Google Docs is a favorite way to build applications for lightweight data manipulation, reporting, and analytics as well as useful for building websites that can capture and display data. While it is a great tool to get started using an online all-purpose office suite, you should also know its limitations and when it is time to move on to something more industrial strength. In my post for Quickbase’ FastTrack blog, et’s look at what is missing and when you should move on.

Many of us started out with database software with something like Microsoft Access. It was part of the Office suite, fairly easy to get started and infinitely customizable. However, it might be time to look elsewhere for alternatives, especially for citizen developers who want to build more sophisticated online databases. Here are some ways to recognize the warning signs and to start thinking about its replacement.

First, Access was designed as a personal product, where one developer creates an entire application from scratch. If your need are more collaborative, or where you have a database where multiple people input information, Access isn’t the best solution and this is where having a SaaS-based app shines. Using an online product like QuickBase means you don’t have to worry about setting up a server and worrying about when more than one person is inputting records: this is handled automatically for you.

Second, when non-Windows computers are using your database it also might be time to switch. While there are now versions of Access for Macs and iOS, not everything that is developed for Windows versions works across platforms. It might make sense to build your app with something that natively speaks the Web, or that has the exact same look and interface across all versions.

Are you heavily involved in using Visual Basic? This was the underlying programming language for Access, and while it has a large ecosystem that Microsoft has done a great job cultivating, it might be costly to maintain and to hire the appropriate skilled staff to continue to build VB apps. Look at ways that you can build your apps without a lot of programming expertise, or that make use of Web-based forms and templates that can accomplish many of your tasks quicker, and with lower cost of ownership.

And when your users span the globe and are working on the same app, it also might be time to retire that Access project and find something more flexible and more comfortable working in a distributed environment.

When you can’t find your favorite command or function, thanks to yet another UI “improvement.” Tired of Microsoft re-arranging the menu ribbon yet again? It seems every major upgrade of Office comes with a new interface. Now Microsoft touts a “feature” that helps you find your favorite command.

Nearly 30 years ago, Lotus Software came out with a radical new tool called Notes that has since become a corporate staple. More than an email program, it was used by IT and non-IT alike to build collaborative apps. Think of it as the origin of the citizen developer movement.

But Notes has stalled and many corporations are looking to move on to something else. You can read my post on QuickBase’s FastTrack blog here about what can citizen developers do to get the decommissioning party for Notes started.

Last month’s Wired magazine featured a cover story entitled, “The End of Code.” Its thesis is that machine learning and neural networks will eventually obviate the need for programmers to write code. While it is an interesting thought, we are far from that situation actually happening anytime soon. Rather than seeing the end of coding, I think we are just at the beginning of a new era where coding and business-led app building is becoming more plentiful and exploding. This is the era of the citizen developer who has to carry the water for the rest of the world.

The issue isn’t whether any of us will or won’t code, but how we can do a better job with the coding tools and low-code platforms that we have at our disposal. My Fast Track blog post today talks more about these issues.

We have written extensively about the rise of the citizen developer movement, whereby everyone can become a developer because of the widespread availability of rapid app dev tools.

IT professionals have been trained how to manage their app portfolios, and there is no secret to doing this. Here are some ways to start thinking about how you can manage and build more capable apps.

First off, do you need to build a separate app or can you deliver the same functionality with something entirely running entirely on a Web server? While building apps can be cool, it might be easier to set up a URL that your users can access and run the app from their web browsers. Web-based apps can require more skill to understand how to setup the best user experience and appropriate user controls, however. And web-based apps also demand a different skill set than building apps too.

Do you have reliable pool of beta testers? You want to start recruiting people that will give you the best feedback and can identity bugs and other issues before the app gets deployed and used widely. Ideally, they will be users who are forthcoming with their experiences but don’t bury you with numerous and irrelevant email comments. That is often a fine line to walk, however.

How often do you need to update your app? The hard part about app construction isn’t the initial app build, but what happens when your ultimate users get ahold of it and realize 17 new features that they now want as a result of seeing your app. So plan up front for how these updates will happen, how often you intend to do them, who will take responsibility for them and how the updates will ultimately end up in your users hands. Also think about what happens when you have to expire an app or remove it entirely from your portfolio.

Can you build the app with its own security built-in?  The answer should be yes: your users should be able to authenticate themselves and obtain the appropriate access rights to the app without having to rely on external Active Directory permissions or other security apparatus. Also, you should build in a mechanism to protect your data generated or used by the app too.

Do you need separate web, desktop, tablet and mobile versions for your app? If so, choose the appropriate tool that can create apps in those operating systems and form factors. Or focus on one or two versions and stick with them. Learn about responsive Web design to make your webpages more effective and useful to users who are running smaller tablet and phone screen sizes. Also, be sure to test the app with the collection of OS versions that your users are running to make sure it operates as expected. And when Google and Apple come out with new OS versions, make sure you stay on top of these updates and find out if your app still works properly.

As you can see, building an app is just the beginning. But the more you cover these issues up front, the better your app experience will be for everyone.