Appian and MEGA Integrate Leading Process Improvement Solutions

Online, October 12, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Appian, the global innovator in enterprise and on-demand business process management (BPM) technology, and MEGA, an industry leader in business process analysis (BPA) and enterprise architecture (EA) solutions, today introduced Appian Process Architect by MEGA.

This new solution allows organizations to use the proven methodology of the MEGA Suite for process analysis and pass the results directly into the Appian Business Process Management (BPM) Suite and the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-delivered Appian Anywhere platforms for execution and direct management of daily operations. With this integration, organizations now have an end-to-end, easy-to-use business process management and improvement solution.

"Integrated BPA/BPM starts with a clear understanding and documentation of the organization's inter-related resources and processes, and continues with the efficient execution and management of those assets and processes," explained Jim Sinur, Research VP at Gartner. "Combining advanced, industry-leading solutions in BPA and BPM into a single offering offers organizations a new option."

A number of organizations, such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car, General Dynamics, and the US Department of Homeland Security, have been using the independent Appian and MEGA solutions for some time. The joint offering will deliver integrated analysis-to-execution capabilities that will drive increased value from their process improvement initiatives.

"The integration of these two systems will give us an incredible amount of visibility into process performance and the potential impact of change on our production processes," said Pat Steinmann, department manager of Request Services, Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Appian Process Architect by MEGA allows organizations to quickly and accurately describe their processes using the streamlined MEGA methodology. This provides simplified viewing of Appian component and service relationships, impact analysis, and risk analysis. Process design can be shared, using Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) process models. The reading of historical process performance data from Appian will enable analysis and optimization of processes.

Appian BPM users will be able to analyze their workflow activity monitoring data by importing process performance statistics from Appian into MEGA. This will enable the analysis of process design with process operational data so the business user can make informed judgments about process improvements.

Architects will also benefit from this product. They can see the full scope of their enterprise, including all Appian-managed processes, allowing for detailed change impact and risk analyses.

The new product is already supported by shared sales and marketing activities that have been in place for several months. Appian Process Architect by MEGA is available immediately; it will be sold and supported by Appian and Appian partners worldwide. Current MEGA customers that want to use Appian products can convert their existing MEGA Process licenses to Appian Process Architect.

Appian Process Architect by MEGA will be showcased at Appian FORUM09 in Reston, VA, October 26-28, 2009, where Terence Lee, vice president at MEGA, will speak on best practices in BPA. It will also be demonstrated at the Gartner ITxpo in Cannes, France, November 2-5, 2009.