If you're looking for a way to improve the efficiency of your enterprise applications, consider a citizen integrator—a tool that makes it easy for people without coding expertise to create integrations between their apps. Read on to learn more about citizen integrators and what tools they need to be successful.
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What Is a Citizen Integrator?
A citizen integrator generally refers to a business professional looking to connect applications to data with minimal IT support. Citizen integrators are not developers and usually have little to no programming knowledge. However, a citizen integrator does have in-depth expertise related to a business process, understands the needs of their users, understands the data requirements, and is somewhat technically savvy. For citizen integrators to be able to integrate data and develop applications without a qualified tech team, they need access to the right tools.
Related Reading: The Citizen Integrator: Key to Business Agility
Tools Citizen Integrators Need to Be Successful
In the past, integration tools were designed to fit the needs of IT teams. This ensured that these tools were complex and those using them needed a working understanding of programming. However, in recent years, there has been a movement to create "no-code" or "low-code" tools specifically designed with the needs of a citizen integrator in mind.
No-Code Tools
No-code tools are ideal for business owners and the citizen integrator. No-code tools allow the citizen integrator to make apps, transfer data, and use different types of software, all without having any coding knowledge. No-code development platforms have become the preferred tool for app development in recent years.
Low-Code Tools
In comparison to no-code tools, low-code tools require some coding knowledge. However, most low-code tools utilize a block-based, drag-and-drop coding language that requires a minimum of hand-coding. As it requires users to have the basics of coding logic, low-code tools are not best suited for citizen integrators with zero coding experience. Luckily, much of what can be achieved with low-code tools can also be achieved with no-code tools.
Related Reading: Low-Code vs. No-Code: The Real Difference
11 Tools for the Citizen Integrator
There are many great low-code and no-code tools available for the citizen integrator to utilize today. Check out the top 11 tools every citizen integrator can benefit from below.
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Integrate.io: One of the best low-code and no-code ETL data integration platforms available on the market today. Integrate.io has all the tools a non-technical business user is looking for as well as tools that work for most technical developers and engineers.
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Mendix: A top platform for citizen integrators, as its tools, can deliver apps up to 10x faster than with hand-coding.
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Quick Base: A widely used cloud-based rapid app development, or RAD, platform and database software. Quick Base is widely used by citizen integrators and is recognized as one of the top low-code tools.
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Retool: A tool that allows citizen integrators to work with all data sources seamlessly within a single app and create internal tools for the company.
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Airtable: A tool that allows citizen integrators to create a powerful application without ever having to code.
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Microsoft Power Apps: A low-code RAD platform created by Microsoft. Has all the tools a citizen integrator needs for mobile and desktop app creation.
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Zoho Creator: A low-code platform that provides citizen integrators with the tools to create applications and connect business data effortlessly.
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Salesforce Lightning: A powerful low-code platform that combines tools such as App Builder, Lightning Flow, SalesforceDX, and Heroku. These capabilities dramatically speed up the software development process for citizen integrators.
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Caspio: A prominent low-code app development platform that has all the tools for citizen integrators to build cloud applications without coding.
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OutSystems: A low-code solution for app development. It is a RAD platform that has all the tools for a citizen integrator to create and manage their applications.
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Kissflow: A popular drag-and-drop coding software that offers a visually pleasing interface for rapid app development. The platform and its tool are also recognized as leaders in the space of Digital Workforce Software.
Related Reading: How To Simplify The ETL Code Process with Low-Code Tools
The Unified Stack for Modern Data Teams
Get a personalized platform demo & 30-minute Q&A session with a Solution Engineer
How Integrate.io Can Help
The Integrate.io no-code and low-code tools are perfect for every citizen integrator working as a data analyst or business professional. The Integrate.io toolkit provides you with everything you need for data integration and building data pipelines without writing a single line of code.
Are you ready to see what benefits the Integrate.io platform and its no-code ETL tools can provide to your company? Contact our team today to schedule a 14-day demo or pilot and see how we can help you reach your goals.