Announcing the latest version of the Appian low-code automation platform

Appian has unveiled the latest version of the Appian Low-code Automation Platform. Appian’s full-stack automation unites people, artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), decision rules, and workflow on a single low-code platform. The result is greater operational efficiency and improved customer experiences through new enterprise applications that are delivered up to 20 times faster.

The COVID-19 pandemic proves that all organisations need a technology platform to enable rapid change. Appian’s latest version makes it easier than ever to automate business processes and connect and empower the global workforce. For example, Appian’s recently-announced Workforce Safety solution brings the full power of Appian’s platform to bear for Human Resources and Crisis Management teams tasked with intelligently managing the complexities of returning workers to the workplace. The solution supports the health and safety of the returning workforce, while maintaining the privacy and security of employee health information, and enforcing compliance with government regulations and guidelines.

AI-guided Development Accelerates Enterprise App Creation

Appian now delivers real-time AI guidance within its industry-leading process modeler, harnessing AI as a low-code development accelerator. The intelligent guidance increases the productivity of both professional and citizen developers, using machine learning to recommend next steps in app development. The development recommendations are generated by native AI within Appian’s platform, so there are no calls to third-party services while a developer is working, and the capability functions in both cloud and on-premises Appian deployments.

Machine learning is only as good as the data from which it learns. Appian’s process automation datasets are among the richest in the world. The anonymised data are derived from hundreds of person-years of knowledge from the world’s biggest enterprises running complex workflows across Appian’s more than 12 years as an analyst-recognised leader in process automation.

Low-code DevSecOps Accelerates Secure Deployment

The new release maintains Appian’s commitment to supporting continuous delivery and maximising application quality through low-code DevSecOps. Functional and performance testing are just as crucial for low-code applications as they are for any other apps, but testing can be slow and manual. Appian now makes testing easier by running automated test cases for an application with Appian’s native deployment capabilities. Tight integration of Appian’s development, testing and deployment functionality simplifies software deployments and accelerates the speed of development of enterprise applications.

Appian also now allows developers and administrators to automatically test and compare Appian Plug-ins across environments, making it easy to detect missing plug-ins, or potential mismatches in plug-in versions. Appian’s latest version also streamlines deployment of full-stack automation through bundled deployment of robotic processes. Deploying RPA processes can now be done by administrators through simple import/export clicks, without developer involvement or the need for a local dev environment.

Intelligent Document Processing Improves Extraction Accuracy

The latest version of Appian also supports the new public version of Google Cloud Document AI. This enhances document extraction within Appian, including in Appian’s Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) accelerator for out-of-the-box document understanding.

“The last few months have demonstrated that companies need greater ability than ever to respond to change in how they operate and in how they support their communities of employees, partners, and customers,” said Malcolm Ross, Deputy Chief Technology Officer at Appian. “A Low-code Automation Platform is vital for quickly and flexibly automating complex processes and connecting people.”