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We used to think that building applications requires significant funding and advanced technical skills. However, low code development platforms have since shifted this paradigm by simplifying the development process. These platforms offer intuitive interfaces and pre-built components, allowing users to create apps through a visual approach, reducing the need for extensive coding knowledge.
Citizen developers—employees without formal coding backgrounds—work alongside IT teams to address the growing demand for applications. This collaboration allows IT professionals to focus on more complex projects while citizen developers tackle simpler, high-impact solutions.
In fact, did you know that 41% of non-IT employees are already involved in building or customising technology solutions? Also, around 77% of leaders report that their development teams face a backlog of technology solution requests that remain unaddressed due to a lack of qualified specialists and high costs. Additionally, 72% of IT leaders find that project backlogs often prevent them from strategic initiatives.
What’s more important is that the increasing demand for business applications is outpacing organisations’ capacity to deliver, leading to developer overwhelm, burnout, and turnover. This ultimately results in a shortage of professional software developers.
By 2025, the global shortage of software developers is expected to reach 4 million, and this gap is likely to widen.
To remain competitive, businesses proactively turn to affordable alternatives like low-code platforms to create custom applications. As a result, low code development platforms facilitate growth by accelerating development and lowering IT staffing costs. These platforms enable citizen developers to create, customise, and deploy effective, user-friendly applications swiftly, not causing delays in the IT process.
What are the No Code and Low Code development platforms?
Low-code and no-code platforms offer pre-built components that allow users to easily design, develop, and deploy applications with minimal knowledge of complex programming languages.
Low-code platforms are aimed at users with minimal coding experience, providing greater customisation and control through limited coding options. In turn, no code platforms take this a step further by eliminating the need for any complex programming skills, enabling users to build apps using drag and drop interface and simple logic statements.
By empowering citizen developers—employees with domain knowledge but limited coding skills—companies can employ new sources of innovation from within their teams.
What are the after-effects for developers?
For developers, the emergence of low-code and no-code platforms presents both opportunities and challenges. On one hand, these platforms make software development more accessible to a broader audience. This shift can create new opportunities for specialised developers to focus on higher-value tasks, such as architecture design, integration, and optimisation. Additionally, low-code and no-code platforms can be useful tools for prototyping and rapid iteration, enabling developers to deliver solutions more efficiently.
Conversely, there are concerns about these platforms that might affect the role of professional developers. As more business users adopt low-code and no-code solutions, there is a risk that certain development tasks could become commoditised. Developers may face competition from citizen developers or feel pressure to adjust to a situation where traditional coding skills are less valued. However, low-code and no-code platforms do not replace skilled developers; instead, they complement their expertise.
Are citizen developers a viable solution?
Today, 84% of businesses leverage low-code and no-code platforms to alleviate the burden on their IT teams. Citizen developers help reduce the pressure on IT teams by taking on simpler, repetitive tasks that don’t require specialised development skills. This allows IT professionals to focus on more complex, high-priority projects.
Citizen developers they relieve IT personnel of certain tasks in the service pipeline, allowing them to focus on more pressing and complex projects. However, while citizen developers can create functional applications, they often lack the deeper understanding of best practices in software architecture, security, and scalability. This can lead to technical debt or poorly designed applications that may require later intervention from IT teams.
The rise of digital natives
Millennials and younger workers, who represent a significant portion of the workforce, are more likely to take on the role of citizen developers. As digital natives, they are generally more comfortable with technology, including application and software development.
Bridging the skills gap in application development environment
40% of businesses experience a skills gap in app development. However, through citizen development, they can create tailored business solutions that provide value and meet their organisation’s specific needs. Citizen developers enhance organisational productivity and operational efficiency and building a culture of agility.
Supporting continuous transformation in the development environment
The low-code citizen development model supports your business’s continuous transformation while nurturing the skills citizen developers will need for future roles. It empowers professionals to create solutions that effectively address issues, directly tackling customer and stakeholder pain points.
Delivering value through automation
Citizen developers build small-scale applications that promote automation and streamline organisational processes and workflows, delivering considerable value over time. In fact, 80% of companies believe that citizen developers have provided their IT personnel with more flexibility and capacity.
With adequate training, citizen developers can rapidly create a minimum viable product (MVP) instead of spending weeks or months developing applications based on specific requirements. Low-code and no-code platforms enable organisations to reduce development time by 50% to 90%. This quicker development process enhances competitiveness and lowers costs.
Overcoming concerns about low-code platforms
Many experienced developers feel apprehensive when they hear about low-code platforms. However, in practice, mainly when focusing on processes rather than tools, low-code approaches do not hinder innovation or creativity; instead, they enhance it.
For example, you can handle time-consuming boilerplate components, allowing you to focus on writing only JavaScript code to address a specific business problem. Additionally, it’s generally easier to revise or fix applications created by citizen developers than to decipher the complex spreadsheets the IT department has accumulated over time.
Ultimately, low-code and no-code platforms offer a practical solution for both worlds—you don’t need to build a full-scale Python application for simple data management. While low code apps may not handle complex programming calculations, they can significantly reduce the tedious tasks cluttering your inboxes and spreadsheets.
How can you benefit from a low code development platform used by citizen developers?
As mentioned, citizen developer frameworks and tools emerged in response to the increasing demand for quicker turnaround times. They boost productivity and create more opportunities for future growth. Consequently, the tangible benefits of low-code and no-code app development have motivated 75% of large firms to adopt at least four of these tools for IT and citizen development by 2024. Moreover, around 71% of enterprises adopting citizen development have boosted the application development by at least 50%. Here are some examples.
Efficient IT management
Frequently, numerous requests and tasks become lost in extensive IT backlogs. This situation pushes business leaders to seek solutions outside of IT authority, which can introduce its own challenges. Low-code tools comply with IT standards, ensuring that all business needs are adequately addressed. Additionally, these platforms offer the necessary control and visibility over all the applications created and used within the organisation.
Understanding customer needs
Enterprise owners gain a deeper understanding of their customer’s needs and various nuances of the application. Rather than relying solely on developers, citizen development frameworks empower individuals who are closer to the business to create apps, increasing the likelihood that the final products will effectively meet the needs of end users.
Improving business productivity
Low-code and no-code solutions enable you to address business bottlenecks promptly without relying on the IT team. As a result, employees can work more efficiently, saving time and money for everyone in the organisation.
Accelerated time to market
Every company aims to deliver quality products promptly to stay relevant in the market. With the emergence of leading low-code and no-code platforms, you can swiftly create applications that meet specific demands, shortening the development lifecycle. This approach provides your business with a considerable advantage.
Meeting the demand for apps
More and more businesses are realising how important software solutions are for simplifying their operations and improving efficiency. As a result, the demand for more apps continues to rise. Citizen developers can bridge this gap by accelerating the development process to meet the pressing needs of businesses.
Democratising app development: key benefits
Low-code and citizen development are becoming inevitable components of software development process. The shift towards democratising app and software development is gaining momentum as traditional development methods struggle to keep pace with the growing need for automation. With the rising demand for tech solutions, it gets difficult for professional developers to fulfil these needs on their own.
Here are some key benefits of democratising app development through low-code and citizen developers
- Reduces IT bottlenecks: Citizen development alleviates pressure on IT teams, fostering better collaboration between business units and IT.
- User-friendly experience: Low-code platforms offer a simple user experience, facilitating quick adoption, ease of use, and ongoing improvements.
- Increased agility: IT teams can respond swiftly to market demands more transparently.
- Enhanced collaboration: It encourages delegation and cross-functional teamwork, leading to more cohesive project execution.
- Faster time to market: Custom applications can be built in hours or days instead of weeks or months, ensuring quicker delivery of solutions.
- Market advantage: Organisations can roll out more business applications, driving revenue growth and maintaining a competitive edge.
- Skill development: Citizen development enhances the technical skills of business users, promoting a digital workplace culture.
- Problem-centric solutions: This methodology ensures that solutions remain aligned with the actual problems and functional requirements of the business.
- Identifying opportunities: Organisations can more effectively pinpoint new opportunities, making them more agile and responsive to market changes and demands.
How can Altamira help you?
Altamira offers fast and cost-effective idea validation or MVP development services using scalable No-Code or Low-Code platforms that significantly reduce your time-to-market and time-to-revenue.
Using mature No-Code / Low-Code software development platforms usually results in 5x quicker delivery time and more error-prone, easy-to-maintain solutions. As a result, you will:
- Reduce MVP or idea-validation expenses
- Reduce infrastructure and maintenance expenses
- Simplify change-management procedure
As a rule, the Low-Code app development approach is suitable for most applications, but there are certain limitations, which we thoroughly investigated during the software discovery phase.
What challenges do we address?
Embracing digital transformation
Businesses face ongoing pressure to digitise their operations. Low-code and no-code development streamline this process by allowing for quick application creation and deployment. This agility helps organisations respond swiftly to market shifts and customer needs.
High development costs
Traditional software development can incur high costs due to substantial investments in personnel, technology, and time. Low-code and no-code platforms simplify the development process, significantly reducing expenses related to custom software creation and ongoing maintenance.
Difficulties while integrating new technologies
Incorporating new technologies such as AI, IoT, and blockchain into existing systems can be challenging and resource-heavy. Low-code and no-code platforms typically offer pre-built templates and integrations, making it easier to adopt these technologies.
Meeting regulatory and compliance standards
Low-code and no-code platforms come equipped with built-in compliance and security features. Our team will ensure that your applications meet the required regulations, eliminating the need for specialised knowledge.
IT backlog
IT departments frequently encounter backlogs due to the growing demand for new applications and updates. Low-code and no-code development empower business users to directly participate in the creation of applications, helping to alleviate the strain on IT resources
At Altamira, we help you decrease uncertainty when investing in software development, validate your ideas, empower internally managed systems, and bridge technological gaps.
By embracing low-code and no-code platforms, businesses alleviate IT backlogs, accelerate time-to-market, and empower employees at all levels to contribute to digital transformation. As the demand for rapid, cost-effective application development continues to rise, the future belongs to those who proactively use these tools. Book a call to get a free expert consultation.