Introduction
Reporting is a business cornerstone, providing the critical insights necessary for informed decision-making. While OutSystems offers a robust low-code platform for application development, its native reporting capabilities may sometimes fall short compared to dedicated reporting tools available in the market. This article delves into the challenges faced in OutSystems reporting and explores how Hubway Connect offers a comprehensive solution to empower organisations.
OutSystems Reporting Challenges
1. Development-Centric Reporting Capabilities
OutSystems excels in providing tools for apps development, but its out-of-the-box reporting capabilities are limited. Creating intricate reports can be resource-intensive, leading to delays and an overwhelmed development team. Crucial reports are often built pre-launch, stranding business users when new demands arise for in-depth analyses.
Gartner prepared a guide on what to look at when selecting a fit-for-purpose reporting tool: View the Gartner guide
The Hubway Approach: Bridging the Gap
Hubway Connect is a game-changer solution that empowers businesses to extract real-time data from OutSystems, MS SQL Server, and Oracle databases. This autonomy allows business users to create their own reports, reducing dependency on the development team. Leveraging popular analytics tools like PowerBI and Tableau, Hubway Connect streamlines processes, reduces costs, and provides real-time access to critical information.
“The biggest benefit of Hubway Connect is that it allows us to spend our development capacity on things that can help improve engagement and bring in revenue, rather than wasting that capacity to build reporting capabilities.” – Julie Leonard, VP Software Research and Development, Force Management
2. Customisation and Fast Response Times
As business applications evolve, the need for tailored reports grows exponentially. OutSystems, not being a dedicated reporting tool, lacks an interface for business users to swiftly customise their reports. This limitation hampers the ability to respond rapidly to market demands or access vital information promptly.
The Hubway Approach: On-Demand Customisation
Hubway Connect narrows this divide by acting as a conduit to make data accessible in reporting tools. Business users can now create visually appealing and highly tailored reports on demand, ensuring agility in responding to market dynamics.
3. Impact on User Experience in Running Applications
Dealing with large datasets within application-built reports can lead to performance issues, causing delays and disruptions to the user experience. This can significantly impact business operations.
The Hubway Approach: Optimising Performance
Hubway Connect addresses performance concerns by implementing mechanisms such as data retrieval optimisations and custom database handling logic. Load testing practices ensure system resilience, while API throttling and support for incremental/delta sync strategies prevent disruptions during data staging pipelines.
“I’ve had a great experience with Hubway Connect. It allows us to get all our entities from Outsystems into Power BI easily and without delay. And I love the new feature of being able to pick your max records. It’s very convenient.” – Platform Administrator, Hubway customer
4. Reports in Multiple Formats
Reports built within applications may offer limited export options, hindering the seamless sharing of critical information with stakeholders who do not have direct access to the applications.
The Hubway Approach: Simplifying Data Export
Hubway Connect simplifies the process of exporting data by seamlessly integrating with dedicated reporting tools. This integration enables sophisticated features for exporting data in multiple formats, ensuring effortless sharing and accessibility.
5. Limited Integration Capabilities
Reports built within applications may lack robust integration capabilities compared to dedicated reporting tools. Businesses increasingly need integrated data from multiple applications and databases to generate comprehensive reports.
The Hubway Approach: Extensive Integration Capabilities
Hubway Connect addresses this limitation by offering extensive integration capabilities. It facilitates smooth integration with third-party applications and multiple databases, allowing users to leverage their reporting solutions within the broader IT ecosystem.
“The good thing about Hubway Connect is that we can go beyond extracting the data we need for reports from our rent abatement application. We can access data from any of our OutSystems applications very quickly and without extra cost. So we are no longer limited in the data we can access and apply to the business.” – Digital Platform Manager, GPT
Conclusion: Empowering Businesses with Hubway Connect
Hubway Connect emerges as a powerful solution for businesses facing OutSystems reporting challenges. By leveraging analytics tools for reporting, IT teams can redirect their focus to application development, and business users can create sophisticated reports tailored to specific needs. This results in enhanced agility, visibility, cost savings, and the democratisation of data within the organisation. Hubway Connect is a key enabler, unlocking the full potential of OutSystems reporting capabilities.