2.3 Suitability Assessment

Does your idea pass the suitability test?

The suitability assessment is a tool to assess the eligibility of a solution to be delivered using citizen development.

In this section you will find:

•An explanation of what the suitability assessment is

•A tool to assess the suitability of a project for citizen development

“He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious.”

Sun Tzu

Overview

The power and flexibility of citizen development application platforms mean that the scope for development is wide and ever increasing. Whether an app is being built to automate or improve an internal process, replace shadow IT with a more robust solution, or redesign the way in which you interact with your customers, citizen development can help you reach your goal in a faster and simpler way. However, there are instances where it may not be the ideal approach. We designed the suitability assessment to help you make this decision, outlining the questions that need to be considered and providing guidance on how to address them.

Suitability Assessment in Practice

Your team has a problem and you want to solve it fast. You get together as a group and use one or more of the tools provided in Ideation 2.0 to brainstorm a solution. You may even develop a prototype. Now you need to build the app.

You're now at step 2 (Assess Business Need and Value) in the SDLC (discussed in Section 2.1) and have some decisions to make. First, is citizen development the right approach? And if so, what delivery path should you take? The suitability assessment helps guide the first decision, and the Hyper-Agile SDLC in Section 2.1 helps you make the second decision.

The suitability assessment (Tool 4) is divided into two parts: the scorecard and the environment check. The scorecard provides a score indicating how good a fit citizen development is for your project. The environment check focuses on getting your house in order before moving forward. All businesses are unique; therefore, the suitability assessment is a tool to help guide you in your decision. It does not make the decision for you. The assessment tool is intended to help make that decision an easier process.

The suitability assessment

You've heard about the many benefits of citizen development. You've read about numerous organizations utilizing its power to save time and money. You may have even seen people in your own organization using it. You want in on the action.

The suitability assessment consists of two parts to help guide your decision. First, you need to consider the specifics (scorecard), and then you need to get your ducks in a row (environment check).

1. Scorecard

There are many reasons why you might decide citizen development is the best approach for building a solution. This scorecard provides a system for assessing your solution based on a number of criteria, giving you an overall score that will help you make your decision on suitability.

This score is not prescriptive. There's no specific score after which citizen development is a given. What this score provides is a temperature gauge to indicate whether citizen development is the right fit (Figure 6). A higher score suggests a strong fit, but a lower score doesn't necessarily rule out citizen development. You may find your organization has made a strategic decision to embrace citizen development and this, along with the expected cost savings, is enough to make citizen development the most compelling choice. As we mentioned, all businesses are unique. You will be best placed, considering all criteria, to decide what is right for your organization.

2. Environment check

You've scored your project. You've decided citizen development is the right fit. Next you need to assess the environment. Do you have the skills, tools, capacity, and buy-in required?

The environment check ensures you ask the right questions to become aware of any actions you may need to take before progressing. Answering yes to any of these questions does not necessarily rule out using citizen development, but it does suggest that some action needs to be taken to put you in the best possible position for project success. We provide guidance on what these actions are for each question.