Item: OutSystems
Rating: 10
Author: Grant McDonogh

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We used Outsystems Platform to replace all our legacy systems. We are also using Outsystems Platform to build new products and enhancements to existing products which we are bringing to the market. We are extending our systems to open up portals to all our service providers which will have the effect of relieving admin fatigue from our internal users. The portals also have the effect of consolidating all the data into a central repository so that we have better visibility across all our service providers.

Pros and Cons

The platform allows us to move from Windows client to web client in less than half the time and budget.
The platform gives us more control over our app life cycle and deployment process than we ever had before.
Outsystems allows us to easily integrate with other systems and we are able to quickly extend the platform using C#.

It would be nice to have a development environment for my MacBook Pro, this is not a show stopper, just a nice to have.

Return on Investment

Our development team is on tech steroids now. We are able to deliver far more quality product that any team twice our size and in half the time.
For the cost of 1 developer I have doubled my capacity and improved the quality of our end product. It is hard to measure the ROI when you are talking about exponential improvement. Just in time saving we have had at least a 200% return, but the real value is in our ability to change quickly.
Our developers are coming up with new product ideas which we are presenting to the business. The business is no longer waiting for IT, IT is now leading the business into the digital age.

Alternatives Considered

I have not used any of the competitor products since we went straight from C# to Outsystems, but if your tech does not make you and your developers excited to go to work everyday, then you should try Outsystems.

Likelihood to Recommend

I have reached the point in my career where I just want to deliver high quality applications without having to wrestle with every new tech out there. Outsystems allows me to focus on what I love which is solving business problems for my clients. My clients love me because they are able to get what they want in days or weeks instead of months and years. My clients are competing on a higher level than the rest of the market. Their competitors are having to play catch-up now.

In short, we are able to offer better products to the market in time to take advantage of the opportunities while they still exist. I have the freedom to dream BIG again.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

Designing the database and integrating it into your app is simple and elegant.
Making changes to existing apps is a breeze. The platform warns you when you make a change that breaks other parts of your system.
Deploying my apps to production and maintaining consistency and change management are smooth and easy to do.
You don't need 5 different tools just to track all the dependencies between you apps, the platform does it all for you.

The freedom to dream BIG again!

Overall Satisfaction with OutSystems