As newly remote staff search for — and create their own — digital solutions to non-transitioned onsite workflows, there are bright opportunities to harness and mobilize these proactive frontline employees.If left unchecked, these efforts can grow into hazardous pockets of shadow IT. With the right support and oversight, i.e. governance, these isolated and unsanctioned IT efforts shift into a collective citizen development initiative.Where restrictions can lead to more shadow IT, governance enables anyone from end-users to pro IT to safely augment IT efforts and add value organization-wide.
Today’s State of Citizen Development
The pandemic’s rise in shadow IT is just a larger symptom of a desperate need for open development of workflow tools.Times of crisis expose how IT bottlenecks can impede non-technical staff who need to create and iterate new tools fast. The result: a negative feedback loop where non-tech staff creates and uses workflow tools often — as high as 80% of staff moving forward without IT support. Ultimately, new issues appear to worsen IT burdens and extend IT support queues even further. Attempting shadow IT shutdowns and limited policy adoption can lead down similar roads of risky app creation.Instead of discouraging these proactive initiatives, consider supplying them with the right tools and structure via IT collaboration. Each citizen developer, as ambitious non-IT end-users and power users, offer substantial staff numbers to mobilize under a playground of IT-selected tools.Governance is what extracts the powerful upsides of shadow IT while shedding the burdens that often accompany it. Let’s explore the key parts of a reliable governance plan.
1. Centralize
Democratized development begins with unity. Building a united front between IT and citizen developers is a collective push towards better efficiency and satisfaction. At the core of citizen development governance is a central hub for providing frontline employees the guidance and resources to succeed. Often, IT leadership takes full charge at this stage by vetting and installing open frameworks for non-IT use. To create a common way of work for all citizen devs, an authorized central development system should include:
