Appian Reviews

• Process Designer - If properly used, the executable flow itself helps you understand the business flow.
• Call Web Service Smart Service - Web service integrations with other systems are super simple and fast to create, supported by low code menus.
• Write to Data Store Entity - Saving data in SQL databases is done easily using entities. Entities (CDTs in Appian terminology) define relationships and target schema tables via XSD files.
• SAIL interfaces - Writing code that creates forms requires coding skills in Appian SAIL, a proprietary language. The forms are mobile-ready and components can be reused in forms and reports.

Even though the company has made great improvements in online documentation, featuring rich material which includes case studies of real-life use cases, the material could definitely be better in quality and coverage of use cases.

Another point of improvement would be the SAIL forms. The built-in tool used to generate forms does not have debugging support (to view local variables as they change on live preview, and step-by-step valuation) which is a big drawback for form development. Moreover, the script language used to build SAIL forms does not support inheritance or lambda expressions (functions as arguments of other functions), which makes the code base more verbose.

Last but not least, I am missing a team collaboration solution. Only one person at a time can work on objects. This is not a big issue really, because, if you follow the Appian best practices, all objects are pieces that fit single-person workloads.

The platform is super stable in BPMS and rules execution. 

Issues can appear in the following ways, related to development and design choices:

1. The underlying database is facing locking or performance issues. The instability of the database is very quickly propagated in the flows and forms executions (Appian engines/application server) and the platform can become non-responsive, experience deteriorating performance, or create numerous exceptions in running processes.
2. If the platform is used for data-intensive tasks, especially in deep nesting of data manipulation rules, the performance can quickly be affected and may also lead to exceptions.
3. If you don't follow the Appian best practices, and your application is scaling up, then on pick times the performance will be bad or exceptions may occur. This situation can be avoided by identifying potential issues by running the health check diagnostic tool.

Scalability is very good, but there are limits imposed by the underlying hardware and the JVM's heap size. Notably, even with a configuration having multiple application servers, the Appian engines installation is always one. However, the capacity of the topologies is very high and will not be an issue for companies with up to 10 applications per installation and up to 4000 active users per day. Appian provides a sizing document and Professional Services to help with decisions on the subject.

Technical support is considered good, and various levels of support can be selected.

Prior to Appian, there was a Java-based BPMS solution, but Appian was valued for its low-code characteristics that lead to the fastest development cycles in the industry. It was also valued for the scalability, the flexibility on development, the level of support, and the increasing developer base.

Appian has two offerings for its customers, on-premise and Appian Cloud (PaaS). In the case of PaaS, setup is very minimal and straightforward. For the on-premise product, the initial setup is pretty straightforward in most cases but requires a level of systems expertise, especially if you are setting up a high-performance production machine.

After some initial use, tuning the database is advisable. For mission-critical applications, an initial round of stress testing may be a good idea for identifying potential bottlenecks in your applications. Setup can also be tricky if you try to migrate from very old installations which used a different topology. If this is your situation, you may need support from Appian Professional Services.

The alternative we evaluated was Pega BPM.

If licensing cost is not a problem, then Appian is definitely a go, either as a stand-alone platform or with the PaaS offering in the Appian Cloud. When it comes to speed of development, system integrations, BMPS workflows, and digitization of manual processes, Appian is possibly the best choice there is.

The initial setup was seamless. We didn't run into any hardships at all.

The solution's stability is pretty good.

While we haven't tried to scale yet, we see that there might be potential to do so in the future.

We've had some issues in regards to functionality.

We are currently facing some challenges regarding the potential of using more advanced instruction in order to compare items. We'd like to have more modules so that we can understand the solution a bit better.

I would like to see more complete university tools. For example, with UiPath, I have had a good experience related to a free course in order to provide some users some different levels of knowledge. This extra training helps users not only use the solution but to develop further within the tool.

We're currently working with the solution in order to build a report on its usability. The solution is quite new to us.

The stability was satisfactory. We did have some issues regarding the connectivity. For example, in the conference room, there is no connection anywhere. We sometimes lose connection even when we don't have problems with our network. It's very strange. We don't know why this happens.

We believe the scalability will be good. It has a good perspective in order to escalate the durations, however, unfortunately, we haven't been able to test the market to measure the potential for expansion.

We are in the testing phase, however, if we do decide to deploy the product, our plan is to scale from 20 to 300 users in the near future.

This is our first test regarding RPA. We don't have any other previous experience with other solutions.

We found the initial setup to be quite straightforward and very easy. It was not complex in any way. A company shouldn't have issues implementing it.

To completely deploy everything took about a week. It wasn't too long of a process.

We used consultants and our own IT department to handle the implementation.

The licensing will be on a monthly basis. We are estimating that cost to be around $2000 to maybe $3,000 per month. We don't foresee any costs above that.

We're just a customer and an end-user. We don't have a relationship with the company.

Currently, we are in the middle of a test pilot. We have about 20 users experimenting with the solution as we speak.

I would recommend the solution to others. However, I would advise them to measure the requirements associated with the complexity of implementation related to how much coding they need, how complex their interactions will be. These variables may be factors when choosing which tool to use.

I would rate the solution at an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the solution for office automation purposes.

The Sites features are very nice. We use it extensively.

We have Tempo reports and we enjoy that it has Tempo functionality. 

The interface is very good. Our clients really seem to like that.

The product has a very good mobile app.

Overall, the features of the product are very helpful.

It's a solution that doesn't really need a lot of coding, if at all. It's very drag-and-drop. That's what makes it so easy to use.

The product offers a lot of good integration capabilities.

We have clients that want to use Office 365, Microsoft Analytics, and Power Apps. Appian just isn't the same as using something specifically designed to cater to the Microsoft Suite.

The solution used to be a bit more difficult to use, but we've added Tempo and now everything is much easier. We can do things very quickly.

I've been using the solution for about 15 years or so. It's been well over a decade.

As a person that's more in development, I've never tested the stability or noted any weakness in its reliability.

I'm more on the development side of things and therefore haven't really been exposed to the scalability aspect of the solution. I don't know if it's possible or not.

Currently, we don't have much of a need for technical support. I personally have never been in touch with them. I can't speak to their knowledgeability or responsiveness.

I don't deal with the financial aspect of the solution. I'm not sure how much it costs or if it is expensive or affordable.

I want to migrate to Microsoft PowerApps. I'm actually looking for the feasibility of migrating the existing Appian objects into PowerApps.

We are Appian integration partners.

We have multiple clients using Appian, although some want to move over to Microsoft.

I would recommend the solution. It's quite easy to use, and the drag-and-drop functionality is great. For example, we have database records, and therefore we can easily pull the data from the database and connect and run the process. It's very easy when it's compared to previous versions. One thing to note, however, is that we do have a lot of memory. The memory has to be maintained and managed properly, otherwise, the system performance will come down.

I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten. There really is nothing like it on the market right now.

• Low code development: Code can be developed pretty quickly which leads to less turnaround time for automation of business processes.
• Ease of use: Any normal developer can pick up the development techniques pretty quickly.
• Regular updates: There are regular updates, as per market and as per client's requirements.
• Professional support: If you are stuck somewhere during the entire project lifecycle, the support team is ready anytime, so that timelines are met properly.

This product has helped in automating a lot of flows in a lot less time, which has actually reduced manual errors and enhanced quality assurance.

Architecture of product and scalabiility issues.

For three years, from version 7.8 to 17.2.

Not much, but sometimes very minor issues on tier 0, 1 applications.

Not much, but again if high usage is not anticipated while gathering the requirements, the tool becomes slow sometimes, which is not good for tier 0 applications.

10 out of 10.

No, I didn't use any.

It's straightforward, like any other normal tool installation or deployment.

I have no idea about this, as my senior management has been dealing with this.

Not before; but after I evaluated Pega.

It's good to implement this product for automation.

This solution is for process management, automation, insurance claim processing, those kinds of things. I'm the CTO and a reseller of this product. 

This is the most complete solution of its kind, dealing with BPM and RPA, AI, case management, and document processing. It's a complete platform which is what makes it so good.

I'd like to see business rules management included as part of the solution. 

I've been using this solution for a year. 

The solution is stable. 

The solution is scalable. 

Appian provides great technical support. 

The initial setup is very easy. 

The product offers flexible licensing options.

I recommend Appian because I've had experience with other solutions and I know this is the best. 

I rate this solution nine out of 10. 

We are currently using the latest version. We are a low-code platform. Using this product we can easily deploy a process. It will easily create a business process in the minimum time and the minimum effort. It's easy to manage the Business Process Management (BPM) tool. We are Appian partners.

I cannot see any drawback in this actually. It's a market leader in BPM tools right now, Appian. Its UI and performance are very nice.

In terms of interface, it's very good. In terms of infrastructure, it's amazing and already using multiple tools behind the scenes. It's a low-code platform, so it's very easy to implement.

It is very expensive. It is also not easy to learn. Training tutorials could be improved.

We have been using Appian for the last three years. We use it on the cloud and on-premise. We have over 100 users using this tool.

It is a stable product.

It's highly scalable and highly secure. We can also create distributed environments.

The support is great. So actually I'm working as an Appian system administrator. We provide support to our clients.

No, it's not that easy to install, it's a bit difficult to install. But it's a very powerful tool because this product it's a combination of multiple technologies. So that's why.  Implementation is easy in the front end, but when we install it, it's not that straightforward. It takes about 45 minutes to one hour to install. I implemented it myself.

I implemented Appian in-house.

There are two ways to buy the Appian. For the on-premises you have to buy the license; or on the cloud, you have to pay per user. It's an enterprise tool and can be used by enterprises only. So it's a very expensive tool.

If anyone has to work on a BPM, then it's the best tool, and it's currently the market leader in terms of BPM in our country. In the BPM category, I will rate 10 out of 10 for this product.

We use for this solution for organizing and distribution for supermarkets, for coordinating the disposition of expired goods in the supermarket.

It is also used internally, to structure the budget; also for task scheduling and tracking.

It has improved the organization by defining activity ownership. When we give ownership to the right user, processes go very fast. Before it wasn't very good. It was slow. Now, with this application, you can see the bottlenecks, where the business processes is slow. There is a lot of information from it. 

• I think the interface is a good feature because it's simple to use and you can quickly develop the users' interface. 
• The Application Designer is also very user friendly. 
• There are a lot of plug-ins that you can use and, for the most part, they are free.

Something they need to improve is, it is difficult to catch errors. When there's an administration error you can't catch the error, and it is there until the administrator addresses it. This is a problem because if you are the developer, you try to catch the error but you can't. The process will stop. There is a workaround but it would be pretty cool of you could catch the error before. 

Another limit is the reporting. The reporting is not as good as in similar products. They need to improve on that side.

They could also improve the dashboards.

No issues with stability.

We haven't encountered any issues because we use small processes. We have not had any problem with the amount of work or data it can handle.

Their technical support is good. There is a community which will, for the most part, answer problems. But if you have a big problem and you need support from Appian, they are a little slow, but they are good; they provide good answers.

We didn't have previous solution.

No it was not complicated. It was simple.

It's good value for the price.

I only saw demos of Pegasystems and IBM. We selected between Pega, IBM, and Appian. Appian was cheaper than the others when we saw these three solutions. As of now, I don't know about the pricing.

Be sure to use the product in the correct way and don't ask the product to make up for experience in BPM.

We used this solution for the digitalization of all our legal processes. It has very flexible adaptation and the ability to save and automate processes. In addition, it is easy to change the user interface and improve it, make reports, and obtain information copies.

The most valuable feature is trustability. The preparation, reports, information, and data model are also valuable.

The ability of the interface to load automatic data is not great.

We've used Appian in the last year.

It is a stable solution. 

It is a scalable solution, and we have about 30 to 40 people using it in our company.

I rate the technical support a ten out of ten. They are very good.

The setup was not difficult. It requires a technical profile, but it's a low-cost application.

I rate this solution a seven out of ten. I would recommend taking the tutorials and courses. There is a lot of material available to learn how to use and take maximum advantage of the application.