A key to optimising costs and performance with understanding Application Objects (AOs) and OutSystems Developer Cloud (ODC)

Application objects (AOs) in OutSystems are a vital metric for assessing the size, complexity, and value delivered by your applications. They also serve as an essential factor in determining your licensing costs, making them a crucial aspect of managing OutSystems-based software development.

What determines your OutSystems license fee?

In an OutSystems license, two main factors influence your licensing costs:

1. Active named users: This represents the total number of users registered in the OutSystems user database.
2. Application objects (AOs): The number of application objects is a measurement of the size of your application, determining the complexity and scope of the software.

While the number of users is straightforward, understanding the concept of application objects requires a bit more detail.

What is an application object?

OutSystems defines an application object as any combination of entities, screens, and integrations, with each counting as one AO. However, it’s helpful to understand that this includes specific components such as data models, logic, and user interfaces within your applications.

Why application objects matter for licensing and scalability

OutSystems pricing for both ODC and OutSystems 11 is based on the scale of your apps, which is measured by application objects, alongside the number of users and the selected add-on features. As your application grows in complexity, the number of AOs increases, impacting your licensing costs. Understanding how AOs are calculated and managing their count efficiently can help ensure your application remains cost-effective while delivering high value.

By focusing on reducing unnecessary AOs and optimising the integration and performance of your applications, you can maximise both the effectiveness and affordability of your OutSystems deployment.

The sunset of OutSystems 11 (OS11)

With the release of ODC, businesses that rely on OS11 will need to consider migrating to ODC to stay current with the latest technological advancements and to take advantage of ODC’s superior capabilities. The compelling need to shift from OS11 to ODC lies in ODC’s enhanced support for internet-scale applications and cloud-first strategies, which are becoming increasingly critical for businesses operating in a digital-first world.

OutSystems Developer Cloud (ODC) retains critical features from previous versions while enhancing performance and flexibility for cloud-native environments:

• High availability: Like OS11, ODC continues to support critical applications with robust high-availability measures. It ensures superior uptime and reliability, vital for minimising interruptions in business-critical operations.
• Private gateway: Similar to OS11, ODC optimises this connectivity for cloud-based systems, offering more seamless integration with on-premises environments.
• ODC Sentry: ODC continues to provide enhanced security and regulatory compliance, including SOC 2 Type II certification, but with improvements tailored for cloud-native applications, ensuring a high standard of protection for sensitive data.

Why migrate to ODC?

ODC brings several innovations that were not available in OutSystems 11 (OS11), making it a more advanced option for modern app development:

• AI agent builder: Allows businesses to integrate AI capabilities easily into applications, providing advanced functionalities like predictive analytics and personalised user experiences.
• Workflows: Simplifies business process automation by enabling the creation of workflows without the need for extensive custom coding, speeding up development time and enhancing efficiency.
• Event-driven architecture: Supports real-time responses to events within applications, enabling more dynamic and reactive systems that can adapt to changing conditions quickly.
• Data fabric: Facilitates seamless data integration and management across multiple sources, simplifying data handling and providing a more unified view of business information.

These features are specifically tailored to meet the demands of today’s businesses, allowing for greater flexibility, scalability, and performance when developing applications.