The democratisation of app development

In the past, your IT environment was exclusively built by people with years of specialised tech knowledge. No one outside your IT team had a say in your email client or your intranet because they didn’t have the knowledge to choose the right solution. But today, intelligent cloud-powered solutions with accessible user interfaces (UIs) have made it easier for line of business users to create their own ideal tools within their business. This democratisation of app development is leading to a significant shift in the way that organisations are managing their IT environments and to how they get their work done. Today, we’ll look at some of this IT, such as low-code/no-code platforms and apps, to see how they enable everyday users to:

• Affect real change in their organisations
• Reduce pressure on IT teams
• Turn great ideas into solutions

From paper to screen: rise of the workflow

Keeping your business competitive is a full-time job. And it’s one that is increasingly reliant on the right technology. When it comes to digital transformation, converting manual processes to digital is an essential step. Automating business processes enables your business to:

• Reduce human error
• Access data faster
• Make better decisions
• Secure critical information
• Do more with less
• Concentrate on higher value work

Designed to map out and optimise processes for maximum efficiency, automated workflows are transforming businesses of all sizes. Today, businesses can deploy apps that no longer require heavy involvement from the IT department. No-code or low-code solutions have changed the game for line of business workers. With technology that doesn’t require advanced coding, it’s possible for your employees to automate their own processes. This will help make the workflow more accurate, while allowing the IT team more time to work on higher value projects—a win for everyone involved.

A UI for you and me

Thanks to simple and intuitive user interfaces, enterprise software has become increasingly easy to design, build and use. This has created new potential for companies of every size and employees of every level of IT experience.

Take Microsoft Power Platform as an example. Comprised of four core Microsoft tools, Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate and Power Virtual Agents, this suite makes app building, advanced data analytics, process automation and the ability to create chat bots accessible to employees without coding experience.

In the past, specialist business applications had to be built from scratch by software developers, often at great expense, and over a period of months or years. Those apps would then require ongoing maintenance and dedicated resources—something that locked many businesses out of having the right digital tools, significantly limiting their potential for growth.

The rise of the citizen developer

These powerful, easy-to-use apps has enabled the rise of the citizen developer, giving end users the freedom to enhance their own working environments. Microsoft Power Platform offers an intuitive interface that allows users to build their own applications, implementing and integrating them into their IT environments as needed. This has also reduced long waiting periods for updates from a swamped IT team.

Give your employees the power of app development

These days, it isn’t quite enough to purchase new software and call it a day. Businesses must remodel their operations in such a way that they’re agile enough to meet growing customer expectations and scalable enough that they won’t have to pay for expensive new software regularly.

Your IT tools should put the power into the hands of your people. It’s the employees who use their workspace tools every day that are best placed to ensure your digital workspace is ultimately a success. Giving them the right tools is the first step. This is where an experienced business transformation partner can really help you.

We’re all in IT together

What makes this such an exciting time for businesses in every industry is the amount of power that every employee has to effect change in their workplace. 18-month development projects are a thing of the past. Instead, app development time can be drastically reduced and built by end users who know exactly what they need. Welcome to true app development democracy.

Deptive has experience in helping businesses give your workers what they need to succeed. Partner with us and together let’s build an intelligent, effective digital workspace that your employees will love.

Find out more on our Digital Workplace Page or Get in touch with Deptive today and see how we can help your employees turn their great ideas into solutions and affect real change in your organisation.