Item: Appian
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Appian has been selected as an enterprise standard for workflow for my company. I specifically represent the side of our company that provides services to our clients and more specifically our contact center. We are using Appian together with other contact center technologies to process client service requests received by mail, fax, and web. Appian is the component we are using to orchestrate our processes and to support automation where possible and to engage our associates when automation is not possible.

We made the selection of Appian in order to meet two primary objectives, one to replace older expensive technologies that no longer satisfied our objectives and to implement new processes to provide improved processing efficiencies for our associates and clients.

Pros and Cons

Rapid development of working code
Process orchestration
Integration with external systems

Support for code deployment (continuous delivery/continuous deployment)
Support for complex user interface behaviors
Better support for code development when required

Return on Investment

Appian has allowed us to evolve and to automate processes we could not have accomplished before.
Appian has allowed us to see our processes in a different way and has opened pathways to engage our associates more effectively. We can now define processes that make sense versus defining processes to fit our technology.
For our company working at high volumes of work, seconds matter on each transaction. With Appian, we are able to able to save minutes.

Support Rating

Our account management support during the selection, implementation, and post-implementation has been great. As we have encountered challenges, Appian has been willing to bring the right individuals to the table to work through the issues. This has been across the board from wanting to discuss and understand our licensing and business terms, to engineering and architectural questions we have had, and to the ongoing support and operation of our instances in Appian's cloud.

I am very pleased that our engagements with them are on our terms and not just another opportunity to up-sell.

Usability

Appian is a low code platform and with a minimal amount of training, you can build basic straightforward applications rapidly. However, low code does not mean that your business problems are low code. For example, the more complex your problems to more complex to process, integration, and data management requirement will be. This will require more time and effort upfront to get your solution right. Appian can offer multiple simple ways to solve a problem abut some ways are much better than others in the long run and bigger picture. Overall Appian is easy to use but care and forethought should be used in advance.

Alternatives Considered

We have used AWD from SS&C and compared Appian to other work flow solutions like Pega and open source solutions like Camunda. We viewed Appian is a best in class workflow solution nearly equal to solutions like Pega but far easier to use and implement. Appian offers a pure cloud hosting which makes it easier to deploy, operate, and scale than other pure software solutions like Camunda. Overall Appian was the sweet spot of highly capable and easy to manage and support.

Other Software Used

Genesys PureEngage

Likelihood to Recommend

Appian is well suited for scenarios that are significantly process-driven. For example, if you are conducting a process that requires integration between multiple systems and engagement of users throughout. Appian provides strong, flexible, and easy to develop capabilities to define and execute a wide range of processing of data and documents.

Appian is also suited for small to medium applications suitable for a business unit and business capability.

Appian is our enabler of Automation

Overall Satisfaction with Appian