What users are saying about
Top Rated
179 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8 out of 100
Based on 179 reviews and ratings
60 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 7.8 out of 100
Based on 60 reviews and ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Appian
I believe that Appian is very well-suited to provide an approval work-flow. For making requests where there is a specific hierarchy of approvals that must occur, it is great. For example, if an employee needs to make a capital request for a long term project, the number of approvals can be set based on the amount of the items/work that is to be capitalized. If the amount is < 10000, maybe only manager approval is required. If the amount is over 10,000, Department Budgetary approval is also required. Over 25,000, Finance approval is required. Over 100,000, executive approval is required. Appian makes it very easy to set these conditions and send out tasks based on them. Appian also Excels at reporting. Appian provides the tools to report on any of the data that is captured in the request. This data can be exported to Excel to be used for audits or data management. Data can be reported in a variety of ways grid format, generate a pdf, or with charts and graphs. I don't believe that Appian should be used to replace any cost accounting type of functions. There are enterprise systems, such as Oracle that do a better job with that. Appian's strength is providing workflows.
Principal Programmer
GDITDefense & Space, 10,001+ employees
WebSphere Application Server
Large scale apps, EJB applications, Enterprise suite apps are where WebSphere Application Server will be most suited. Apps which need large volume and complex memory management also opt for WebSphere Application Server over Jboss.Small scale web services and REST where highly scalable server is not needed, WebSphere Application Server falls back. Simple servers like Tomcat and Jboss take the edge for small apps.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employeesFeature Rating Comparison
Low-Code Development
Appian
8.2
WebSphere Application Server
—
Visual Modeling
Appian
7.6
WebSphere Application Server
—
Drag-and-drop Interfaces
Appian
8.2
WebSphere Application Server
—
Platform Security
Appian
9.3
WebSphere Application Server
—
Platform User Management
Appian
7.6
WebSphere Application Server
—
Reusability
Appian
7.9
WebSphere Application Server
—
Platform Scalability
Appian
8.6
WebSphere Application Server
—
Application Servers
Appian
—
WebSphere Application Server
8.4
IDE support
Appian
—
WebSphere Application Server
8.0
Security management
Appian
—
WebSphere Application Server
7.8
Administration and management
Appian
—
WebSphere Application Server
9.2
Application server performance
Appian
—
WebSphere Application Server
8.5
Installation
Appian
—
WebSphere Application Server
8.7
Open-source standards compliance
Appian
—
WebSphere Application Server
8.3
Pros
Appian
- I have observed after version 17.1 we have a lot of good features in Appian that improve usability (UX). This adds real value in this competitive Digital space.
- You can understand business use case and convert it to a logical process automation.
- Process Modeller has improved a lot and providing smart services use adds more value.
- Service integration helps us to seamlessly integrate with third-party systems
Solutions Architect
Fidelity InternationalInvestment Management, 5001-10,000 employees
WebSphere Application Server
- It works out of the box. Its basic functionality is all there and everything works with no adjustments.
- The functionality is there for fine tuning, to allow applications to be easier to access and quicker with some tweaks, but again, these aren't necessary for basic running.
Automation Developer (RPA and OCR Datacap)
Admiral Group plcFinancial Services, 5001-10,000 employees
Cons
Appian
- Advanced functionality requires use of the Appian expression language. The more advanced the logic, the harder it is to build with the expression language. This means development expertise is more relevant if you need advanced functionality, which I imagine applies almost all the time. I would much prefer if they allowed some common language such as JavaScript out of the box.
- Debugging has proved difficult. It’s easy for developers to get the app to or feature to a “working” state but it needs robust alpha testing.
- Deployment can be tricky. When a solution gets big and there are many teams and dependencies, it needs a careful process to ensure things don’t break.
- Reasuability of Appian objects is both a pro and con. Reusing objects across apps may be more trouble than its worth because of creating heavy dependencies. Experience is helpful to strike the right balance.

Verified User
Director in Research & Development
Pharmaceuticals Company, 10,001+ employeesWebSphere Application Server
- Ease of use in terms of deployment, give simple interface to do simple stuff like Tomcat, JBoss or GlassFish.
- Takes long time to start the server.
- The Liferay wars need to be decorated and then deployed. Perhaps we could simplify that.
- Some of the concepts are good for complexity that WAS can handle but could be simplified and better documented, like concepts of well and profile, context, etc.
- A Liferay war file created using Liferay Developer studio runs fine in Tomcat, however that may not run in WAS 7.x because it needs to be decorated. I had one war for a Liferay portlet with a simple cron job, and had hard time running to WAS server. It was running on the latest free download done on my friends m/c. Other times I have seen that there are issues running a war file that runs on Tomcat but runs on WAS after lot of customization for WAS.
- The corporations like this however, the product may need better vibrant community of users where issues can be discussed.
Consultant
WellPointHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 5001-10,000 employees
Likelihood to Renew
Appian
Appian 9.0
Based on 16 answers
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
Director, Strategic Process Project Management
Scripps NetworksBroadcast Media, 1001-5000 employees
WebSphere Application Server
WebSphere Application Server 7.5
Based on 2 answers
When you have a 99.9% uptime, what else can you say? It deserves a 10.
IT Manager - Application Technical Support
Everest ReinsuranceInsurance, 501-1000 employees
Usability
Appian
Appian 8.6
Based on 45 answers
Great platform for providing business process management. Fairly easy to learn tool (especially now that I have seen the evolution over 5 years). More difficult to master, but there is a great community that is always willing and able to help solve your problem.
Business Process Management Administrator/Designer
Scripps Networks InteractiveBroadcast Media, 1001-5000 employees
WebSphere Application Server
WebSphere Application Server 9.0
Based on 4 answers
WebSphere Application Server is used across our organization. Most projects use this for Java products and applications. Being robust and scalable makes it even more usable. We love using WebSphere Application Server due to its configuration management ability made simple and vast across all java related parameters. It is dependent on the features and upgrades and IBM releases some great upgrades to WebSphere Application Server.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employeesPerformance
Appian
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
WebSphere Application Server
WebSphere Application Server 8.0
Based on 1 answer
Deploys fairly quick enough and like the roll-out update feature decreasing the downtime and also plays well with other integration tools as well.
Senior Infrastructure Engineer
American AirlinesAirlines/Aviation, 10,001+ employees
Support Rating
Appian
Appian 8.1
Based on 123 answers
We have a mixture of onsite and offshore support by Appian and their partner Cognizant. Our stated support hours for the business are 9-5pm Mon-Fri. Cognizant being located in India provides us with coverage up to 9pm should anything happen that needs urgent attention. Appian Cloud Support are also there should we have any issues connecting to the application.
Business Analyst
Sydney AirportAirlines/Aviation, 201-500 employees
WebSphere Application Server
WebSphere Application Server 8.7
Based on 4 answers
IBM was quick to respond when we had an issue with our specific infrastructure. We raised a PMR, which they picked up quickly and updated us about every step of the way. We had an appropriate fix for quite a business critical issue within a fortnight, which was impressive!
Automation Developer (RPA and OCR Datacap)
Admiral Group plcFinancial Services, 5001-10,000 employees
In-Person Training
Appian
Appian 9.0
Based on 1 answer
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.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Financial Services Company, 10,001+ employeesWebSphere Application Server
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Appian
Appian 10.0
Based on 1 answer
Really great training platform. Very visual and easy to use.

Verified User
Analyst in Information Technology
Financial Services Company, 10,001+ employeesWebSphere Application Server
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Appian
Appian 9.0
Based on 8 answers
It was really seamless. SaaS in the true definition of the word. We logged on and started using the product. Very easy.
Development Team Lead for BPM, Integration and Special Project Teams
University of WollongongHigher Education, 1001-5000 employees
WebSphere Application Server
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Appian
The main advantage of Appian is the cost structure that is more suitable for starting a test-project to see how develop in Appian and most of all how Appian is accepted inside the company. In few weeks you can show the first results and start the journey on digitalization.

Verified User
Project Manager in Other
Banking Company, 201-500 employeesWebSphere Application Server
WAS is an IBM product and gels with IBM database product. So, we have decided to go with IBM WAS. WAS supports more data sources than Oracle web logic. So, ideally it can be used with multiple databases.
DB2 Advanced DBA for Linux Unix Windows
IBM India Pvt LtdInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees
Return on Investment
Appian
- Our objective to reduce customer effort when dealing with government by 25% was exceeded. In the process of applying for an alcohol licence renewal alone, we saw approximately 80% reduction in time and effort for the business customer - and that was just a prototype! Imagine the possibilities when this is taken into a live environment!
Contract Senior Business Analyst
Department of Internal Affairs (NZ)Government Administration, 1001-5000 employees
WebSphere Application Server
- Websphere Application Server maintain high availability of web applications.
- It's highly scalable and we can configure the servers in production environment with ease.
- With very less concerns Websphere Application Server provides full Customer satisfaction.
- Easy integration with other components and widely used in web deployments and central integrated console for all the application is available.

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Information Technology and Services Company, 10,001+ employeesScreenshots
WebSphere Application Server
—Pricing Details
Appian
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Entry-level set up fee?
No
Appian Editions & Modules
Edition
Free | $0 |
---|---|
Standard | 60.002 |
Flat Fee | Contact Sales3 |
Enterprise | Contact Sales4 |
- per user per month
- one fixed price per app, unlimited users
- unlimited number of apps, priced by user
Additional Pricing Details
—WebSphere Application Server
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
WebSphere Application Server Editions & Modules
Edition
Application Server | $88.501 |
---|
- Per Month