We performed a comparison between OutSystems and ServiceNow based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out in this report how the two Rapid Application Development Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI."Scalability proved to be an exceptionally beneficial feature."
"It is very stable."
"Refactoring with TrueChange is very simple."
"The architecture of OutSystems is quite simple, and the features are similar to Mendix's. OutSystems has connectors for different enterprise apps and solid reporting capabilities. You can also integrate with any content management platform like SharePoint or Adobe Enterprise Manager, or something like that. You can also create and integrate workflows."
"It provides for faster development and better software releases."
"The product is mostly stable."
"The most valuable feature of OutSystems with discipline and the development processes. Instead of each developer doing tasks on their own with their own approach, et cetera, the solution would help bring some organization to the development process."
"In terms of user support and community engagement, I rate the tool a ten out of ten."
"It's actually easy to understand."
"The pricing of the product is quite good. It's not too expensive."
"It actually has quite a wide list of modules and processes. Currently, we are implementing project management and Scaled Agile Framework for one of our customers."
"What I like the most is the functionality, it's features are rich, and there is a high degree of compliance with IT standards."
"Makes ticket information easy to access."
"Identifies better ways to license software or eliminate unused software to save money."
"I really like what they've done with their common service data model because now I can make a connection between the business process and technology."
"The flow designer for application development is the most valuable. The newest version of flow designer allows us to develop applications quite fast. We can have custom and mobile applications. It has an interface for mobiles, and it also has a good reputation."
"Its ability to create and run automated tasks could be better."
"The latest version of the app generation tools could be more user-friendly."
"I would like to see improvements in versioning. It can be challenging to keep track of what changes should be committed, especially when many developers are working in one environment."
"We'd like OutSystems to add stronger workflow-based automation similar to what Appian offers. It needs more workflow modeling and RPA features."
"I would like to see OutSystems improve its integration capabilities, especially with emerging technologies like AI and GPT."
"The asynchronous processing and multithreading tasks for which the current resources of the platform are very generic and not built for the end-user. Any asynchronous jobs have to be constructed with an end-user dashboard to allow inspection of the status of the activities."
"It's difficult to do the component version control. I would like them to add more studying materials."
"The documentation needs to be more robust."
"All the screens are similar. It's the same platform for everything and you need to familiarize yourself with it. In the past, you used to have one screen per application. Now, you have everything integrated into one. Everybody will manage the same screen and they need to navigate into the same screen as the Internet Explorer with a toolbar with the categories and look for the things you want to see or the models you want to use."
"Some enhancements to the self-service platform would be helpful. That part is still a little barebone... Also, the mobile app is not bad, but it's limited."
"I would like to see more functionality in terms of custom workflows, not impacting the overall platform health."
"Performance could be improved."
"Integration capabilities can improve."
"We can't update bulk tickets using a simple query language. Jira lets us update hundreds of tickets with one command. In ServiceNow, you need to select each task separately to close them. The dashboards could also be more user-friendly. Monday.com has better dashboards."
"I would like to see Advanced Intelligent Automation."
"An area for improvement would be the accessibility of downloaded and compressed files."
OutSystems is ranked 3rd in Rapid Application Development Software with 46 reviews while ServiceNow is ranked 4th in Rapid Application Development Software with 212 reviews. OutSystems is rated 8.4, while ServiceNow is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of OutSystems writes "The visual program provides the advantage of only requiring one skill set for both the front and backend ". On the other hand, the top reviewer of ServiceNow writes "A stable and scalable solution that has excellent features and is useful for collecting data and building KPIs". OutSystems is most compared with Microsoft Power Apps, Appian, Mendix, Oracle Application Express (APEX) and Pega BPM, whereas ServiceNow is most compared with BMC Helix ITSM, Microsoft Power Apps, Pega BPM, Appian and PagerDuty Operations Cloud. See our OutSystems vs. ServiceNow report.
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The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping the annual fee up in the knowledge that you have little choice. If this was in a consumer market they would have been stopped years ago on antitrust grounds. I have experienced senior management in Service Now laughing at the customers' lock-in.
Secondly, with Service Now, once you move beyond the workflow design you are straight into the deep valley of Java scripting. There is nothing in between. Most customers realize the limitations of the graphical environment very quickly. They are then stuck with having a never-ending bill for consultant fees. Many SN partners use this as their prime source of 'new' business. They talk of stickiness, meaning they are embedded in the clients' system perpetually.
There are many other reasons. I might come back and give a fuller review. Let's just say there are several platforms that outperform Service Now technically and economically. Service Now is quite happy to have its customers stuck with 1990s technology with a slightly fluffy front end.
ServiceNow
Hello @Gerry Fitzpatrick,
'Customer Service Management' and 'IT Service Management' applications run on the same ServiceNow platform.
Whilst 'Customer Service' gives you the CRM capability (external facing), ITSM gives you the supporting framework (internal facing). The two work very well together. There is no need for you to invest in building custom apps. However, if you still want to build custom apps then the ServiceNow platform allows you to do that with a very good mobile SDK.
ServiceNow also has an App Store, which is a really good source to see what integrations and applications are available to purchase (some are free). This would help you get value from your investment in ServiceNow quicker.
Regards,
Farid