Appian Architecture

Appian Platform Architecture
Copyright © 2010 Appian Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Appian Platform
100% Developed by Appian

No acquired modules and no outsourced code.
Seamlessly Integrated Suite

For the very best end-user and designer interfaces.
Designed for the Web

True thin-client web application. No client downloads, ever.
Designed for Extensibility

Over 1500 Java APIs and reusable OSGi framework.
2
Copyright © 2010 Appian Corporation (Appian). All rights reserved. Appian proprietary and confidential.
The Appian Platform was built for the Enterprise
 Appian environments have been DITSCAP and DIACAP

certified – a Department of Defense security accreditation
 Appian runs on secret and top-secret networks in the US

military servicing millions of users
 Appian is protected against the OWASP Top 10 Web

Application Security Risks
 Hardened against XSS (persistent and non-persistent)
 JavaScript and specific HTML tags gracefully handled
 Injection attacks and other forms of hacking are thwarted
 Other security mechanisms include URI Filtering
 Appian provides a built-in and industry leading Identity

Management System for BPM
 Includes PCI Compliance
3
Forrester BPM Wave Names Appian “Leader”
“Consistently a Leader in Forrester’s Human-Centric

BPM Suite Wave evaluations, Appian stands out for its
completely Web-based environment — across
process discovery, development, and execution.
Appian’s Web-based environment provides process
analysts, process developers, and business users with
rich and intuitive interfaces for building and
managing business processes.”
Clay Richardson
Forrester Research
August 2010
The Forrester Wave™: Business Process Management Suites, Q3 2010
4
The Appian Platform is extremely Scalable, Robust & Secure
"AKO is enabling the sweeping changes necessary to transform

the Army into a network-centric, knowledge-based force. We are
especially proud to have worked with Appian to deploy an
enterprise portal that provides secure, ubiquitous access to the
Army's applications, information, and data sources, at an
unprecedented scale and level of performance."
Colonel Timothy Fong
Director, CTO
CIO/G-6, U.S. Army
Army Knowledge Online (AKO) Facts

• Running on Appian version 6
• Over 2.0 million active users
• Over 80,000 concurrent users with 400,000 unique logins per day
• Over 16 million documents stored and managed
• Over 300 legacy applications integrated
• Expanding to 6 million users in the next few years to include all branches of the US armed forces
Benefit Achieved:
• Annual cost avoidance of over $500 million (see Congressional Report on Defense Business
Operations dated March 15, 2010)
5
Powerful
Massive Volume in Real-World Use

 2.5 Million Users – US Army
 65,000 Users – Enterprise Rent-a-Car
 20,000 Users – General Dynamics
Testing and Scalability Results

 Approx 1 Million Tasks Completed Per Hour
 24 Hour Throughput: 8 Million Processes/21.5 Milllion Tasks
 Hourly Process Throughput (unattended): 1.6 Million
 Test Entirely Based on Appian’s Cloud Architecture
6
The Appian Platform
Appian is a broad and modern platform with many technical
differentiators.
“..best overall combination of modeling, design, and development features for business and
technical roles driving process improvement.” – Forrester Wave, Q3 2010
7
The Appian Platform
Appian is a broad and modern platform with many technical
differentiators.
Intuitive Rules Management Rich Contextual Dashboards
Integrated Data Modeling
Mature OSGi Plug-In Architecture
8
Codeless Process Configuration
Model Driven Development
Configure integrated, automated,

and rich processes from a single
interface without coding
9
Automatically Handle Structured Requests
HammondQuoteForm
10
Rich Case Management Dashboards
11
Business Friendly Rules Management
12
Appian User Landscape
End-Users
 Use resulting Applications created by
Business and IT
 Collaborate with fellow end-users to
complete daily work
 Provide feedback to Business
Analysts for Application improvements
Business Analysts
 Capture Process Documentation and
Requirements
Applications
 Orchestrate Services and People into
HR App logical BPM Applications from
documentation
Finance App  Communicate requirements for new
services from the business to IT
More Apps
 Track process performance and identify
areas for improvement
IT Developers
 Create libraries of simple and re-
Smart Services usable Smart Services
 Abstract data sources into easily
consumable data types
 Manage Appian Servers and Change
Management procedures
13
Appian 6
Appian Deployment architecture

Appian Platform: Multiple Deployment Options
Laptop Single Server: Single Server: Clustered Servers: Clustered Servers:

On-Premise Cloud On-Premise Cloud
Scalable and Portable
15

Sample deployments
Developer
16

Certified Platforms
- Windows Server 2008 R2
Solaris - VMWare Server
- Windows Server 2008
- VMWare ESX Server
- Windows Server 2003
- Windows 7
- Windows XP
- RHEL 5
AIX
17
Appian 6: What’s in the box
Appian 6 BPM Platform

- Process (Modeling, Execution, Documentation)
- Business Rules Management
- Portal (Process and Work Management)
- Content and Document Management
- Reporting and Business Activity Monitoring
- Identity Management
- Integration Capabilities
- Collaboration (Discussion Forums, Blogs)
Login accounts to our global online community
JBoss Application Server v5.1 (pre-configured for Appian)
18
Appian Platform: Software Installation Requirements
Appian BPM Platform
J2EE Application Server
Java 6
Operating System
19
Appian: Architecture Overview
20
Appian: Configuration Options
21
Appian Footprint on J2EE Application Server
• Appian deploys as an .EAR file on

the J2EE Application Server
• Kougar is the Appian connection

layer that translates Appian’s Java
API calls to TCP/IP for
communication with the back-end
engines
22
Appian 6: Hardware Installation Requirements
Minimum Hardware Requirements
Systems RAM Hard Disk Process Cores or CPUs 64-bit OS required?
Client workstations that are 512MB Web Browser Only 1 No

not used for Process
Modeling
Client workstations used for 1GB Web Browser Only 1 No

Process Modeling
Machines hosting the 3GB 10GB 2 No

application server
Machines hosting Appian 6.1 16GB 50GB 2 Yes

back-end services
23
System Architecture: Small Scenario with Failover
Server Hardware
(up to 500 users *):
Consolidated environment:
- Web Server, Application Server and
Appian Engine are all on the same
server.
- HP Server or similar. Dual-core CPU, 16
GB of RAM
* Your mileage may vary
24
System Architecture: Medium Scenario with Failover
Server Hardware
(over 10,000 users *):
Web Server/Application Server:

HP Server or similar, 8 dual-
core CPUs, 64 GB of RAM
Appian Engines Server: HP Server

or similar, 8 dual-core CPUs,
64 GB of RAM
25
System Architecture: Large Scenario with Failover
Server Hardware
(over 50,000 users *):
Web Server:
HP Server or similar, 8 dual-
core CPUs, 64 GB of
RAM
Application Server:
HP Server or similar, 8 dual-core
CPUs, 128 GB of RAM
Appian Engine:
HP Server or similar, 8 dual-core
CPUs, 128 GB of RAM
26
SaaS Option: Appian Anywhere Standard Edition
27
SaaS Option: SAML integration on Appian Anywhere
28
PCI Compliance for User Access and Password Management
Appian enables compliance with requirement 8 of PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
v1.2.1 which addresses user access and password management
 Password Management: Complexity requirements for user passwords can be

configured.
 Minimum number of characters
 Minimum number of numeric characters
 Minimum number of alphabetic characters
 Minimum number of special characters required
 Number of past passwords to check for uniqueness
 Maximum password age (or password expiration)
 Reset Password Functionality

 System administrators can reset user passwords. A temporary password is
automatically assigned and sent to the user in an email
 Locking User Accounts on Failed Access Attempts
 Deactivating Inactive User Accounts
29
Appian 6
Appian Integrations

Appian Integration Points
Appian System Connectors
Key Native Appian Adapters

Codeless configuration in the browser
Java Messaging Service
Standard Appian Plug-Ins
Configuration of existing Plug-Ins
Custom Functionality Web-Services Connector

Plug-ins Developed in SDK
SQL Server Connector
Microsoft Office Adapters

Certified Upgradeability
Safe extensions through certified entry points Email Listener
Save Development Time

Wizard driven plug-in development
Active Directory
FTP / Directory Listener
31
Appian – RDBMS Integration
 Business Data can be written to an RDBMS at any time via SQL or Stored
Procedures
 Data can be imported the same way
32
Additional Data Management Features in Appian
Step 2) – Register your XSD as a CDT in
Step 1) - Define Your CDT Data Type in XSD with Appian
JPA Extensions, Java Object, or Web Service
Step 3) – Tell Appian What Data Store you Step 4) – Use the CDT in Process and Rules
want to save the CDT data into to retrieve and persist data to the data store
33
Appian – Web Services Integration
Use the latest Web Services

standards to integrate
systems
Create Dynamic WSDL URL’s

for easy migration from
test to production
Map Complex data sets from

WSDLs to Appian Process
Variables
Quickly and Easily Integrate

your Enterprise using Web
Services
34
Appian Enterprise: Explicit Events Architecture
Orchestrate Complex Event

Interactions Between People
and Systems
Visualize Event Interactions

Through the Graphical
Process Modeler
Coordinate Events and Actions

Across Systems, Departments,
and Employees
Integrate with and Listen for

Events in 3rd Party Systems
Increase Process Agility with

Events that Adapt to Process
Bottlenecks
35
Appian Enterprise: Events Architecture
 BPMN-compliant Events Framework

 Support for variety of Events:
 Messages (inter-process, email, message queue,
ESB, etc.)
 Timers (Robust Scheduling Capabilities)
 Rules (Real-time rules evaluations)
 Direct support for Events in graphical drag-and-drop
Process Modeler
 Multi-faceted process interactions:
 Initiate New Processes
 Escalate Processes
 Trigger Exceptions and Exception Handling
36
Manual and Automatic Processing
Start a process from with a variety of system triggers
Receive Email
Database Records
Web Services and

Messaging
Form Submission
Native integration with the most common web technologies
37
Handle Unstructured Requests
Quote Form Template
38
Appian – WSRP Portlet Consumption
Create Rich Application

Dashboards
Integrate Enterprise
Systems into a single
dashboard via standard
WSRP Portlets
Capture Internet Tools and

Content using standard
RSS, Search, and Other
WSRP Portlets
Quickly Create Custom

Portlets and Channels
39
Smart Services Palette: Integration with the Suite
Appian Process Modeler
 Documents
 Forums
 Portal
 Identity
 Process
 Analytics
 Communication
40
Appian SOA (Service Oriented Architecture)
Create Libraries of Appian Smart Services in a

Service Oriented Architecture
Reduce Development Time through Re-Use of

Process Components
Publish Processes as Web Services with a

WSDL address
Consume and Execute 3rd Party Web Services
Orchestrate Complex Web Service

Interactions
41
Appian Tempo - Mobile Collaborative BPM
Universal Process Participation

• Follow business processes
• Collaborate in process feeds
• Complete structured process tasks
Process-Enabled Business
• Native device applications
Mobile-Enabled BPM
Intelligent Business Processes
• Process driven activity
• Real-time visibility
• Configurable process flows
• Fully featured integrated suite
• Enterprise system orchestration
Process Enabled Systems
SOA, Applications, Legacy Systems
42
Appian Tempo for Mobile Users
Tempo Feed
Custom event subscriptions track your business
Take Process Action directly on event notifications
Receive notifications of significant events
Comment and collaborate on events with others
Receive alerts on report and KPI thresholds
43
Full Appian Public Java APIs available
 A full Javadocs API Guide of over 1500 public Java APIs

is provided for all features of the entire suite. This is the
most configurable platform in the market
 Full Java API for integration with legacy systems that

don’t support web services
 Appian functionality can also be exposed to other

systems via its Java APIs
 Past experience integrating with financial systems, ERP

systems, HR systems, Document Management systems
44
Appian User Landscape
End-Users
 Use resulting Applications created by
Business and IT
 Collaborate with fellow end-users to
complete daily work
 Provide feedback to Business
Analysts for Application improvements
Business Analysts
 Capture Process Documentation and
Requirements
Applications
 Orchestrate Services and People into
HR App logical BPM Applications from
documentation
Finance App  Communicate requirements for new
services from the business to IT
More Apps
 Track process performance and identify
areas for improvement
IT Developers
 Create libraries of simple and re-
Smart Services usable Smart Services
 Abstract data sources into easily
consumable data types
 Manage Appian Servers and Change
Management procedures
45
Appian 6
Appian Platform Extensibility

Appian provides a OSGi Plug-in framework
 iPhone-like downloadable Apps available on the Appian Forum
 Plug-ins are supported for easy deployment, maintenance and

upgrades
 Appian uses the OSGi framework:
 http://www.osgi.org/About/Technology
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSGi
47
Developer Resources Business Value
Certified Upgradeability
Extend the Appian product safely through certified entry points
Save Development Time

Reusable extensions are free to download
Experts Exchange
Access to Appian experts with thousands of forum postings
IT Friendly Tools
Adhere to change management best practices
48
Extension Examples
Full Sharepoint Integration Package

 Display Appian tasks and reports in Sharepoint
 Manipulate documents directly in the Sharepoint DMS
 Browse Sharepoint repositories in Appian Forms
 Shared user context data
Proprietary System Integrations

 SAP applications
 Oracle Financials
 OCR Scanning solutions
 SMS gateway systems
Common Reusable Services

 Enhanced smart services
 Open Office, Extended PDF, Extended XLS, Etc.
49
Extensibility allows easy deployment, maintenance and upgrades
50
Creating Appian Plug-ins
Download Appian Developer Edition

Downloads and installs from within the Eclipse IDE
Create New Appian Objects

Wizard interfaces gather information for Plug-in Expressions and
Smart Services
Provide Business Logic

Methods, objects, and registrations handled automatically
Publish and Deploy as Plug-ins to Appian

Custom objects can be easily deployed to and removed
from Appian as OSGi bundles
51
Creating Plug-ins for Appian
Write the plug-in once Re-use the plug-in many-times
52
Creating Plug-ins for Appian
53
Creating Custom Smart Services
54
Extensibility Business Value
Clear Roles
IT develops integrations, Analysts model processes
Maximize Reuse
Customizations are available for all business processes
Easy Development
Wizard driven tools minimize required training
55
Appian hosted Plug-in Exchange and App Store
Download Pre-built Appian Objects

https://access.appian.com – Developer Resources
56
Appian 6
Appian Java APIs

Appian Java API Overview
 Introduction to Appian’s comprehensive Public Java APIs
 Appian provides a Service Framework to access internally stored
data (e.g. running processes, documents, users, groups) through a
Java interface
 Services are load-balanced, optimized, centrally managed, and
thread-safe.
 Bulk calls and paged results for performance.
 Service Calls must have a user or Administrator context
 Individual Services are organized by logical Appian function (see
screenshot on the next slide)
 Service framework is configured in XML, and extensible to
incorporate custom services as necessary.
 Appian’s development platform also provides APIs for querying,
searching, updating, managing, and serializing this data
58
Appian Java Services: Our Platform is built on the same Java APIs
PortalNotificationService
EmailNotificationService
GlobalizationService
ProcessDesignService, ProcessExecutionService
PageService, PortletService
GroupService, UserService
GroupService, UserService, UserProfileService

GroupService, UserService
GroupTypeService
ConatentService
ContentService
ProcessAnalyticsService
ForumsSearchService, DiscussionMetadataCoreService
59
Appian Java API Example
60
61
62
Example: Making Asynchronous Server Calls using JSON
Call JSON function
Example code: getHostNames() is called to go to the Server and get a list of

hostnames from a running process (like a SQL daemon). Then
populateDropDown() populates an html select box with the resultset.
63
Example: Making Asynchronous Server Calls using JSON
Example code: This java function getHostNames() is called from JavaScript

using the JSON framework to enable asynchronous AJAX based calls.
64
Calling Remote Applications within Appian
Developers can extend the process modeler Process analysts and business users model
palette and write new drag-and-drop ‘Service’ and deploy executable processes without
nodes writing code
65
Appian 6
Kx real-time in-memory database

Kx: In-Memory Transaction Engine
Proven Speed and Reliability

Major trading houses and telecommunication companies
use kx technology for millions of transactions every day
www.kx.com
67
Why? Traditional Application Data Architecture is Limited
Slow or Cached Reports

Limited Data Availability
Limited Flexibility
Limited Event handling
68
Solution: Appian provides a Hybrid Data Architecture
Live Process Definition Live Data Reporting

Live Event Handling
69
Business Benefits
Incredible Speed
Enables real-time reporting and event handling
Proven Security
Security Certification from US Department of Defense
Scalability
64-bit architecture enables ~100 thousand processes / CPU
Guaranteed Reliability
99.5% uptime SLAs on hosted deployments
Low Maintenance
Reduced cost of upgrades and database administration
70
Example: Real-Time Events with Kx
Orchestrate Complex Event

Interactions Between People
and Systems
Visualize Event Interactions

Through the Graphical
Process Modeler
Coordinate Events and Actions

Across Systems, Departments,
and Employees
Integrate with and Listen for

Events in 3rd Party Systems
Increase Process Agility with

Events that Adapt to Process
Bottlenecks
71
Example: Gain Insight, Take Action with Real-Time events
Key performance indicators
assess worker productivity in
real-time
Threshold events kick off Exception rules adjust

processes automatically. flow based on quantitative
decisions.
72
Powerful Process Optimization and Business Reports
73
Data Backup and Security
Written Transaction Record

In memory database image first maintained on disk
Regular Backups
Time-stamped database images saved to disk or tape
Scripted Migration
Migrate or restore an application state with a single script
74
Transaction Log and Checkpointing explained
Transaction Log example
(a) Object O1 is removed from the

System
O2
O1
(b) Object O2 is added to the System
O3
(c) Object O3 is added to the System
Transactions get appended

to the image on disk
ag0 abc checkpointed

ag1
Initial Image(ag0.kdb) Checkpointed Image(ag1.kdb)
75
Backup
 Documents are stored on the file system and backed up

 All Appian database content are stored in flat files on the file
system and made part of your backup strategy
 Simplifies database administration
 Small footprint
76
Data Replication for Speed and Reliability
Single Engine Service
 Replication Chain
 Parallel Read Access
 Automatic Failover
 Automatic Recovery
77
Logical Architecture
78
Middle Tier
Third Party Applications (Web

Services, RDBMS, etc)
Connection
Layer
Application
Web Server
Sever
Appian Engeines
Traffic Manager
Clients
Connection
Application
Layer
Web Server
Sever
79
Appian Engines
Gateway
Server 1
Data Store 1
(primary)
(write)
Heartbeat Replication
Data Store Chain

Gateway Chain
Gateway
Server 2
Data Store 2
(secondary)
(read)
Heartbeat Replication
Gateway
Server 3 Data Store 3
(read)
80
Appian Deployment: Logical Architecture
5 6
2 3 1 Browser makes a
4 request over
1 SSL/HTTPs
2 Web Browser handles

static content
3 Application Server
handles dynamic content
4 Traffic flows between

Application Server and
Appian Engines over
TCP/IP
5 Appian built-in engine

gateways handle
incoming traffic from
Application Server and
deal with load-balancing
and failover
6 Appian’s KDBs (real-

time engines &
database) do processing
and surface information
back to Application
Server
81
Appian 6
Appian Query Rules and Data Stores

Introduction to the Data Management Features
 Data Stores
 Data source
 Primary data source
 Data store entity
 Query Rules
 Query Conditions
 Result Sorting
 Write to Data Store Smart Service

 Insert or Update
83
The Appian Data Management Features
Write to Appian Data Store

Smart Service
Appian Process Model Appian Data Store

Customer RDBMS
Appian Query Rule
84
Leverage Data Type Definitions and manage Data
Web Services Java Object

Defines CDT Defines CDT
<xsd:schema…
CUSTOM DATA TYPES
Web Services
Plug-ins
Appian Engines RDBMS
85
Comparison of Data Management Features
BPM Query Database Node Appian Data Management Features
Query RDBMS data in process only Query Rules allow access to RDBMS
data everywhere that you can use
Appian scripting functions
Requires the process designer to No SQL

write SQL
Requires knowledge of data Data stores provide an abstraction of

source details (connection, the database and its schema,
schema, etc.) presenting the data in familiar CDT
structures
Transforming CDT data to and Store and retrieve CDT data directly
from a format compatible with the
node is difficult
86
Before / After: Appian Datastore Feature
 Before: Use Query Database node to populate PV array, use the PV array to
populate the form
 After: Use a Query Rule to Populate an ACP with data
87
Dramatic Simplification of Processes
88
The Data Store Definition and Setup in Appian
Step 2) – Register your XSD as a CDT in
Step 1) - Define Your CDT Data Type in XSD with Appian
JPA Extensions, Java Object, or Web Service
Step 3) – Tell Appian What Data Store you Step 4) – Use the CDT in Process and Rules
want to save the CDT data into to retrieve and persist data to the data store
89
Appian 6
Appian for SharePoint

Appian for Sharepoint WebPart
Any Appian Tabular

Report can be
exposed inside
MS SharePoint
Portal
91
Appian for SharePoint – SharePoint Web Services
Appian for SharePoint – SharePoint Web Services

Includes:
 Web Services that can be wrapped in Appian Smart Services for
 SharePoint Sites Web Service Definition
 SharePoint Folders
Appian Smart Service
 SharePoint Lists
 Contact Lists
 Surveys
 Announcements
 Etc..
 SharePoint Documents
 SharePoint Permissions
92
Appian for SharePoint - Integration Architecture
93
Thank You
94

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Appian Platform Architecture

Copyright © 2010 Appian Corporation. All rights reserved.

100% Developed by Appian

Seamlessly Integrated Suite

Designed for the Web

Designed for Extensibility

 Appian environments have been DITSCAP and DIACAP

 Appian runs on secret and top-secret networks in the US

 Appian is protected against the OWASP Top 10 Web

 Appian provides a built-in and industry leading Identity

“Consistently a Leader in Forrester’s Human-Centric

The Forrester Wave™: Business Process Management Suites, Q3 2010

"AKO is enabling the sweeping changes necessary to transform

Army Knowledge Online (AKO) Facts

Massive Volume in Real-World Use

Testing and Scalability Results

Intuitive Rules Management Rich Contextual Dashboards

Integrated Data Modeling

Mature OSGi Plug-In Architecture

Model Driven Development

Configure integrated, automated,

Appian Deployment architecture

Copyright © 2010 Appian Corporation. All rights reserved.

Laptop Single Server: Single Server: Clustered Servers: Clustered Servers:

Scalable and Portable

Laptop Single Server: Single Server: Clustered Servers: Clustered Servers:

Laptop Single Server: Single Server: Clustered Servers: Clustered Servers:

Appian 6 BPM Platform

Login accounts to our global online community

JBoss Application Server v5.1 (pre-configured for Appian)

Appian BPM Platform

J2EE Application Server

• Appian deploys as an .EAR file on

• Kougar is the Appian connection

Client workstations that are 512MB Web Browser Only 1 No

Client workstations used for 1GB Web Browser Only 1 No

Machines hosting the 3GB 10GB 2 No

Machines hosting Appian 6.1 16GB 50GB 2 Yes

* Your mileage may vary

Web Server/Application Server:

Appian Engines Server: HP Server

* Your mileage may vary

* Your mileage may vary

 Password Management: Complexity requirements for user passwords can be

 Reset Password Functionality

 Locking User Accounts on Failed Access Attempts

 Deactivating Inactive User Accounts

Copyright © 2010 Appian Corporation. All rights reserved.

Appian System Connectors

Key Native Appian Adapters

Custom Functionality Web-Services Connector

SQL Server Connector

Microsoft Office Adapters

Save Development Time

FTP / Directory Listener

Use the latest Web Services

Create Dynamic WSDL URL’s

Map Complex data sets from

Quickly and Easily Integrate