Four fundamental principles for great software development

How to innovate through the power of software

Sponsored We started OutSystems almost 20 years ago with a mission that is as important today as it was on our first day. We want every company to be able to innovate through the power of software. For most organizations, the same challenges we faced back then remain true today. Building enterprise class applications is too hard, there are too few developers, and the business environment changes faster than the software and systems that customers count on.

The innovation that OutSystems delivers is even more relevant today as consumer expectations for great experiences rise, and technological change and economic disruption is accelerating.

So what does great look like? We think about a few fundamental principles:

1. You Have to Build Differentiation

Some of the routine software required to run your organization can be sourced ‘off-the-shelf’ from SaaS companies. Those offerings are essentially the same for every customer, so while they provide basic capabilities, every one of your competitors has the same basic capabilities. The most critical software to your organization has to be different, so it has to be built. The only way to build real innovation is from the insight and talent only found in your own context - from your customers, team and partners.

2. You Have to Make the Best of the Team You Have

Even though you have a team of talented and motivated developers, it probably seems like your team is never big enough to keep up. The truth is that even the Silicon Valley elite can’t hire enough developers, so the problem isn’t a shortage of talent - the problem is that traditional development requires too much focus on mundane, arcane and repetitive tasks. Our mission is to make it possible for you to get the most out of your team by making them dramatically more productive. Not only do we strive to make developers more productive, we have designed a platform that accelerates the entire application lifecycle ensuring that the productivity of everyone in digital projects gets a boost.

3. How Fast You Iterate Is More Important Than How Fast You Invent

Looking for one new idea isn’t enough. Starting with Google allowing employees to devote 20% of their time to new ideas, the great innovators have not tried to apply strict organization to new development. The great innovators have made it possible for lots of new ideas to flourish, rather than trying to perfect one idea. As they find new ideas that are viable, they then quickly and effectively iterate and improve upon those ideas through real user interactions and feedback.

4. The Walls Between Teams Need to Fall

It used to be that developers would work in one community, ops teams would work in another and business people would be kept at arm's length. To really make meaningful change happen fast, organizations are mixing teams and skills together in order to quickly define, develop and test their thinking.

OutSystems uses these fundamental principles to develop a unique approach based on three connected concepts—applications have to be built fast, built right and built for the future. Building applications fast is critical to be competitive, and every aspect of OutSystems is designed to help developers build complete, compelling software solutions quickly and efficiently with a high-productivity, visual development approach.

But fast alone isn’t enough— you have to be able to build things the right way. At the heart of the OutSystems platform are integrated tools and services that ensure modern, enterprise-grade applications are secure, resilient, cloud-ready, and built to scale.

Finally, it is critical that applications are built for the future and OutSystems helps customers deliver modern applications capable of evolving as fast as the world around you, your business model, and your team. With a potent combination of sophisticated platform services, AI, visual tools for design and programming, and an underlying architecture enabling the continuous introduction of features and capabilities, OutSystems is designed for managing change.

We have a phrase in Portugal, “afinal de contas,” which roughly translates to “when all is said and done.” Ultimately, results matter, and we have always been focused on helping our customers get results. When we see what our customers do with the OutSystems platform, we get even more excited about what’s possible when ambitious teams get to work with the right platforms. We’re focused on serious productivity for development teams building serious apps, and that makes us a little different. Since the beginning, we have been singularly focused on this mission, and we’re excited about the validation of our approach and about the opportunity that lies ahead.

Sponsored by OutSystems