Low code data, RPA, AI, DevSecOps, and free trial.
I had the opportunity to speak with Malcolm Ross, V.P. of Product Strategy at Appian about the latest version of the Appian Low-code Automation Platform introduced at Appian World 2021 following his day two keynote.
The ability and desire to innovate continues to drive digital transformation. Combining data, people, and technology into a single workflow with low code and automation is driving innovation.
Low code bridges the gap between humans and computers using visual and declarative ways to express business applications and expand digital contributions from innovators in the organization.
It allows developers to focus on innovation, building new things, and showing value rather than retooling what they built years ago, dealing with technical debt, and doing work with no value add.
Automation connects people, technology, and data in workflows that operate your business through artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), business process management (BPM), API integration, and business rules to tackle any automation challenge in the enterprise.
Low-Code Data
The new release expands the boundaries of low-code with the introduction of low-code data -- a code-free approach to unifying enterprise data. Data is a challenge for every enterprise. It must be molded to adapt to the needs of every application while being performant, scalable, and secure. Data and the relationships between data across systems is also complex. This complexity inhibits development and impedes digital transformation. Low code data capabilities address these challenges by eliminating data silos and technical resource constraints that are consistent areas of friction.
The latest version of Appian also features enhanced AI-driven Intelligent Document Processing (IDP), new design guidance and developer collaboration features, and enhanced DevSecOps capabilities.
The latest version of the Appian Low-code Automation Platform with complete automation delivers faster and more impactful business value with agility and fluidity. Automation, orchestrates people, existing systems, data, bots, and AI in a single workflow. Complete automation fuels enterprise-wide workflows to unlock material business results.
Matt Richard, CIO at Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA), a 500,000-member union of workers in construction, postal, and other industries, said, "Appian strips away the complexities of working with the most advanced automation technologies so we can focus on making our member experience the best it can be. We were able to build our first Appian RPA [robotic process automation] process in just four days, integrated with our people processes and Appian AI. Simplifying data design is going to have a huge impact for us so I am looking forward to the new release with low-code data."
The new platform enhancements support the Appian Guarantee, which aims to deliver a customer's first project live in just eight weeks with a flat services fee.
Low-Code Platform Features
New capabilities in the latest version of the Appian platform include:
Low-code Data: Building low-code apps is simple and visual, but integrating multiple types of data from different databases still requires a host of database skills. Appian makes integrating data as easy as building apps. Source data from anywhere, without needing to migrate it. Visually combine, extend, and model relationships between varied data sources, and automatically optimize data sets for performance, without coding or database programming.
IDP: Appian Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) delivers efficiency gains via straight-through processing of large volumes of unstructured data. IDP now features native Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to securely extract data from documents without third-party software or services. In combination with the Appian native, pre-trained, and constantly learning AI models, IDP can eliminate manual processing in any workflow.
Low-code RPA: Appian RPA centrally manages and monitors Appian bots, third-party bots, and end-to-end processes to increase scale and performance. Customers can automate tasks even faster with new Low-code RPA Windows actions and additional new libraries of actions that can be downloaded directly from the Appian AppMarket.
Low-code Apps: Appian lets organizations build and change apps and automation 10x faster through visual development that's as simple as drawing a flowchart. New developer collaboration capabilities simplify the co-creation of apps, while enhanced design guidance optimizes app performance, security, and testing. The result is a big boost in developer productivity.
Low-code DevSecOps: In Appian, everything is built to deliver enterprise-grade trust. From unmatched security certifications to comprehensive low-code DevSecOps, Appian helps customers innovate, compete, and grow. The new release continues to enhance the simplified movement of software packages between development, test, and production environments with one-click compare and deploy to accelerate secure, governed deployments.
The latest version of the Appian Low-code Automation Platform will be generally available in June 2021. For a free trial of the platform, go to www.appian.com/platform/free-trial/.