Introduction to the Appian Platform

1. Most common Appian use cases

Appian is present in all major industries in the market, responding to a very large number of use cases.

Insurance
 Policy Management Operations: Complex policy quotation; life insurance underwriting; underwriting
authority management; contact center automation; etc.
 Marketing, Sales and Distribution: agent lifecycle and performance management; agent and broker
channel automation; sales automation and marketing management.
 Claims Management Operations: FNOL; claims administration; claims fraud case management; adjuster
assignment and coordination.
 Reinsurance: client onboarding coordination; audit management; bordereau management.
 Corporate, Regulatory and Compliance: GDPR; NA Data privacy; IFRS-17 processing; human resource
management; IT asset lifecycle management; procurement and contract management.

Public Sector
 Organization Transformation: security clearance management; HR service center; robotic workforce
manager; recruiting; employee/contract on-boarding; employee/contract off-boarding.
 Citizen Experience: eligibility and enrollment; grants management; constituent case management;
correspondence management; permitting and licensing; citizen self-service; intelligent contact center.
 Logistics and Asset Management: asset management; logistics management; fleet management; field
service management; mobile maintenance; real estate management.
 Acquisition Modernization: acquisition planning; acquisition forecasting; requirements management;
contract writing; contract management; closeout processing; award management.
 Governance, Risk and Compliance: investigative case management; financial audits; background
investigations; dynamic case management; regulatory submission management.

Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences

 R&D and Regulatory Operations: centralized site & study monitoring; clinician onboarding and
credentialing management; global compounds, study & experiment management; etc.
 Corporate Functions and Manufacturing & Commercial Operations: HR onboarding management;
human resource management; revenue recognition & billing management system; supply chain
management; etc.
 Marketing and Medical Affairs: marketing planning and execution; customer & vendor relations
management; social media digital registry; etc.
 Safety and Pharmacovigilance: safety information tracking & management; safety reporting life cycle;
adverse events reporting home.
 GRC: anti bribery and corruption & FCPA; external stakeholder and HCP engagement; fair market value
management; privacy compliance & GDPR; business meetings over meals; compliance and government
affairs hotline-ICC; etc.
 Manufacturing & Commercial Operations: supply chain management; manufacturing & execution
system; launch orchestration; track & trace; order processing & global demand management.

Healthcare
 Product, Sales & Marketing: product development; new business processing; sales automation &
marketing management; agent/broker channel management; agent/broker contact center.
 Provider, Network, and Member Services: network design & recruitment; provider credentialing &
contracting; provider contact center; provider enrollment, onboarding & configuration; etc.
 Clinical Care Operations and Claims Core Administration: clinical policy management; utilization mgmt.
& prior auth; care coordination; clinical contact center; claims modernization; billing & claims status
automation.
 Governance, Risk & Compliance: complaints, appeals & grievance; fraud, waste & abuse investigation;
quality improvement; European data privacy; US data privacy.
 Corporate Functions: workforce safety; digital strategy, innovation & RPA; PMO & project management;
IT & application service management; procurement & contract management; human resource
management; etc.

Automotive & Manufacturing

 Product Development & Operations: asset lifecycle management; audit management; inventory and
materials planning; manufacturing execution system; preventive maintenance; supplier management;
etc.
 Sales & Marketing: contact center automation; customer on-boarding; dealer incentives; dispute
resolution; marketing planning & execution; warranty management.
 Safety, Risk, and Compliance: incident management; inspection management; regulatory compliance;
safety tracking.
 Corporate Services: employee/contractor on-boarding; contract management; human resources
management; invoice processing; IT asset lifecycle; order management; PMO management, procure-to-
pay.

Retail
 Marketing and Promotion: campaign tracking; loyalty program management; marketing planning and
execution; product launch and lifecycle management.
 Customer Service: customer relationship management; customer lifecycle management; omni-channel
customer engagement.
 Operations: asset management; merchandise and inventory planning; store and franchise management;
supply chain orchestration; vendor and supplier relations management; warehouse and yard
management.
 Corporate Services: contract management; employee and contractor onboarding; human resource
management; HR service center; IT asset lifecycle management; order fulfillment lifecycle, PMO
management; sourcing and procurement processing.
 Safety, Risk, and Compliance: compliance management; consumer privacy management; incident
management; store inspections.

Transportation
 Logistics & Asset Management: asset visibility and tracking; capital planning & expenditure; field service
management; insurance coverage; fleet management; maintenance and repair; permit management;
etc.
 Customer Service: call center support; claims management; dispute management; warranty
management.
 Corporate Services: contract management; employee/contractor onboarding; HR management; HR
service center; invoice processing and reconciliation; IT asset lifecycle management; order to cash; PMO
management; sourcing and procurement.
 Safety, Risk, and Compliance: compliance management; consumer privacy management; incident
management; inspections management.

Energy & Utilities

 Customer Service & Revenue Generation: contact center automation; new service connections; product
lifecycle management.
 Operational Effectiveness: asset management; field service enablement; fleet management; gas
network management; inspection management; inventory management; maintenance management;
 Corporate Services: authorization for expenditure; employee/contractor on-boarding; HR management;
internal help desk; IT asset lifecycle management; procurement and contract management; supply chain
management.
 Safety, Risk, Compliance: GDPR; incident management; NERC CIP compliance; US Data privacy.
Broad Markets
 Customer Journey & Revenue Generation: contact center automation; customer on-boarding;
marketing planning and execution; product launch management.
 Operations: damage claims management; field service management; inventory management; permit
management; supply chain orchestration; tower maintenance management; vendor and supplier
management.
 Corporate Functions: contract and procurement management; employee/contractor on-boarding; HR
management; IT asset lifecycle management; order management; PMO management.
 Safety, Risk and Compliance: compliance and risk management; consumer privacy management; GDPR;
incident management; inspections management.

2. Identify commonly-used Appian resources

Appian provides a number of useful resources to support the learning and enablement. High-level resources
include:

 The Docs: product documentation.

 The Playbook: implementation best practices, guidance, and checklist.
 Community Discussions: support from Appian’s Community of experts.
 Training: more information on classroom and online offerings, including the Appian Certification
Program.

Resource Description
Glossary A list of terms and their definitions used across the Appian platform.
Design Objects A list and description of the different objects that can make up any Appian
application.
Appian Functions A searchable listing of all Appian functions, their purpose, an explanation of
their parameters, and examples of how they work.
UX Design Guide A collection of best practices and recommendations for creating attractive
and usable interfaces.
Appian Data Types The data (process variables, node inputs, node outputs, rule inputs, data
store entities, or constants) used in Appian must conform to certain data
types.
Function Receipts Similar to cookbook, it shows the individual ingredients that go into creating
an expression using Appian functions, the order in which to combine them.
And tips on when to use them or modify for preference.
Query Recipes References pre-existing variables that define information about each process
model. Used in Process Models.
Interface Components All the components and supporting configurations for building interfaces.
Interface Patterns A combination of components and dynamic expressions to achieve common
user-interface designs. Complexity ranges from beginner to advanced.
Process Nodes and Smart A description of all the nodes and smart services that can be used to defined
Services a process workflow in Appian’s process modeler.

3. The structure of Appian applications

3.1. Applications View
The Applications view is the default view in Appian Designer. The Applications view allows you to
create applications, import applications, and access all applications for which you have permissions in
the environment. This view also allows you to connect directly with your fellow developers in Appian
Community.

Elements

Element Available Actions

 Header bar
Navigation pane
Let’s get started pane  Create an application.
 Import an application or package.
Recent Applications sections Quickly access the applications that you’ve opened or edited recently.
Applications toolbar  Search for an application.
 Filter the applications list.
 Export an application or package-
 Review security for an application.
 Delete an application.
Application List  View the applications in this environment.
 Sort the applications list.
 Open an application.
Learn More pane  Navigate to more views and information.
 Connect with Appian Community.

Navigate to more
In the Applications view, you can also navigate to other views and to additional environment-specific
information:
 To navigate to other views in this environment, use the navigation pane.
 To view release notes for the Appian version currently running in this environment, click the
Release Notes card in the Learn More.
 To view information about environment, click the About This Environment card in the Learn
More pane. Environment information includes:
o Your current Appian version.
o Your current Appian RPA version.
o Data sources that have been added in the Admin Console or configured in the
application server.

Connect with Appian Community

In the Community section of the Learn More pane, you can quickly access the extensive resources
available to you on the Appian Community. Learn more these resources to level up your Appian
development skills:
 Discuss: Collaborate with other Appian developers in our online discussion.
 Learn: Explore new learning paths with Appian Academy and Appian Certifications.
 Success: Review development best practices with Developer Certifications.
 Support: Browse product support articles for frequently-asked-about topics or contact Appian
Support.
 Documentation: Find the answers you need in our tutorials, patterns, recipes, and reference
content.
 AppMarket: Browse for plug-ins and utilities and boost your application power with our
partner solutions.

3.2. Deploy View

The Deploy view provides a single location for you to see and manage both incoming and outgoing
deployments.

When you access this view at the environment level, it contains information about deployments in the
current environment. When you access this view from within an application, it contains information
about deployments in the current application.

Elements
Element Available Actions
Header bar
 Navigation pane
Tabs Go to either of the following tabs:
 The INCOMING tab displays all deployments and deployment
requests that have come into your current environment.
 The OUTGOING tab displays all the deployments and deployment
requests that have been sent from your current environment to a
different target environment.
Each tab features a toolbar and a deployments grid.
Toolbar Filter the deployments grids
Deployments grid  View the deployments grid.
 View deployment details.
 Review deployment requests.
 Deploy existing packages.
 View archived deployments.

3.3. Monitor View

The Monitor view helps you keep an eye on health and activity indicators for your applications.

When you access this view at the environment level, it contains information about deployments in the
current environment. When you access the view from within an application, it contains information
about deployments in the individual application.

Elements
The Monitor view consists of a header bar, navigation pane, and the following tabs:

 Health Dashboard: The Health Dashboard tab provides an at-a-glance overview of the health of
your environment or application. It includes both runtime and design-time information, and
surfaces related metrics and key performance indicators.

 Process Activity: The Process Activity tab shows a list of all process instances related to your
environment or application that are currently on the system. By default, the processes list
displays only processes that have started in the last 7 days and have not been archived. See
Process Activity filters to change the status and time range.

 Process Model Metrics: The Process Model Metrics tab shows metrics related to the memory
usage of process models on the system. Only process models with process instances on the
system are shown in this report. By default, process models are sorted by those consuming the
most to least total memory. Process memory is expressed in AMUs. This process memory
calculation runs in the background and is not real-time.

 Record Response Times: The Record Response Times tab allows you to monitor the
performance of your record interfaces (both record lists and record views), and identify those
with the slowest interactions. This tab displays the top ten slowest response times for each
record list or view, including details about when the slowest response times occurred and who
executed them. For each of these response times, Performance Views are available so that you
can identify why a specific interaction might not be performant.

 Record Sync Status: The Record Sync Status tab displays status information for all record types
with sync enabled. This includes the source type, sync statuses, and the time of the last sync for
each record type in the grid list. From this tab, you can easily perform cross-environment
monitoring for all synced record types that you have access to view by switching between your
connected environments, both local and remote. Drill down into a specific record type to view
its sync history and any errors or warnings that occurred during the course of the sync activity.
4. Differentiate between the various Appian user experiences
Appian provides three different user interfaces that can be built on one platform. Each of these interfaces
work on the same instance of Appian, but its many views address the specific needs of particular users.

4.1. Tempo
Some businesses have employees who are considered knowledge workers. These employees need to
access the broad picture, as well as the ability to rapidly change direction and quickly find information
needed for the task at hand.

The best user interface for knowledge workers is Tempo. With Tempo, everything a knowledge worker
might need is just a few clicks away in one of the five tabs.

 News – The news tab displays an ongoing list of entries created by fellow users, system
administrators, and internal business processes. This work Platform interface allows you to
openly communicate with other users and stay informed with events within the Appian system.

 Tasks – Tasks are the primary way to complete work in Appian. There are two kinds of tasks:
tasks assigned as part of a process and social tasks sent to you by another user. Social tasks allow
you to share files and collaborate with others.

The Tasks tab has three default views:

o Assigned to Me: displays all process and social tasks assigned to you or a group in which
you are a member.
o Sent by Me: displays all social tasks sent by you to another user.
o Starred: displays all tasks you have previously starred.

Process tasks with a deadline include a clock icon.

o : indicates the deadline has not occurred yet. The text next to the icon indicates
how long until the deadline occurs.
o : indicates the deadline has passed and the task as overdue.

You can filter the tasks displayed in your view by selecting from the following options on the left-
side navigation:

o Status:
 Open: only displays tasks with an open status.
 Closed: only displays tasks with a closed status.
o Deadline:
 Overdue: only displays process tasks that passed their deadline.
 Today: only displays process tasks due today.
 Within 7 Days: only displays process tasks due in the next seven days.

 Report – The Reports tab in Tempo brings together a collection of Tempo reports for you to
easily drill into. These reports contain data pulled in from all areas of the system and are meant
for viewing and analyzing.

Reports allow you to visualize aggregated data. Look for tooltips, links, filters, and drillable
elements to find more information about items of interest in a particular report.

 Records – The records tab brings together all data within your Appian system into a searchable
collection of information for you to view and take action on. This can include integrated business
data, such as customer information stored in a Data Store, and process data, such as Support
Tickets created through an Action.
  Actions – Actions allow you to start a process based on knowledge of existing processes and
work. Go to the Actions tab to see a list of actions that are available to you.

Actions differ slightly from tasks and related actions. Unlike related actions, actions are not
started from the context of a record, and unlike tasks, actions are not assigned to a group or an
individual. Instead, an action is a process that may be started at any time.

4.2. Sites
Some business need a targeted interface for users who perform a single task or a small set of activities
and don't want distractions. They may be head-down case workers working through their daily task list.
Or they might be mobile operations staff roaming a facility to log and address maintenance issues.

The best interface for this type of user is Appian Sites. Sites allow users to focus on a limited set of
activities. Each site can contain up to five pages, which are navigable via a navigation bar. Each page in a
site can contain either an action or a task report, providing efficient access to a limited subset of Appian
capabilities. Sites do not have the five-tab navigation bar shown in Tempo, so users can focus on their
job without being distracted.

Users can access sites in a few ways:

o Directly by URL. Either the site or a specific site page can be targeted.
o Via the navigation menu in Tempo or another site. This will open the site in a new window and
display the first page.
o As a start page for users logging into Appian. To learn more about how to do this, see User Start
Pages.

Navigation bar
The navigation bar is the main way in which users navigate a site. It allows users to easily access all
pages within the site, as well as the navigation and user menus.

You can configure the site navigation bar to match your use case and branding.

You can choose from two navigation bar styles designed for different use cases and experiences. Try out
each to decide which works best for your site and users.

You can also choose from a variety of custom colors and predefined color schemes to match your
company branding. Carry your custom colors and predefined color schemes throughout your site for a
cohesive and polished user experience.

Navigation menu
The site navigation menu allows users to easily access sites, Tempo, and workspaces they have access
to. You can configure the menu to appear as the site name or as an icon. If your navigation menu
includes a link to Tempo, it will always display at the top of the sites. If a user only has access to one site,
the site navigation menu isn't shown.

User menu
The site user menu provides users easy access to their profile, their user settings, or to sign out.
Selecting PROFILE will take the user to their user record. Selecting SETTINGS will open a dialog where
they can update their user settings.

4.3. Embedded
Some businesses need more control over site navigation or look-and-feel. They may cater to external
users and therefore want to have consistent branding across the application. Or they may be integrating
 with an existing intranet portal and want to keep the interface employees are familiar with while
introducing new capabilities.

The best user interface for these businesses is to embed Appian in an existing webpage or portal.

Embedded interfaces provide an even more customized experience for users than sites. They do so by
allowing Appian interfaces to be embedded in web pages outside of Appian. This allows users of those
external web pages to view Appian interfaces and submit Appian forms without ever going directly to an
Appian user environment like Tempo or sites. In fact, users of embedded interfaces may not even realize
that part of the web page that they are interacting with is powered by Appian, especially if the
embedded interfaces have a custom theme applied.

Embedded interfaces have the exact same dynamic capabilities as when the same interfaces are
accessed via Tempo or sites. The difference is that they do not have the surrounding navigation bar and
background as in Tempo and sites, allowing the host web page to provide its own navigation. Similar to
sites, embedded interfaces are responsive based on browser window width. That is, they adjust
accordingly as users resize their browser windows in order to appear optimally for any given window
width. For the best responsive behavior, Appian recommends giving the embedded Appian content as
much of the total browser window width as possible.

Embedded interfaces may be a good option for your users if you have a strong need for their Appian
experience to be part of a larger experience that you want to control. Appian strongly recommends
that you fully consider Tempo or sites first and only use embedded interfaces if your use case cannot
be addressed by the other options.

Here is a summary of considerations when comparing Tempo, sites, and embedded interfaces followed
by a more detailed explanation of some of the considerations.

Consideration Tempo Sites Embedded

Requires custom code No No Yes
Requires CSS expertise No No Yes
Requires JavaScript expertise No No Yes
Requires SSO setup No No Yes
Requires URL and navigation management No No Yes
Requires additional performance tuning No No Yes
Requires additional development for mobile support No No Yes
Requires additional development for accessibility No No Yes
Requires additional development for responsive UI No No Yes

5. Distinguish abilities between various security permissions within

the platform
5.1. Application Security
Users must have at least Viewer permissions to a published application in order to view its feeds and
actions.

Application security determines which users can view and interact with the application and its contents.

If Appian generates groups during application creation, the default security groups pre-populate the
application role map with Viewer and Administrator permissions. If Appian does not generate groups
during application creation, you are automatically assigned Administrator permissions for any
application you create. System administrators can always access an application, regardless of
application-level permissions.
The following table outlines the actions that can be completed for each permission level in an
application's security role map:

Actions Administrator Editor Viewer Deny

See application feeds or actions in Tempo Yes Yes Yes No
Export the application Yes Yes Yes No
View and filter missing precedents Yes Yes Yes No
View application properties and contents Yes Yes Yes No
Create packages Yes Yes Yes No
Edit package details Yes Yes Yes* No
View package contents Yes Yes Yes No
Update package contents Yes Yes Yes* No
Delete packages Yes Yes Yes* No
Export a packages Yes Yes Yes No
Import a packages Yes Yes No No
Update filters in missing precedents Yes Yes No No
Update application properties and contents Yes Yes No No
Update application properties and contents via import Yes Yes No No
View application security Yes Yes No No
Delete the application Yes Yes No No
Update application security Yes No No No
Update application security via import Yes No No No

5.2. Object security

Object security is an integral part of application development, and critical for ensuring that the right
users and developers have the appropriate permissions within an application.

5.2.1. Concepts
Groups, role maps, security inheritance, layered security, and object visibility are important
concepts to learn in order to fully understand object security.

Groups and role maps

Object security is made up of two tightly coupled concepts: groups and role maps.

Role maps are mappings between a series of groups or users and their permissions to an object.
Each object in Appian has just one role map. To set an object's security, simply edit its role map.

Appian recommends using only groups to set object security. This allows you to control object
access by changing a user's group membership, rather than directly editing the object's role map.

Permission levels in role maps

Each object accepts a different set of permission levels in its role map.

When configuring an object's security and selecting permission levels, you will note two things.

First, that Appian restricts the permission levels you can choose from in the role map based on the
object's type to help ensure that the permission levels you select are applicable for that object
type.

Second, in most cases when setting object security, you will find the need to use only two
permission levels: Administrator and Viewer.

These can be defined as:

 o Administrators: Groups who have administrative permissions to an object in a specific
environment. These permissions include the ability to fully edit or delete the object as
desired.
o Viewers: Groups who can interact with a particular object as an end user in Tempo, sites,
or embedded. For example, granting a group Viewer rights to an interface gives them
permission to view and interact with that interface from Tempo.

Users that are members of multiple groups within a role map will always be granted their highest
permission.

Deny permission level

Many objects offer Deny as a permission level. Giving a group the Deny permission level is
equivalent to not listing that group within the role map, or not granting them any permissions.

So when does it make sense to use Deny? It's most useful in situations where a group (Group A)
should not have permissions to an object but might be nested within another group that should
have permissions to it (Group B). In these situations, marking a group (Group A) with the Deny
permission will overrule all of its other permissions.

Security inheritance
When an object inherits its security from a parent object, it means that it shares the same role map
as its parent. When this is the case, any changes that are saved to the parent object's security role
map are immediately reflected in the child's inherited role map.

During application development, inheritance can be observed with top-level objects such as
knowledge centers and rule folders. Knowledge centers and rule folders are considered top-level
objects because their security is inherited by all objects nested within them by default.

Inheritance in object security dialogs is always displayed as an option underneath the Parent field.
Objects that must inherit their security from a parent object will display the option as disabled,
while objects that cannot inherit security will not display this option.

Appian recommends that you set security on your top-level knowledge centers and rule folders
within applications and allow the objects nested below these folders to inherit security. Doing so
ensures that security is consistent and easy to manage across large applications.

The behavior of security inheritance by object type is the following:

 Always inherit security from parent:
o Documents: Always inherit security from their parent document folders. If a
group has access to a document folder, it has access to all of the documents
nested within that folder. For this reason, document security is controlled at the
document folder level.
o Process Reports

 Always inherit security if parent specified:

o Groups: Always inherit security from a parent group if a parent group is specified.
o Knowledge Centers: Always inherit security from parent communities if a parent
community is specified. Since community objects are deprecated, Appian
recommends making knowledge centers top-level objects.

 Inherit security from parent by default (editable):

o Document Folders
o Rule Folders
o Constants
o Decisions
o Expression Rules
 o Integrations
o Interfaces

 Never inherit security:

o Applications
o Process Model Folders
o Process Models
o Data Stores
o Record Types
o Reports
o Sites
o Feeds
o Web APIs
o Connected Systems

 Don’t have security:

o Custom Data Types: Do not have their own security role maps. Since custom data
types are always seen in the context of another object, the security of that other
object applies. For example, if an interface calls a custom data type, the
interface's security will be applied.
o Group Types: Do not have their own security role maps. Group security is used
instead.

Layered object security

In Appian, security is layered. This means a user must have permissions to every object associated
with an application's feature in order to see or interact with that feature.

For example, for a user to be able to access and start a related action from a site, they must have
(at least):
 Initiator permissions on the underlying process model.
 Viewer permissions for the record type.
 Viewer permissions for the site.

The benefit of applying layered object security is that it is possible to implement strict security
models, and control security to objects and features at a granular level. Appian recommends
regularly testing your applications, and reviewing their Security Summary to ensure that the
appropriate users have the appropriate permissions to all of your applications and their features.

Security vs. visibility

Security and visibility are two distinct concepts in Appian. Whereas security is specific to who can
access an object, visibility is about who can see specific components within an object, and it is
typically dependent on an expression.

Visibility allows developers to provide granular instructions about which groups or users should be
able to see and interact with a specific aspect of an object.

For example, a site might have three Viewer groups in its security role map. In this case, a
developer can use visibility expressions on the site's pages to determine which of these groups
should and should not be able to see specific pages available on the site.
 Similarly, a record type could have many Viewer groups, but a developer could specify that only
one group is allowed to see a related action by providing a visibility expression.

5.3. Recommended object security

Appian recommends assigning each object at least one Administrator group in its security role map.
While administrator permissions are unique per object type, generally administrators are the only ones
that can delete an object or modify its security.

We also recommend assigning each object at least one Viewer or Editor group, with the exception of
feed and group objects because feeds share the same viewers as the application in which they reside
and groups only accept the Administrator permission level.
5.4. Security Summary
The Security Summary allows you to view the security of all objects within an application in a single
place. You can view an application's Security Summary by selecting Security Summary in the Application
settings menu.
The Security Summary is helpful when:

 Viewing the security of more than one object in an application at a time, or viewing the security
of specific object types in an application (for example: all process models, or all sites)
 Finding all objects with missing security (for example: objects with security warnings)
 Editing security or addressing security warnings in bulk
 Reviewing the security of all objects within an application or package before deploying it