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RAVIRANJAN - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at Telus Digital
Real User
Low-code with good reliability and good workflows
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is easy."
  • "There could be a scope of enhancement for capturing the variety of use cases."

What is our primary use case?

Our client, a telecom company, has use cases related to the telecom domain, and it's around workflow management kinds of use.

What is most valuable?

Their workflow, which can be easily built into a BPM, is one of the best features.

The development time for Appian is far less than high code languages, like .NET, Java, or some other languages. 

We delivered the first application within 12 weeks, and that was a really big project. If we went with some high code tools, definitely it should have taken more than 15 or 18 sprints, and every estimate, in that case, would be a two-week sprint. It took only around 40% of the typical development time.

The initial setup is easy.

It's very stable.

You can scale the product well.

What needs improvement?

We have a partnership with Appian. We have worked with Appian to deal with issues. They have already incorporated many things into their platform. One of the things we have discussed, which I can highlight, is related to Excel manipulations. They have incorporated their Excel manipulations so it's far better than the earlier version. Earlier, we had to go with a plugin for even a simple Excel or spreadsheet calculation. Now, they have included all those things in their own out-of-the-box functionality.

It's definitely a tool and does not require high code language. There could be a scope of enhancement for capturing the variety of use cases. One thing, for example, is Excel manipulation, which they now provide in their out of box functionality, however, that can still be improved. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable solution. It's reliable. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

Buyer's Guide
Appian
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about Appian. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have a good number of developers in our company. We have around 75 Appian developers, and overall, if we talk about the Appian's practice, it's around 100 people.

We are dealing with a couple of different Canadian clients.

It can scale quite well.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is helpful. Their SLA is very good. IIf your system, your cloud, is down, which normally does not happen, however, in some cases where, due to some heap memory or some other kind of things, they can assist. I just faced one or two instances in the last three years where their servers dropped due to the heap problem. They responded within their SLA, two hours, however, usually, they fix those types of things in 20 to 30 minutes.

How was the initial setup?

Usually, what we use, is Appian Cloud. That's provided (or set up) by Appian itself. If we talk about the Appian deployment from the lower environment to the upper environment, from the development perspective, and developer perspective, it's very quick. They have in-built DevOps, so it's a one-click deployment from the lower version to the upper version.

What about the implementation team?

Appian helps with the implementation setup.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'm nearer to the technical side, so I don't deal with the pricing. In general, it's not an expensive product. We can say it's an affordable product. I can't say it was expensive. It depends on what the usage is, however. If you are using Appian where it's not required, definitely you will feel like it's expensive, however, if you are using Appian on a fuller scale, then definitely you will not feel like it's an expensive product.

What other advice do I have?

We would recommend this product to others. 

From a low code BPM platform, I would rate the solution around nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer956700 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior account executive at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Reseller
Top 20
Enhanced process automation and helpful portal with good integration
Pros and Cons
  • "The valuable features include process automation, Appian Portal, and Appian RPA."
  • "From a reseller's point of view, subscription licensing could be improved to be more cost-effective, especially for new prospects and smaller investments."

What is our primary use case?

Appian is really helpful in automating different processes. Our clients use it for process automation and leveraging updated features like Appian Portal and Appian RPA. The main use case revolves around external application building in nature, making it comparable to other mobile app general interfaces, particularly those heavy in user interface and user exchange. Also, Appian Records integrates all systems, providing a consolidated view, dashboard, monitoring, and report.

How has it helped my organization?

Appian helps in consolidating systems within the client's network, correlating data points, and offering visual dashboards to get a real-time view of various factors. Clients can check the functional state of their current infrastructure and monitor it in real-time, which also relates to the financial side of operations with business reports and similar functionalities.

What is most valuable?

The valuable features include process automation, Appian Portal, and Appian RPA. Appian allows easy integration with other systems, offers a visual dashboard, provides real-time analytics, and is flexible to be used by non-technical users for automating simple process flows. Additionally, Appian's data fabric now helps in correlating data across various systems for consolidated monitoring.

What needs improvement?

From a reseller's point of view, subscription licensing could be improved to be more cost-effective, especially for new prospects and smaller investments. Appian has new subscription models, but they might not always be feasible for smaller customers. Competitive pricing on the external user side is good, but internal user pricing needs to be adjusted for better market reach.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Appian for nearly six years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of stability, Appian is quite reliable. I have not encountered any major downtime in customer environments. Their support team has been effective, making the solution stable overall.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Technical scalability is generally good, maybe an eight out of ten, however, some clients encounter issues due to high costs, affecting their ability to scale effectively.

How are customer service and support?

Customer service in the Philippines is rated around a seven due to response times and the lack of a direct support line.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is generally simple and well-supported by the platform's flexibility and ease of use. My technical colleagues find Appian easy to learn, though they need to continuously adapt to new features.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Appian is promising yet the cost can be a barrier. The subscription cost is higher compared to competitors, which can hinder potential market expansion, especially for new prospects.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

The main competitors for Appian are Pega and OutSystems. Appian is set apart by its RPA capabilities, though it is still catching up with the likes of UiPath.

What other advice do I have?

Appian is a promising platform with significant functionalities, but it would benefit from more cost-effective pricing for smaller clients. The technical support could also be improved, especially in providing direct and faster response options.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Reseller
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Appian
April 2025
Learn what your peers think about Appian. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2025.
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Imane Bousaad - PeerSpot reviewer
IA&RPA Engineer at Admiral
Real User
Reliable, innovative, and offers good documentation
Pros and Cons
  • "The setup is easy."
  • "It would be useful if they could create an academy or forum in the future to help active users answer questions they have about the solution."

What is our primary use case?

I've used it for analytics and automation. I use it for processes related to validation. It's for business process automation. It can be used for mail ticketing, validating products, invoicing, processing, order to cash, et cetera.

What is most valuable?

It helps with working with API projects. It helps me work with clients and helps with automation with UiPath. 

It's a popular solution with clients. 

The price is not that high. It's affordable.

The setup is easy.

It is stable.

The product is quite innovative. 

There is a lot of documentation available.

What needs improvement?

The solution could offer better features. We'd like to have more options for automation. We have more affordable UiPath automation features, which are lacking in Appian. It really needs to invest in automation more. 

It would be useful if they could create an academy or forum in the future to help active users answer questions they have about the solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable and reliable. It is innovative. The customers I have been working with choose Appian based on its innovation and reliability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are a variety of customers using the solution. We're a consultant group and have customers across many sectors. It's hard to quantify how many people are using it. 

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very helpful. I've also uncovered a lot of documentation that can help me. It would be ideal if they could create an Appian Academy or official forum to help people learn more about the solution and troubleshoot problems. 

How was the initial setup?

I did not have any issues with e Appian installation. 

The deployment of projects depends on the data I work with or the projects I deploy. A simple project will happen fast. A more complex project will take longer. Typically it takes a day or two. A more complex deployment may take a week.

I use orchestrators during the deployment. I simply need to develop a process in the studio first and then I need to activate the robot and connect it with the orchestrator. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I'm not sure about the licensing. It's not part of my direct scope. However, my understanding is the pricing is reasonable. 

What other advice do I have?

I am using the latest version of the solution. 

We have an on-premises deployment for right now. However, I'm open to trying the cloud deployment in the future. 

I provide the solution for my customers. I am an AI engineer. I provide a solution and find use cases for the customers. 

If people are interested in the solution, they should start by reading more about it and learning more about the offering. 

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer2099520 - PeerSpot reviewer
BPM Developer at a wholesaler/distributor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Lots of data types, easy customization, and simple to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "Technical support is helpful."
  • "There is no UI customization possible."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for approvals. 

What is most valuable?

The data types that we've built in Appian are very vast. We can customize the solution or point to predefined data sources. That makes it very unique.

The reusability is great. You can build it in one place and use it in many places. 

It is stable and reliable.

The solution can scale well.

Technical support is helpful.

It is easy to set up.

What needs improvement?

There is no UI customization possible. We'd like it to be more flexible for branding purposes. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for almost two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable. There sometimes is downtime during upgrades, however, it is reliable. I'd rate it eight out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. I'd rate it eight out of ten. 

We have about 500 users right now, and we expect to expand usage in the future. 

How are customer service and support?

We've had good support from the Appian team. They have a good support model and are easy to reach. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I'm not sure if there was another solution used previously.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. It's not overly complex. It's a cloud-based tool which makes it very light. There's not a lot of overhead.

We had basically a one-click deployment. The implementation is deployed via predefined screens. It makes it very simple.

There are also good import/export features that are helpful. 

Appian mostly manages the deployment, and one or two people are required to manage the overall platform once deployed. 

What about the implementation team?

We did not use any outside assistance. 

What was our ROI?

It does take time to get an ROI. Depending on the licensing type, chances are you will begin to see an ROI, especially for time to market.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't deal with licensing. I'm not sure of the exact cost. 

What other advice do I have?

I'm an end-user. 

We are using the latest version of the solution. 

While there are a lot of factors when it comes to choosing a solution like this, Appian is a very robust platform, and it does offer advanced use cases. If you are more into Microsoft, however, Power Apps may be a better option.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
CIO at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
Real User
A scalable solution with a valuable Workflow Engine feature
Pros and Cons
  • "Even with an on-premise implementation, the scalability is still high, so it is easy to scale up."
  • "Sometimes, clients expect us to implement ERP using Appian, which is very complicated. In such cases, I don't believe that Appian is a good tool for that."

What is our primary use case?

I am working in a software house, and we are using Appian to build a custom-made application while trying to fulfill our client's requirements.

How has it helped my organization?

I don't think we currently have any applications for our internal processes, which include a set of Oracle APEX products or applications, especially custom-made applications, which is something we need for ourselves. However, we have many use cases for our clients.

What is most valuable?

Workflow Engine is a valuable tool. Besides the resource kit, I believe both tools are very, very convenient for our clients.

What needs improvement?

I don't think I have anything to comment on the areas that need improvement in the solution, but I can refer back to my technical team. As the solution architect, I don't have hands-on experience with both products.

If you ask me about my thoughts on what is missing in Appian or my opinion on what I would want the vendor to add in the future, I would say that the product is in a state of perfection. However, we can't really guess what AI and big data models might sell us in the near future.

For how long have I used the solution?

I am currently using Appian and Oracle APEX, and I will soon start to use Appian Version 23.1. Also, our company has a partnership with Appian.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I won't be complaining near the client. Stability-wise, everything is okay.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is definitely a scalable tool. I would rate its scalability not less than eight and a half out of ten.

Even with an on-premise implementation, the scalability is still high, so it is easy to scale up.

How are customer service and support?

I don't have any experience with it personally, but our team that practices on Appian uses the technical support very frequently, maybe on a daily basis or so.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We have been using APEX in our organization for some time now, and I was checking the comparison between Oracle APEX and Appian on peerspot.com for an unbiased opinion. Presently, we are implementing both Oracle APEX and Appian almost equally for small to medium purposes. However, for enterprise needs, I think we will choose Appian.

How was the initial setup?

It depends on the functionality that we are using. For instance, having an LMS solution for our clients is a bit straightforward. Sometimes, clients expect us to implement ERP using Appian, which is very complicated. In such cases, I don't believe that Appian is a good tool for that.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

When it comes to pricing, it's definitely not affordable. However, it really depends on the requirements that you're seeking from the solution. If you're looking for an on-premises distribution, it can be a bit expensive. But this is usually the case with on-premises solutions. That's why we have a cloud solution available, which is more cost-effective.

Additionally, the cost is justified by the use cases, and Appian is a good solution overall.

In terms of hidden or extra costs for additional features beyond the standard license, I don't think we've had any exposure to such scenarios, except for the resource kit. From a technical standpoint, I'm not sure if it's paid for separately or included in the license cost. As you may be aware, we've partnered with Appian, so I believe we have an official case here.

What other advice do I have?

I suggest that those planning to use Appian take care of the practice lead because many resources claim to have solid and vertical knowledge of Appian. We are not sure why there is a risk of resources being unavailable during this trip. Additionally, we have a shortage of Appian resources, so finding a good practice lead could be a challenge. Overall, I rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
PeerSpot user
Somnath-Ghosh - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect and LowCode Practice Lead at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 20
Contains valuable features like Appian Process Mining, Appian Portals, and Appian RPA
Pros and Cons
  • "Recently, we added Appian Process Mining, Appian Portals, and now Appian RPA."
  • "One room for improvement is the ease of UI UX development, like in OutSystems and Mendix."

What is our primary use case?

Our customers are medium and enterprise companies.

What is most valuable?

Recently, we added Appian Process Mining, Appian Portals, and now Appian RPA.

What needs improvement?

There have been a lot of improvements, and Appian is now claiming to be a low-code platform with other market leaders, like OutSystems and Mendix.

One room for improvement is the ease of UI UX development, like in OutSystems and Mendix. I'd like to see Appian develop some kind of interface in their platform where the wireframes can be developed.

If Appian could have a partnership with leading platforms like Salesforce or Oracle, I think that would be beneficial for them.

I would also like to see Appian develop an interface to speed up development for business analysts. That sort of an interface is lagging in Appian right now.

For how long have I used the solution?

I'm a solution architect and have been dealing with Appian for 10 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Appian is stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support is very good. As a partner, we receive very good support from Appian.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have previously worked with IBM BPM, OutSystems, Mendix, Unqork, Quickbase, and Pega.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup was fine. It was user friendly. Appian has the Appian Cloud, so development is fairly easy on the cloud platform.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

With solutions like OutSystems and Mendix, you can implement headless commerce. For a B2C mobile app, Mendix is pretty good. For customers that have SAP, they have Mendix because it has been acquired by Siemens, and Siemens and SAP have a very good handshake. If they want to implement a low-code platform, they're going with Mendix.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 8 out of 10.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
AlanGulle - PeerSpot reviewer
Data SME at Sparta Global
Real User
Clear application life cycle, easy to learn documentation, and comes with a fundamentals course
Pros and Cons
  • "The application life cycle is very clear. I started learning it and giving some workshops to my team. Creating the users and the building is very structured. Documentation is nice and it's easy to learn."
  • "Something I would like to see improved is an SQL database connection."

What is our primary use case?

Normally, we are building platforms. At the moment, we are running 19 big projects, and we had never used Appian before. One of our customers is a big consulting company, and one of their customers wanted a project with Appian.

They don't have Appian developers, but we have a very good team. They reached out to us and they had some projects in 2022 with Appian, and they asked for our support. I gave my BAs and PMs an introductory level Appian course, and now some of the developers are doing the associate and lead developer part for Appian.

What is most valuable?

The application life cycle is very clear. I started learning it and giving some workshops to my team. Creating the users and the building is very structured. Documentation is nice and it's easy to learn.

There's a nice fundamentals course that I can ask my project managers to easily learn, while the other local, no-code platforms don't have that option.

What needs improvement?

The certification is pretty expensive, and it doesn't allow for a tailored UI. I'm a little bit disappointed with the exam. It's different from the preparation, training, and sample exam.

One of my lead developers failed to pass this morning. I'm a bit sad because it's $200. If I ask 10 of my developers to get a certificate, it's $2,000. It's a scaleup company, so we have more than 60 people at the moment, but I can't ask most of my developers to get the certificate.

From a developer point of view, I can't try this in the free version because you can't buy one or two subscriptions. You need to get the minimum package for premium, which is about one hundred seats.

From the first day, I wanted to see the capability of reaching other functions, Google Cloud services, and cognitive services. There is already an OCR, intelligent document that comes in the My Cloud and which Appian gave me as a sample. I can't build it because it uses the Google cognitive services as a backend, and this is the thing that we couldn't try. 

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

Something I would like to see improved is an SQL database connection.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Appian for over a month. We are still on the trial license instead of the full license.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I'm happy about the stability. It looks promising for me.

I can't predict how many developers it requires. It really depends on the type and size of the app and the capability of the developers.

We run a one-hour workshop from scratch. My developer can create the users' data, custom data types, a small UI, and a nice flow and read right from the databases easily. In one hour, he can complete as many tasks that normally take many days.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is a bit limited for the SQL databases because for some of my cognitive services, I'm using no SQL databases in the cloud. Appian doesn't support it. Appian only supports relational databases. There is no database for the unstructured data.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are building platforms, but normally we are fully in Azure and the whole platform is in Azure, but because some of our customers and potential customers want to use Appian, I'm preparing my team for such opportunities.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You can't really test the software properly without actually buying the license first. Certification is expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Appian is like a butter knife, not a Swiss Army knife. It will serve the business user's solution. It'll create a very good thing and the application is clear.

I really enjoy it because the PowerApps from Microsoft mature and are internally connected to other platforms inside Microsoft.

However, it doesn't explain the learning part very well non-technical people. There is a separation, but in the Appian fundamentals, this course is just for the BAs and the PMs. If they want to lead a project with Appian, this is the minimum standard that they need to know. At that point, it's easy for me to train project managers and business analysts. I think that's the advantage of Appian.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution 8 out of 10. 

My humble advice to someone who is looking to implement this solution is that they need to replicate. It's a so-called no-code platform, but it's not no-code because it has its own coding site. That's why they need to build one of their own solutions with Appian first to understand the how-to-dos first and become more confident. Luckily, the learning curve is not that steep.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2108058 - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Digital Solutions, Head of Appian Department, Digital Transformation Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Easy to deploy, stable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the low coding and low code data."
  • "The solution needs more features. For example, a way to connect to our viewing database, to record, and more interface and component design."

What is our primary use case?

The solution is used for automating software processes for creating internet sites for internal usage. The solution can also be used to make the process easier for external entities. Appian can be deployed on the cloud and on-premises.

How has it helped my organization?

The solution helps by providing an automated out-of-the-box process that helps us quickly publish applications within six weeks without requiring any customizations.

What is most valuable?

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

What needs improvement?

The solution needs more features. For example, a way to connect to our viewing database, to record, and more interface and component design.

The cost of the solution has room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for 20 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support for Appian was just expanded to support multiple regions.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I previously used APEX Oracle Application Express and OutSystems. From a local perspective between the two solutions, I prefer to go with OutSystems. Overall I prefer Appian because it has a VPN engine compared to OutSystems which is just a workflow engine.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. The average deployment takes around two days and requires around 30 percent of our developers.

What about the implementation team?

We complete the implementation for our customers.

What was our ROI?

In general, our customers are satisfied with the return on investment.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is high.

What other advice do I have?

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

We have multiple environments. We can move our application from one environment to another environment through a governance process and approval through the application manager.

The solution is easy to maintain and very configurable.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Appian Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Appian Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.