How do you integrate low-code platforms such as Mendix and OutSystems into your organization?

According to Gartner, the adoption of low-code platforms is growing by 20 percent each year. It is therefore no surprise that most organizations already use a platform such as Mendix or OutSystems in some form. However, there is more to it than simply purchasing a license. How do you integrate your low-code platform with the rest of your systems? In this blog, we explain how to approach this.

When should you use low code?

Low-code platforms are often chosen because of the flexibility and speed they offer. You can build an application in just a few hours with minimal coding. Low code is ideal for launching innovative ideas and for the proof-of-concept phase of a business application. It allows you to develop, test, and iterate quickly.

That said, low code does come at a price. Many platforms charge significant fees per user. Once your business application reaches a stable phase, it may become financially attractive to rebuild the application in traditional code and move away from the low-code platform.

Do not build integrations from your low-code platform

When you want to connect your low-code application to other systems within your organization, it may seem logical to handle those integrations directly within the low-code platform. Simple integrations are easy to set up, and even more complex ones are technically possible.

However, low code is designed for building applications with minimal coding. It is not intended to serve as an integration platform or to support extensive custom code. If you go down that route, you lose the main advantage of low code and end up writing traditional code at a higher cost. In doing so, you reduce the business value of low code, which lies in fast and flexible development with minimal coding.

So how should you integrate low code properly?

Because there is a strong possibility that your application will eventually be rebuilt in traditional code, it is not wise to place everything inside the low-code platform. Doing so creates a monolithic setup that is difficult to separate later.

A better approach is to build your integrations using an external integration platform or custom code outside the low-code environment. This way, when you phase out the low-code platform, you only need to focus on replacing the business application itself rather than untangling all the integrations that were built into it.