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reviewer956700 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior account executive at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
Top 20
Heavy on business processing in terms of logic, process workflows, and primarily on the process design modeler
Pros and Cons
  • "It's heavy on business processing in terms of logic, process workflows, and primarily on the process design modeler. Appian is really great at that. In terms of the full stack set from a low-code platform perspective, it's definitely an eye opener since it can be deployed via mobile app and on the web as well."
  • "What could be improved is more on the front end perspective, like the user interface and the mobile application aspect."

What is our primary use case?

For a majority of Appian use cases, it's more about business process workflow. Primarily, the ones that have high logic on the coding perspective and more on the backend processing. We deploy Appian in that particular setup.

We are using version 21 of Appian. For a majority of our customers, the solution is deployed on cloud.

What is most valuable?

It's heavy on business processing in terms of logic, process workflows, and primarily on the process design modeler. Appian is really great at that. In terms of the full stack set from a low-code platform perspective, it's definitely an eye opener since it can be deployed via mobile app and on the web as well.

What needs improvement?

What could be improved is more on the front end perspective, like the user interface and the mobile application aspect. It could be tweaked to make it more sexy or more appealing from business to consumer.

Appian has a good lineup of features already. Upfront, I believe there is also RPA intelligent document processing. We need to fully maximize those features with our customers, like how they can be focusing on the artificial intelligence or machine learning perspective, and the detailed or more advanced intelligent document processing. I believe right now they can only cater to PDF files, so maybe in the future other types of files can be processed.

For how long have I used the solution?

I am currently using Appian. We are a reseller of the solution.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Appian is stable as long as the design is properly worked on or the architectural design is based on the best practice. I think the best practices are being cascaded to us as a partner and with our clients as well.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability and flexibility, it could be a mix of things. It's flexible in the sense that it can be upgraded or scaled initially or in a fast manner. But if it can be done abruptly, maybe due to processing or maybe even involvement internally, that would be some sort of cause for delay. So it's not fully scalable per se, but what is being offered by Appian is quite flexible enough to cater to the needs of our end users or customers.

How are customer service and support?

I believe technical support offers a premier support perspective. It's on a global setting, but maybe we can have a different setting for the Philippines. That's the angle we are looking into to work with our partner.

Overall, it's good. They are providing 24/7 support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Appian is the first low-code platform that I've handled. I came from a hardware background.

How was the initial setup?

It's quite easy and fast specifically for a new client to onboard an Appian solution or Appian platform. It would be more like quick provisioning, primarily for all the environments involved. Appian is actually providing services also with the cloud set up.

Deployment depends on the complexity of the application. One or two people could deploy Appian given the circumstances of the full visibility or full awareness.

What was our ROI?

There's definitely an ROI on the usage of Appian. In terms of digital transformation, it could be people, processes, and technology. If it goes hand in hand, the client or the customer will be achieving their vision, goals, and objectives. We have clients that have that particular vision in mind, and they're actually in their ROI setting as well.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 9 out of 10. 

For someone who is looking to implement Appian, my advice is definitely don't think twice. I mean, if you need automation, definitely there's a solution that would cater to their needs. As long as they know what they want or what they need to digitize, Appian would be there to support the transformation that their corporation or their company would be needing in the future. My advice is don't be scared of the changes and be open to the digital shift.

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.
PeerSpot user
it_user633939 - PeerSpot reviewer
 IT senior consultant
Consultant
Defines activity ownership, streamlining productivity; we can also see process bottlenecks
Pros and Cons
  • "The Application Designer is very user friendly. There are also lot of plug-ins that you can use and, for the most part, they are free."
  • "The reporting is not as good as in similar products. They could also improve the dashboards."

What is our primary use case?

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.

How has it helped my organization?

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. 

What is most valuable?

  • 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.

What needs improvement?

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.

For how long have I used the solution?

One to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

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.

How are customer service and technical support?

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.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't have previous solution.

How was the initial setup?

No it was not complicated. It was simple.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's good value for the price.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

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.

What other advice do I have?

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

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Appian
February 2025
Learn what your peers think about Appian. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
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PeerSpot user
Digital Transformation Architect/Consultant at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Consultant
BPM done right is a huge value proposition for almost any company, and with Appian's low code rapid development model, the ROI can be huge.
Pros and Cons
  • "Rapid development with low-code makes it easier to quickly get apps implemented and the time to break-even and ROI is much faster."
  • "The biggest areas of improvement would be in facilitating team development, DevOps, and integration with typical tools used in enterprise development (Jenkins, Subversion, etc.)"

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of Appian are:

  1. Rapid development with low-code makes it easier to quickly get apps implemented and the time to break-even and ROI is much faster.
  2. Easy to build case management, with Records and Related Actions facilitates case or document-based applications instead of, or along with, process-based applications, opening up whole new types of applications for Appian development.
  3. Built from the ground up with a cohesive architecture to be the leading social, collaborative, most usable BPM platform. This makes the product feel integrated and intuitive to use, rather than having to seemingly (or actually, in the case of some competitors) go to a separate product to do certain things. In the end, it shortens implementation time and opens up the product to less technical designers because it's easy to use.

How has it helped my organization?

Most notably, it allows us to quickly automate processes and case management work, often cutting the manual time required in half or more. End to end time is also noticeably improved, as is the user experience of the people using the new applications.

What needs improvement?

The biggest areas of improvement would be in facilitating team development, DevOps, and integration with typical tools used in enterprise development (Jenkins, Subversion, etc.)

For how long have I used the solution?

More than four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability problems are usually only experienced when architecture and development are done by people who don't know the tool and its best practices very well.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability problems are usually only experienced when architecture and development are done by people who don't know the tool and its best practices very well.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is usually pretty good for the easier problems.

Really complex issues tend to take too long to resolve, but many times that's only because there isn't the experienced person to take it from providing information to actually closing out the fix. If a problem results in a development fix, that is typically pretty quick, too.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I personally used Lombardi and IBM BPM prior to Appian.

The main reasons for switching were:

  1. Too many off-shore consultants taking all the consulting work, developing shoddy apps while driving down the rates, and generally giving BPM and the product a bad name.
  2. IBM steadily providing release after release that introduced more bugs and making the tool itself less usable.
  3. Appian was clearly becoming the better product and their market share was on the hockey stick slope up, whereas IBM's was falling quickly.

How was the initial setup?

I don't typically get involved in the server setup, but my understanding is that it's relatively easy, especially compared to IBM's.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'd advise to not just look at the cost, but the overall value of BPM and of Appian specifically.

BPM done right is a huge value proposition for almost any company, and with Appian's low code rapid development model, the ROI can be huge, while the break-even point should be accelerated tremendously.

This assumes that you use qualified and knowledgeable resources to do the work, and they don't come cheap either, but in the end, they are less expensive and provide more value than cheaper resources who are not qualified.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

See above regarding Lombardi/IBM BPM. They are the other market leader, but while Appian is trending upwards, IBM is on its way down.

What other advice do I have?

See above under the pricing/licensing advice, but I can't emphasize enough to make sure you get quality resources who really know the product well. They will understand how to best use Appian to drive the huge ROI that should come from a successful implementation. I also recommend that all technical resources, from the Architect/Team Lead down to the most junior, have a business focus along with their technical knowledge. Only by understanding how the business wants to use the technology can they make good on the promise of BPM and Appian

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user
reviewer947244 - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at a insurance company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reseller
The most complete platform of its kind, great for case management and document processing
Pros and Cons
  • "This is the most complete solution of its kind."
  • "Lacks business rules management as part of the solution."

What is our primary use case?

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

What is most valuable?

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.

What needs improvement?

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

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for a year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. 

How are customer service and support?

Appian provides great technical support. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very easy. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The product offers flexible licensing options.

What other advice do I have?

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. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: reseller
PeerSpot user
Net Appian Developer at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Faster development time with more robustness when compared to traditional coding
Pros and Cons
  • "The process models provide self-documenting systems."
  • "My only request is that they decrease the license costs."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for the integration of systems and data in our organization.

How has it helped my organization?

Development time is much faster than traditional coding solutions, and it is more robust.

What is most valuable?

The Cloud offering is a nice feature.

The process models provide self-documenting systems.

What needs improvement?

They are continuously improving the platform. Three months ago I would have suggested they make smart service creation easier (using their API to create components), but they have done that.

My only request is that they decrease the license costs.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for one year.

What other advice do I have?

This is a great product.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1242408 - PeerSpot reviewer
Advisor in Business Transformation Programs at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Flexible adaptation, stable and trusted solution
Pros and Cons
  • "It has very flexible adaptation and the ability to save and automate processes."
  • "The ability of the interface to load automatic data is not great."

What is our primary use case?

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.

What is most valuable?

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

What needs improvement?

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

For how long have I used the solution?

We've used Appian in the last year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

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

How are customer service and support?

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

How was the initial setup?

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

What other advice do I have?

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.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1431837 - PeerSpot reviewer
Enterprise Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Great business automation in an easy-to-set-up solution
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is business automation."
  • "Appian could improve their customer-facing initiatives."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use Appian for business process automation and robotic process automation initiatives.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is business automation.

What needs improvement?

Appian could improve their customer-facing initiatives.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using this solution for about three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Appian is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Appian has good support.

How was the initial setup?

Appian is easy to set up.

What other advice do I have?

I would give Appian a rating of eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Tech Consultant at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
Best user-focused Business Process Management and Automation

Valuable Features

Robust forms builder that allows a developer to build once and the deploy to all browser & native iOS and Android apps automatically.

Room for Improvement

The UI of the application has been completely overhauled within the past couple years, but the tools for developing the new interface have not yet been updated.

Use of Solution

4 years

Customer Service and Technical Support

Customer Service:

Excellent. Smaller companies like Appian tend to value customer service as a competitive advantage.

Technical Support:

Excellent.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: I previously worked for the vendor and now perform Appian consulting services independently.
PeerSpot user
Mario Treviño Salazar - PeerSpot reviewer
Mario Treviño SalazarSolution Architect for New Products and Services at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Top 20LeaderboardReal User

I received a demo from the supplier and I was surprised because the supplier was able to make a small demo in about 30 minutes and the demo worked in a web browser from a computer and also in a Smartphone (the same demo worked for the two interfaces).

Buyer's Guide
Download our free Appian Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: February 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Appian Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.