Draft:Citizen developer

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Last edited by Dougxjf (talk | contribs) 42 hours ago. (Update)

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Citizen developer is a term used to describe a non-professional developer who creates applications or automations for themselves or others, using tools officially sanctioned by their organization. These tools typically include low-code or no-code platforms, enabling users without formal programming education to build business applications efficiently and effectively.

Definition

The term "citizen developer" is most commonly associated with business users who, without being part of the IT department, leverage development platforms to solve problems, improve workflows, and innovate in their daily work. The concept has gained popularity as organizations adopt digital transformation strategies and seek to democratize software development.

According to Gartner, a citizen developer is “a user who creates new business applications for consumption by others using development and runtime environments sanctioned by corporate IT.”^[1]

Characteristics

Citizen developers typically:

Work outside traditional IT departments
Use low-code/no-code tools such as Microsoft Power Apps, Mendix, AppSheet, or OutSystems
Focus on business process improvement
Collaborate with IT for governance, integration, and security
Operate within guidelines or frameworks established by IT governance policies

Benefits

Organizations often encourage citizen development to:

Accelerate digital innovation
Reduce development backlogs
Empower business units to solve their own problems
Increase agility in responding to operational needs

Challenges

Despite the advantages, citizen development introduces several challenges, including:

Shadow IT and security risks
Integration and scalability limitations
Quality assurance and maintenance issues
The need for oversight and governance from central IT teams

Governance and IT Collaboration

Successful citizen development programs rely on clear policies, IT support, training, and platform governance. Establishing a Center of Excellence (CoE) is a common approach to balance autonomy with control, ensuring that applications are developed responsibly and sustainably.

Microsoft promotes citizen development as a way to empower every employee to become an innovator using tools like Power Platform, enabling rapid solution-building while working alongside IT.^[2]

Oracle highlights the role of citizen developers in accelerating digital transformation, especially within enterprise resource planning (ERP) environments.^[3]

References

^ "Citizen Developer". Gartner. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
^ "Unleashing the citizen developer in all of us with the Microsoft Power Platform". Microsoft Inside Track. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
^ "Citizen Developer – LearnJDE". Oracle. Retrieved 2025-05-10.

[1] "Citizen Developer". Gartner. Retrieved 2025-05-10.

[2] "Unleashing the citizen developer in all of us with the Microsoft Power Platform". Microsoft Inside Track. Retrieved 2025-05-10.

[3] "Citizen Developer – LearnJDE". Oracle. Retrieved 2025-05-10.

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