OutSystems has announced general availability of its cloud application platform as a service (PaaS) in South Africa. OutSystems Platform is the only PaaS available as a cloud, on-premises or hybrid solution that generates standard Java and .NET applications with fully automated DevOps support.
By extending its popular on-premises platform to the cloud, OutSystems is raising the bar for the PaaS market, making it exceedingly easy for IT organisations to build, deploy and manage enterprise-class web and mobile applications in any environment.
“We have delivered highly complex and scalable enterprise web and mobile applications faster than we ever thought possible,” says Craig Terblanche, director of OutSystems South Africa.
“The OutSystems Platform as a PaaS offering will be an amazingly powerful solution for companies that need to deploy and maintain enterprise-class applications more effectively. The ability to bring the platform back on-premises or deploy a hybrid approach avoids the cloud lock-in.”
The OutSystems Platform, which has more than 36,000 installations across 22 industries in 24 countries, is acclaimed for the rapid delivery of native .NET and Java applications, and virtually eliminating change request backlogs. With Version 8.0, the OutSystems Platform now also brings that extraordinary ease and performance to Oracle Fusion Middleware, including the WebLogic Server.
“Using the cloud shouldn’t mean giving up control of your data, processes and systems in order to gain high productivity,” says Paulo Rosado, founder and CEO of OutSystems.
“Companies are wary of the ‘cloud lock-in’ that comes with solutions like force.com. Whatever you build in their cloud stays in their cloud. Our customers are looking for options – start in the cloud, move to on-premises, embrace hybrid models, extend applications using the languages they use today.
“With the OutSystems Platform, the application development community now has an enterprise-capable PaaS that will scale, port and extend anyway they wish.”
The OutSystems Platform addresses major underlying weaknesses found in competitive PaaS offerings such as lack of portability, minimal developer control, lack of integration, cloud lock-in, runtime only deployment and cumbersome DevOps processes.
The OutSystems Platform is portable and open, eliminating any risk of cloud lock-in and increasing control of enterprise data and workflows across cloud and on-premise data sources:
* Public Cloud – the OutSystems Platform is available as a public cloud service. OutSystems has chosen Amazon as its cloud service provider. Customers can also provision the OutSystems Platform with any public cloud service provider of their choice.
* Private Cloud – the OutSystems Platform can reside in a private cloud provisioned by a third-party service provider or in a private cloud within the customer’s data centre.
* On-Premises – customers continue to have the option to run the OutSystems Platform as an on-premises solution.
* Hybrid – customers can build and test in the public cloud then deploy in a private cloud or in an on-premises environment – or any combination desired. Application components can be designed and deployed across public, private or on-premises environments, leveraging the unique benefits of each based on the functional requirements of the application.
Customers can deliver scalable, complex applications that are simple to change and that easily integrate with any existing systems. One-click publish, automated DevOps capabilities, and integrity checks within and across applications dramatically simplify getting applications into production.
Generating standard Java or .NET code with support for Red Hat JBoss, Oracle WebLogic, and Microsoft IIS/Windows Server, the OutSystems Platform is an open application delivery platform where developers can get “under the hood” when needed.
The OutSystems Community forum for developers currently has over 15,000 members. In the Community, developers share tips and techniques, answer questions, and contribute to the OutSystems Forge. The OutSystems Forge is a repository of reusable applications modules, connectors and components that speed application delivery.
“There are two major benefits we see in the local market,” says Terblanche. “Firstly project ramp up time is dramatically reduced and time to market can be weeks with OutSystems Platform rather than months with alternative or legacy approaches. Secondly the total cost of ownership of enterprise applications is reduced to a fraction of what IT departments are used to investing year after year.”
