In recent years, the term citizen developer has not only gained linguistic significance, but has also established itself as a strategic concept for companies. Factors such as digitalization and a shortage of skilled workers are making the role increasingly important – especially as a way of retaining valuable expertise within the company in the world of “as a service”.
Citizen developers are also increasingly using our solutions in the area of SAP – and especially in our field of modern job control and workload automation. This article explains what a Citizen Developer is – and how tools such as HONICO BatchMan can support their work.
What is a Citizen Developer?
A citizen developer is a person who does not work full-time in IT, but still creates applications or automation – usually with low-code or no-code platforms. The aim is to improve business processes independently without having to wait for IT resources.
Typical characteristics of a Citizen Developer:
- works in specialist areas such as sales, HR or controlling
- knows the challenges of day-to-day business at first hand
- uses tools such as SAP Build Apps, Simplifier or OutSystems, and
- develops smaller applications or automated workflows
- works closely with IT – especially in the area of governance & security
SAP recognized this trend early on and began focusing on low-code/no-code platforms as early as 2021 – for example with SAP Build and the RISE with SAP operating model. But why actually?
Warum Citizen Developer? – Bridge the Gap
1. Lack of IT specialists
- There are too few professional developers worldwide to meet the growing demand for digital solutions.
- Specialist departments often had to wait months for IT resources – Citizen Developer helps to close this gap.
2. Acceleration of digitalization
- The requirements for digitalization and automation are constantly increasing.
- With low-code/no-code, specialist departments can independently develop forms, workflows or data apps.
3. Better fit between solution and requirement
- End users usually know their processes better than central IT departments.
- They develop practical, directly applicable solutions, which leads to greater acceptance.
Reasons for the increasing role of the Citizen Developer in the management of SAP business processes
A few years ago, it was mostly SAP Basis employees who used job schedulers to automate central SAP processes in the background. Today, however, the specialist departments want and need to become active themselves – for example with file imports, data transformation or process monitoring. Intuitive automation tools make this possible.
The transformation of the SAP basis plays an important role
- Cloud architectures and hybrid system landscapes dominate everyday life
- Increasing requirements for security, integration and platform governance
- SAP Basis is increasingly becoming an enabler for automation and self-service
However, the SAP Basis expertise available internally is also declining rapidly – whether due to retirements, a lack of successors or a lack of attractiveness of the very demanding role. As a result, solutions such as RISE with SAP appear to be virtually without alternative for many companies.
The problem arises when know-how migrates unnoticed:
Whether through RISE with SAP or full-service providers – responsiveness and technical understanding often take a back seat. This is where the Citizen Developer can take countermeasures: they bring not only specialist knowledge but also technical process understanding back into the company, hand in hand with the digital transformation.
Workload automation as a bridge between Citizen Developer and IT
The automation of SAP and non-SAP processes is no longer just an IT issue. On the contrary: modern automation platforms offer user interfaces, APIs and preconfigured workflows that citizen developers can use themselves – without complex ABAP knowledge.
Especially in times of outsourcing, SaaS and new operating models, such as RISE with SAP, this is a decisive advantage. After all, if more and more system expertise is migrating out of the company, new skills are needed internally to keep processes under control.
Another challenge is the issue of time: this is precisely where SLAs hinder the company’s time efficiency – waiting for approvals from third-party providers. Here too, the Citizen Developer comes into play – supported by intelligent automation solutions as an intermediary – to significantly reduce response times, as the processes are controlled directly within the company.
Customer success: How PUMA Citizen combines developer and automation
PUMA uses HONICO BatchMan as a central workload automation solution in its SAP landscape to orchestrate cross-system processes – e.g. SAP job chains, file transfers or connections to the cloud.
The intuitive interface allows specialist departments to define, control and monitor SAP jobs independently – for example in supply chain management or finance.
Conclusion: The modern SAP landscape is no longer an either/or proposition
It’s all about meaningful interaction – between IT, specialist departments and the right tools. Solutions such as HONICO BatchMan help companies to build precisely this bridge:
By centrally controlling jobs and processes – whether in the cloud or on-premises – modern workload automation not only provides SAP Basis with a stable and transparent process landscape, but also enables specialist departments to control and monitor their processes independently.
BatchMan is a genuine no-code tool and has been used for years in the way that citizen development is understood today: Departments configure their processes independently, without in-depth technical knowledge – and with maximum process security.
With clear role and authorization concepts, an intuitive interface and open integration into hybrid system environments (SAP, non-SAP), BatchMan creates a secure framework for citizen developers – and brings technical expertise back to where it is needed: the company
