Appian vs. IBM Robotic Process Automation

Appian works great for automating manual processes and integrating multiple systems through its toolset. It gives great flexibility for establishing rules for approvals, routings, escalations, and the like. Because of the low code toolset, it's very easy to deploy and make changes as needed as processes evolve and as the organization learns to utilize the system better. Minimal maintenance is required to support the applications build on the platform. Some of the automated testing integration with tools like Jenkins is limited so that may be an issue for some.

Incentivized

The availability of automation for both simple and complex tasks has enabled employees to concentrate on high-value activities, which can lead to increased productivity and streamline our internal processes with great efficiency in the final results and better outcomes for the company. By automating tasks, organizations can save on the costs associated with hiring new personnel and benefit from the improved flow of information that automation provides, resulting in positive outcomes.

Incentivized

• Allows at a glance workflow documentation which assists in the need we have for information readiation.
• Drag and drop interface for workflow development greatly speeds our apps time to market.
• Using the advanced features of Appian, we are able to create working sites in a fraction of the time it would take to do so using "traditional" development.

Incentivized

• IBM RPA can automate web applications by opening a browser, logging into the application, and performing tasks such as filling in forms, clicking buttons, and navigating through pages. This is particularly useful for tasks such as data entry, where the same data needs to be entered into multiple fields across multiple pages.
• IBM RPA can retrieve data from APIs and use that data to automate tasks. For example, in the case of opening a web application, IBM RPA can retrieve login credentials or other information from an API and use that information to automate the login process.
• IBM RPA is used to run a Chrome browser on an EC2 machine, open a client's web application, and fill in required forms using data from vendor APIs. This is an excellent use case for IBM RPA, as it involves interacting with a web application and using data from APIs to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks. IBM RPA can handle large volumes of data and transactions, making it an ideal solution for scaling automation across multiple systems and applications.

Incentivized

• Search issues when type ahead and database search are used in the same field.
• Buttons implementation where user is require[d] to click on the button description - if clicks on the button outside that text - button will not work.
• Problems with using certain off-the-shelf performance tools like WebLoad or Neoload. That is because of different dynamic variables being used internally in Appian - which these tools are unable to correlate. We are still investigating using other tools like Jmeter to overcome dynamic correlation problem for performance testing.

Incentivized

• Security and data privacy: IBM RPA may not have the strongest security features, which can leave sensitive data vulnerable to breaches or hacking.
• Scalability: IBM RPA may not scale well to accommodate larger businesses and more complex processes, which can lead to performance issues and increased costs.
• Customization: IBM RPA may not provide as much customization options as some users would like, making it difficult to tailor the software to specific business needs.

Incentivized

We recently renewed our license with Appian. We are convinced that its flexibility, relative ease of use, the support they provide, there mobile advancements and their general willingness and desire to see us succeed all contributed to our reason to renew our agreement with Appian

By implementing IBM Robotic Process Automation, we realized that they are digital robots with a great impact on our manual tasks, generating good automation capabilities that are beneficial to the entire company.

Incentivized

Appian is a low code environment, because of this, a very good visual interface is required. Appian is providing a feature-rich dashboard [that] we can use for building the dashboards and other interfaces. Appian also provides patches and releases to enhance these features. A developer can start off development just by going through a basic course from the Appian learning community.

Incentivized

IBM RPA is a very powerful tool, it has almost all the features that are necessary to build, implement and manage highly functional robots. The learning curve is very fast, so excellent skills are acquired. It is not necessary to have strong programming knowledge because its use is very easy. It is just drag and drop commands. By adding rules and logic, wonderful robots can be achieved.

Appian is one of the leading low code business automation platforms that support RPA, decision rules, case management, workflow automation, and machine learning all in a single bundle. But it is also harder to implement and replace the traditional business process.

Incentivized

IBM has done a great job with enablement for the product. There is documentation for use-cases, development videos for beginners, and a community forum that has proven useful for getting started with the application. Although the resources cannot solve every problem a developer comes across, they have been very beneficial to our technical team.

Incentivized

As analyst I participated in a developer boot camp. At times it was hard to keep up but most of the time it made sense. Trainer took the time to explain and slowed pace down to answer questions etc.

Incentivized

Very boring; hard to get through quickly, but rather effective in demonstrating the use of the platform.

Incentivized

It was really seamless. SaaS in the true definition of the word. We logged on and started using the product. Very easy.

Incentivized

I am main developer of the this implementation. I have faced many chanllenges in implementation as IBM RPA not provided direct commands to automate Excel. I enjoyed in finding solution and best approach for the implementation

Incentivized

Appian has enormously transformed and keeps on updating the product every quarter to meet the latest needs of the world with new innovations & technologies being integrated within the platform. What gives more pleasure than a product that keeps on continuous[ly] improv[ing]?

Incentivized

IBM RPA employ RPA bots that act on AI insights to complete tasks quickly. Automate use cases such as event management and business transactions for security purposes. Automate repetitive tasks without human intervention hence reduce human errors and save time. It's easy to build this bots just using hundreds of pre-built commands which we use to increase scalability and run multiple bots on the same virtual host.

Incentivized

• I believe it has negatively impacted our release dates. There may have been a misunderstanding as to the learning curve, even though it is "low code."
• The look and feel of the applications created using Appian have uniformity and it's easier to have "reuse" between applications.
• There is less developer control when it comes to features. I think this mainly has to do with the amount of plugins available. I would think there should be many more available plugins. But again, our use case is probably different than most others.

Incentivized

• IBM Robotic Process Automation has helped save on cost and time as it is able to automate tasks that are repetitive and routine tasks.
• IBM Robotic Process Automation has helped us increase productivity. This is because it is able to perform tasks with a high degree of accuracy and speed.
• It has enhanced compliance as it is able to automate compliance-related tasks. This has helped us improve our reputation.

Incentivized