OutSystems and architecture

OutSystems is great for developing software quickly, and when the right database and application architecture are applied, OutSystems software is easy to change and maintain. But what happens if your organization did not give architecture the attention it deserves?

We have seen numerous companies and OutSystems Partners struggle with bloated OutSystems landscapes. OutSystems customers' speed of change is reduced significantly because of OutSystems application technical debt created by inexperienced OutSystems customers. Citizen development is also not helping, as inexperienced citizen developers are put under pressure by demanding businesses in a position where speed of delivery is all that matters, and the downward spiral towards what we call "Tetris Architecture" begins.

Many IT management teams counter this spiral by adding more resources to address the obvious slowing down of application delivery. However, adding more people without having a clearly governed architecture will only result in the opposite. Too many functions doing the same thing; databases full of redundant tables; developers and development teams inventing the wheel over and over again... The deeper you get into the Tetris Spiral, the more costly OutSystems will be. OutSystems cost of ownership increases dramatically when you are playing Tetris.

Let us help you by reviewing the way you use OutSystems. We can support your teams with practical advice, or even offer prefabricated modules from our own OutSystems Forge. We will identify and reduce most of your redundant tables. Although we love OutSystems, sometimes even we have to conclude that solutions can be better built architecturally using other tools, for example SAP when you are a SAP customer, or Flutter when you need high demanding or customer-facing mobile apps. Our very knowledgeable architects all have 20+ years experience.

We guarantee that our advice will reduce the OutSystems' cost of ownership significantly.

OutSystems Forge

Our SAP OutSystems Forge is available to our customers, with hundreds of tested and prefab components to ensure that you can build on top of your SAP ECC or SAP HANA landscape both quickly and with the proper architecture, and with tested components.

Examples of components in our OutSystems Forge are SAP Security modules (which can be re-used by non OutSystems applications) SAP Material Master, SAP Purchasing Modules, SAP SD Sales and Distribution, SAP WM (Warehousing), SAP SRM, SAP CATS, SAP Service Entry, and many more.

Some basic applications like product scanning for warehousing and shop ordering were built to fit our SAP e-commerce platform. These scanner apps were not built in OutSystems, but in Flutter, to reduce the OutSystems cost of ownership (Flutter is free of charge). In this case, we use OutSystems as a service-bus for mobile apps, but all web applications are still running on OutSystems.

If you think you should re-use before buy before build, contact us to see if we already have what you need in the B-Synergy OutSystems Forge.

Consultancy & Coaching

Passion for IT, technology and team. Yes, TEAM, because no-matter how good your technology is, without the proper team spirit the results will not be optimal. B-Synergy can coach your team. Not by implementing SCRUM or Continuous Improvement, but by carefully evaluating your team's strengths and weaknesses. Not by expecting your team members to perform the way you want, but by identifying, acknowledging and leveraging individual strengths.

Our consultants will work with your people, full time or part time. We will not tell them what to do in a classic manager approach, but model it by showing commitment to the team first. Our consultants are used to performing on C-level and they will explain their vision and findings to your management. Most of our consultants have a long-term relationship with our customers, like Susanne van Erp at Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague or Erwin Schmidt who has been a trusted advisor to Beeztees for almost 12 years.