Fusion team development process
Fusion Development Teams create better software faster by empowering Citizen Developers—business professionals—to build applications that solve unique problems, with support from their Professional Developer peers.
The Field Inventory Management System problem involves individuals from field technician, inventory management, and software development roles.
The way Caleb, Maria, and Kiana organize themselves illustrates how many Fusion Development Teams operate effectively.
Development process
"Here's the interesting thing about Power Apps," Maria began, "you don't need a background in software development to create an app that solves a specific business problem."
She continued, "The trickiest part is knowing when and how to ask for help: recognizing when Power Apps doesn’t offer the functionality you need and involving the software development team."
Kiana agreed. "Even though Citizen Developers build Power Apps, they still need help from us Professional Developers."
"Exactly," Maria said. "Professional Developers often create Power Apps too, especially to replace legacy systems quickly."
Maria added, "Citizen Developers might use existing web APIs to get data or work with Professional Developers to create new ones. Even better, if Power Apps doesn't offer a UI control, a Professional Developer can build one."
"So it sounds like Professional Developers are essential to building Power Apps and supporting Fusion Development Teams," Kiana concluded.
Team organization
"Honestly," Caleb said, "this still sounds like a lot of work, and the app might not be that great if it tries to solve every team’s needs at once."
"That’s the point," Maria replied. "Each Citizen Developer builds their own app tailored to their specific needs. We're building many small apps, perfect for our roles. We just need to coordinate to avoid duplicating efforts and to communicate our needs to Kiana and Preeti in IT."
Caleb summarized, "Here’s what I’m hearing Fusion Development Teams are about:
- Cross-functional teams collaborate to solve business problems.
- Citizen Developers use Power Apps to build fit-for-purpose applications.
- Professional Developers support apps with web APIs and complex logic.
- Teams coordinate app development to prevent redundancy and reuse services."
Solving the Field Inventory Management System problem
The team defines their first Fusion Development Team app requirements:
- View part inventory by warehouse location
- Adjust part inventory for any warehouse
While simple, this scope allows the team to practice collaboration. Citizen Developers will create a Power App backed by web APIs providing warehouse and inventory data.
Kiana confirms her team already has the necessary APIs.
"Now that we know what we want to do, what's the first step?" Kiana asks.
"Let’s build the Power App," Maria replies. "Who’s in?"
You and Kiana both raise your hands.