We discuss how Salesforce citizen developer tools like the Lightning Platform and the AppExchange enable the citizen development program at your organization.
In our previous blog post we discussed how the Salesforce Lightning Platform enables citizen development. There, we also defined citizen development as the recent trend of businesses identifying non-IT workers who can create apps to solve business and technology issues, even if they may not know how to write code and have no formal schooling in computer science or technology.
Here, we will go a bit deeper and introduce some of the tools available from Salesforce and their partners that help citizen developers create apps — in collaboration with the IT department, while also reducing the burden on them. The tools available natively to Salesforce citizen developers can enhance the development experience, reduce effort and delivery time, and improve quality. These tools enable the “clicks over code” (low-code) approach to application development. These tools are meant to enable application development that provides business value and aligns with an organization’s application design and development governance policies. [cta bg="dark-blue" button="View Webinar" link="https://go.centricconsulting.com/EC-FY21-10-WBNR-SalesforceandCitizenDevelopmentSuperchargeTeamProductivity_02LandingPage-OnDemand.html"]Are you interested in learning more about Salesforce and Citizen Development? Watch our on-demand webinar.[/cta]Salesforce Citizen Development Tools
Salesforce comes with many tools that enable citizen development, and while we cannot present an exhaustive list here, we would like to expose you to some of the variety that is available, including support for mobile development.Lightning Object Creator
Lightning Object Creator allows anyone to turn spreadsheets into modern apps with clicks. For example, you can drag and drop business data from spreadsheets into the Object Creator for publishing in a digital form, available on desktop or mobile. In Salesforce, users can then further analyze the data or add it to existing records, with support for Search, Notes or Files within Salesforce.Lightning Flow Builder
Lightning Flow Builder is one of the Salesforce citizen developer tools that empowers business users of any developer skill level to automate processes for customer or employee experiences. It is elegant, efficient and easy to use – with simplified toolboxes that seamlessly find workflow elements connected to customer records. For example, when customers submit support cases to the business, automation spearheaded by citizen developers can route the case to the appropriate responders and notify them immediately. This results in quicker resolutions and happy customers that will continue to provide the company with their business as well as a better experience for those involved in supporting the case. Additionally, Lightning Flow Builder includes:- Flow Actions – These are pre-built, reusable components for industries and specific use cases that add powerful new layers to automated business processes, including the ability to accept credit card payments or add a video player.
- Einstein Next Best Action – This is available to Salesforce Admins, this tool provides the ability to recommend flows, leveraging the power of rules-based and predictive models to provide sales, service and marketing agents with intelligent, contextual recommendations for customers.
Mobile Application Development Support
Salesforce also includes specific tools to support mobile development, a necessity in today’s business environment. These development capabilities include:- Mobile Builders – This allows Salesforce administrators to turn traditional business data management tools, such as spreadsheets, into mobile applications – all using point-and-click functionality with a simple user interface. Mobile Builders users can also take advantage of many ready-made components via the Salesforce AppExchange.
- Mobile Services – This aims to simplify the addition of backend services to applications. Whether users want to take advantage of native Salesforce services or simply integrate with third-party data, this tool is designed to streamline the process.
- Mobile Publishers – This handles the entire lifecycle of packaging and submitting applications to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
