Head of Innovation & Projects at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees
Real User
Intuitive, simple to use, and effective, but support could be improved
Pros and Cons
  • "It is easy to use."
  • "In my opinion, the support and the pricing could be better."

What is our primary use case?

We are a financial institution, and our primary credit solution is developed in OutSystems. We have several small apps, not for mobiles, but apps that are developed to support our core business, which is factoring and credit.

What is most valuable?

It is easy to use.

What needs improvement?

In my opinion, the support and the pricing could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with OutSystems for seven or eight years.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

OutSystems is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

OutSystems is scalable.

In terms of the solution, we went through some minor escalations. It was simple to manage. We have also added some redundancy to our app server, which was simple to set up.

Our company is still small, with a staff of about 50 people. I believe ten of them are developers. They develop, operate, administrate all systems platforms and deployed applications. The remainder, are business units.

How are customer service and support?

The SLA should be improved. The response time could be improved.

How was the initial setup?

I can't say for certain that it was simple. It was simple for us. Because I have an experienced manager who manages our team, it was simple for him to set that up.

It took some time because we were building a core banking service system from scratch. What we did in OutSystems, aside from setting up all of the licenses and the platform itself, was that we had help because it was the early days of the company. OutSystems in Portugal assisted us with this. However, because the solution was created from scratch, it takes a long time to deploy it with the business solution.

What about the implementation team?

I manage a development team that develops and maintains DevOps. Within that team of developers, I add one who leads the team that also handles all of the tool's administration.

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

I believe they are very strict with their pricing platforms, or the pricing policies, and it changes. They have changed it from software units to application objects in recent years, and now it's all free, but you pay for the users. 

I believe they should have a better scheme for companies like ours, which are small and could benefit from the platform without paying too much.

The fees are approximately €150,000, €170,000 per year, which is excessive for a company of our size.

We don't have any additional costs, but we did have, within this price we had some, I believe we have some agreements regarding accelerator, to be honest, I don't know off the top of my head.

What other advice do I have?

They should have OutSystems support with the setup and structuring of the best pricing for the goal that they want to assign to the solutions. Because of the pricing, if you want to use OutSystems for self or internal solutions, it would be very different, but it could be very expensive if you want to develop things for the outside, which would require users and business management. I believe they should receive support directly from OutSystems or through a vendor. I'm not sure which is preferable. However, OutSystems support is required for installation.

I would rate OutSystems a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Software Developer at iSON Xperiences
Real User
Top 20
Helps to build mobile and web applications on SOAP and REST
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution helps to build mobile and web applications on SOAP and REST. You can integrate it with backend systems by submitting a code."
  • "The tool needs to improve the efficiency of its widgets."

What is our primary use case?

The solution helps to build mobile and web applications on SOAP and REST. You can integrate it with backend systems by submitting a code.

What needs improvement?

The tool needs to improve the efficiency of its widgets.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the solution since 2017.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The tool is very stable due to its strong architecture. The solution’s downtime is also very less. We have hardly had any issues. The product is able to route the traffic to another place if there are any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The tool is scalable. It can accommodate changes in business requirements. My company has around 1000 users for the tool.

How was the initial setup?

The product’s deployment is simple. The tool is a cloud solution. You need to setup an account and access its packages. You just need to download and install it.

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

The tool’s licensing is based on the user’s usage.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate the solution a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
OutSystems
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about OutSystems. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
769,789 professionals have used our research since 2012.
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Project Leader / IT Architect at Hamburg Port Authority
Real User
Top 5
It's easy to use, and you can easily set it up in a couple of hours.
Pros and Cons
  • "OutSystems is easy to use."

    What is most valuable?

    OutSystems is easy to use. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using OutSystems for six months.

    How are customer service and support?

    OutSystems support is okay. 

    How was the initial setup?

    Setting up OutSystems is easy. It take one or two hours. 

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

    The price is okay. OutSystems isn't expensive. It's a mid-range solution.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate OutSystems nine out of 10. I recommend evaluating it as a POC first. If everything is okay, you can start.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Real User
    Great platform, very stable and it does automatic dependency checking: very useful for enterprise environments
    Pros and Cons
    • "You can go huge - so it is definitely a scalable solution."
    • "It needs improvement in the AI capability."

    What is our primary use case?

    We don't sell OutSystems as a separate solution. We sell it as a platform. And then you win a lot of solutions on top of it. So that can be a second process, it can be a middle phase, it can be a portal, it can be many things, but it is useful for small apps to complete ERP systems and everything in-between.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It supports implementing Agile at scale, as it enables working in an iterative way, and it is very fast. Time to value as a result has dropped significantly!

    What is most valuable?

    What I like most about this solution is that it does automatic dependency checking in enterprise environments, which means that the application will automatically test if it can work in the environment of the customer or not. Instead of only having to find it out when it is too late. Normally, if you build software, you test it and then you deploy it. In the real world, it sometimes happens that it does not work and then you quite often have to figure out why is it happening. So this step is completely taken away because OutSystems tests the functionality of the software against the existing systems in an automatic session and that is very valuable.

    What needs improvement?

    Something that can be improved is that I would like them to be a little more flexible in the area of containerization. They're currently running on Docker on Windows, but I think they should also support Docker on Linus too. Needs a little more effort.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've worked with OutSystems for many years now - I've worked with it, I've implemented it, and we use it in our company too.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    OutSystems is extremely stable. We are replacing complete back-end systems with it, and are in progress to go complete mainframe replacements with it.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    You can go to huge back-ends with OutSystems - so it is definitely a scalable solution.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    The technical support is quite good, although it could be better: it currently fluctuates a little depending on how busy they are. Also it depends on your contract (what level of support you have).

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is super simple and you can do it from your desktop. That is if you only want to implement the platform, but if you have a more complex enterprise setting, then it will be a little more complex and you will have to do some configuration, and up-front think about what functionality you expect to need (particularly if you chose to run on a native AWS or Azure environment so that you can make full use of all the functionality of those 2 CLoud environments. If you do not know exactly how the platform works and what it can do, you can implement certain things and redo a few things. But that's not a deficit. More power comes with more responsibility, l always say. 

    What was our ROI?

    That depends on the kind of solution you are building and at what speed: the more you build, the higher the ROI.

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

    For a single application, it's too expensive, but that's also not what the OutSystems aims for. Personally I don't think that's the smart approach. Their model is really based on platform and not every customer is ready to adopt a platform at the start. So, as a result, they actually limit their own success and results at the moment. But that isn't a huge issue. If you look at the value of the platform, I think the pricing is fair.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We looked at multiple alternatives, including (but not limited to) Appian, Betty Blocks, Mendix, Kony , Pega etc. They all have their own stronger and weaker points, yet we chose OutSystems as it is the most suitable platform for an Enterprise environment. As we do end2end transformations, this is why we chose OutSystems.

    What other advice do I have?

    I will rate OutSystems a nine out of ten because if you look at other solutions, they do not have the functionality, the scalability and the performance of OutSystems, even if their prices are lower. So if you need a platform for a large organization, OutSystems is the one. 

    To make it the perfect solution, it needs improvement in the AI capability. I would say that it would be nice to augment the functionality for the citizen development even further and augment the cloud's platform controls so that you can more easily run in a hybrid cloud environment too. Next to better branching options.

    A word of advice to others is that they should align the business and IT because many people look at it from a technical point of view. And that is another really smart thing to do because it is really about driving the value. Because I've seen customers that bought either mandates or OutSystems or any other platforms and a lot of them had difficulties in getting the value out of it. And the reason was because if the IT or individual departments don't know how to define the proper user requirements, and then it is too difficult to successfully deploy it. It is therefore very important for the business and IT team to work together because that is the most common mistake people make. 

    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?

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner.
    PeerSpot user
    Software Engineer at a logistics company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Streamlines development, allows us to focus on logic and business requirements
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature is Agile development. I love that you save a lot of time on development and can focus on logic and business requirements."
    • "Mobile apps need improvement."

    What is our primary use case?

    Customer track and trace. We get information from SAP which is updated later by carriers (via EDI). The user interface is built in OutSystems.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Development timeframe and deliveries on sprints. Customers can check the progress on a weekly basis and provide adjustments and comments right away.

    What is most valuable?

    Agile development. I love that you save a lot of time on development and can focus on logic and business requirements.

    What needs improvement?

    Mobile apps need improvement.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    More than five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    No issues with stability.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    No issues with scalability.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Technical support is a 10 out of 10.

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

    We did not have a previous solution. We started the department using OutSystems with the goal of creating applications for our internal customers (departments and warehouse customers) to help their main businesses.

    How was the initial setup?

    Setup was straightforward. I was not there at that time, but I know that it was very smooth. The developer at the time was trained by OutSystems and this helped with the first applications.

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

    It is still very expensive, so small companies can’t generally afford it. We hope that this changes. Still, the time saving on development and delivery is worth the value.

    What other advice do I have?

    Agile development is really worth it. Depending on the size of your department – and requirements – you don’t need a big development team. The same developer can take care of all steps: analysis, development, implementation, support.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Executive Board Member (CIO/COO) at a transportation company with 1,001-5,000 employees
    Real User
    Improves development processes, scales well, but implementation difficult
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable feature of OutSystems with discipline and the development processes. Instead of each developer doing tasks on their own with their own approach, et cetera, the solution would help bring some organization to the development process."
    • "The largest obstacle currently associated with OutSystems is its high cost and limited availability of skilled personnel. Despite being a rapid application development platform, having a highly skilled individual familiar with the platform can be much more beneficial than an inexperienced individual. Because there is a shortage of people with the necessary OutSystems skills, utilizing the platform can become expensive. This makes little sense, considering that a rapid application development platform should be accessible to the average person. However, having a highly skilled individual can greatly increase productivity, making the cost worthwhile."

    What is our primary use case?

    I am using OutSystems in internal workflow processes for approving expenses.

    How has it helped my organization?

    The solution has helped us, but it's no longer a strategic choice for us. We are not investing anymore in this platform. We realized the value of using OutSystems if you have an internal development capability. We've been using the solution mostly in outsourcing for development tasks, and it doesn't make much sense to us, to pay the amount for the solution for the capital gains to go to the external provider we use for the development.

    If I have a large team of developers, eventually using the solution would make sense. That's not the case. In my business model for IT, I do not have any internal development capability. I'd rather do it without a rapid development platform because the savings go to the provider. It doesn't go to me. I have to pay for the ticket and then I have to pay additional costs for the development. It doesn't make any sense. It is a good solution and technology, it only does not fit our use case.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature of OutSystems with discipline and the development processes. Instead of each developer doing tasks on their own with their own approach, et cetera, the solution would help bring some organization to the development process. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using OutSystems for approximately five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    We did not experience a time when the solution did not perform, the solution is stable.

    I rate the stability of OutSystems an eight out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution can scale. However, the catch is the pricing has become more and more expensive in the last few years. Consumption is increasing, and the price has increased a lot.

    We have approximately 200 users using this solution in my company.

    How are customer service and support?

    The support is not provided by OutSystems themselves. It's the service vendors, the integrators. There is a shortage of skilled workers that are knowledgeable of the tweaks of the platform and the shortcuts that can increase the productivity of using it.

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

    We are using ServiceNow and it's depicted as a container for OutSystems. It's not the same, but it has the capability of doing some type of rapid development, and we are using it more and more.

    How was the initial setup?

    The largest obstacle currently associated with OutSystems is its high cost and limited availability of skilled personnel. Despite being a rapid application development platform, having a highly skilled individual familiar with the platform can be much more beneficial than an inexperienced individual. Because there is a shortage of people with the necessary OutSystems skills, utilizing the platform can become expensive. This makes little sense, considering that a rapid application development platform should be accessible to the average person. However, having a highly skilled individual can greatly increase productivity, making the cost worthwhile.

    I rate the initial setup of OutSystems a four out of ten.

    What was our ROI?

    I have not seen a return on investment using OutSystems.

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

    OutSystems is expensive, and they changed the pricing model in the last couple of years.  It's changing too much and it's becoming unstable. They are constantly shifting their prices based on users, courses, and other factors.

    What other advice do I have?

    To ensure that we will be able to benefit from leveraging internal development capability, I would suggest using a tool, such as OutSystems. With this solution, it is possible to increase the average productivity of the existing team of developers. Even a small increase of two to three percent can lead to significant gains. However, if there is a limited number of developers, it may be difficult to realize substantial productivity gains from using OutSystems.

    I rate OutSystems a seven out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Tolulope Omotosho - PeerSpot reviewer
    Chief Executive Officer at Dependify LLC
    Real User
    Helps our clients generate certificates and has a great drag-and-drop feature
    Pros and Cons
    • "The drag-and-drop feature is very valuable."
    • "The tutorials for the solution should be updated."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use it to help our clients generate certificates. They needed an app to help them record and have data. It allows them to take the certificate number, check if it is authentic and if the equipment that the ticket number is issued against is working perfectly.

    What is most valuable?

    The drag-and-drop feature is very valuable.

    What needs improvement?

    The tutorials for the solution should be updated.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using this solution for about a month and are currently using version 11.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is stable and doesn't require many server resources, so I don't think there are stability issues. They have enterprise and have been around for a long time. Some of the tutorials we use were created in 2014, and we still use them.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was straightforward. Once we registered, we installed it and were able to start work immediately. It took approximately 24 hours to set up.

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate the solution an eight out of ten. The solution is good but can be improved by updating the tutorials available. I advise people considering the product to ensure they have their data somewhere to generate a certificate. Additionally, I advise them to do their own research. The application makes life easier.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Ricardo Gondim - PeerSpot reviewer
    COO/CTO at .add
    Real User
    Top 20
    Scalable solution helping us with timely delivery of projects
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is a stable solution."
    • "Its ability to create and run automated tasks could be better."

    How has it helped my organization?

    The solution has helped our organization with the timely delivery of projects. We have seen more than a 100% increase in productivity across all the teams.

    What is most valuable?

    The solution's most valuable feature is its ability to organize the entire project view on one platform, including data, development, and processes.

    What needs improvement?

    The solution's ability to create and run automated tasks could be better. They should include data extracting and handling tools in the next release.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We have been using the solution for six years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    I rate the solution's stability a nine out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I rate the solution's scalability a ten out of ten.

    How was the initial setup?

    The solution's initial setup process is easy for the cloud version. However, it is complicated for the on-premises version.

    What was our ROI?

    Our clients have seen a return on investment for the solution.

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

    The solution is too expensive for small companies. Whereas, for large companies, it is worth the investment.

    What other advice do I have?

    I advise others to ensure they have a long-term strategy for multiple projects while opting for the solution. Otherwise, it would be challenging to receive a return on investment.

    The solution is good. I rate it a nine out of ten.

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free OutSystems Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: April 2024
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free OutSystems Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.