Our customers are medium and enterprise companies.
Solution Architect and LowCode Practice Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Contains valuable features like Appian Process Mining, Appian Portals, and Appian RPA
Pros and Cons
- "Recently, we added Appian Process Mining, Appian Portals, and now Appian RPA."
- "One room for improvement is the ease of UI UX development, like in OutSystems and Mendix."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Recently, we added Appian Process Mining, Appian Portals, and now Appian RPA.
What needs improvement?
There have been a lot of improvements, and Appian is now claiming to be a low-code platform with other market leaders, like OutSystems and Mendix.
One room for improvement is the ease of UI UX development, like in OutSystems and Mendix. I'd like to see Appian develop some kind of interface in their platform where the wireframes can be developed.
If Appian could have a partnership with leading platforms like Salesforce or Oracle, I think that would be beneficial for them.
I would also like to see Appian develop an interface to speed up development for business analysts. That sort of an interface is lagging in Appian right now.
For how long have I used the solution?
I'm a solution architect and have been dealing with Appian for 10 years.
Buyer's Guide
Appian
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about Appian. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Appian is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is very good. As a partner, we receive very good support from Appian.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously worked with IBM BPM, OutSystems, Mendix, Unqork, Quickbase, and Pega.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was fine. It was user friendly. Appian has the Appian Cloud, so development is fairly easy on the cloud platform.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost is a bit higher than other low-code competitors, OutSystems and Mendix. The price needs to be more competitive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
With solutions like OutSystems and Mendix, you can implement headless commerce. For a B2C mobile app, Mendix is pretty good. For customers that have SAP, they have Mendix because it has been acquired by Siemens, and Siemens and SAP have a very good handshake. If they want to implement a low-code platform, they're going with Mendix.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution 8 out of 10.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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IT Senior General Manager at Abdul Latif Jameel
Workflow engines work extremely well to bridge the gaps of processes within our core systems
Pros and Cons
- "Good workflow engines that bridge the gaps of processes."
- "Lacks integration with other products."
What is our primary use case?
I work for the largest distributor of Toyota Lexus in the Middle East. My area is related to car motors. I'm an IT senior general manager and we are customers of Appian.
What is most valuable?
The workflow engines are a valuable feature. We use them to bridge the gaps of processes within our core systems that are either too difficult or too costly to develop within the core system. We bridge those gaps using Appian.
What needs improvement?
We'd like to see the employee experience improved, something we can integrate with SharePoint. Right now we're looking at the Power BI which belongs to Microsoft. It has a lot of good features for low-code no-code development kinds of things. I'd like to see the ability of the software itself to integrate with the core systems. It's a gap that Appian hasn't fulfilled.
I'd like to see integration with Microsoft products as an additional feature. Microsoft Team, or something like that. It's not there or if it is, it requires some work to enable easy integration with SharePoint.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for eight years.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability and stability of this solution are good.
How are customer service and technical support?
I'd say that the technical support is good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We visited the workflows that are provided within SharePoint but they did not fulfill the kind of things that we were looking for, or the problems that we were trying to solve at that point of time. We were planning to work on specific domains, specific areas, but you cannot make it work for complex things.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is not completely straightforward but not too complex either. The deployment itself wasn't too difficult, but this is something where features evolve and the things within it over time start moving. Adapting to any new feature while continuing to work is not simple. It makes things more complex. There are around 5,000 people using the product and we have five people dealing with maintenance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price should be lower. It's not too expensive but I believe the price could be better.
What other advice do I have?
The product needs to be supported by top management for it to work. This is one of the things that we faced at the very beginning. Second, from a technical point of view, you need to have a dedicated team taking care of this from a product management point of view, not necessarily from a technical point of view because that can be outsourced. I recommend not doing the development in-house, rather to outsource it with one or two partners and the corporate team. I recommend going for the full cloud-based solution architecture rather than having part of it inside and part of it outside. If there is no issue with data sharing then I would recommend going for a fully cloud-based solution. It gives an advantage and reduces a lot of management headaches.
I would rate this solution a nine out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Appian
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about Appian. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Business Analyst at a university with 10,001+ employees
It has greatly improved efficiency and effectiveness as well as making continuous improvement possible
Pros and Cons
- "It has created executable requirements and speeds up the SDLC process greatly."
- "Form creation and SAIL proprietary language still basically require programming. The claim a BA type can do everything is hogwash."
What is most valuable?
Being able to model requirements in BPMN 2.0, get agreement from business and IT, and then have Appian BPMN 2.0 compliant engine execute the diagram. This has created executable requirements and speeds up the SDLC process greatly.
How has it helped my organization?
- Transparency of process flows, including number of instances of the process in-flight
- Identification of bottlenecks,
- Average time to completion of tasks and process, etc.
The employee onboarding process went from a mass email saying who is arriving for their first day, and just hoping all the things necessary got set up: phone, computer, badge, desk, login accounts, role specific access and accounts, etc. The Appian platform took from a blind mass email to full transparency with reporting, and greatly improved efficiency and effectiveness, as well as making continuous improvement possible.
What needs improvement?
Form creation and SAIL proprietary language still basically require programming. The claim a BA type can do everything is hogwash. They should be honest and say a developer is needed for web service integrations, etc. and complex forms; and a BA type can do the rest - requirements, architecture (collaborating with architects), design, process model, testing, deployment, and support. That is incredible powerful, but to say a developer is never needed is a lie.
For how long have I used the solution?
Two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Very few.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How are customer service and technical support?
Poor. Very helpful at times and willing to go above and beyond, but very expensive, so overall poor.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Yes. IBM, Oracle, and Activiti open source. A different organization I was with selected Appian.
How was the initial setup?
Complex: Data strategy and authorization to push data to the cloud was a big hurdle. How organizational data is going to be pushed to Appian, updated by Appian, and pushed back to the organization with or without approval steps needs to be planned and executed strategically.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is expensive, but powerful. I would recommend comparing against cheaper licensing products and open source.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
No.
What other advice do I have?
Have 20% of a programmer as a resource, plan the round trip data integration, and get all approvals needed.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Software Architect at BABEL Group
Creating user interfaces is highly productive when these interfaces are integrated with the original database
Pros and Cons
- "The most productive aspect of Appian lies in its ability to develop interfaces, particularly user interfaces. Creating user interfaces is highly productive, when these interfaces are integrated with the original database. In such cases, using record types proves to be a very efficient method of handling data. The synergy between interfaces and record types enhances productivity."
What is our primary use case?
Appian is a platform that focuses on human-centric workflows around processes. It facilitates requests for policies or incidents involving groups of people. The application manages the workflow between individuals to negotiate and confirm these policies.
How has it helped my organization?
Appian is managed and upgraded regularly.
What is most valuable?
The most productive aspect of Appian lies in its ability to develop interfaces, particularly user interfaces. Creating user interfaces is highly productive when these interfaces are integrated with the original database. In such cases, using record types proves to be a very efficient method of handling data. The synergy between interfaces and record types enhances productivity.
What needs improvement?
The case management studio is still immature, but it looks very nice. However, the VPN should be improved. The case management system needs improvement, but it has some promising features. Appian has the commitment to continuous improvement. With each new release, they enhance the platform for all users.Currently, making changes requires too much backend development work. They're working on streamlining this process, particularly with VPN integration. As it stands, storing everything in memory doesn't effectively handle large datasets. Transitioning VPN processes to a more traditional database approach would greatly improve scalability and usability in real-world scenarios
When the sentences are too long, they become difficult to manage. The scalability is low, when they become complex. The integrations are fine. There are some minor errors and details, but it does a great job in explaining errors within Appian. Internally, there is much information to help you understand what's going on, but not always. Sometimes, it's difficult to know what's happening, but these instances are rare.
Architecturally, there is an issue with Appian that it tends to put all the applications in the same infrastructure. Big customers resort to having several installations of Appian to deploy different applications in different infrastructures. They face the problem of managing assignments. Appian should make it easy to deploy different applications in separate infrastructures. Additionally, there needs to be a way to unify them because without using VPN, users are left without a unified inbox. Applications can't use the VPN and have to resort to their own solutions to show users their work, leading to inconsistency. Since each application is different, it becomes crucial to have a centralized point where users can find their work. Even if the applications are split into different installations, there needs to be a single way for users to find all their work.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Appian for two to three years. We are the using V24 of the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution's stability is better.
I rate the solution’s stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is difficult to scale. 1,000-2,000 users are using this solution.
I rate the solution’s scalability a six out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used SoftEther VPN.
How was the initial setup?
I rate the initial setup a seven out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.
What about the implementation team?
The platform was set up by third party.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is expensive.
I rate the product’s pricing an eight out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Outsystems. Appian is much proactive to create solutions applications.
What other advice do I have?
The most frustrating aspect is its DPM offering. It fails to support VPN due to its limited scalability. You can only use the VPN for isolated cases. When attempting to apply it in a real-world scenario with multiple applications, it becomes unusable due to its lack of scalability. It boosts everything into memory.
It is very easy to develop interfaces and access data with Appian. The local code acts as a communicator. The interfaces function as record types, and the logic you program use special rules, which resemble a kind of functional language exclusive. This combination of user interfaces and record types, along with the special rules, is very productive. You typically need to write much less code compared to other platforms
Intergration is good.
I recommend the solution, One should evaluate the VPN needs very closely. Not everybody needs VPN, but those who do should take a closer look to avoid surprises. You can use VPN in Appian, but it's somewhat different from what you might expect.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Solutions Architect at Persistence System
The solution has a very strong workflow engine, but it needs to improve its UI capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of Appian are workflow management and the ease with which you can build the UI."
- "One of the areas that Appian is working on is to improve its UI capabilities and give more flexibility to the UI."
What is our primary use case?
We use Appian for the automation of processes. The solution is typically used to automate case management.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of Appian are workflow management and the ease with which you can build the UI.
What needs improvement?
One of the areas that Appian is working on is to improve its UI capabilities and give more flexibility to the UI.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with the solution for around seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Appian is a very stable solution. We've never faced any huge glitches or bugs with the solution.
I rate Appian ten out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Appian is a scalable solution. However, we have to be a bit cautious if large volumes of data are being exchanged and if there are any use cases to transform the data in between.
I rate Appian a six out of ten for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
Appian's technical support is pretty decent. The support team responds on time and sticks to their SLAs, which is good. Appian provides good support from an infrastructure and platform perspective.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What about the implementation team?
Appian's deployment is pretty good. To run your deployment processes, it has separate built-in utilities and tools to deploy packages across the environment. I work for a services company, and I have built applications for some of our clients leveraging Appian as a platform, which is used probably every day.
What other advice do I have?
I am using the latest version of Appian. Appian is deployed on Appian's own cloud in our organization.
Appian has a very strong workflow engine compared to other solutions like OutSystems and Mendix. I would definitely recommend Appian to someone who is looking for strong workflow and process capabilities. However, I recommend other platforms like OutSystems and Mendix to someone looking to build their own mobile app or looking for a lot more flexibility with respect to user experiences.
Appian is a pretty good tool. It's a low-code platform where you can start building your applications pretty fast. It has got really good workflow capabilities and a very good process engine. The solution has started integrating with cognitive services, RPA, and other services, which are probably at their initial stages, but the platform's roadmap is really good. Appian is definitely a platform to explore if you are considering a low-code platform to be part of your tech portfolio.
Overall, I rate Appian a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
Application Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reliable, allows for rapid deployment of solutions, and has excellent support
Pros and Cons
- "Technical support is quite responsive."
- "If that had more DevOps capabilities, it would be an excellent product."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution internally. It is for internal front ends for capturing transactions and then managing the workflows and sending them to back-end systems.
What is most valuable?
The rapid deployment of solutions is excellent.
It's cloud-based, and it was a smooth transition from the cloud to on-premises. We've really enjoyed the automatic updates. We never have to manually upgrade to the latest platform. It saves us some work. The cloud setup is simple.
The solution is very stable.
It can scale well.
Technical support is quite responsive.
What needs improvement?
We have a growing need for more DevOps for deploying branching strategies, and Appian is not great at that. If that had more DevOps capabilities, it would be an excellent product.
On-premises setup can take a while.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've used the solution for the last five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We've only had one 15-minute downtime incident that was related to an AWS hardware issue in their 1AZ. That wasn't Appian's fault. That was it. It's been pretty stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. I'd rate the solution's stability nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution can scale.
They've promised they will bring out Kubernetes, which we currently don't have. Right now, it vertically scales. There is no horizontal scaling yet.
So far, we've scaled from 4XL to 8XL without issue. I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.
We have 400 users on the solution right now.
We do plan to increase usage. The solution is mission-critical.
How are customer service and support?
Pi and P2 issues get responses within a couple of minutes. Support is very responsive.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did try to shoehorn Cibo into doing everything. We unbundled it into different domains.
How was the initial setup?
If you do the setup, there is a bit of a learning curve you have during the initial setup. On the cloud, the deployment is much easier. They spin it up for you and manage it for you. It's less work. For the on-premises deployment, I'd rate the ease of setup six out of ten. It took a few months to deploy. Cloud deployment, of course, is much easier since there really is nothing to do. We deployed over a weekend.
We deploy every month. It takes a couple of minutes to deploy the latest features.
We run a lean show and only have about five people dealing with the solution. There's an architect, two engineers, and a few QAs.
What about the implementation team?
We have an integrator helping us from India.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't deal with licensing. However, my understanding is that it's not the most expensive. It is moderate. I'd rate the pricing seven out of ten in terms of how expensive it is.
What other advice do I have?
We're a financial institution, and we're customers.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
I'd advise users to choose their implementation partner very carefully. Do the due diligence on the implementation partner for the best results.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Deputy Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Flexible, easy to set up, and simple to integrate with other applications
Pros and Cons
- "We appreciate the drag and drop functionality and the easy to access plug and play features."
- "The solution could use some more tutorials to help brand new users figure out how to use the product effectively."
What is our primary use case?
Our plan on using the solution will be to basically utilize it for business process management, and for case management as well. We want to use their local platform offering and some of their niche markets, to see how they can provide dynamic case management all in one place.
What is most valuable?
One of the features that we felt was valuable to us was the business case management and how seemingly easy it was to use.
The combination of business process management, dynamic case management over the local platform has vastly improved.
We appreciate the drag and drop functionality and the easy to access plug and play features.
They seem to be introducing a lot of automation into their product, which is exciting for us. They're apparently partnering up with different companies to offer robotic process automation in the future.
The initial setup is very easy.
You can easily integrate other applications into the product.
What needs improvement?
We're still researching the platform. I don't have a strong opinion on what might be missing. They seem to be constantly upgrading their products.
The solution could use some more tutorials to help brand new users figure out how to use the product effectively.
For how long have I used the solution?
We're not really using the solution so much as testing its capabilities and discovering its resources. We've been doing this now for about two months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution has been pretty stable. I haven't had any downtime whatsoever, or any disruptions or anything of that nature. There hasn't been any lag in service. It's been good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very agile. It's very easily expandable too. You're able to integrate different applications or different interfaces with this platform. It's actually quite flexible, I should say.
That said, at this point, we don't plan to increase usage. We're still learning about the product. We hope, in the future, if we take it on, we will be able to expand it.
How are customer service and technical support?
Due to the fact that we haven't had any issues yet, and we've been using the solution for a short amount of time, we haven't needed to contact technical support. If I need to in the future, I will. However, at this point, I can't speak to their level of service as I've never used them.
How was the initial setup?
We did not find the initial setup complex. Our engineers, who handled the implementation, found it to be quite straightforward.
The deployment process was fast. I can't recall the exact number of hours it took, however, it was not a drawn-out process.
Maintenence seems to be minimal, however it would be helpful if there was someone on staff to maintain it as needed.
What about the implementation team?
Our engineers handled the implementation. We were able to do everything in-house. We didn't need assistance from consultants or resellers.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution offers a monthly subscription model. That's what we use. I recall it being about $90 a month. They do have different tiers.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We're currently doing a case study on this specific solution. We didn't look at other solutions.
What other advice do I have?
We don't have a business relationship with Appian. We're just customers.
We're most likely using the latest version of the solution.
I would definitely recommend the solution and invite other companies to try it out. They even have the trial edition. That way, you can test the solution before having to purchase the application edition. If you decide to go forward, it is $90 per user per month. They have the enterprise edition as well which is a bit more.
The solution is that it's available on different devices as well, which makes it very flexible and easily adaptable to a lot of different environments, including Windows, Linux, Mac, and Android.
The product also caters to all sizes of companies, whether you are small or large.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technical Team Lead at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Stable, quick to deploy, and requires minimal coding
Pros and Cons
- "What I found most valuable in Appian is that it lets you drill down on multiple things through the structure of the reporting and UI side. It's also low-code, yet it results in quick deliverables."
- "Appian has a few areas for improvement, which my organization raised with the Appian team. One is the Excel output which is limited to fifty columns when it should be up to two hundred or three hundred columns."
What is our primary use case?
My organization only has a few use cases for Appian, but one of the use cases I'm working with is for a corporate real estate project.
How has it helped my organization?
Appian has benefited my organization because of its low-code feature, so my team only has to do minimal coding, resulting in quick deliverables.
What is most valuable?
What I found most valuable in Appian is its latest feature, which lets you drill down on multiple things through the structure of the reporting and UI side of the solution.
What needs improvement?
Appian has a few areas for improvement, which my organization raised with the Appian team. One is the Excel output which is limited to fifty columns when it should be up to two hundred or three hundred columns. Fixing this limitation will make the solution better.
What I want to see in the next release of Appian is on the interface side, where the current square-shaped buttons should be round. Having available buttons for the different functions of Appian will also help enrich the UI.
For how long have I used the solution?
I'd been using Appian for two years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Appian is a stable solution, so I'm giving it a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I experienced a few issues in Appian scalability, particularly in the data or records area, so it's an eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
I don't personally have experience contacting Appian technical support, but my peer used to get in touch with Appian, and from what I heard, the support team had been helpful.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
My organization only used Appian.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with the initial setup for Appian is nine out of ten.
Appian was quick to deploy. It took a very short time because my organization has the SaaS version.
What about the implementation team?
An in-house team deployed Appian in my organization.
What was our ROI?
There's ROI from Appian, but I cannot give data about it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
A different team handles the pricing side of Appian.
What other advice do I have?
I'm using Appian right now.
My organization uses the 22.3 and 22.4 versions of Appian in production and the sandbox environment.
In the organization, Appian is deployed on a SaaS environment.
Deploying the solution requires two people.
Appian is a good solution, so I'm giving it nine out of ten.
My organization is an Appian partner.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Updated: February 2025
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