Appian vs Microsoft System Center Orchestrator comparison

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Appian Logo
6,748 views|4,507 comparisons
95% willing to recommend
Microsoft Logo
1,495 views|399 comparisons
33% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Appian and Microsoft System Center Orchestrator based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Process Automation solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Appian vs. Microsoft System Center Orchestrator Report (Updated: May 2024).
771,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The setup is easy.""This is the most complete solution of its kind.""It ​reduces development time in half making us more efficient.""Appian is easy to install and set up, and it does not come out with your audit. It has accessible process orchestration and process management. With Appian, the time to market is much faster.""Appian is a very low code platform. It's very easy to learn and use.""Appian's most valuable features are the quick time it takes to develop for the market. It's easy and faster than other BPM solutions.""The most valuable features are the low coding and low code data.""It has good integrations. We were looking for out-of-the-box integration with both on-prem and publicly accessible data sources. We needed integration with the cloud, OData, our REST API feed, and then on-prem passthrough to go to a SQL database or on-prem APIs through Azure local deployment, etc."

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"It can manage multiple servers and workstations from a single location.""Automation is the most valuable feature of the solution."

More Microsoft System Center Orchestrator Pros →

Cons
"Appian could be improved by making it a strict, no-code platform with free-built process packs.""Form creation and SAIL proprietary language still basically require programming. The claim a BA type can do everything is hogwash.""There are four areas I believe Appian could improve in. The first is a seamless contact center integration. Appian does not have a contact center feature. The second is advanced features in RPA. The third would be chatbot and email bot integration—while Appian comes with chatbot and email bot, it's not as mature as it should be, compared to the competition. The fourth area would be next best action, since there is not much of this sort of feature in Appian. These are all features which competitors' products have, and in a mature manner, whereas Appian lacks on these four areas. I see customers who are moving from Appian to Pega because these features are not in Appian.""There should be more flexibility for the developers to choose the look and feel of the UI. They should have a better ability to design their widgets and customize them with different colors, shapes, and sizes. That is a limitation that could be improved upon.""I would like to see more features for enterprises. They would also benefit from adding documentation and training on their site.""It is also not easy to learn. Training tutorials could be improved.""The reporting is not as good as in similar products. They could also improve the dashboards.""We would like to see more reduced latency. We would like to make sure that the scale-out factor will be much more as workloads come in."

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"The product's management aspect needs enhancement.""I find the Orchestrator UI to be problematic."

More Microsoft System Center Orchestrator Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "BPM done right is a huge value proposition for almost any company, and with Appian's low code rapid development model, the ROI can be huge, while the break-even point should be accelerated tremendously."
  • "It is expensive, but powerful. I would recommend comparing against cheaper licensing products and open source."
  • "Product pricing compared to some of the earlier vendors, like IBM, CA, and Oracle, is quite well-priced. Although, we do feel that as we increase the number of users and the workload increases, we will have to spend more."
  • "We will have to have a dialogue or negotiate a price for future use. To start with, it is a reasonable price. As we go ahead, we will have to make sure the costs are inline with our expectations as we grow our user base and workloads."
  • "It's good value for the price."
  • "I think that if somebody is really serious at looking at business value, then by all means, the product is well worth the value. You get representative business value for the price that you pay for the product, and for the implementation of the product."
  • "The cost depends on the number of users, although I recommend taking an unlimited license."
  • "The solution offers a monthly subscription model. That's what we use. I recall it being about $90 a month. They do have different tiers."
  • More Appian Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "I give the cost of the solution a five out of ten."
  • "We obtained a license that bundled Windows Server with System Center at no additional cost."
  • More Microsoft System Center Orchestrator Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Appian is fast when building simple to medium solutions. This solution offers simple drag-and-drop functionality with easy plug-and-play options. The initial setup was seamless and very easy to… more »
    Top Answer:Appian is actually pretty big on educating its users, including with courses that reward you with certifications. There is a whole section on their company’s website where you can check out the… more »
    Top Answer:We had some issues when we were setting up Appian. It was quite surprising, since this is a low-code tool which, in its essence, means it is meant for business users and inexperienced beginners. So… more »
    Top Answer:It can manage multiple servers and workstations from a single location.
    Top Answer:The platform was almost free of cost for us. We obtained a license that bundled Windows Server with System Center at no additional cost.
    Top Answer:The product's management aspect needs enhancement. It affects the visibility of powerful scripts that were previously accessible. Furthermore, the focus is shifting towards cloud-based features… more »
    Ranking
    3rd
    out of 66 in Process Automation
    Views
    6,748
    Comparisons
    4,507
    Reviews
    23
    Average Words per Review
    508
    Rating
    8.2
    21st
    out of 66 in Process Automation
    Views
    1,495
    Comparisons
    399
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    408
    Rating
    7.5
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
    MS System Center Orchestrator
    Learn More
    Overview

    Appian is a unified low-code platform and solution used by businesses to build enterprise applications and workflows. This product adapts to the needs of clients and the technologies they are already using to combine their data in a single workflow and maximize resources. The platform has four main components through which it transforms the work process for companies of various sizes. They are:

    • Complete automation: Through complete automation, companies are able to coordinate and manage employees, existing systems, bots, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) in a single workflow. The solution offers a way to centrally manage all third-party automation vendors as well.

    • Low-code applications: Appian offers the ability to build applications faster with visual development and low-code tools. All applications are ready-made to be suitable for mobile.

    • Low-code data: Appian lets companies source data from multiple types of sources, eliminating the need for data migration. Through no-code and low-code solutions and industry-standard connectors, the platform also eliminates the need for data silos.

    • Enterprise ready: The platform offers options for companies to scale their businesses to an enterprise level without complications.

    Appian is utilized across a diverse set of industries, including automotive and manufacturing, energy and utilities, education, financial services, telecom and media, transportation, retail, insurance, healthcare, and life sciences. The most frequent use cases of Appian are customer journey, governance, risk and compliance, operational efficiency, supply chain, distributed order management, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management.

    Appian Features

    Appian has various features that allow users to create solutions for their businesses. These features can be separated into a few groups according to function, including automation, low-code application development, and integrations and data. Some of the most frequently used features of Appian include:

    • Robotic process automation (RPA): Users of Appian can assign software bots to perform rules-based tasks that need to be repeated over a set course of time. This can improve efficiency and performance within an organization while saving human resources.

    • Intelligent document processing: The tool offers a feature for quick and accurate extraction and structuring of data. This can reduce time and costs for organizations because it eliminates the need for outsourcing such services.

    • AI: Appian utilizes artificial intelligence to enhance applications, workflows, and automation. AI is also used to address complex processes and unique situations.

    • Business rules: Organizations can automate and simplify work processes while adhering to their operating procedures.

    • Application development: Appian provides a low-code development feature that allows users to deploy applications over ten times faster than through conventional approaches. This feature not only allows for quick application building, but also applications that run on multiple types of platforms, seamless data integration, and business scalability.

    • Integrations and data: Appian allows for data integration from a wide array of sources without the need for migration. This contributes to easy access to data across systems, real-time data insights, improved user experience, and accelerated development.

    Appian Benefits

    The benefits of using Appian include:

    • The solution ensures seamless organization growth, as it supports various UX patterns, common data schemes, and upgrades, used to facilitate application development on a bigger scale.

    • Appian can increase process speed and deliver applications considerably faster compared to conventional development.

    • The platform is easy to use and suitable for complete beginners to build applications and workflows.

    • Appian offers a variety of design tools that facilitate development and deployment.

    • Appian offers detailed real-time data insight which allows organizations to access relevant information about their processes as they are developing.

    • The solution offers clients the ability to move data between the cloud, on-premise, and hybrid configurations.

    • The platform is easy to optimize, which allows businesses to utilize it according to their personal needs.

    • Appian offers connectivity across web, mobile, email, voice, and chat, providing a multi-channel experience for companies and their clients.

    Reviews from Real Users

    A practice leader - digital process automation at a computer software company values Appian highly because the product is easy to develop, low-code, and has a good user interface.

    Alan G., an advisory board member at Codecon VR, Appian offers a clear application life cycle, easy to learn documentation, and comes with a fundamentals course.

    As an IT administrator, you probably perform a lot of tasks and procedures to keep your computing environment healthy. You may have automated individual tasks, but typically, not the whole process. With System Center - Orchestrator you tie disparate tasks and procedures together using a graphical user interface Runbook Designer to create reliable, flexible, and efficient end-to-end solutions in your IT environment.

    Sample Customers
    Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee
    Information Not Available
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company33%
    Financial Services Firm30%
    University6%
    Healthcare Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization25%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Government10%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise61%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise31%
    Large Enterprise54%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise64%
    Buyer's Guide
    Appian vs. Microsoft System Center Orchestrator
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Appian vs. Microsoft System Center Orchestrator and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    771,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Appian is ranked 3rd in Process Automation with 58 reviews while Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is ranked 21st in Process Automation with 2 reviews. Appian is rated 8.4, while Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of Appian writes "Low resource consumption, easy setup, and stable". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft System Center Orchestrator writes "Automates tasks and manages multiple servers from a central location ". Appian is most compared with Microsoft Power Apps, OutSystems, Camunda, ServiceNow and Pega BPM, whereas Microsoft System Center Orchestrator is most compared with Camunda, Ivanti Automation, OpenText Operations Orchestration, ServiceNow Orchestration and BizTalk Server. See our Appian vs. Microsoft System Center Orchestrator report.

    See our list of best Process Automation vendors.

    We monitor all Process Automation reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.