Organisations want projects delivered faster than ever before, but as development becomes quicker and quicker, the need to mitigate risk upfront is crucial. Over the past couple of years, DB Results has been helping organisations with application development, delivering results with quality and value, not just speed. This is being achieved by combining agile ways of working with OutSystems, the number #1 low-code platform.

So how does a low-code platform like OutSystems enable a more agile way of working, leading to faster and more valuable solutions? The question was posed to DB Results' Agile Community of Practice, a group of consultants across many areas at DB Results who have significant experience and thought leadership in agile and low-code platforms. They came up with their top seven benefits:

1. Quicker, improved start ups

The Outsystems platform is intuitive, particularly when it comes to setting up environments, so getting started is a lot quicker than traditional methods.

2. Fewer common technical problems

OutSystems has you covered when it comes to the common technical problems that a developer usually experiences. This means you will save time from having to work through technical issues, allowing you to focus on more valuable work. OutSystems also has in-built warnings that prompt teams on potential deviations in the codebase and recommends best practices.

3. Codebase Sharing

OutSystems allows the developers in an agile team to share the codebase with other team members easily, enabling quicker delivery with no code merge challenges.

4. Visual development and feedback

OutSystems' drag and drop capability allows teams to work efficiently, a perfect companion to agile ways of working. This capability facilitates the way you collaborate with others on the team: Business Analysts and other 'non-developers' can see the changes they are requesting in real time, which is usually impossible when working with code.

It is also easy to set the coding standards for the project and make sure team members adhere to such standards. OutSystems also enables the team to identify any deviations from the standards set and address them promptly.

5. Rapid Deployment

Deployment with OutSystems is only a few clicks away. Once testing has been completed and the Product Owner has accepted the deliverables, a simple click gets the changes into production.

6. Rapid prototyping

An agile way of working uses rapid timeboxed iterations that deliver working solutions while incorporating quick feedback loops. OutSystems allows teams to realise tangible working solutions very quickly within the proposed iterative agile cadence, allowing for easier feedback and acceptance from the product owner. Check out the Ranstad Case Study video - link top right - as a great example of rapid prototyping - just 4 days!

7. Improve agile adoption

In a 2018 survey OutSystems conducted with over 3500 organisations, "15% of low-code users were 15% more likely to describe their agile maturity as level 3, 4 or 5, and nearly three times more likely to say they have no application backlog."

"OutSystems can help you break down specialist developer silos because one skillset and one IDE can be used for all kinds of development. This improves collaboration and gives application development managers newfound flexibility for how they organise and assign work to team members. The essential ingredients for improved agile business engagement, namely high-speed prototyping and visualisation, are all there." (From the State of Application Development Research Paper)

If you'd like a copy of the OutSystems Research paper, click the link in Related Information on this page.

If you want better collaboration, faster delivery, reduced risk and increased value, talk to us!