Item: Appian
Rating: 8
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Appian is currently being used to develop any new software services applications within my department. Currently, Appian development is happening in a few different departments, but as of now, not many. The applications developed using Appian address the need for updated forms collections. The previous methods are tedious and require a lot of uploads/downloads for the tasking to be completed. Using Appian has made it easier on the user when completing forms and seeing tasks through to the end. This includes the processes where more than one type of user is required to complete one step of the process and push it to the next step. There are some issues that I've encountered, but I believe that these issues come from our specific business rules and how we are using Appian. Furthermore, after having several meetings with Appian representatives, a lot of our requests for features are already in the process of being created and it's just a matter to time before they are available.

Pros and Cons

It's easy to get started with little development experience.
Changes are immediately visible.
The Appian Community website usually has quick responses to questions.

Better configuration management.
Better control over change management.
Error messages contain more specific errors.

Return on Investment

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.

Support Rating

I've had great experiences with support. Any and all questions have been answered and usually in a timely manner. Either from an Appian Professional or someone commenting in the Appian Community chats. There seems to be a lack of information, tutorials, how-to's out there unless specifically looking in the Appian Community. With that being said, if you ask within Appian, you will definitely get your answer.

Usability

There are many differences between using Appian and using other programming languages. Additionally, there are many trade offs that have to be made and that have to be accepted for using Appian. In some cases, you give up control of one small area, but in others, it may open settings that are unavailable to a developer when using other program languages.

Alternatives Considered

Appian is the only product I have used that is anything like low-code.

Key Insights

Do you think Appian delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Appian's feature set?

Did Appian live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Appian go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Appian again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Visual Studio IDE, Microsoft Visual Studio Code, NetBeans, Eclipse

Likelihood to Recommend

I believe it is well suited for the financial world, maybe even medical. I'm not completely convinced it is best for military yet. I would need more time in the coming years before giving that answer. I would also think that small businesses would benefit from using Appian, I'm just not sure they could afford the cost for something as simple as a basic website.

A developer's opinion.

Overall Satisfaction with Appian