVID and a rising focus on digital transformation objectives. While some businesses can find IT talent locally, albeit at an extremely high cost, it is only viable in the short run. Others can either outsource their requirements to countries like India and China, where there are abundant IT professionals or hire and move them to the US through the tedious process of sponsoring their visas. Citizen Development vs. Enterprise Citizen Development While citizen development focuses on automating processes and developing monolithic business applications that help business users improve or automate their individual or department tasks, enterprise citizen development looks at the bigger picture. Enterprise citizen development sets the ground for a sustainable digital transformation by enabling business users to develop cross-functional applications and processes across multiple departments and has an enterprise-wide impact while ensuring citizen-developed applications follow standards and compliance policies set by IT. The challenges to innovate and deliver sustainable digital transformation during a tough economy have made enterprise citizen development one of the most essential skills every business user and manager must possess. To minimize skills gaps and expand employees' abilities to become citizen developers, businesses of all sizes will upskill their current talent pools and seek enterprise citizen development skills in their future hires. AgilePoint: The Changing Landscape of IT By collaborating with non-IT professionals, citizen development allows business applications to be conceived, designed, and developed using low-code or no-code development platforms, freeing IT to handle more critical projects. Citizen development has become the most significant component of a company's growth. It helps drive innovation, improve the customer experience, and boost efficiency, ultimately empowering organizations to maximize their technology investments. AgilePoint understands that while citizen developers are busy innovating, IT is on its toes, ensuring citizen-developed applications meet all the compliance requirements. That's why AgilePoint provides IT with the tools to keep citizen-developed applications secured and up to standards. The platform’s layered architecture allows IT to implement governance and compliance measures quickly and comprehensively to ensure applications meet the strictest requirements of regulations or frameworks such as GDPR, HIPPA, SOX, ISO 27001 et al. AgilePoint allows IT to manage platform-level permissions and control the visibility and confidentiality of data available in citizen-developed applications. By offering governance controls in the settings module, AgilePoint enables IT to customize the platform to their organization's specific needs without making adjustments in each citizen-developed application. The layered architecture ensures that organizations meet their requirements for data consent, security, and privacy, including encryption, data masking, role-based access control, and more. Launched in 2009, Jesse Shiah and Sean Zhang created the AgilePoint platform from the ground up to be an enterprise low-code/no-code development platform. With governance and compliance features embedded into its core, AgilePoint is the top choice for CEOs and CIOs looking for a mature platform to kick start citizen development initiatives and those inclined to reduce the burden on their IT department. While most LCNC platforms have challenges surrounding governance, risk, and compliance, the AgilePoint platform's governance and layered security features ensure that empowered business users and citizen developers create business applications easily while conforming to company and industry standards and policies. AgilePoint has enabled businesses to tap into the benefits offered by enterprise citizen development and upskill business users to quickly and easily develop applications without extensive coding experience or expertise using an intuitive low-code no-code platform while reducing the accumulation of technical debt. The AgilePoint platform allows more people to become involved in the development process, empowering non-technical people to create and manage customized applications while freeing IT to take care of more specialized tasks such as governance. It ensures a reduction in development costs and paves the way for a sustained digital transformation. What Our Customer Says We recently met with Brian Schimpf of GC-SDA to discuss his experience with citizen development using AgilePoint. Before he began his journey with SDA and was introduced to the AgilePoint platform in 2019, he had never heard of the term citizen developer. He was quickly impressed to see how, as a business user, he could help IT and his department create new and improve existing business applications using AgilePoint's workflows and forms. Brian states that he loves seeing the results and is proud of being a citizen developer who is making work more efficient, not only for himself but for his team members and all other IT administrators that his company has worldwide. "It's just been a great experience, not only for my professional development but again, to be able to support those around us that use our systems day-to-day," says Brian. Katherine Walton of GC-SDA says, "We have used AgilePoint [since 2011] as a translator to communicate between our business users and IT technical staff." She adds that through the [use of] workflows, [business users at] GC-SDA can communicate and collaborate with IT to clearly understand the objective and what they are trying to accomplish. AgilePoint has made it smooth to complete several projects [in a short time frame.] We are present in over 200 countries, and AgilePoint technology has enabled us to ensure we can support 80 languages. You can watch a full interview with Katherine Walton, Brian Schimpf, and Johnson Ram of GC-SDA here . Project Management Institute's Citizen Development Resources AgilePoint is working closely with the Project Management Institute and has launched a set of educational resources that can help business users and managers learn citizen development skills and become citizen developers. Furthermore, the PMI Canvas platform developed by AgilePoint offers an eagle eye view and manage entire lifecycle for all citizen development projects in your organization using robust KPIs. To learn more about the different Citizen Developer learning paths, please get in touch with PMI or reach out to your AgilePoint Success Manager or Sales Representative. Conclusion Enterprise Citizen Development has become one of the most sought-after skills of our time. Organizations of all sizes and industries are upskilling their business users to leverage their domain knowledge to help shape the future of the enterprise. AgilePoint is uniquely positioned to help these organizations. Since 2009 we have pioneered low-code/no-code and enterprise citizen development domain. Many large and small enterprise customers have relied on our platform to kickstart citizen development initiatives. Today, the AgilePoint platform is synonymous with innovation in citizen development, and for numerous reasons, apart from being a pioneer considered the number 1 citizen development platform. The AgilePoint platform has proven to improve productivity and efficiency by facilitating enterprise-grade citizen development at businesses of all sizes, enabling citizen developers to build cross-functional business applications and improve operational efficiency quickly. By using AgilePoint's low-code/no-code automation platform, organizations could take a completely revolutionary approach to automate their operations. Through a dynamic and collaborative partnership between IT, lines of business, and citizen developers, they were able to quickly create business-critical, end-to-end cross-functional automation to break down organizational silos by engaging the entire organization in the automation process (with guardrails) and through the engagement of every department in the process. AgilePoint's approach offers an environment that allows your teams to collaborate and co-create automations and orchestrations. This is done exclusively within and in concert with your existing application stacks. Using AgilePoint's architecture, enterprises can provide flexible, future-proof solutions by decoupling critical cross-functional business processes from their core systems, so they can deliver better experiences and more efficient customer services. Try AgilePoint free for 30 days to learn how it can benefit your Citizen Development needs, or request a demo to have someone from AgilePoint shorten your learning curve.
One of the ways that leading companies tend to increase Developer Velocity is by using low-code and no-code platforms, which empowers citizen developers to ...
When the economy is tough, it's essential to keep your business running as efficiently as possible. Enterprises need to prepare for an upcoming recession. If not, companies may suffer severe losses, and employees may experience layoffs and reduced wages. To avoid such dire consequences, enterprises need to plan. One way of doing so is to implement enterprise citizen development. Citizen development is a methodology by which non-technical employees are trained to develop applications to meet the organization's demands. It reduces the cost of software development while allowing users to build applications more quickly and with more accuracy. In addition, with the proper training, employees can use the skills they have obtained to help the organization in other ways. Citizen development can help enterprises become more competitive and recession-proof. In times of economic stress, many businesses hesitate to make significant investments or acquisitions. It is due to the fear that such decisions may not be wise in light of current market conditions. However, by using enterprise citizen development , businesses can overcome these concerns without making significant expenditures or taking on too much risk. By relying on the skills and knowledge of their employees, companies can create low-cost applications that meet their specific needs without having to spend a lot of money upfront. Since citizen development is conducted by employees who already possess the necessary skills, it can help speed up the flow of information within a company. It can also reduce risks associated with shadow IT. By utilizing enterprise citizen development, businesses can gain a competitive advantage and become more agile and efficient. Let us look at five ways enterprise citizen development can help during a recession. 1. Reducing Costs through Enterprise citizen development Using enterprise citizen development is becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to reduce the money they spend on software development. With enterprise citizen development, companies can leverage the skills of their non-IT employees to create low-cost applications tailored to their specific needs. It can help save time and money since employees already possess the knowledge and experience in their respective domains. Citizen-developed applications can be quickly deployed, allowing businesses to benefit from their investment quickly. Enterprise citizen development is a cost-effective way for companies to meet their software development needs and is considerably less expensive than hiring a professional developer outside the company. Enterprises that embrace citizen development can reap tremendous cost savings from their IT initiatives. Enterprise citizen development can help businesses mitigate the effects of a high attrition rate within their IT departments. By allowing business users to develop applications and workflows to address specific business challenges, IT resources can be freed up to focus on more strategic endeavors. By creating an environment that encourages collaboration between business users and IT professionals, knowledge retention and transfer within the organization is more easily achieved, thus reducing the impact of employee turnover. Ultimately, enterprise citizen development is a cost-effective solution to help businesses maximize their resources and remain competitive. 2. Enterprise citizen development helps upskill business users When businesses need to update their software or hardware, they often turn to outside professionals or IT to help them do the job. Most companies need business users with the technical expertise to undertake the project independently. However, by implementing enterprise citizen development programs, businesses can equip employees with the skills they need to complete such tasks. It allows companies to reduce reliance on hiring outside professionals, decrease the burden on IT and quickly resolve any software issues that may arise. Updating software and hardware can be a complex process that requires a wide range of technical expertise. By giving employees the training they need, businesses can minimize the time necessary to complete this task and ensure that all required updates are implemented quickly and accurately. Furthermore, by relying on employees' skills, businesses can avoid potential mistakes that could lead to rework or system failure, thus reducing the accumulation of technical debt. Companies can also keep pace with rapidly-changing industry trends and maintain their competitive edge. 3. Accelerates new product and service development using Enterprise citizen development Businesses often need more time to attempt to develop new products or services. It is because developing new products or services requires a lot of research and planning, which can take a long time to execute correctly. Businesses can overcome these delays by relying on the skills and knowledge of their business users, who, in most cases, are very well aware of the processes and customer journey. Since this type of development is conducted by employees who already possess these skills, it can be considerably faster than hiring a professional developer from outside the company. Additionally, since citizen-developed applications are created in conjunction with IT, they can take care of the governance and security aspects. It makes citizen development an affordable option for businesses of all sizes and is a powerful tool for accelerating the development of new products and services. By leveraging the skills and expertise of business users and IT professionals, organizations can achieve rapid development cycles and improved customer experiences. Enterprise citizen development also offers teams new opportunities to collaborate, innovate, and create cost-effective solutions tailored to their customers' needs. With the right processes and support, enterprise citizen development can help organizations deliver value quickly and efficiently. 4. Enterprise citizen development mitigates shadow-IT risks Shadow IT refers to the use of business software by a department or individual without the knowledge of the IT or security group within the organization. Businesses often face the risk of their employees using unauthorized software or accessing confidential data without proper authorization. Many employees feel beholden to work around the perceived or actual shortcomings of the central information systems approved by IT by utilizing freely available open-source software to overcome business obstacles. However, training business users to work on enterprise citizen development platforms helps them better understand appropriate application development and security protocols and creates a better communication channel between IT and business users. Adopting enterprise citizen development practices within the enterprise brings many vital benefits. It also helps reduce risks associated with shadow IT. By allowing business users to develop applications within an IT-approved platform, the enterprise can ensure that applications are safe, secure, and compliant with corporate standards. 5. Enterprise citizen development helps improve business process efficiency and increases productivity. Through enterprise citizen development, non-technical personnel can create, modify and maintain existing applications, allowing them to quickly and effectively respond to changing business needs. This agility is essential in today's dynamic business environment in the face of a looming recession, and having the ability to make quick changes to existing applications can save time and resources. Enterprise citizen development helps improve data accuracy, allowing for greater accuracy and precision when analyzing data which is extremely useful for making informed decisions and forecasting trends. Enterprise citizen development is a powerful tool that can help businesses improve their business processes, increase efficiency, and boost productivity. It allows organizations to create custom applications tailored to their specific needs and requirements while enabling them to quickly and cost-effectively develop innovative applications and solutions. Enterprise citizen development can help businesses get the most out of their technology investments and is a great way to ensure that businesses stay competitive in today's ever-changing market. Conclusion Organizations can obtain several business benefits by empowering business users to develop software solutions with low-code or no-code tools. They can save costs, reduce technical debt, help fight employee attrition, increase process efficiency, accelerate new product and service development, and reduce risks associated with shadow IT. Utilizing enterprise citizen development can create a competitive advantage for a business, giving users the power to accelerate projects quickly, respond to customer feedback, and develop business applications with minimal effort. Enterprise citizen development can help businesses stay profitable and thrive in the upcoming recession. It allows them to quickly and efficiently develop cost-effective solutions to help them remain competitive in a challenging economic climate. By leveraging the enterprise's assets and knowledge of its business users, businesses can better manage resources and drive innovation to stay prosperous and achieve top-line and bottom-line targets during an uncertain economy. If you have read this far, there is no doubt you will find the following post helpful; Modern Low Code No Code Software enables Citizen Development . Start building today and discover how AgilePoint helps you create apps and workflows that maximize resources, improve business performance, and increase efficiency.
Have you ever thought about becoming a Citizen Developer? If so, this article is for you. Citizen developers are getting increasingly more sophisticated in their ability to use Low-Code, No-Code software tools, and cloud services to build new applications that meet the needs of their organizations. As more companies look for citizen developers, it's easy to get caught up in all the hype around it. But what does it take to succeed as one? What is a citizen developer? As we have defined before, a citizen developer is an end-user in a business without traditional programming or IT experience but who can use low-code or no-code tools to develop applications to streamline a company's business processes. Gartner coined the term, which has since become part of common parlance. Citizen developers are not full-time developers but can act as one when needed. They can be anyone in your organization, including business analysts, project managers, and data scientists. A significant number of Citizen Developers also come from a process-improvement background. The importance of citizen development in organizations Citizen development has become essential in organizations because it allows organizations to adopt new technologies and tools faster than ever before when the only ones who could create software were those with specialized training. Citizen developers help organizations become more agile by creating applications that are easy to use and update. In short, they can bring fresh ideas, innovative solutions, and creative problem-solving skills to the table. Skills that citizen developers need To be successful as a citizen developer, you must be open to learning new skills and working with new technologies. For instance, one of our articles, " Citizen Developer: Are you the one ," explains the skill set you need to become successful as a Citizen Developer. You'll also have to be willing to learn from others, collaborate with them, and share your knowledge. Collaborative skills: Citizen developers are not always working independently; they're often part of a team, so collaboration is essential. Being able to work with others and communicate effectively will help grow your career as a citizen developer. Communication skills: When working on projects with others, explaining your ideas clearly is essential so that others can understand them without being condescending or judgmental. Analytical ability: Citizen developers often have specific needs they need to solve. They have to figure out how best to meet those needs by looking at the data surrounding the problem they're trying to solve. Critical thinking: You need to think critically about the problems you're solving for your company and how you can solve them using technology. Flexibility: Technology is constantly changing, so the skills you learn in school may not be relevant when you graduate. It's essential to be able to adapt and change your skills as necessary. Process orientation : Citizen Developers ought to think about process improvement; hence, many of their app ideas need to improve existing processes. Therefore, it is important to have a process-first approach. Tools that citizen developers need To become a citizen developer, you’ll need to become familiar with the right software for the job! The following are some of the most common tools and resources used by citizen developers: No-code platforms are built to give non-developers the ability to build web applications without having to learn how to code. These platforms typically offer drag-and-drop design tools but are less capable than low-code development environments. Low-code platforms allow developers with no coding experience at all—and even those with experience—to create enterprise-level applications quickly and easily. Citizen Developers can use LC/NC platforms for process automation, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), data analytics, customer self-service, and more. Cloud-based platforms are similar in concept as low code or no-code platforms, but they allow you to access them from anywhere on any device so long as you have an internet connection. It will enable your organization to have more flexibility during project deployment. Process automation platforms can eliminate many time-intensive manual processes by allowing computers to repeat actions without human intervention. These tools use a flowchart-style interface to represent the sequence of operations required by an automated process. Integration tools are like automation platforms. However, cloud-based integration tools streamline and connect on-premise and cloud systems; rather than entire processes and workflows. Training for citizen developers Citizen development is more than just building an application—it's about implementing a project with frameworks and best practices and following Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). To succeed as a citizen developer, you'll want to take some of the most common training in the industry. These include: Project Management Institute Training : This education suite provides citizen developers with the tools and frameworks they need to implement citizen development effectively in their organizations. It offers Citizen Developer Practitioner (CD-P) : The course is intended for citizen developers and standardizes the process using whatever tools its students prefer. It provides the necessary tools to help you determine if citizen engagement is the right approach for your proposed solution. Citizen Developer Business Architect (CD-BA) : This course offers insights and best practices for managing citizen developers within an organization. Managers of citizen developers will learn how to foster organizational structures, oversee collaboration, and govern the process of translating ideas into action. Platform Specific Training To be a citizen developer, you need to know the ins and outs of whatever platform you use. It is why platform-specific training is so crucial for citizen developers: it gives the training you need for each platform so that you can use it effectively and efficiently. AgilePoint NX Getting Started Training : This online self-learning resource is designed to help you quickly become familiar with the enterprise-class low-code/no-code automation capabilities offered by AgilePoint. Through this course, you can start to achieve fundamental automation capabilities by learning how your organization operates and what processes are repeatable. You can begin taking classes at any time, and you have the option to complete them within a flexible time frame. Conclusion All in all, citizen development is on the rise. Citizen developers can help organizations move faster and become more agile, innovative, and productive. They have the skills to collaborate at scale across teams; they understand how technology works, and they know how to use it in everyday life. As this trend continues over time, we may see fully self-sufficient employees who don’t need any external help at all! See what the AgilePoint platform is all about. Take a free test drive !
I n October this year, six weeks before Project Management Institute’s Global Summit 2022 , four Project Management professionals spoke at a webinar on “ The Role of Project Management and its importance in implementing new technologies during Digital Transformation .” Given 30 minutes to leave viewers with a roadmap, the speakers from two companies shared their journey of implementing enterprise Citizen Development projects. They also spoke about Project and Program Managers using their project management expertise to contribute to and sustain citizen development. As such, they propose five best practices to make citizen development projects sustainable, which include: Determine needs and clarify objectives Find the right software solution Prioritize project governance Implement project management processes Ask the right questions before starting each citizen developer-led application project ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Project Management Institute (PMI) hosted a webinar on the “Role of Project Management and its importance in implementing new technologies during Digital Transformation.” Bailey Truesdale, Partner Success Specialist at the Project Management Institute (PMI) moderated the session. She gave a short introduction of citizen development and the PMI Citizen Developer foundation course before jumping into speaker introductions. Bailey was joined by low-code and no-code business leaders, Brian Schimpf, GDPR and Health Analyst and Katherine Walton, Business Process Manager at General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists (GCSDA), an AgilePoint customer. She was also joined by Guru Prasad, Head of Customer Success at Quixy, and their customer Mohan Krishna at Nekkanti Sea Foods. The speakers reiterated the crucial role of project management processes in implementing Citizen Development projects. It might not be a familiar concept, but a necessary one to succeed in implementing a citizen development program at an enterprise level. Here are the key takeaways: 1. Determine the needs and clarify objectives The panelists emphasized the importance of determining your project needs upfront. Need analysis is an essential tool we all know about; however, with the rise of new technologies, it's helpful to go back to the basics and ask what needs the project would serve or what requirements we want to satisfy by using new technology. Project managers and Citizen Developers from GC-SDA and Nekkanti Sea Foods provided practical examples demonstrating their use of Citizen Development to unlock innovation. For instance, GC-SDA's circumstances were unique as it ran mission-critical global operations for 14 divisions. However, it did not afford to hire a team of expensive-to-hire professional developers to implement its digital transformation initiatives. Furthermore, the team wanted dynamic operational capabilities to respond to changing business and operational needs. GC-SDA also desired to keep the HR operations adaptable to policy changes because the organization ran international HR operations with a small team of technical staff. Katherine Walton, Business Process Manager at GC-SDA laid out four components of the organization’s Citizen Development program before transforming the HR operations: Identified Challenges Laid out Goals Determined desirable capabilities of the Citizen Development platform Shortlisted Use Case: New Hire Tracking System for Business Users Challenges How to provide a detailed overview and status of each step in the hiring process? How to measure the effectiveness of the hiring process? Challenges How to provide a detailed overview and status of each step in the hiring process? How to measure the effectiveness of the hiring process? Goals GC-SDA clarified its core objective to be "digital Transformation of its critical business processes and modernization of its I.T. ops." The meta-goal was further divided into sub-goals like: 1. Automate the system as much as possible to increase efficiency and prevent errors 2. Reduce technical debt by using a Low-Code No-Code solution to work in collaboration with business users and ProIT Previous solutions were high in cost IT Human Resources The end goal was to transition from only a pro-developers team to a pro-dev + Citizen-dev team Licensing Cost Replace high-cost legacy BPM and automation solutions with modern BPM and Citizen Development platform Hence, we see a transparent approach of the GC-SDA team in determining its needs. The team further identified the capabilities of a new Citizen Development platform. 2. Find the right software solution GC-SDA desired a tool that would support its specific needs for the HR modernization project: A tool that integrates with GC-SDA’s existing systems (cloud-based and on-premises) Supports smaller development team Citizen Developer/Business Analyst, 1 Project/Process Manager, and 1 Professional IT Service Provider LCNC solution that supports CD (empowers the Project Manager and Business Analysts to be more integrated into the application development cycle(supports CD) Strong governance (granular security for applications and reports) and ability to run analytics on running apps Mobile application development capabilities
Low-code, no-code, and citizen development are popular buzzwords you may have heard along with the digital transformation . If you've followed the industry, you know how these concepts are changing as we look at workplace technologies. But what do they mean, how are they connected, and why a modern business should care about them? To make sense of it all, we'll explain the connection and difference between low-code or no-code and citizen development in this article so you can better understand when each is appropriate for your organization. What is Low-Code or No-Code Technology? In the simplest terms, low-code/no-code technology describes software development without writing code. The key word here is "low" or "no." Low-code tools are still considered software development tools—they're just different from traditional ones like Java or C#/C++. Instead of writing code, many low-code platforms allow you to create software simply by dragging and dropping components onto your canvas (the interface where your application will be created). It can be incredibly helpful if you work with limited resources or lack experience in coding languages like Java, C#, or C++. Historical Background of Low-Code or No-Code technologies Low-Code or No-Code technologies were developed to address the needs of non-technical users who wanted to create their applications without learning to code. Several tools have been developed over the years, allowing non-programmers to create their custom apps using intuitive user interfaces and visual elements such as drag-and-drop buttons, drop-down menus, and other input forms. Here is a brief history of the development of low code / no code technologies according to the workplace productivity platform Formstack : 1985: Microsoft releases the first version of Excel , a tool that enables users to manipulate data without writing code, on the Macintosh. 1997: A cloud computing system was trademarked—a concept allowing many no-code and low-code tools to function today. 2003: WordPress , a tool that allows web developers to create websites without writing code, was released. 2004: The term "no-code development platform" first appeared in Google Trends data in February 2004. 2011: Forrester defined Low-code development in a report on productivity platforms for custom applications. 2014: Forrester coined the term "low-code" to describe development environments that are simpler and easier than traditional coding. 2020: As remote work expands, many organizations adopted no-code tools to adjust quickly in a contactless world caused by the pandemic. The Concept of Citizen Development The term " citizen developer " was coined by Gartner to describe business users who build software without traditional technical training. However, the concept and practice of citizen development are not new. It has been used for years by small businesses and developers to create custom applications without needing to hire expensive IT staff. There have always been people outside of IT who have been able to contribute to the creation of apps. They only had the tools to do it quickly now. Businesses that needed to develop applications quickly without going through the lengthy process of hiring an outside development agency or developer could turn to internal tech-savvy staff for help. For example, those who build websites and apps for personal use or those who create small business websites or apps often have little formal training but are still regarded as citizen developers by many in the industry. Hence, citizen developers can be anyone from an entrepreneur looking for new ways to create their software to an employee working in a large organization working with business apps. Such users might want some customizations in their existing enterprise applications but want to avoid going through the traditional route of requesting IT to build these apps or modifications. Low-Code or No-Code and Citizen Development: The Connection Citizen developers are not professional software developers but have an interest in business technology and problem-solving, they then help the organization achieve its goals by improving or creating new business processes using low code/no code tools. Citizen developers need to adopt low code/no code technologies, which allow users with basic computer skills to quickly and easily create new solutions for their organizations. On the other hand, low-code/no-code technologies are the tools used to build easy and maintain applications. They're designed intuitively so that non-technical users can use and modify them. These applications can be made available through an app store or web browser. It means that anyone with access to an internet connection can use them wherever they happen to be. In addition, these same tools can enable businesses with limited resources (and budgets) to create new applications more quickly than ever before—or even update existing ones with minimal effort. Conclusion Low-Code or No-Code technologies are enabling the citizen development movement and the democratization of application development. These technologies help businesses innovate and create new applications while allowing citizens with limited technical experience to take advantage of powerful digital tools. In this way, it's a win-win situation: Citizens get access to robust digital tools right away; companies get an edge over competitors by allowing more users to participate in the development process, increasing the net usage of these tools. AgilePoint's end-to-end business automation platform enables enterprises to leverage the power of citizen development to succeed in their digital transformation journey. Get your free trial of AgilePoint today, and see how our solutions can build applications and workflows that optimize resources, improve business performance—and maximize efficiency.
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