Comparing Microsoft Power Apps vs Appian: Which train takes you there?

Microsoft Power Apps Low-code/no-code development is a simpler, faster, and contemporary approach to building enterprise applications that will facilitate modern work culture in your business. Companies are widely adopting low-code/no-code development technologies in their digital initiatives. Gartner forecasted that by 2025, 70% of new enterprise applications will use low-code/no-code technologies. The low-code/no-code market is getting competitive with players like Microsoft Power Apps, Appian, Mendix, and Outsystems, etc. Previously, we compared Power Apps, Mendix, and Outsystems to help you make an informed decision. In today’s blog, let’s compare Microsoft Power Apps with Appian, considering some key factors – functionality, integration, deployment, support, innovation, and pricing.

Microsoft Power Apps vs Appian

Functionality

A low-code platform should help you replace a lot of manual work with modern enterprise applications. It shouldn’t put more burden on your teams. The low-code platform should offer all required features to create usable and functional solutions to match your business requirements.

Power Apps and Appian both offer great functionalities for developing enterprise apps. Citizen developers with little coding knowledge can build web and mobile apps for instant, short-term goals using Microsoft Power Apps’ intuitive user interface. The platform also helps build complex solutions connecting with external data sources with powerful tools for pro developers. If you are already using Microsoft products, Power Apps can be a great option to create or modernize enterprise applications.

Apian also offers a great set of features to create enterprise applications and process automation flows. The platform is a relatively new player in the space but offers a better no-code experience. However, the platform comes with a steeper learning curve than Power Apps. Also, Appian offers limited customization options.

Integration

The objective of building modern enterprise applications is to break silos in your organization and create a unified digital ecosystem. The low-code platform should be a bridge between your line-of-business applications used across departments, ensuring a seamless collaboration between teams. Integration capabilities of a low-code/no-code platform help you create applications that perfectly fit into your existing digital ecosystem.

Power Apps lets you build low-code enterprise applications that seamlessly integrate with your existing systems and facilitate a seamless collaboration. Microsoft Power Apps seamlessly integrates with more than 300 on-premises data sources and services, including SharePoint, Dynamics365, Microsoft 365, SQL Server, Azure Blob, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc. If you are an existing Microsoft user, Power Apps would be a better option.

Appian also connects to a wide range of services and data sources, including MariaDB, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, etc. However, through our interactions with our customers and other enterprises, I understood that Power Apps showcases superior integration capabilities.

Deployment

Low-code development gives you an edge over traditional development with the ease of deployment. Low-code development offers faster time-to-value and helps you take a faster route to digitalization. Both Power Apps and Appian facilitate faster and easier deployment of low-code enterprise applications. However, low-code development platform users on forums like G2 and Gartner rated Power Apps as the easiest for applications development.

Support

Like for any SaaS product, support is an important factor to consider while choosing a low-code development platform. The beauty of low-code development platforms is that your citizen developers, who often come with more domain knowledge, can build applications to match their needs. Solid customer support by the platform provider is very much needed to ensure successful adoption of the platform and higher ROI.

Appian and Power Apps offer excellent technical support for developers. Comparing the technical support of Appian and Power Apps, more users rated high for Appian on SaaS marketplaces like G2.

Innovation

In your digital transformation journey, the low-code development platform should support you with continuous innovation. The platform should help you create more innovative solutions to consistently achieve operational excellence and drive growth.

AI is currently the hottest thing in the digital world. Appian enables its users to leverage the power AI through Appian AI Copilot. The underlying technology is Azure Open AI Service from the house of Microsoft. This is where Power Apps gets an edge over Appian. Microsoft introduced Copilot into most of its products, including Power Apps. The company is relentlessly innovating in the AI space and offering cutting-edge solutions for its users.

Pricing

Pricing of a low-code development is an important factor to consider in decision making. Ideally, it would be better to go with a platform that offers flexible pricing options. You need scalable solutions to cater to the changing needs of your business as it grows. Power Apps and Appian offer a wide range of licensing options.

Power Apps offers a standard plan where you pay $20 per user per month. This plan enables you to build and deploy an unlimited number of applications. Microsoft also offers a pay-as-you-go plan that allows you to pay per app. Appian’s pricing plans include Free, Application for a specific use case, Platform for enterprise-wide deployments, and Unlimited. From my experience with customers over these years, Microsoft Power Apps is more affordable than Appian for small and medium-scale businesses.

It has been a tough competition between Power Apps and Appian considering the wide range of features, capabilities, and pricing plans these platforms offer. Microsoft is suitable for businesses of all sizes whereas Appian offers great functionality for large enterprise requirements. You should make a cognitive decision in choosing the partner considering your use case and technical requirements. It is advisable to take the help of a trusted technology partner with demonstrated experience in delivering low-code/no-code solutions. This brings me to another important factor to consider – partner network of the platform provider.

Partner network of Power Apps vs Appian

Low-code/no-code development platforms are intuitive to use and enable citizen developers to build applications without extensive coding knowledge. However, building complex enterprise applications that require connecting with other systems and external data sources, you need technical expertise. It is advisable to go with a trusted technology partner rather than building an in-house IT team as it is time and cost intensive. While choosing a low-code/no-code platform, consider the scope of the partner network of the respective platform. You should work with a technology partner that is geographically positioned in a strategic location.

Appian is a new entrant in the low-code space and has a smaller partner network. Microsoft is an industry giant and has an extensive partner network spreading across the globe.

Looking for a trusted technology partner?

With more than two decades of expertise, Saxon AI offers innovative technology solutions for enterprise customers as a trusted Microsoft partner. The intersection of deep technology expertise and thorough domain knowledge of certified professionals ignites innovation at Saxon AI, delivering game-changing solutions for our customers.

As a Microsoft partner, we offer exclusive workshops that help businesses address operational challenges through Power Apps. Learn more about the workshop here.

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