An Intellyx Brain Candy Update
Since we last wrote for Appian in April 2019, the vendor has made its first two acquisitions: RPA vendor Novayre Solutions in January 2020 and process mining vendor Lana Labs in August 2021.
Given Appian already plays a leadership role in the low-code, BPM, and process automation markets, the addition of RPA and process mining makes the vendor look a lot like it’s trying to join Gartner’s hyperautomation category.
Hyperautomation, however, isn’t really a market category at all – it’s more of a Frankenstein’s Monster combination of all the categories Appian now plays in, plus digital process automation and rules engines (which Appian arguably competes in as well).
We interviewed Matt Calkins, CEO of Appian, to get his take on whether Appian is positioning itself as a hyperautomation vendor. “We prefer the term ‘low-code automation,’” Calkins said.
Hyperautomation is too wordy. Calkins boiled down what Appian does as “finding, executing, and automating processes.”
Calkins places workflow at the center of this low-code automation vision. RPA and process mining are important, but peripheral additions to the Appian platform.
Calkins also filled us in on Appian’s new pricing model, which they are basing on how long it will take a client to build an application – no per-user fees, cloud fees, or volume fees. This pricing makes it straightforward for customers to build apps on Appian that serve large numbers of end-users.
Copyright © Intellyx LLC. Intellyx publishes the Cloud-Native Computing poster, advises companies on their digital transformation initiatives, and helps vendors communicate their agility stories. As of the time of writing, Appian is a former Intellyx customer. To be considered for a Brain Candy article, email us at pr@intellyx.com.
