OutSystems 'reimagines' Business Process Automation and Workflows

OutSystems has introduced Workflows, a business process modeling and workflow automation solution. OutSystems Workflows simplifies mission-critical workflow applications and boosts IT and business collaboration. The tool is built for businesses looking to break free from legacy BPM (Business Process Management) solutions that require countless high-code customizations, which are more challenging to maintain and scale.

“OutSystems Workflows can evolve indefinitely as it removes the barriers between the IT teams deploying workflow-based applications, and the lines of business that actually use them,” said Paulo Rosado, Founder and CEO of OutSystems. “This solution demonstrates the power of the OutSystems platform in transitioning to a modern software architecture and dramatically increasing operational efficiency in organizations by bridging the gap between business and IT. With OutSystems, you don't have to worry about your workflow processes becoming legacy. We're future-proof—and our customers will be too.”

Before OutSystems Workflows, organizations faced two options to manage complex workflows:

Stick with error-prone and time-consuming methods to manage complex business processes such as manual approvals and spreadsheet governance; or

Adopt highly specialized business process management (BPM) solutions that support process automation, but require high-code customizations for any other purpose, which are cumbersome for IT to maintain.

OutSystems Workflows avoids these two extremes, and gives IT the power to automate processes in a way that makes sense for the business.

Workflows provides a simple and intuitive solution for modeling complex workflows, with the added benefit of being unified with a low-code development platform with extensive UX/UI customization options, simplified system integration, and advanced data management capabilities. The new web-based interface also enables business stakeholders to model workflows autonomously, reducing the need for iterations and detailed explanations of business rules. This shift significantly improves collaboration and reduces IT's workload, keeping the promise of low-code simplicity without requiring traditional coding customization. Combined with the broader OutSystems platform, Workflows makes it simple to customize any application, creating tailored workflows without incurring technical debt.

“Workflow and process management are critical to many sophisticated business applications," said John R. Rymer, analyst at research firm Analysis.tech. "With the launch of OutSystems Workflows, the platform is poised to more effectively address more business application development requirements from within a single consolidated solution."

Customers can leverage OutSystems Workflows to manage common internal processes, such as expense or vacation management, invoice approval, or workforce management. Workflow applications can also streamline consumer-facing services, such as case management, complaint management, or loan origination. Customers can also incorporate AI agents directly into their workflows through the OutSystems AI Agent Builder capability.