OutSystems vs Salesforce: Which Low-Code Platform is Right for Your Business?

From history to the present, adopting things and technology was never enough, but the knowledge that which one would be best for you. Nothing much has changed from that era, today also there are millions of technologies and hundreds of low-code platforms, but choosing which one to use could be the one decision which could make or break your business’s digital presence.

Choosing the wrong platforms isn’t just about being expensive during the process development, but it can pile up the hidden or unexpected costs for the future as well, and even after so much cost, there could be the risk of technical debt, which could affect the performance of the application.

Today’s Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), enterprise architects and digital product leaders aren’t confused about whether they should choose a low-code or traditional coding process, but the bigger and more important question is in front of them right now. Which low-code platform would be best for them?

When we talk about low-code, even when technology or inspiration looks the same, but that’s the point, all these low-code platforms are made to fulfil certain types of requirements, and they work best for some industries or motives only.

For example, PowerApps are best when you want to create an internal application which can help to automate the repeated and mundane tasks, and even the employees who don’t have any knowledge of coding or have a background in coding can create the app as well, but then comes OutSystems, it’s an application which is for professional developers which is to create enterprise-level applications. To understand the difference between the two platforms in more detail, check out this blog. OutSystems vs. Power Apps A Feature-by-Feature Breakdown for CTOs.

And that’s not all, there are many comparisons between different applications to ensure the people who want to decide which platform works best for them, do check out our resources page for more blogs.

So, in this blog, we are going to compare another two well know platforms when it comes to low-code platforms, which are OutSystems and Salesforce, on all the important parameters, from their inspiration to architectural comparison.

But before we start, let’s discuss the topics we are going to discuss in this blog, so that you know what you should expect from it, as well as whether it aligns with your research or helps you satisfy your curiosity.

So, let’s structure this blog.

So, now that we have created the blueprint for the blog, let’s start discussing on each of the topics to understand what the ground-level differences are, like philosophy to advanced-level differences, like industries to implement.

1. The Core Philosophy: High-Performance Product Delivery vs CRM-Centric Extension

The foundation is very important in everything. The inspiration because of which something is created and is still transforming the business is a powerful insight which let a business understand what is are the main features on which the platform stresses more and what are non-important terms for platforms.

And even people might consider it a small thing, but the organizations and major leaders like CEOs and CTOs know how important it can be. So let’s understand the core philosophy of OutSystems and Salesforce and how they can differ from each other.

OutSystems

If we have to shrink down the foundation or primary philosophy of OutSystems, then it could be stated as follows :

OutSystems focuses on compliable visual models into standard, optimized native .NET C# code.

In simpler words, we can say that OutSystems is the combination of a software development model to create a low-code platform with all the capabilities of core-coding, but with a visually rich interface. Like there is business workflow, Timer, BPT, relational data models, user interface, data model diagram and a lot of inbuilt elements in a platform where you don’t have to write a line of code like a traditional coding process.

But the development platform isn’t the main perk, but it’s the ability to convert and compile that highly visualized code into a standard and highly optimized .NET C# source code. Then this code is compiled like a normal C# code, which retains the speed and performance of the OutSystems application just like the native C# application.

Now that we have discussed the main philosophy of OutSystems, let’s dive into Salesforce to understand the differences better.

Salesforce

The Salesforce foundation, or we can say core philosophy, is as follows :

Salesforce has the ability to extend an immutable, multi-tenant database schema via custom metadata.

Let’s understand it more clearly: Salesforce Low-Code is a platform that works under its own ecosystem extension model. Every application that is built on the Salesforce Lightning Platform technically only exists inside Salesforce’s multi-tenant database architecture. The application which would be created will be treated as an extension of the underlying or standard objects like Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities. Its main objective is to ensure that the business workflow is completed smoothly, just like what a CRM role does, so that the customer’s experience from purchase to delivery will be improved.

2. Application Architecture and Runtime Execution Models

Even when it’s an underlying thing, the architecture of an application is something that can enhance the ability or the performance of the application; meanwhile, if done wrong, it is very capable of drowning the application with technical debts, under-performance, as well as unexpected or hidden costs.

Understanding which platform’s architecture best aligns with the application you want to create can not only help the CTO and product manager to estimate the application’s development cost, but it can also ensure that the performance of the application is good as well as prevent any unexpected costs in the near future.

In this section, we are going to discuss about the difference between the architecture approach of OutSystems and Salesforce to understand which one will suit what kind of scenarios.

OutSystems: Native Code Synthesis and Freedom

OutSystems is a platform that builds applications using a clean and loosely-coupled, or we can say, a decoupled architecture (SOA). As OutSystems converts the visually rich application designs directly into standard .NET C# source code for better compilation speed, as well as the application bypasses proprietary abstraction layers during runtime execution.

• Zero Runtime Vendor Lock-In: There are exceptions to everything. Even when the OutSystems platform has the ability to build enterprise-level applications, there are times when the vendor needs to abandon the development process, or we can say shift it to another technology due to some issues.
  
  During such scenarios, OutSystems does support their customers to provide a smooth and seamless exit with the developed application code in the standard format of .NET C#, which the vendor can execute in Linux control panel or coding platforms, so there will not be any need for building the same application from scratch.
  
• Architectural Boundaries: As if we talk about the architecture of OutSystems, there is clean differentiation between different layers such as Data, Core Business Services, and Front-End User Interfaces.
  
  This ensures that there is no structural ambiguity, as well as the implementation of dependency, which also prevents circular dependency.

Salesforce: Metadata Interpretation and Multi-Tenant Boundaries

Salesforce is a platform on which, if the application is created, it isn’t created as well as compiled as an independent application, while it is considered as an extension of the current application.

Which means the applications that are built in Salesforce aren’t compiled into separate server binaries; on the other hand, it is considered declarative metadata configured inside the shared, multi-tenant database.

• The Interpretation Engine: The moment a developer opens a custom Lightning app, which is the app that is the application to build low-code apps, the Salesforce runtime engine dynamically reads the metadata configuration, process authorization and authentication for access and renders the user experience.
  
  It is important to keep in mind that an application built in the Salesforce app can only be compiled in Salesforce, and there is no independent existence of the application.
  
• Governor Limits: As we all know that there is only a single server on all the applications complies from a same database, while there are thousands of enterprise is using the Salesforce platform for their application processing, so the platform enforces the strict underlying Governor Limit.
  
  These limits include the upper caps for the requests that can overload the server due to one application, so there is a limit to the number of database queries (SOQL) executed per transaction, heap sizes, CPU timeout limits, and daily API calls.
  
  So, if a custom application’s server requests spike suddenly in data processes, then Salesforce instantly terminates the transaction to ensure that all other neighboring tenants’ application performance is maintained.

3. Advanced Data Modelling and Storage Architecture

Data is one of the most important elements of each and every application. It won’t be wrong to say that, whether it is a website or application, if there won’t be any data, no one will visit it to see the UI/UX of the website or application. But as much as the existence of the data is important, so is its retrieval speed.

If an application or website takes forever to fetch the data, the users would surely prefer another one that doesn’t take that much time, especially in this era where the focus span is the lowest in human history. So, having a clear understanding of how the data is stored and how optimized the data fetching process of a platform can save organization from a very big loss as well as improve the application’s performance.

In this section of the blog, we are going to discuss about how both the platforms, OutSystems and Salesforce, store and handle data modelling and which platform is more preferable for which situations.

OutSystems: Relational Agnosticism and Raw SQL Control

OutSystems data architecture is built with the standard Object-Relational Mapping concept. OutSystems provides you with the visual query element called aggregate, which can provide a test view for the data that will be fetched on the website or application.

But OutSystems isn’t just restricted to its low-code elements, as it knows that there come times that no matter how effective modern tech is, we need to go for the traditional ways. So, developers can write raw SQL, even when it isn’t recommended on a regular basis.

• Flexible Database Hosting: While using OutSystems vendors have the liberty to use external database as well, there is no compulsion of using only OutSystems database, and for that there is a separate integration folder provided in the logic tab, where there is integration option for the all the commonly used databases, like Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, or MySQL, whether the database is on-premise behind a firewall or through different public cloud environments, vendor can integrate them with OutSystems applications.
  
• Unmanaged SQL Control: While aggregates have the ability to deliver most of the requirements, there are always some scenarios that are way too complex for the aggregate to fetch the data while maintaining the performance of the application.
  
  For those situations, OutSystems have an element called Advanced SQL, in which you can write raw SQL and execute it while binding the elements outside information like complex window functions, parameters, directly inside the IDE, without juggling between two applications or studios.

Salesforce: The Multi-Tenant Universal Schema

In Salesforce, things are entirely different, as there is no separate database for every application; they are all inside the private as well as universal data model of Salesforce, which abstracts actual database tables from Standard Objects and Custom Objects. Let’s understand how that works more probably with the following points.

• The Power of the Schema: The data engine of Salesforce is noticeably very powerful and handy when it comes to something like relationship mapping.
  
  When a new custom field is created, the data model engine triggers an automation process that generates the user interface components at that time only, but that’s not it; it also handles security auditing, maps data history and creates the API endpoints in real-time.
  
  Salesforce is a very powerful and efficient tool for customer-centric data workflow, as it provides unmatched speed with its universal schema.
  
• The No-SQL/No-Index Ceiling: Salesforce don’t allow the vendor to access and alter the physical database or contain any features that allow the developers to write raw SQL statements.
  
  The developers are obliged to learn SOQL, which stands for Salesforce Object Query Language and SOSL, which is Salesforce Object Search Language.
  
  There is no way for the developers to implement traditional joins around different tables. They need to predefine the parent-child lookup and master-detail relationships.
  
  If your application needs a highly customised database, or deep transactional database optimisation, as there is a need to handle hundreds of millions of non-customer transactional records, the cost that could be incurred for Salesforce data storage, as well as the upper cap for the data query, can prove to be the bottleneck for the performance.

4. Comprehensive Architectural Comparison Matrix

5. Summary

Now that we have covered the important difference between OutSystems and Salesforce, let’s summarize each and every difference for better understanding as well as revision, so that you can compare them in just a table and understand where one is losing while one is gaining.

6. The Strategic Verdict: Aligning Your low-code Platform Choice with Your Architectural Goals

After understanding the core difference between OutSystems and Salesforce, the organizations can make a strategic decision of adopting which low-code platform, which can help the organization to achieve its goal through expected performance as well as development speed.

So, let’s understand in detail which platform is best for what kind of scenarios and when the organization should opt out without thinking twice, so let’s talk about the fields where OutSystems and Salesforce thrive.

When to Choose OutSystems

When the organization isn’t looking for an internal application that can handle a small number of tasks but a full-fledged application that is capable of performing millions of non-customer underlying transactions in real-time without affecting the performance of the website or the application, as well as when the organization is looking for a responsive application, then OutSystems can prove to be a great choice.

The main goal of OutSystems as a low-code platform is to let the developers build high-performing enterprise-level, custom web or mobile applications that require maximum processing speeds, complete relational database control and attracted as well as interactive user interface.

When to Choose Salesforce Low-Code

Salesforce is the best choice for the organizations whose entire focus is on customer relationships, workflow management, as well as customer support operations. If the data object which a organization requires is already in Salesforce or when your user target base is the internal team whose core focus is to utilize Sales, Service, or Marketing Cloud, then nothing could be a more better choice than to build the application in the Salesforce Lightning Platform.

Opting for Salesforce can ensure that you don’t have to follow the lengthy and complex integration process, as well as the organization can also leverage the existing CRM user licensing, and allow business analysts to deploy powerful automated workflows right beside the customer records for the best efficiency and facilitation in the comparison and insight creation.

FAQ

Q1. Does OutSystems have a future?

OutSystems does have a future, as there are applications that are built on the OutSystems platform that are still running just fine, and these applications are evolving. While most low-code platforms force vendors to rewrite the code after every update, OutSystems brings customers forward. The vendor does need some alterations in the code for implementing the latest technology, but there is no need to start the application development from scratch.

Q2. Does Salesforce have a low-code platform?

Yes, Salesforce does have a low-code feature, but that’s not it. Salesforce is more than just a low-code platform; it also contains features like no-code, as well as highly complex and detailed custom coding functionality as well. So, in short, we can say that Salesforce is a platform where the developer can opt between all three, low-code, no-code and custom coding for the development of its application.

Q3. Is OutSystems a CRM?

There are organizations around the world that use OutSystems to develop complete CRM systems as per their specific requirements, or even when they want to extend the existing and widely used CRM application or platforms with more advanced features like Salesforce with custom functionality. OutSystems provides smooth and seamless integration between the external CRM systems and any other external application to add the spice of advanced tech without any compulsion to develop everything from scratch.

Q4. Will AI replace low-code?

Not in the near future, while due to generative AI which can write the code of the application in just few minutes, the core-coding industry is under a threat of massive human resource replacement, in the near future there is no sign of AI doing the same for low-code platform, as in case of low-code platform, it’s not just about code, but there is a necessary architecture, visual structure and maintenance of framework which is required for the application development, which can’t be done by the generative AI.

Q5. What are the limitations of OutSystems?

While OutSystems has proven to be a great low-code platform that has the ability to increase the development speed while retaining the performance of the application, there is this one major setback that I have realized in my development journey. Which is that there is no external authentication support in Personal Environment, or in other words, in the free plan, as it relies on certificates such as Microsoft Entra, Okta or SAML 2.0.

Devendra Baghel

I have been developing software for more than 10+ years, and I am an IT specialist. At the moment, I work with Prodfinity as a Technical Consultant. Through project delivery, I consistently focus on giving the client a high-value product rather than merely software. I take an active position in the Scrum Team and help the team solve problems for clients.