Appian Reviews

I have been working at Appian full-time

Pros – Innovative technology means you are helping create something new and not just doing the same thing over and over again. Working with the most talented people who are as interesting outside of work as they are inspiring in it.
Growth means you are constantly being pushed to take on new responsibilities and learn new skills while helping

Cons – Challenging, high-profile customers mean you may need to be pretty flexible and be ready for whatever the company throws at you.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Appian full-time

Pros – Great salary, benefits, company perks. Smart people. Opportunities for learning. Growing company. Very transparent.

Cons – For professional services, the type of project you are on determines your happiness working with the company. Luckily, most projects are short term, so if you are on a terrible project, chances are that it will end soon. However, if you are on a long term terrible project...well...good luck.

Advice to Senior Management – Limiting career path opportunities. Even if some projects are long, its good to rotate employees on and off so that frustration doesn't build up and consultants don't become stale

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Appian full-time for less than a year

Pros – The culture here is amazing and unique to the type of work we do in the space we do it in. Play hard, work harder. It's great!

Cons – Nothing really stands out, but I can definitely say the bar is set high here. Interview process is tough and the highest of quality standards when it comes to new hires and current employees.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Appian

Pros – Everyone is motivated and passionate about what they do. No one is just putting in their 9-5. People really believe in the company strategy and goals. In Tech, you get to work with exciting technologies to build an innovative product. In Consulting (aka "Professional Services"), you get to work with Appian's powerful software to deliver real value to customers to accomplish some very rewarding goals.

Cons – Not much name recognition. Reston is not exactly the most exciting place to work, although once you get there the Town Center (where Appian is) has lots of good eating and shopping spots. Your career path can be a little confusing, especially if you aren't a star or don't have a clear idea of what you want in 5 years.

Advice to Senior Management – The loop between Marketing, Sales, Sales Engineering, Professional Services and Technology needs to be tighter and more transparent. People don't know enough about what the other parts of the company are doing or how it affects them.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Appian

Pros – The company's technology is on the cutting edge of the most exciting areas of enterprise IT: mobility, cloud and social collaboration. Appian is a true meritocracy where hard work and achievement are rewarded, and individual contributions can truly make a difference. The people at Appian are among the brightest I have ever worked with.

Cons – Appian is in the midst of a transition from being a small bootstrap "market contender" to being a market-leading force on a global scale. While that presents new levels of opportunity for employees, it also brings a few growing pains as the company expands.

Advice to Senior Management – Maintain the openess between executive management and the rest of the company - and the focus on identifying and rewarding star performers - that has brought the company to where it is today.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Appian

Pros – Appian takes skill and talent very seriously -- promotions are given based on ability, not on politics. Even if you're young, if you work hard, it will be rewarded. The CEO still interviews every hire personally to make sure they'll be a good fit with the company culture. The overall culture is fairly young and vibrant with happy hours, etc.

While smaller than competitors such as IBM and Pegasystems, the company is rapidly accruing new customers and revenue, and seems to be on an upward trajectory.

The technology is very cutting-edge; things are never stale around Appian.

Cons – BPM is still fairly obscure in the software/services industry -- you'll get a lot of blank looks when telling people what you do.

While the company has improved internal recognition (intra- and inter-departmental awards are given out every quarter), it tends to be the same small group of people who get recognized the most often. Departments like marketing and corporate do not get the same respect and perks as the technology and professional services depts do.

Advice to Senior Management – More insight into high-level decisions would be appreciated; it would be nice to know the reasoning behind some of the actions that management takes so that lower-level people can help to the best of their ability.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Appian

Pros – Agile, fast, cutting-edge technologies, and a lot to learn from experienced very helpful co-workers.

Cons – Management stack needs serious improvement. Sometimes even random new guys are hired with NO management experience and are asked to act as manager with all the authority in the world, and these managers are then too ignorant to work with the employees on their career path.

Advice to Senior Management – Managers' first duty is to cultivate leadership within the employees, work with them on their career path, and *not* just play bully with the employees while trying to act as the almighty.

I have been working at Appian

Pros – Modern software (cloud, mobile, social) makes it an exciting challenge. Growth has been strong which creates a lot of career opportunities. Employees and managers are expected to seize upon opportunities to make them a success with accountability.

Cons – Software firms on the east coast aren't common when compared to west coast. Appian represents more of a east coast environment (i.e. more formal) than one would expect at a modern software firm. This works for many people, but those expecting something less formal will need to adjust.

Advice to Senior Management – Focus on industry leadership events to take charge of the space in a still growing and changing industry. This is strong differentiation to the stack firms which have ceased to innovate in this space.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Appian

Pros – Excellent product, fast growing company, lots of room to learn when you are fresh to the company. Interested and involved direct managers.No politics- Complete meritocracy.

Cons – After 2-3 years, you find yourself doing the same work over and over again for different customers.

Advice to Senior Management – Think of ways to keep employees interested after they hit the 2-3 year tenure mark.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Appian

Pros – Your peers are generally good people. Smart, easy to work with. Generally pretty reasonable with work-life balance and easy to take time off whenever needed. Work is also low to medium stress after the initial shell shock boot camp.

Boot camp is good and bad. Great way to ramp up quickly, but it is extremely high stress and you WILL get yelled at, grilled, and force fed basically.

Cons – Very limited opportunity to advance your career. There just isn't enough opportunity at the company.
Company is having huge issues becoming profitable. I'm not sure it has been in the last 3-4 years.

Total lack of raises. Benefits suck. Vacation carry over is stingy and so was cash out. They will not pay out you earned and will limit what they give you in cash. Zero training opportunity. I mean ZERO.

Your SKILLS are what you sell in consulting. Zero training means you're falling behind.

Advice to Senior Management – Find a way to get profitable. Dedicate career advancement funding and create training opportunities. Upper management is has huge goals and big vision for the company, but they have yet to deliver financially.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend