CIOs: Strike a Balance Between Citizen Developers and Enterprise Architecture

I just read an interesting article on Wired.com that pits CIOs against “Rogue Developers” (what I prefer to call Citizen Developers) and posits that answer lies in private cloud environments. The article does make a good point: in larger enterprises a balance must be struck. CIOs need to keep developers happy, and feeling empowered. But, enterprise architecture is such that you can not simply allow anyone to build and deploy apps and systems without a rigorous system of checks, balances and quality control.

So, how do you strike that balance? The Wired article simply points to “private cloud,” but I think it is more complex than that. A private cloud environment may solve some issues around data ownership, privacy, security, etc. – but what about the development life cycle control that a CIO needs in a larger organization? Sure, you want to respond to business needs and changes fast, but with some level of control.

This, in my humble opinion, is where a platform like Caspio shines. Not only can savvy developers build highly robust apps quickly since they need not get down to hard code – but even more tech-inclined business users can build web based databases and apps – without taxing IT resources. The “tactical” side of development is done in the trenches in a fast, agile manner – while CIOs can focus on the “strategic” side of things.

And while developers of any kind are empowered, the platform is designed to allow CIOs to have the level of control they need. Last week, for example, we discussed how Caspio is unique in giving CIOs a wide array of implementation choices – more so than any other PaaS offering. Also, through other Enterprise-focused offerings, Caspio allows CIOs centralized control over multiple Caspio accounts from a simple, central web console. CIOs can allow developers and business users to build at will – but have the ultimate say over what is deployed as an internal app, or a database exposed on the web site, etc.

So, while private clouds do offer a strong balance between agile development and the type of security and control needed by enterprise CIOs – that is only half the story. Just having a “private cloud” without a strong set of tools and a platform for agile development of all kinds of apps and data-driven solutions does not provide any benefit. Caspio helps CIOs by transferring much of the maintenance and infrastructure needed to build and deploy apps, simplifies the build process so more parties can be involved in app development, and provides CIOS with choice in deployment and how much control they need over the entire system.

If you haven’t used Caspio inside your organization yet, we suggest checking out a free trial to see how Caspio can help you strike a balance between empowering internal employees and developers, while maintaining the level of control needed in your IT organization.