OutSystems Reviews

The primary use cases are mostly related to the rapid low-code framework. Currently, I'm working on a business use case where we need to create a responsive website that enhances the customer's experience.

OutSystems is a hybrid framework and supports my mobile and web application development needs. This means I don't have to write separate code for mobile applications. It adapts the UI and functionality, whether I'm developing for web or mobile interfaces. All I need to do is provide the layout during development.

The tool has enhanced my development speed through its prebuilt templates and drag-and-drop interface. Unlike legacy frameworks like C# and Java, OutSystems provides everything ready to use. You need to connect integrations and formats, which allows developers to develop their modules rapidly.

In the healthcare sector where I work, we handle clinical and non-clinical research involving study criteria and customer-responsive interfaces.

In one of our recent projects, which involves setting up appointment bookings for healthcare organizations like NHS and Canadian provincial health services, OutSystems plays a crucial role. The system monitors Outlook email criteria every five minutes to detect appointment requests. When a request is identified, OutSystems uses AI capabilities to determine if it's a new booking or a follow-up based on the email content.

Once categorized, the tool integrates with other systems, such as Salesforce.

The tool's weakness is its focus on the solution only. Other than that, it's pretty easy to use for both technical and non-technical people. However, the tool lags in automation. For instance, we've used Python for scraping and other automated tasks. So, I believe automation is an area where it could improve.

I have been working with the product for three and a half years. 

OutSystems servers are currently managed directly by the vendor. This setup makes scalability readily achievable because whenever we need to expand our operations to different locations, we can directly engage with the vendor who handles the tool. They can scale the infrastructure to meet our requirements. However, at this point, our focus isn't on scaling further because the configurations we've implemented for recent developments are adequate for targeting the Canadian and North American regions.

Technical support is good, especially for customers on the Gold tier like us. Typically, we receive responses within 24 hours, and their support team is very responsive.

Positive

Appian offers advantages in automation structures with its Appian RPA platform, formerly Jidoka. They have integrated this acquisition into their offerings as Appian RPA. Additionally, Appian has a well-established market presence. Appian holds a slight advantage over OutSystems, which entered the market approximately five years ago.

Our primary goal has been to enhance customer experience by deploying applications developed with OutSystems. The initial response from users has been positive, particularly in reducing previous backlogs. We've streamlined processes with the product, enabling rapid development, integration, and automation.

We haven't yet reached the stage of calculating ROI specifics. Typically, such evaluations are conducted either at the end of the fiscal year or three years.

The tool has its  own AI modules, but we've utilized our custom models. As we focus on specific regions like Canada and North America, we've developed dedicated forms and solutions. We've implemented our custom models using Python and Gen AI to extract data from emails and forms. OutSystems does offer its own AI capabilities.

Due to its fast development strategies and everything, I would recommend OutSystems over Appian. Appian is in a different space and has its own components and frameworks. 

I rate the overall product a seven out of ten. 

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Positive

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

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.

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.

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

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

Our clients mainly use the solution for business process automation, workflow automation, and application development. They also use the tool to build a layer between their existing ERPs, like SAP and Salesforce, and the applications they use for business functions, like finance and HR. It is a bridging solution between the ERP and other applications.

The time to market is quite good. We can quickly develop an application using the tool. OutSystems is developed using .NET and Java. We can easily find technical resources who have worked on .NET and Java and leverage their previous knowledge to develop OutSystems applications. It can also be used for application development. If an end-user does not want to use the solution after two to three years, OutSystems sends the source code and the applications to the end-user. There is no dependency. It’s one of the major factors I found quite good in OutSystems.

The installation is a bit tedious.

We have been partners with the product for the last two years. We are dealing with the latest version of the solution.

The tool is very stable. I rate the stability a nine to nine and a half out of ten.

We have around 60 clients in India. We have more than 35 people, including 20 developers, three to four senior developers, and one or two architects in our technical team. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten. The tool is very scalable.

The technical support team is responsive and helpful.

Positive

The installation is a bit tedious, but it can be done. If we use the cloud solution, we can immediately leverage AWS and use it. Customizing the product according to a customer’s server requirements could take five to six working days.

The customers have to pay for licensing and application development. Once they buy the product, they must also engage a technical team to develop applications until their internal team is certified and can develop applications on its own. OutSystems takes care of the maintenance. It is included in the licensing agreement. The solution is expensive. I rate the product’s cost a two or three out of ten. Not everyone can afford OutSystems.

We have evaluated Mendix as an alternative to OutSystems.

I recommend the product to others. Overall, I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

Wherever there's a mobile platform in use, there tends to be a fair amount of application activity as well. In these situations, we've observed that it's straightforward for us to integrate our systems, and this process is also highly consultative.

To illustrate a case, the customer initially had a private cloud, essentially a data center hosted within it. They needed a disaster recovery solution, which would involve using a public cloud. This situation led to some deployment challenges due to the hybrid nature of their setup.

However, once we implemented the solution for them, they were extremely satisfied. The process was not only effective but also quite speedy. To be more precise, we completed it in around 100 days, even though they initially requested it to be done in four months. They were very pleased with the efficiency of the implementation.

I'm genuinely content with the fact that all my goals and objectives have been successfully achieved in everything we've undertaken. As I mentioned previously, we found this especially valuable in terms of engagement for mobile apps. Surprisingly, we didn't encounter any notable challenges or areas where implementation was problematic. As a sales professional, I also received minimal customer feedback regarding any issues during meetings, which led me to believe that everything was going smoothly from a technical perspective. However, the initial setup can be made a little easier. 

I have been using OutSystems for the past four years.

It is stable.

Scalability proved to be an exceptionally beneficial feature. In one instance, we needed to transition from a single-tenant setup to a multi-tenant one, and we accomplished this seamlessly. The customers were also delighted with the outcome, as we successfully executed the shift from a single-tenant to a multi-tenant configuration.

I would rate it a nine out of ten.

It was outstanding. 

Positive

All options are equally commendable, but our system is notably budget-friendly. As a result, many customers are now making the switch to our platform. There are three key reasons behind this shift: our user-friendly interface, the stability of our solution, and its competitive pricing.

The initial setup is a little difficult.

Some of my clients come from government backgrounds, so they prefer on-premises deployment for their systems. However, in cases where there's no sensitive data involved, they are open to using cloud-based solutions. It's worth noting that the cloud adoption trend is still in progress, and we're gradually transitioning from on-premises to cloud-based systems. Looking ahead, I believe that in the next three to five years, cloud providers like AWS and other hyper-scale cloud platforms will play a significant role. They offer tremendous scalability and various features that make them highly valuable compared to other solutions. The deployment process takes almost ten to nine weeks for smaller applications to approximately not more than three months. Our current situation involves a mix of both on-premises and cloud deployments.

I would rate it five to six out of ten.

Two of my clients have implemented SpamTitan in their marketing and sales departments. They operate through a distribution channel, and this is where they utilize SpamTitan. They are exceptionally pleased with the results. Essentially, they deal with the delivery of products like milk, where customers place orders, and the products are delivered to their doorstep the next morning. Customers can easily place orders through their website, which is highly user-friendly. Interestingly, approximately eighty percent of transactions are now conducted through mobile devices, underscoring the system's convenience and efficiency. 

I would rate the solution a 10 out of 10. 

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)

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).

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

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

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.

The solution offers good stability.

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

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

Positive

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

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

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

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.

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

We have not evaluated any other options.

My client is the owner of the OutSystems platform, which we have utilized for various purposes, including an event app. This app tracks agendas, speakers, and registration for events.

The most valuable features of OutSystems are the user-friendly platform. The drag-and-drop feature is great. I have used other rapid application development tools before, but they were not as advanced as OutSystems. With the previous tools, I had to manually build certain features, but OutSystems does it automatically.

OutSystems has the ability to create algorithms based on the data requested. I can specify what data I need in natural language and the platform will build the algorithm for me. This is a great feature.

I like the OutSystems platform. I am working on integrating it with another platform using APIs, however, it has proven to be difficult. The main issue I am facing is obtaining authorization tokens as well as access and refresh tokens. It may be due to my lack of knowledge of APIs as it is new to me.

The documentation could improve. The reason I am having many problems with the APIs is that there is not a comprehensive piece of documentation that I can read that explains exactly how to do what I'm doing. I've tried the forum, I've tried the Forge, and downloading other components, trying to look at that. However, there isn't a good simple explanation of how to do it.

I have been using OutSystems for approximately a year and a half.

The platform is very stable, and I have not encountered any issues or crashes so far. I cannot speak to how it performs on more advanced tasks as I have not encountered any such scenarios yet.

OutSystems is a scalable platform.

I rate the scalability of OutSystems a nine out of ten.

I have not yet needed to reach out to the technical support team. I am currently attempting to troubleshoot the API integration on my own as per my agreement with the client. However, if I am unable to find a solution, technical support would be my next step.

The solution is expensive. The platform is not suitable for all of my clients. I work with labor unions and other smaller organizations that would not be able to afford the platform's current pricing model. It would be beneficial if there were a scaled-down version or a tiered pricing option that would allow me to build an app or a web app that is more cost-effective for my clients. Currently, the platform's pricing is too high for many of my clients, who would not be able to afford something in the $50,000 to $100,000 range.

I rate OutSystems a nine out of ten.

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.

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.

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

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

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

OutSystems' technical support has been very helpful and responsive.

Positive

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

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

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

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

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

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

We are using all aspects of OutSystems. We use it in almost all of our applications, application development, migration, and modernization. Basically, we use it for almost any traditional technology like .NET and Java.

OutSystems requires only one skill set for both the frontend and backend. As the world is heading towards scarcity of resources, this is a major advantage.

The visual program of OutSystems is one of the major advantages of this solution. Because of this, we don't need to have a separate skill for the front and backend services or extensions, it only requires one skill set. 

Another valuable feature is the speed of the entire implementation of the solution. 

The solution is ground up, it follows exactly what the developer does. The product could be improved if there was a shortcut, or predefined, predictable templates provided. Infusing AI that would automate the process would be game-changing. 

On a logical level, if data on a form is automated, it would be great if when required, the developer can then go and look for it. 

I have been using OutSystems for seven years.

Technical support is good. They are responsive and knowledgeable.

The initial setup of OutSystem is very simple. I would rate the implementation a four out of five for ease of setup.

The solution is not open source. It is a platform that is given free of cost to the developers. When it comes to commercial use, there are restrictions and costs. 

I believe they have two pricing options. One is approximately $4000 USD a year and the other is approximately $10,000 USD a year.

Obviously, you need to incur your own infrastructure costs or maybe even your own server. Other costs come in the form of security, maintenance, and the amount of data required to be held in the cloud.  

The implementation of the solution is fast, but the challenge is that the guy who is on the ground needs to understand the framework. The framework you are building makes a difference.

Overall, I would rate OutSystems a nine out of ten.