Appian vs BizTalk Server comparison

Appian and Microsoft are both solutions in the Process Automation category. Appian is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.0. Appian holds a 7.7% mindshare in PA, compared to Microsoft’s 0.8% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Appian users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 84% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

Appian

Read 60 Appian reviews

5,051 Views
3,586 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

BizTalk Server

Read 13 BizTalk Server reviews

548 Views
276 Comparison Views

84% willing to recommend

Appian

BizTalk Server

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Appian and BizTalk Server compete in the enterprise application development and integration space. Appian appears to have the upper hand for enterprises that prioritize low-code rapid development and adaptability, while BizTalk Server is favored for robust integration capabilities.

Features: Appian supports complex business workflows with rapid app deployment and seamless integration across systems, significantly reducing development time. BizTalk Server offers extensive integration capabilities via various adapters and excels in XML transactions and complex orchestration.

Room for Improvement: Appian faces challenges in UI customization, handling complex integrations, and enhancing mobile and offline capabilities, as well as scaling. BizTalk Server's drawbacks include outdated architecture, limited cloud support, and dependency on an on-premises model, along with inadequate JSON handling.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Appian provides flexible deployment options, including public, private, and hybrid clouds, plus responsive customer service, though complex troubleshooting can be improved. BizTalk's deployment is mainly on-premises with average support and rigid system-specific solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Appian's high pricing is offset by its rapid deployment and flexible nature, leading to good ROI, despite a complex licensing model. BizTalk Server may be more costly than modern cloud solutions like Azure, and users express concerns over its cost-effectiveness and feature utilization.

To learn more, read our detailed Appian vs. BizTalk Server Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Appian vs. BizTalk Server

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Appian

Ranking in Process Automation

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (5th), Rapid Application Development Software (5th), Low-Code Development Platforms (4th), Process Mining (6th)

BizTalk Server

Ranking in Process Automation

16th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business-to-Business Middleware (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Appian is 7.7%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of BizTalk Server is 0.8%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Process Automation

Featured Reviews

Srimanta Pandit

Senior Consultant at Protiviti consulting

Flexible, improves operational efficiency, and reduces the time taken to complete processes

The solution’s turnaround time for development is better compared to other tools. The solution enables fast development. The traceability of the processor is good. There is much more governance and regulations on the processers. The tool reduces the time of the processes by 30% to 40%. The solution’s low-code aspect has greatly impacted the development and deployment speed. One of the major reasons we are using the product is that we can reuse the modules. The developers can reuse all the modules. It enables us to make subsequent developments in less time. The prebuilt modules can be deployed within two to three weeks. The tool is very flexible. Compared to other platforms, the Appian product team was agile in quickly customizing things for us.

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Srinidhi S

Software Engineer at Shell

For production environments, messages are easily stored within the MessageBox database and offers multiple deployment methods

Some room for improvement means... it's legacy. It's an on-premises system, requiring physical servers for deployment. This is different from Azure; you don't need any servers with Azure. If you have a subscription, you can do whatever you want. There are unit restrictions based on the environment (like non-production vs. production) in BizTalk. You need physical servers and databases. In Azure, those are not required – it's all in the cloud. Now, we have the option of integrating accounts and the On-Premises Data Gateway to connect on-premises BizTalk with Azure. But the trend is moving towards Azure. Not everyone wants a hybrid model. Companies are still going with hybrid scenarios, but they want both BizTalk and Azure. See, whatever you can do in BizTalk, you cannot do the same things the same way in Azure. One example is tracking. In BizTalk, especially for production environments, messages are easily stored within the MessageBox database. Support can assist in retrieving them directly. It's not as easy to track in Azure – everyone can potentially access it, and even reprocessing is different. Logic Apps have a preview mode. If a Logic App is stuck at a particular action, you can resubmit from there. Microsoft is still making improvements – I don't know when they'll have general availability for these features. However, tracking and message storage are more complex in Azure. We have to use Azure Blob storage for archiving, whereas in BizTalk, it's a built-in feature of the MessageBox DB. If you need to debug at any point, you can do so easily in BizTalk. This is one aspect influenced by the on-premises nature of BizTalk. Since everything is moving to the cloud, Microsoft will also end support for BizTalk Server 2030 – there won't be any further support. I don't think they'll release any new versions. 2020 was the last, and it's been four years. After the end of support, I think companies currently using BizTalk will move to Azure or another cloud-based integration technology.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"This is the most complete solution of its kind."

"It has very flexible adaptation and the ability to save and automate processes."

"There is a version coming out every six months with performance improvements."

"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."

"There is no need to worry about vulnerabilities in the system, because Appian built a secure system."

"The setup is easy."

"The most valuable features are the low coding and low code data."

"The technical support is excellent."

More Appian pros

"We can handle a large number of messages without any issues, ensuring that everything runs smoothly."

"The AS2 communication protocol is one of the most advanced processes."

"The most valuable feature is its reliability and stability. The first version of BizTalk was released in 2000, and many companies still use it. It was stable until 2013 when we had support."

"The most valuable feature of BizTalk Server is that it will turn XML into flexible transactions."

"Compared to the current solutions I use, like Azure Logic Apps and other cloud services, BizTalk was far better and more reliable."

"I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its integration with the banks. Its messaging and routing capabilities are good."

"Essentially, you can do whatever you like with these systems, and you do not have to take care about the scaling because if one server is overloaded, it just forwards the message to the next server, even if it were designated to a specific server. It weeds out the messages according to the load. If you want to scale it, you just add new servers."

More BizTalk Server pros

Cons

"The performance is pretty good, but the distortions need to be optimized in order for it to work well."

"It is difficult to set up the on-premise version."

"Appian could include other applications that we could reuse for other customers, CRM for example."

"If we could calculate the amount of data that will be realized, it would help us a lot."

"It would be nice if you could create your own customized apps when the business needed them."

"The graphical user interface could be easier to use. It should be simplified."

"The UI of Appian is more internal. Recently, there has been an addition of an external user portal for the customer-facing stuff. It's still coming out."

"The solution could improve by being more responsive when dealing with large quantities of data. Additionally, they can make the decision or rules engine better. It cannot handle too many rules or too many decisions at once."

More Appian cons

"BizTalk lacks native cloud support. BizTalk doesn't offer in-built support for cloud. We need to use third-party adapters to connect it to cloud services."

"BizTalk is in the past, Microsoft is not going to evolve it any further or add any new features."

"The product could be improved in monitoring, managing, and support functionalities."

"BizTalk Server is an outdated legacy system that does not support messaging."

"The product's deployment can be quicker"

"It's a complex product because you have many degrees of freedom to connect different parts together. Whether it's sensible or not, is up to you, but the machine does allow it. But because of the vast degrees of freedom, it's complex."

"It's an on-premises system, requiring physical servers for deployment. This is different from Azure; you don't need any servers with Azure. If you have a subscription, you can do whatever you want. There are unit restrictions based on the environment (like non-production vs. production) in BizTalk. You need physical servers and databases. In Azure, those are not required – it's all in the cloud."

"Updating things in BizTalk is a headache."

More BizTalk Server cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Product pricing compared to some of the earlier vendors, like IBM, CA, and Oracle, is quite well-priced. Although, we do feel that as we increase the number of users and the workload increases, we will have to spend more."

"It is fully managed, and I don't believe there are any additional expenses."

"It's good value for the price."

"The cost is a bit higher than other low-code competitors, OutSystems and Mendix. The price needs to be more competitive."

"It's an enterprise tool and can be used by enterprise only. So it's a very expensive tool."

"You can't really test the software properly without actually buying the license first."

"The tool is quite costly."

"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."

More Appian pricing and cost advice

"BizTalk Server is not freeware. There's a significant licensing cost involved. Be sure you will actually utilize its features fully."

"Based on the knowledge, it is relatively cheaper than Azure Identity Services and cloud services in general."

"The solution is expensive."

"The cost will depend on the client's requirements."

"BizTalk Server is cheap. I would rate its pricing a two out of five."

"It was not cheap, but it was affordable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

30%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which do you prefer - Appian or Camunda Platform?

Appian is fast when building simple to medium solutions. This solution offers simple drag-and-drop functionality with easy plug-and-play options. The initial setup was seamless and very easy to imp...

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Is Appian a suitable solution for beginners who have no additional preparation?

Appian is actually pretty big on educating its users, including with courses that reward you with certifications. There is a whole section on their company’s website where you can check out the edu...

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Is it easy to set up Appian or did you have to resort to professional help?

We had some issues when we were setting up Appian. It was quite surprising, since this is a low-code tool which, in its essence, means it is meant for business users and inexperienced beginners. So...

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What do you like most about BizTalk Server?

The tool's most valuable feature is its integration with the banks. Its messaging and routing capabilities are good.

See all answers

What needs improvement with BizTalk Server?

BizTalk is deployed on-premise. Deployment methodologies are vast in the cloud area. Whereas, if we want to update even a single thing on BizTalk, we need to take the DLL, put it in the system, and...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering BizTalk Server?

When I started my career with BizTalk, people told me the vendor would sunset BizTalk Server, but it didn't happen. Higher versions are still being released. The product will not face the sunset. A...

See all answers

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Compared 15% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Appian

February 2025

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Buyer's Guide

BizTalk Server

February 2025

Download BizTalk Server product report

Also Known As

Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS

No data available

Overview

Appian is a unified low-code platform and solution used by businesses to build enterprise applications and workflows. This product adapts to the needs of clients and the technologies they are already using to combine their data in a single workflow and maximize resources. The platform has four main components through which it transforms the work process for companies of various sizes. They are:

Complete automation: Through complete automation, companies are able to coordinate and manage employees, existing systems, bots, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) in a single workflow. The solution offers a way to centrally manage all third-party automation vendors as well.
Low-code applications: Appian offers the ability to build applications faster with visual development and low-code tools. All applications are ready-made to be suitable for mobile.
Low-code data: Appian lets companies source data from multiple types of sources, eliminating the need for data migration. Through no-code and low-code solutions and industry-standard connectors, the platform also eliminates the need for data silos.
Enterprise ready: The platform offers options for companies to scale their businesses to an enterprise level without complications.

Appian is utilized across a diverse set of industries, including automotive and manufacturing, energy and utilities, education, financial services, telecom and media, transportation, retail, insurance, healthcare, and life sciences. The most frequent use cases of Appian are customer journey, governance, risk and compliance, operational efficiency, supply chain, distributed order management, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management.

Appian Features

Appian has various features that allow users to create solutions for their businesses. These features can be separated into a few groups according to function, including automation, low-code application development, and integrations and data. Some of the most frequently used features of Appian include:

Robotic process automation (RPA): Users of Appian can assign software bots to perform rules-based tasks that need to be repeated over a set course of time. This can improve efficiency and performance within an organization while saving human resources.
Intelligent document processing: The tool offers a feature for quick and accurate extraction and structuring of data. This can reduce time and costs for organizations because it eliminates the need for outsourcing such services.
AI: Appian utilizes artificial intelligence to enhance applications, workflows, and automation. AI is also used to address complex processes and unique situations.
Business rules: Organizations can automate and simplify work processes while adhering to their operating procedures.
Application development: Appian provides a low-code development feature that allows users to deploy applications over ten times faster than through conventional approaches. This feature not only allows for quick application building, but also applications that run on multiple types of platforms, seamless data integration, and business scalability.
Integrations and data: Appian allows for data integration from a wide array of sources without the need for migration. This contributes to easy access to data across systems, real-time data insights, improved user experience, and accelerated development.

Appian Benefits

The benefits of using Appian include:

The solution ensures seamless organization growth, as it supports various UX patterns, common data schemes, and upgrades, used to facilitate application development on a bigger scale.
Appian can increase process speed and deliver applications considerably faster compared to conventional development.
The platform is easy to use and suitable for complete beginners to build applications and workflows.
Appian offers a variety of design tools that facilitate development and deployment.
Appian offers detailed real-time data insight which allows organizations to access relevant information about their processes as they are developing.
The solution offers clients the ability to move data between the cloud, on-premise, and hybrid configurations.
The platform is easy to optimize, which allows businesses to utilize it according to their personal needs.
Appian offers connectivity across web, mobile, email, voice, and chat, providing a multi-channel experience for companies and their clients.

Reviews from Real Users

A practice leader - digital process automation at a computer software company values Appian highly because the product is easy to develop, low-code, and has a good user interface.

Alan G., an advisory board member at Codecon VR, Appian offers a clear application life cycle, easy to learn documentation, and comes with a fundamentals course.

Appian

Connects systems both inside and across organizations, exchange data and orchestrate business processes across multiple systems.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee

Centrebet, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, QualCare, Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, DTEK, Allscripts, United BioSource, Hogg Robinson

Buyer's Guide

Appian vs. BizTalk Server

January 2025

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