Professional App Development vs. DIY

A quick checklist for deciding when delegated development is right.

Sprawl and lack of governance continue to keep Enterprise Architects up at night. Unfortunately, their efforts to enforce logical control over application strategy and building often just frustrate departments needing an immediate solution to a problem.

Rogue IT tools pop up and security risk increases. A 2019 Forbes Insights survey found that 1 in 5 organizations have experienced a cyber event due to an unsanctioned IT resource.    

At the same time, there is a real interest from the CIO on down to better serving unique departmental needs quickly and securely. For many, the answer has been low- or no-code approaches, giving departmental process leads predefined functional libraries and drag-and-drop interface building tools.

No/low code development is extremely appealing because it can be done quickly on individual department’s timetables, even if IT is extremely busy. It’s ideal for automating simple, repeatable activities currently manually managed with spreadsheet and emails; however, it’s less useful for handling more complex challenges that involve multiple data sources, exacting workflow integration, and stringent security requirements.

But when is it the right time to offer this option? We’ve put together a quick checklist of what you should consider.

How can you tell if no/low code development is right for a project? 

A growing number of enterprise architects are experimenting with delegated development, in which some departments develop their own applications in a manner that allows them autonomy while working on a common platform. The Now Platform supports various forms of delegated development in the forms of no-code, low-code, and full-featured professional development environments.

Find out more about the different levels of application development.  

Read application development without the sprawl, five ways the Now Platform® can support your enterprise architecture.