Application development & needs-based approach to operations and IT

The shift

These priorities empower others, outside of IT, to drive business technology decision-making. Digital transformations — once mainly projects managed by technologists — are now led by finance teams, operations teams, or others.

“While 89% of large companies globally have a digital and AI transformation underway, they have only captured 31% of the expected revenue lift and 25% of expected cost savings from the effort,” reports Harvard Business Review.¹ The primary reasons for digital transformation success include focused transformation roadmaps, hiring quality digital talent, having an operationally cross-functional team model, implementing the right technology environment, data architecture and practices, and change management processes.

Understand the high-level benefits of a digital transformation is easy but success can only be achieved if day-to-day users from cross-functional departments are educated on how to put the new tools to work and if they are built to solve problems that these users are experiencing in their workflows.

Those outside of IT, such as citizen developers, take a fresh perspective. They look at needs and then find a solution, assuming the right infrastructure is in place.

Collaboration and innovation throughout the business is a smart way to use existing technical expertise, and citizen developers lower costs and reduce time commitments for IT. This leads to an elegant shift of focus to business drivers without overburdening IT.

Enter low-code/no-code

While low-code/no-code are generally bundled together, they do require different levels of expertise to build.

Most low-code development is done by someone who has a “101” level knowledge of coding, while no code building can be done by almost anyone. Regardless of the variances, the goal is a common one: to solve efficiency problems.

While low-code platforms have been around for decades, they’re much more popular among digital leaders thanks to their role within cloud-based digital transformations and their need for less software development time and resources. This allows the business to focus on its needs and experience results faster than ever.

Determining the most urgent needs

When determining priorities, ask yourself these questions:

• What, if anything, is bottlenecking our teams’ workflows? 

• What is the end-user experience like? Will it make their lives easier?

• What value would this technology bring to my organization? 

• How long will that value last?

How to find the answers

Ask the questions! If you’re taking a needs-based approach to application development, it’s useful to ask those who will be using the technology what their individual needs are. They might not always be what you think they are.

Frontline workers or those at the execution level have valuable perspectives on inefficient or manual practices in current processes that can be valuable to the organization’s longer-term goals. So don’t be afraid to ask non-manager level team members their thoughts on business value as well-in fact, it’s critical to your success.

The answers to your questions will determine whether or not application development is the right way to proceed to solve your business challenges.

Now, it’s time to evaluate: is there an existing way or out-of-the-box solution that can modernize my processes, or should I look into how a professional application development team can help me?

There are many factors to consider, such as budget, time, resources, and existing or legacy technology environments.

How to find the right application development team 

Perhaps your organization does not have citizen developers, or your IT department is overloaded with other priorities. Don’t be afraid to work with a partner who has the expertise and the portfolio to address your specific and unique business needs. 

External partners can also provide support for your IT department on a large-scale rollout. This can free them up to manage the myriad of responsibilities IT department staff face today such as the ever-expanding resources needed to focus on cybersecurity. 

It’s important to interview new partners and ensure their approach matches yours — including KPIs, budget, roadmaps, resources, testing, implementation, deployment and training, among other key factors.

As your partner, we examine these factors and work with our clients to create the best solution for their organization, whether it’s application development, Managed IT Services, cybersecurity solutions, or other process automation solutions to drive efficiency.

Achieving digital success

It’s important to remember that a true transformation doesn’t have an end date. It is an ongoing journey where employee and customer experiences must continually be evaluated to evolve and take advantage of new technology advancements. 

This year you may start with low-code implementations, and next year your plan could include integrating AI and machine learning to create an Intelligent Assistant chatbot or enhancing a workflow through the application of Augmented or Virtual Reality. 

However, while technological advancement will always be an ongoing initiative, don’t forget to create and communicate specific goals and milestones throughout the journey. Keep cross-functional teams of technology and business stakeholders up-to-speed on when milestones are met, ask for their feedback and adjust your future strategy based on their input. 

Collaborating with your leadership team to re-iterate milestones and future goals will also gain team support and ultimately, long-term success.

At the end of the day, the success of needs-based application development can be realized if the business decision-making priorities – especially collaboration and innovation – remain at the heart of the initiative. 

Did the idea of application development pique your interest? 

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