In this 4-part series I'll share my predictions for what's coming in digital process automation, and its effects on work and business, for 2021. In Part 2, I'm feeling a bit keen about what needs to happen to make collaboration between business and IT work better!
Prediction No 2: Citizen Developers, DevOps, and IT: “coercion” will give way to “collaboration”
I have thoughts for the business side and the technical side of the team.
My advice to IT
You guys need to stop thinking that the business folks won’t be involved in emerging business process automation. This new normal may be difficult and even painful for the DevOps team, but it’s a reality for projects now. The “citizen developer” trend shows that people without coding skills need to be involved, and no-code solutions aren’t the answer for them either. It’s time to start thinking about technologies that allow a wide range of skills to participate: developers who need to code, developers who rely on dependable frameworks, and “citizen developers” who are capable of using visual tools in collaboration with the technical team. Citizen developers are not going away, you guys are gonna need to work together, so let’s find solutions that help them to be a productive part of the DevOps team.
My advice to business
You guys need to understand that complex projects can only be done with developers, and you will need them through the whole automation project life cycle. Face it, developers want to keep using the tools that they like to use and that allow them to be good at what they do. Don’t try to force them to use the tool YOU want them to use.
Let's work together, better
Don’t make each other give up ground. Collaboration is better than coercion, and the trend is towards tools that let all technical skill levels participate in creating, deploying, and managing a successful automation project. I predict that business-IT collaboration is going to go much further than the initial business process mapping and modeling, and that citizen developers are going to be knocking on IT’s door more and more in 2021.
