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DhrubajyotiBiswas - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Architect at New South Wales Government - Australia
Real User
Top 20
Helps us efficiently streamline repetitive tasks, but they could provide improved connectors to integrate with outside platforms
Pros and Cons
  • "The OutSystems' most effective features for speeding up development cycles are the process orchestration and the drag-and-drop updating of business processes."
  • "The product could benefit from improved connectors to integrate with outside platforms."

What is our primary use case?

We use the solution to automate some of our internal processes and to integrate with platforms like SAP and ServiceNow. We use it mainly for internal toolsets, streamlining repetitive tasks, and process automation.

What needs improvement?

The product could benefit from improved connectors to integrate with outside platforms.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with OutSystems for approximately one year.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate the product scalability an eight. 

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October 2024
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How are customer service and support?

The customer support services are good. They are quick to respond and provide effective assistance with technical issues.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment process has been easy. It takes less than five minutes to complete.

What about the implementation team?

I handled the installation process myself.

What other advice do I have?

The OutSystems' most effective features for speeding up development cycles are the process orchestration and the drag-and-drop updating of business processes.

I would recommend it to a friend or colleague, especially if they are looking for a solution that is easy to deploy and helps streamline internal processes.

I rate it a six out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Owner at Berrot Consulting Limited
Real User
Top 5
Easy to use and used to develop in-house applications
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution is all-encompassing and very easy to use with its drag-and-drop feature."
  • "I'd like to see AI features integrated into the solution."

What is our primary use case?

I am a consultant for another organization. We've been using OutSystems to develop in-house applications and a convention-type application.

What is most valuable?

The solution is all-encompassing and very easy to use with its drag-and-drop feature. OutSystems has a Forge feature that allows me to drag and use predeveloped components into the platform so that I don't have to develop everything from scratch.

What needs improvement?

I'd like to see AI features integrated into the solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using OutSystems for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We've very rarely encountered an issue with the solution crashing.

I rate the solution’s stability a nine and a half out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

OutSystems is a very scalable solution. We developed an app, and we've had no problem at all with having 200 people at the convention and, in other cases, 1,000 people at the convention. We use the solution daily in our organization.

How are customer service and support?

There have been times when the solution's technical support took a while to respond. This happens mostly because their technical support is not in North America but Portugal.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also extensively use another product called Apex. It's an excellent product, but it's not the same as OutSystems. With OutSystems, I can develop phone applications. I cannot do that with Apex because it's built more for a back office.

What was our ROI?

Using OutSystems to develop applications in-house as opposed to using third-party solutions has probably saved our clients a lot of money in the long run. They're not paying the licensing fees over and over again to the other platforms.

What other advice do I have?

The solution's integration is very good. We've integrated the tool into some other SQL areas we have at the client, and it's no problem integrating at all. The solution is deployed on the cloud.

OutSystems is an excellent platform for development and would be an excellent tool for any small, medium, or enterprise business. However, depending on the price, which I don't know, it may be out of range for small and medium businesses.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Ramon David - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at a program development consultancy with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 10
Easy to learn, offers ability to deploy rapidly, enabling changes to applications every two weeks
Pros and Cons
  • "OutSystems' low-cost approach has positively impacted our productivity, because we were able to develop faster with OutSystems, enabling us to implement many changes during our sprint."
  • "I would like to see improvements in versioning. It can be challenging to keep track of what changes should be committed, especially when many developers are working in one environment."

What is our primary use case?

We used OutSystems to develop different applications, especially those concerning environmental and sustainability governance.

How has it helped my organization?

OutSystems has streamlined or optimized our application development process.

The primary benefit of using OutSystems was our ability to deploy rapidly. We could deploy changes to our applications every two weeks.

Mostly, it was web applications that we created, utilizing the responsive aspect of OutSystems for traditional web applications.

What is most valuable?

It was easy to learn. OutSystems provides different tutorials depending on the user's expertise, so even beginners can quickly get up to speed.

Moreover, OutSystems integration with our database and internal systems was easy.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see improvements in versioning. It can be challenging to keep track of what changes should be committed, especially when many developers are working in one environment.

So, I would like to see support for different version models especially when multiple developers are working on the same module, it can be confusing to know which changes need to be deployed when comparing and merging codes.

In future releases, A built-in chart feature would be useful. We had to use Google Charts plugin for dashboards. Native support for charts, like bar and pie charts, would be beneficial.

For how long have I used the solution?

With OutSystems, my company started working with it in 2017.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability an eight out of ten. It is pretty stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability a nine out of ten. 

There were around 20 end users using this solution in my company. 

How are customer service and support?

Another team in my company used to contact OutSystems for support.

What about the implementation team?

It was another team that handled the deployment process.

We used the cloud-based version, hosted in AWS.

What was our ROI?

OutSystems' low-cost approach has positively impacted our productivity, because we were able to develop faster with OutSystems, enabling us to implement many changes during our sprint.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is very high price. 

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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AmitTiwari2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Architect at Aaseya IT Services Pvt. Ltd.
Real User
Supports building applications for both web and mobile platforms, keeping up with AI and allows for faster development of applications
Pros and Cons
  • "Let's assume a project in .NET, native .NET, or Java takes around 12 months. In OutSystems, we can build that application in four to five months."
  • "The customer service and support are maintaining a two-day SLA for everything. 48 hours is very high."

What is our primary use case?

The main use case is that it is a platform as a service based on .NET. We can build any type of enterprise application, but not reporting tools. It supports multi-channel development for websites and mobile applications. We can create a single mobile application and generate iOS for the App Store and Android APK files for the Google Play Store. No recoding is required for conversion, only generation of iOS or APK files as needed.

I have mainly worked on financial and banking domains, and this platform supports all types of use cases. Additionally, with generative AI, OutSystems has started supporting it.

By using a backend database to store data brainstorming and consuming AWS APIs, our customers support the predictive AI mechanism. We can also go with generative AI because most of the tools are available in the market. OutSystems has a feature, IPP (Intellectual Property Protection), that allows for architectural property. 

If someone wants to develop a website or web application in two to three months, they can develop that application in OutSystems. If they don't want to continue with OutSystems as a platform, they can convert the OutSystems source code into normal .NET code. 

There is no extra cost required, and the application will work as a .NET source code base.

This is a possibility that the user or company can adapt this tool for development, and later, if they want to save costs, they can convert it to .NET. This is not possible with other tools.

How has it helped my organization?

OutSystems has integrated AI.  We can improve the application tool. For example, if a user is creating a ticket, by using generative AI technology, we can create user interaction inputs. Users can input case IDs and their contacts. Based on that, the large language model (LLM) connects with the OutSystems vector databases and is capable of analyzing and understanding what you want in natural language.

So, some sort of predictive analysis. Based on that, the program can accept the outputs.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in support. They maintain a two-day SLA for everything. 48 hours is very high.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is supported by default by OutSystems on the cloud. Let's say we are buying 10 GB or 20 GB of hardware, and our database is near failure. We can request them to increase the sizes from the backend. The OutSystems cloud platform is based on AWS and installed on AWS. So whatever AWS supports is supported by OutSystems.

If we need any extra features, like using S3, OutSystems can integrate with it, but extra licensing costs are required. From the scalability and security point of view, everything is supported by OutSystems, and it is a managed service. Based on that, they are charging.

How are customer service and support?

If I face any problem during application development, I can create tickets based on the category by logging into my account. There is an SLA of two to three days based on the ticket's priority, and the team responds accordingly.

Most of the time, they resolve all issues. To speed up the process, they call if there is a high-priority ticket. We connect with them and fix the issue collaboratively via phone.

I will not rate it ten, though, because they are maintaining a two-day SLA for everything. 48 hours is very high.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did not spend my time on any other platform. For the last ten years, I have only been involved with OutSystems.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not difficult because everything is based on integration. A set of databases, like vector databases, and things like that require extra hardware and software configuration. But integrating with OutSystems is very easy.

What was our ROI?

There is ROI. To be specific, it's purely for the developers. It's reducing the cost of development. There is a 100% guarantee the platform is promoting code on the server with accuracy. Logical errors are a different thing, but the source code generated is secure. Anyone can understand the source code easily. We are providing security as a visual development tool. 

By using the visual development tool, there is no need to remember the syntax. Everything is available as drag and drop. It just depends on remembering how and when we need to use a node for development purposes. Let's assume a project in .NET, native .NET, or Java takes around 12 months. In OutSystems, we can build that application in four to five months.

So, twice or even more. This is the area where we can improve and save money. But definitely, this is a highly in-demand tool, and the cost is very high. It's completely dependent on the vendor. Some companies are going with the cloud environment, and some organizations are using the on-premises environment. In the cloud environment, everything is managed by OutSystems. They provide some credentials, and the company can start developing multiple applications on the same cloud license.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost is high. I saw on the website that the minimum license is around $4,000  per month.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate it a ten out of ten. I would definitely recommend this tool.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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JG5 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at Wurth IT
Consultant
Top 10
The integration capabilities have significantly enhanced our app's functionality
Pros and Cons
  • "We've used features like batch processing timers, components, and integrations with other systems like SAP, which have accelerated our development process.In terms of productivity, we've seen a 30 percent reduction in screen design time and an additional 10 percent improvement when implementing client requirements. OutSystems' integration capabilities have significantly enhanced our app's functionality, making it quicker and easier to connect with other systems."
  • "While I can't speak to the market impact, as a developer, I've seen significant reductions in development time across different versions of our applications. One area for improvement would be the UI controls in Service Studio. Sometimes, controls don't appear in the IDE, requiring us to check them in the web browser instead. Overall, our experience with OutSystems has been positive, though improvements in UI development would be welcomed."

What is our primary use case?

We use OutSystems for developing applications that are used by clients in Canada, USA, and Europe. OutSystems has been very effective for us in developing both web and mobile applications. It has reduced our development time by around 30 to 40 percent.

What is most valuable?

We've used features like batch processing timers, components, and integrations with other systems like SAP, which have accelerated our development process. In terms of productivity, we've seen a 30 percent reduction in screen design time and an additional 10 percent improvement when implementing client requirements. OutSystems' integration capabilities have significantly enhanced our app's functionality, making it quicker and easier to connect with other systems.

What needs improvement?

While I can't speak to the market impact, as a developer, I've seen significant reductions in development time across different versions of our applications. One area for improvement would be the UI controls in Service Studio. Sometimes, controls don't appear in the IDE, requiring us to check them in the web browser instead. Overall, our experience with OutSystems has been positive, though improvements in UI development would be welcomed.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been with OutSystems for about three and a half years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

On a scale from one to ten, I'd rate the stability of OutSystems at nine.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, I'd rate it at eight.

How are customer service and support?

OutSystems' technical support has been very helpful and responsive.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Before OutSystems, I mainly worked with .NET and Android development.

How was the initial setup?

Deployment with OutSystems has generally been straightforward, although we've encountered some challenges with UI development.

What about the implementation team?

I'm mostly focused on development, but our DevOps and maintenance team consists of about five to six people.

What was our ROI?

The main benefits we've seen after implementing OutSystems include significant time savings, improved deployment processes, and convenient configuration settings in the service center.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

As for licensing costs, I'm not directly involved in that aspect.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I'd rate OutSystems a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
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Pedro-Martins - PeerSpot reviewer
Compatance manager at Advance Works
Real User
Top 20
A stable product that has a responsive support team and enables organizations to develop applications easily
Pros and Cons
  • "It is much easier to develop applications with the product’s IDE."
  • "The new version could be improved."

What is our primary use case?

The solution can be used to develop apps, websites, and core applications. We are working for an insurance company on an application to digitize hundreds of documents. We also work for a bank on an application to manage time and time sheets.

What is most valuable?

It is easy to develop things. It is much easier to develop applications with the product’s IDE.

What needs improvement?

OutSystems is creating a new platform on the cloud called ODC. The new version could be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for about five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The tool is quite stable. It depends on the way we use it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our clients are medium and large enterprises.

How are customer service and support?

My team contacts support. The support responds quite well.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have used some local platforms before.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. Normally, the solution is cloud-based, but it depends on the clients. For the setup of the platform, we must have a contract and license from OutSystems. The setup takes one to three weeks.

What was our ROI?

The return on investment is difficult to measure, but the time to market is much faster.

What other advice do I have?

OutSystems has a lot of traction in Portugal. We are studying Mendix and Appian to see if they could be adequate in some cases. Some clients don't have the capacity to support OutSystems, or they might be using other tools. We want to adapt to other platforms and tools. Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Enterprise Architect at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Custom plugins, good performance, and easy to manage
Pros and Cons
  • "It provides for faster development and better software releases."
  • "We have performance issues while fetching bulk data."

What is our primary use case?

We have been actively following the below strategy for our application development:

  • Core applications and systems (SaaS-based external products)
  • Bespoke Applications (using Microsoft Azure and Dotnet Application development technologies and tools)
  • Quick turnaround applications for web and mobile (Outsystems)
  • Portal knowledge and corporate portals (WordPress, SharePoint, DocuWare)
  • Cloud Platform (Azure and AWS)
  • Support within two hours on the community portal
  • Access to native functionalities (camera, geolocation, QR code reader, and access to file systems, address book, and device calendar)
  • Supports custom branding
  • Supports custom plugins
  • Silk UI response framework
  • Big focus on performance
  • Best practice for CSS and JS
  • Tested on several modern browsers and devices
  • Support and community (52000+ members, 500+ projects, and two-hour response time)

How has it helped my organization?

The OutSystems platform has improved the quick turnaround for application development and deployment.

It provides for faster development and better software releases.

The solution helps reduce costs and gives us an efficient budget.

The ease of management is great.

The product has good reliability and has improved business continuity with increased resilience.

We have a lot of choices through open-source standards.

The product gives us better customer experiences.

There is access to native functionalities (including the camera, geolocation, QR code reader, and access file systems, address books, and device calendars).

It supports custom branding and custom plugins and has a Silk UI Response Framework.

There is a big focus on performance.

The product has best practices for CSS and JS.

It has been tested on several modern browsers and devices.

There is support and a good community (52000+ members across 500+ projects and a two-hour response time).

What is most valuable?

Below are the solution's most valuable features: 

  • Device support (Android 4.0+, iOS 7+, Windows 8.1+)
  • Access to native functionalities (camera, geolocation, QR code reader, access to file systems, address books, and device calendars)
  • Custom branding
  • Custom plugins 
  • Silk UI Response Framework
  • Performance
  • Best practices for CSS and JS
  • Tested on several modern browsers and devices
  • Great support and strong community (52000+ members, 500+ projects, and a two-hour response time)
  • Online developer training
  • Integration Studio
  • Service Studio
  • Service Center
  • Deployment services
  • Faster development and better software releases
  • Reduce costs/improves budget
  • Ease of management
  • Reliability/improved business continuity with resilience
  • Choice through open-source standards
  • Better customer experiences

What needs improvement?

Areas of improvement include:

  • Offering workflow solutions
  • Adding event-driven architecture
  • Usage of PWA, Responsive, and SPA architecture for front-ends.
  • Better documentation and deployment tools. The packaging features need to be standardized using DevOps.
  • Vertical Tabs (there is a Vertical Tabs problem: Entities.Orientation)
  • Data Grid improvements and UI improvements
  • There are performance issues in table data using React
  • They need to make improvements in various UI assets. 
  • There should be automation of logs
  • We have performance issues while fetching bulk data
  • Need integration with core systems and integration with Outlook email

For how long have I used the solution?

This is a no-code platform solution. We have been using this for the past five years. We've used it for building solutions for web applications and mobile applications. There is a quick turnaround for applications that need to be implemented and deployed for business.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution offers good stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are good scalability options. However, scalability can improve.

How are customer service and support?

The solution offers excellent customer support and responses can be expected within two hours from the community forum to help with resolution.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

This is the first time we are using a no-code solution end-to-end.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. The process is good enough and elaborate documentation and help in community forums can help the process.

What about the implementation team?

This was an in-house implementation from the development team.

What was our ROI?

ROI and TCO are great.

With the pressure to deliver new customer and employee digital experiences and having to adjust existing enterprise systems to cope with the market changes, 75% of app development would use low-code platforms. Outsystems has the highest ROI.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The setup cost, pricing, and licensing costs are competitive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have not evaluated any other options.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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APAC Head Of Delivery @ Do iT Lean at Do iT Lean
Real User
Top 5
Great for building web and mobile applications, suitable for large enterprises and small to mid-sized businesses across different industries
Pros and Cons
  • "I find it to be a genuinely cool and effective platform for my development needs."
  • "I would like to see OutSystems improve its integration capabilities, especially with emerging technologies like AI and GPT."

What is our primary use case?

OutSystems is a versatile development platform that I find incredibly useful for various purposes. It is great for building both web and mobile applications, making it suitable for large enterprises and small to mid-sized businesses across different industries like banking, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. With its visual development, pre-built components, and easy maintenance, OutSystems has significantly expedited software development in my experience, offering a rapid and efficient solution for a wide range of applications.

What is most valuable?

In comparison to other local development platforms, OutSystems is quite advanced. While every platform can benefit from ongoing enhancements, OutSystems seems to have most of the features I, as a software professional, would look for. I have started working with it, and I find it to be a genuinely cool and effective platform for my development needs.

What needs improvement?

OutSystems is already on the right track for improvements. They plan to transition from their cloud platform to a cloud-native architecture, emphasizing infrastructure scalability and the integration of Docker containers, which is a positive step forward. I would also like to see OutSystems improve its integration capabilities, especially with emerging technologies like AI and GPT. Integrating with AI and GPT models could enhance OutSystems' functionality and help it easily adapt to new trends and concepts in connectivity and artificial intelligence in future releases.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using OutSystems since 2011.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability of OutSystems as a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

OutSystems supports both horizontal and vertical scaling, and I find it quite easy to scale applications when needed. Adding a front-end server to a cluster, for instance, is a straightforward task that takes just a few minutes. As long as you follow OutSystems' recommended application composition and architecture, scalability is not a problem, and I would rate it a solid ten out of ten for scalability. In our company, around eighteen to nineteen developers are actively using OutSystems to develop applications for our customers. For mid-sized applications with OutSystems, you don't require large teams. OutSystems encourages small teams to use agile methodology. Typically, you need an engagement manager, a tech lead, and two to three developers for a medium-sized project. Additionally, a solution architect may be necessary initially, and then one tech lead and two developers are often sufficient for ongoing work.

How are customer service and support?

I have had a positive experience with OutSystems' tech support. They offer a guided learning path, well-structured documentation, and a valuable component repository called Forge. Their community is also quite active, with fellow users and even OutSystems champions and family members providing assistance. In addition, they have a stable support process where you can create a support ticket, and the OutSystems team will reach out to help with any issues. Overall, I'm satisfied with the support available from OutSystems through their various resources.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up OutSystems is straightforward, and even citizen developers can quickly learn and start building software with it. While complex applications may require professional expertise, OutSystems provides numerous prebuilt components and features, such as UI components for creating beautiful interfaces and easy database design tools, making it accessible even for those without extensive design or development experience. It is also user-friendly when it comes to handling logic, integrating with third-party services, and working with APIs. Overall, I find it to be a great and user-friendly platform for software development. The deployment process in OutSystems involves using a tool called Lifetime, which acts as a control console for managing different environments. When you purchase an OutSystems license, you typically receive three environments: development, QA, and production, along with a separate Lifetime environment. Lifetime keeps track of application versions and modules deployed on servers in each environment. It alerts you when an environment is outdated compared to a new version in development. Lifetime also checks references and other prerequisites before deploying releases from one environment to another, making the deployment process straightforward and well-managed.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

OutSystems licenses are not cheap, but they fall within the range of standard pricing. It is not very expensive or overly budget-friendly; it is more in the middle, making it an average-cost option for organizations.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Before using OutSystems, I explored other tools like APN and Automation Anywhere. However, I found OutSystems to be the best fit because it offers both rapid application development and flexibility. Unlike some other tools, OutSystems allows you to integrate with third-party libraries and technologies like .NET, Java, BigQuery, and more, making it a more flexible and easily adaptable platform.

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend OutSystems to others. Overall, I would rate it as a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free OutSystems Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: October 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free OutSystems Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.