There is a growing debate as to whether Rapid Application Delivery (RAD) solutions can deliver custom mobile and web apps more efficiently than traditional methods.
Analyst firm Ovum recently published an ‘On the Radar’ report as to how much the success of a RAD platform depends on the provider’s ability to keep pace with change.
The report also analyses the main benefits and features of OutSystems Platform and provides recommendations to enterprises exploring faster methods of mobile and web application development and deployment.
According to Ovum, the core value proposition of OutSystems offering has stayed the same – rapid programming-free application development and deployment capability, with the solution staying in sync with the needs of modern enterprise development teams.
It also states that OutSystems has kept pace with the changing application development landscape, and its support for mobile application development needs is ‘especially commendable’.
The challenges enterprises face today, for rapid application delivery, are quite different to 13 years ago when OutSystems got its break. From the evolution of development languages, to the advent of mobile apps, to the role of enterprise apps as revenue generators, to Microsoft recently announcing that they would “open source” .NET, a lot has changed in application development.
OutSystems South Africa director Craig Terblanche says it doesn’t matter how fast you code if you can’t keep pace with technology churn. “Our goal has always been the same, to help enterprise customers create, deploy and manage custom applications more efficiently – but our offering has evolved in response to your changing needs.”
For example, OutSystems Platform helps enterprises build not just custom web applications, but also mobile and hybrid applications. It is also leveraged not only on-premises, but in the cloud and in a hybrid configuration. The Platform as a Service (PaaS) solution is easy-to-use and manage, it enables faster time to market. And where data privacy is key, the platform can sit on-premise, behind one’s firewall.
“We evolve so customers don’t have to waste precious time there. Who has time to build bench strength in HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript – and its ever-changing frameworks, integrating dev and ops, Java, C# and ObjectiveC. Wait, I mean ?Swift?, phones and tablets – and wearables. It is never ending and daunting. Can you really afford to do this for Android, Ios, Blackberry and Windows Phone?” says Terblanche.
He also uses the analogy of the duck as smooth as silk on the surface of the water, while its legs are paddling like mad underneath? “We’re the legs, dealing with technology churn, advances in the state-of-the-art and changes in the landscape. The customer is as cool-as-a-cucumber, paddling on top of the water.”
“The applications we need to build and how we build them will continue to change. OutSystems will continue to meet enterprises where they are, innovating to enable them to harness the trends that move their business forward,” he concludes.