Collaborative Online Network Accelerates Process Improvement Through Application Templates, Product Extensions, Knowledge-Sharing and More

RESTON, Va.—September 28, 2009—Appian, the global innovator in enterprise and on-demand business process management (BPM) technology, today announced Appian FORUM, Appian’s vibrant collaborative online BPM community. The Appian FORUM09 User Conference is expected to be the largest BPM vendor event of 2009. Appian FORUM extends that community online, providing access to hundreds of Application and Process Templates, Product Extensions, Libraries and other shared components, as well as an extensive knowledge-base. By facilitating collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the thousands of Appian BPM practitioners around the world, Appian FORUM accelerates the time to value for process improvement initiatives.

With the release of the Appian 6 BPM Suite, also announced today, Appian has centralized and streamlined access to the rich content on Appian FORUM, which has been contributed over time by Appian, its customers and partners. All Appian customers now have one-click access to hot downloads of full Application Templates, process models and more. Appian FORUM is fully available to customers using either Appian’s enterprise BPM Suite, or Appian Anywhere, the most widely-used complete BPM Suite available via on-demand subscription.

“Social media and collaboration tools that accelerate an organization’s ability to effectively utilize BPM technology and deploy process application solutions are becoming increasingly crucial,” Michael Lock, research analyst at Aberdeen Group. “My research shows a 30% spike in enterprise usage of these collaborative tools over the past year, and the usage rate continues to climb. The next generation of enablement in this area goes beyond simple chat boards and process wikis to deliver useable templates and technology extensions in real-time.”

Jump-Start BPM Projects

Appian FORUM helps accelerate BPM success through four main types of content:

• Application Templates – These are BPM Applications that have been built and certified by Appian and its partners to accelerate BPM deployments. Typically, these are functional applications that can be used across industries and rapidly configured to meet any unique requirements. Examples include HR On-boarding, Spend Request and IT Service Management. Most of these templates are free, with the exception of some that are being built by Appian partners.
• Process Templates – A number of free BPM process models have been contributed by Appian, its partners and customers. These include Process Templates that are organized by functional area for easy review. By quickly applying these Templates, customers can speed their time to process improvement.
• Shared Components – Appian and its community of customers and partners have contributed hundreds of Smart Services, Product Extensions, Libraries and Utilities that work seamlessly with Appian’s BPM platform. All these technology components are available for use within any Appian environment.
• Knowledge-base – This rich repository, developed over years of Appian deployment experience, helps both new and existing customers with product documentation, quick answers and best practices. The knowledge-base contains thousands of active discussions, and is constantly growing.

“Accelerating process improvement requires powerful yet easy-to-use technology in combination with the ability to rapidly access and use solution templates, technology extensions and proven best-practices,” said Matthew Calkins, president and CEO of Appian. “With the launch of Appian 6 and Appian FORUM, we have brought both aspects together to drive a new level of value from BPM deployments.”

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About Appian

Appian is the global innovator in enterprise and on-demand business process management (BPM). Appian provides the fastest way to deploy robust processes, collapsing time to value for new process initiatives. Businesses and governments worldwide use Appian to accelerate process improvement and drive business performance. Appian empowers more than 2.5 million users from large Fortune 100 companies, to the mid-market and small businesses worldwide. Appian is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. region, with professional services and partners around the globe. For more information, visit www.appian.com.