The line between citizen developers and IT pros gets fuzzier - is that a problem?

A recent survey of 5,000 CIOs shows 56% see citizen development -- the creation of applications outside of formal IT channels -- as one of their top priorities moving forward. Nearly two in five, 38%, started a citizen development program just this year. 

Close to two-thirds, 65%, say citizen development will help reduce IT backlog, and 63% say it helps reduce process completion time, according to the survey published by Kissflow. People now building their own apps hail from operations (30%), human resources (28%), and marketing (20%), the survey finds.

Where does professional development end and citizen development begin? The line is increasingly fuzzy, experts agree.

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 "Business users are increasingly taking on their own app development through no-code and low-code platforms that allow them to build applications without needing deep technical skills," Marinela Profi, strategic AI advisor at SAS, told ZDNet. "Platforms like these empower business users to create custom solutions, automate workflows and streamline processes that previously were the domain of developers."

For some companies, handing business users the keys to app development may be a matter of business necessity.  "A while back, we encountered a significant hurdle during a CRM system change," commented Gary Hemming, owner and finance director at ABC Finance. "We couldn't wait for the IT staff or developers because of the tight deadlines and increasing costs."

To get applications moving faster, finance team members at ABC "decided to create their own custom solutions utilizing no-code tools," Hemming said. "They automated repetitive operations like manual data entry and reporting, which reduced hours of work to minutes. It improved our productivity by 25% and allowed us to deploy changes within days, something that previously took weeks."
This shift "is about practical problem-solving, not just tech empowerment," said Hemming. "Our team didn't suddenly want to be developers -- they simply needed quicker solutions to business problems. When traditional development timeframes or budgets are too tight, individuals on the ground often know what is required and can deliver it more quickly using these new technologies. It's also had an unexpected impact on morale -- employees feel empowered when they see their efforts directly increasing efficiency."

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Citizen developers come across just about every industry. "Developer teams across the globe are facing limitations, meaning companies have far fewer developer resources in general to work with," Savinay Berry, CTO and head of strategy and technology at Vonage, told ZDNet. "Low-code and no-code APIs offer a valuable tool for teams with limited resources and different skill sets to speed up the innovation process."

With such APIs, "non-IT professionals like junior product managers or business analysts can develop a basic prototype, expanding the number of people in an organization that can build apps or software systems," Berry added.

Still, other industry observers say citizen development is still in its infancy -- low-code and no-code approaches require a change in the very concept of developer. 

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"Right now, we're not seeing business users take on large-scale app development traditionally done by professional developers," said Cory Chaplin, leader of West Monroe's technology and experience practice. "It's first important to clarify what app development means."

For instance, "building complex software or enterprise-level applications is not happening in a big way among business users," Chaplin added. "However, there's definitely been a big uptick in the use of citizen data science and analytics tools. We're also seeing individuals experiment with generative AI and newer, more user-friendly tools. While business users aren't building enterprise grade applications, they're making use of tools that make complex processes easier." 

Obstacles still inhibit end-users from building and deploying their own applications. For starters, there is a learning curve, "even with simplified low-code and no-code tools," Berry said. "Business users might struggle with more complex logic or integrating various data sources, which still requires some technical know-how."

"The complexity of requirements can be daunting," said Profi. "Business needs often involve intricate processes and integrations that are beyond the capabilities of low-code tools. Non-technical, business-user-built applications may lack the robustness and scalability required for larger, enterprise-wide deployments. Without technical expertise, business users find challenges in ensuring applications are secure, compliant with data regulations, and aligned with company policies."

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This calls for effective collaboration "between business users and IT or developers to avoid issues like shadow IT, which can create security risks and inefficiencies," Profi added. "Addressing challenges like these involves offering more advanced tools, better training, and encouraging stronger collaboration between technical and non-technical teams."

Security is another concern "as any applications built outside of IT oversight can expose companies to vulnerabilities," said Berry. "Additionally, ensuring that these apps are scalable and can integrate smoothly with existing enterprise systems remains a challenge as collaboration with IT departments is likely still a factor here."  

Also on the horizon is generative AI, which promises to accelerate citizen development of apps in a profound way. "By leveraging AI-backed tools, business users with minimal technical skills can create applications including public-facing websites, basic online marketplaces, mobile applications, virtual assistants, voice agents and chatbots, to name a few," said Berry. 

For more sophisticated projects, "AI can assist these users in generating code, suggesting functionalities or even fully automating parts of the app-building process, drastically reducing the time and technical expertise required to develop apps," Berry continued. "In the future, we'll likely see AI copilots that guide users through the entire development process, from ideation to deployment." 

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Given the relative simplicity of citizen development apps, software may not even be needed for certain situations, said Chaplin. "Anything a business user builds is typically done through low-code or no-code platforms, which, by their nature, are easier to use but often have limited depth and functionality. In many cases, there's no real need for end-users to build applications themselves because the problem can be solved in different ways."

Many organizations "are still understandably cautious about this wild, wild west of business users creating their own applications," said Chaplin. "There's a bit more alignment when it comes to things like citizen data analysis and analytics because it's their own data, and they understand how to interpret it. Even generative AI is still so new that it's not yet fully embraced either. There's also a bit of stigma -- many IT and tech teams aren't keen on business users taking these things into their own hands."