A shortage of software developers and IT workers in general is forcing businesses to turn to “civilian developers” within their organizations to build business applications that support digital transformation efforts.
According to John Bratincevic, a senior analyst at Forrester, finding workers with software development skills or training them in-house is becoming a priority. He says the most common question he gets when talking to business clients is how they can sustain and scale a citizen development strategy.
What makes civic development possible is the raft low-code and no-code development platforms, which allow business users with little to no coding experience to develop applications based on business needs. Companies use these platforms to create “hundreds or thousands of citizen developers within their organizations. They want to know how to educate people, so they become really skilled in low code,” said Bratincevic.
“In my opinion, low-code development will simply be table stakes for business people — just like personal productivity tools,” he added.
Low code on the rise
A January survey of 380 enterprises by research firm IDC found that 49% of respondents are purchasing low-code or no-code platforms to drive innovation within themselves. The second most important reason for purchasing software (39%) was “pandemic-related needs”.
In 2021, the global low-code development technology market will reach a revenue of USD 13.8 billion. And adoption of low-code software development platforms is growing at more than 20% per year, according to research firm Gartner. By 2023, low-code development is expected to be adopted by more than half of all mid-sized and large companies.
Low-code development tools abstract from the more commonly used code base and replace it with a graphical user interface or a “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) visual interface for building an application. This technology empowers non-technical employees to become citizen developers, expanding opportunities beyond traditional hiring or day-to-day workflow. In addition, low-code tools allow traditional developers to focus on more complex tasks while others perform simpler development tasks with low-code technology.
ThinkstockWhile there are dozens of companies offering low-code and no-code toolkits, the market leaders are OutSystems, Mendix, Microsoft, Salesforce and ServiceNow, according to Gartner. Platforms sold by Appian, Oracle and Pega are considered “contenders” for these leaders.
Business units understand the needs of business applications
Cloud computing software provider ServiceNow said more than 80% of its customer base now uses its low-code solution. App Engine. And App Engine’s active developer base is growing by 47% every month, the company reports.
Markus Torres, general manager of App Engine Business at ServiceNow, said the ability to build business applications using low-code and no-code tools is becoming an expected skill set for enterprises. This is largely due to the fact that the business side of the house understands the company’s application needs better than the IT department.
Millennials and younger workers, who make up the majority of today’s workforce, are much more comfortable with technology, including software development, than older workers. “They understand that there is an add-on that gives them some benefit,” Torres said. “With these [low-code] platforms, people usually try it, have initial success, and then try to do more.”
Torres has seen teams ranging from facilities teams to HR departments develop applications, with people who typically don’t have a technology pedigree doing the development.
For example, ServiceNow’s cafeteria team created a food menu app using App Engine’s low-code tools. After the menu went live, employees asked if they could order food through the app, so the facilities team expanded the app to include food orders using the same toolsets. Then, of course, the app needed to include a payment system for purchasing orders, so it evolved further.
ServiceNowServiceNow’s App Engine GUI (click image to enlarge)
“They are [employees] usually start with a form-based application and then find they want to do more,” Torres said.
One of ServiceNow’s customers, Deloitte UK has created a portal using App Engine for everything employees need to do their jobs. The portal houses the MyOnboarding program, which has digitized the onboarding process, including the previously paper-based forms that were printed, scanned, and emailed. Employees can also use the portal to find upcoming holidays and book meeting rooms. HR is the primary user of low-code development tools, according to Sarah Pfull, vice president of global talent development at ServiceNow.
HR is a hotbed for citizen development because business needs there are constantly changing, especially in the post-pandemic era and the rise of telecommuting. In fact, Pful’s most used app was created by an HR employee who simply saw a problem and found a fix.
Before creating an online learning and development (L&D) hub, Pfhul’s HR team sent emails to employees looking for educational opportunities. The process was difficult, time-consuming, and did not scale as the company grew.
The HR team was able to use low code to build a new L&D center that centralized all training programs in less than a month to better engage the company’s 17,000 employees worldwide. They were then able to add to the curriculum selection process in less than a week using the same tools.
“This woman was not a developer, and she just started HR a few years ago,” Pful said. “She built an L&D center using low code in a week. Then she went to our digital team to make sure it was within our business management and went to the business to make sure it was done right for them.”
“Once she was able to show what the product was going to be and what it could do for people, everyone jumped on board,” Pful continued. 16,000 people have used the L&D center since it launched in February.
“Without this center, it simply wouldn’t be possible to achieve this level of engagement,” Pful said. “I think [low-code is] the wave of the future. Just like all other digital transformations, HR needs to embrace it too.
“I think we know what our people want. We listen a lot, she continued. “If a company is running right, it’s because you’re doing what the employees tell you they need. They want workflow. They want it to be easy to use. You want the iPhone to be light.”
To prevent civilian developers from going rogue
Pfühl noted that governance is critical to the launch of any new program created by a civilian developer. You can’t just run the program; once it is created, the business side should always consult with the IT department to make sure it meets corporate guidelines.
“I have to tell you that I’m looking for that kind of product thinking on my team from now on because I think that’s going to be the future,” Pfuhl said.
Schneider Electric, a digital automation and energy management provider with approximately 130,000 employees worldwide, has had a citizen development program for the past seven years.
Abha Dogra, senior vice president of digital and North America IT director at Schneider Electric, said governance and management to avoid application sprawl are key to a successful low-code and no-code development strategy.
ServiceNowServiceNow’s App Engine Control Center (click image to enlarge)
Otherwise, business applications built outside of the traditional development process can expose the enterprise to vulnerabilities such as cybersecurity attacks and the creation of digital assets that do not scale. It can also increase a company’s “technical debt,” or the cost of additional development that results from choosing a simple solution instead of a more thorough approach.
“Your use cases usually start with a small problem, but gradually grow larger and require a full software application with hardening design and proper testing with checks and balances for threat modeling. It’s a very fine line when all of a sudden a small use case that was ideal for low code/no code is suddenly in the full app space,” said Dogra.
“So, while every enterprise needs to have a low-code/no-code platform, launching and deploying it for civilian developers needs to be well thought out and have a well-managed mechanism behind it,” Dogra added. .
ServiceNow’s Torres agreed with Dogra, saying that while IT departments have always had to contend with “the shadow of IT”, low-code and no-code tools have exacerbated the need for carefully planned management.
The ServiceNow platform allows users to create a Center of Excellence for governance and development rules that every application they build can be tested against.
“People who don’t do software for a living don’t realize that the highest costs are not in building the software, but in maintaining it. You used to see departments build an app and then say, “There you go, IT.” Now it’s yours,” Torres said. “THIS is like, “Whoa. First of all, I never knew about this app; secondly, I am not equipped for it; and three, what is it?’
“It’s not because IT doesn’t want a partnership [with citizen developers] and help. That’s because they are ultimately responsible for the security of systems and data throughout the company,” Torres said. “They don’t want this proliferation of apps … when they turn around and there’s 10,000 apps they don’t know about.”
Ultimately, civic development programs should offer IT review of any application built before it goes live, which also ensures that the software remains within the organization’s security and regulatory fences.
“That way you’re doing things at scale and making sure there aren’t any issues that might be a security or compliance issue,” Torres said.
Copyright © 2022 IDG Communications, Inc.
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