Visual LANSA Vs Appian: Which Enterprise Low-Code Development Tool Is Better?

A low-code development tool lets you build diverse applications and processes by employing visual interfaces, including basic logic and drag-and-drop functionalities. Here’s a comparative guide on the top two low-code development tools: Visual LANSA and Appian. 

An enterprise low-code development tool is used by enterprises to build various software, applications or processes by taking a completely visual approach. A low-code development tool enables an enterprise to deploy software without doing heavy coding or going through any complex process. 

Enterprises can build simple to complex software or processes through a completely visual approach using drag-and-drop functionalities, various smart solutions and components, pre-built connectors, and others with such a tool. One of the main reasons to opt for an enterprise low-code development tool is that it makes the deployment hassle-free and the whole process and delivery faster. Some of the popular enterprise low-code development tools that enterprises from diverse industries use are Appian, Visual LANSA, Mendix, Zoho Creator, Salesforce Lightning, and Kissflow, to name a few. 

This article reviews two famous enterprise low-code development tools – Visual LANSA and Appian – based on performance, development environment, functionality, workflow, and other features. 

See More: 4 Reasons CFOs Should Pay Attention to the Low-code Movement

Visual LANSA

Visual LANSAOpens a new window is one of the most popular low-code development tools. It is highly sought-after due to its simplistic approach to developing complex systems, software or processes. Equipped with a bunch of competitive features and solutions such as a highly active repository engine, single and efficient low-code language and visual development environment, to name a few, Visual LANSA is often the first choice for enterprises to develop various progressive applications and websites. 

It offers a competitive hybrid low-code platform to reduce any possible silos between IT and development and ensures optimum development and delivery speed. Enterprises like Wilson Bowden, IBM, Kawasaki, Morton Salt and ZON fruit & vegetables have been using Visual LANSA for a while now.

Appian

AppianOpens a new window is another famous enterprise low-code development tool used worldwide. It is equipped with a compact low-code platform and solution focused on leveling up the deployment and delivery speed of software and processes development for enterprises. 

Tailored to accommodate the varying workflow requirements of enterprises, Appian helps maximize resources and optimize end results through its low-code solution. Named as Gartner® Customers’ Choice, Appian offers an effective low-code solution to deploy software and lets users build and launch a product while cutting down the development cost by 50%. Some of the top enterprises leveraging low-code solutions provided by Appian include FDA, Exelon, Aviva, Bayern LB, and USDA, to name a few.

See More: How Low-Code/No-Code Platforms Can Transform Your Business

Comparative Overview of Features Offered by Visual LANSA and Appian

Features Review of Visual LANSA and Appian

Here is a comprehensive review of the most prominent features of Visual LANSA and Appian.

Development Environment

The development environment or product development environment refers to the set of tools or processes involved in developing the source code of a software or product. The development environment is crucial in determining how efficient a product development process is or how fast users can develop a product. Furthermore, it has a lot of contribution to assessing the quality of the end product and how successful its market launch is. 

Visual LANSA offers enterprises a single visual development environment for easy, fast, and efficient low-code development. Equipped with a simple-to-use IDE (Integrated Development Environment), Visual LANSA lets you switch from drag-and-drop deployment to scripting easily and quickly. This, in turn, makes deployment cycles shorter and more effective and optimizes productivity without additional time or resources investment.

Appian, on the other hand, also offers a unified product development environment that facilitates faster, better, and more competitive product development for various enterprises from diverse sectors. It lets you integrate data easily without needing to migrate and switch, making product development cycles shorter and product quality better.

Verdict: Both Visual LANSA and Appian are good in terms of the development environment.

Performance

Visual LANSA is well-known for its high performance, letting users build a high-quality product fast and stay aligned with business goals through its market-driven approach. It comes with a highly competitive solution for low-level code compilation that works well on various hosted platforms such as Windows, IBM i, and diverse cloud solutions. 

It unleashes the power of various low-code solutions to accommodate your specific set of business and product development requirements. Also, it acts as a native application that facilitates even deeper and stronger OS integrations to ensure optimized performance.

Appian, on the other hand, performs excellently for a range of low-code development cases such as multi-experience development, DevOps and testing, and others. Its all-in-one platform lets enterprises deploy seamless and engaging experiences for various use cases and applications – augmented applications to conversational interactions. 

Appian ensures optimum performance even when you need to switch between various devices or need to work across diverse modalities or touchpoints. This makes your product deployment much better and easier. 

Verdict: Based on the above feature-sets, Appian is the winner in terms of performance.

Operational Efficiency

Visual LANSA is highly efficient in terms of operability. Its highly accelerated application development solution ranges from complete low-code development to fast and compatible system integration. 

The LANSA integrator has high operational efficiency, facilitating application-to-application and business-to-business data exchanges, fast business data integration, and multi-format data transformation, to name a few. LANSA Composer is another highly operational tool that offers an all-in-one low-code business process solution, including transformation, transportation, process orchestration, and administration. Visual LANSA is also highly sought-after for its simplified application development, letting users leverage the pool of .NET and other resources to ensure high operability in hybrid and complete low-code deployments.

Appian gives tough competition to Visual LANSA with its high operational efficiency through its range of low-code solutions that come with asset management. While Visual LANSA stands out through its core operational features, Appian customers can vouch for the same for industry-specific cases. 

Appian’s high operability ensures low-code automation while maximizing your resources. By combining cutting-edge technologies, low-code solutions, and data in a single workflow, Appian ensures high operational efficiency without making a hole in your pocket.

Verdict: Both Visual LANSA and Appian are equally good in terms of operational efficiency. 

Business Process Optimization

Visual LANSA provides enterprises with a compact and to-the-point solution for business process optimization. It comes with a range of custom portals, ERP frameworks and integration solutions that shortens the business process cycles while improving their efficiency more than ever. 

Not only does it let you deploy your business processes faster and cost-effectively, but it also ensures optimum speed and reliability by establishing industry-grade best practices. From custom enterprise resource planning to implementation-wise pricing structure, Visual LANSA helps you beat the competition by optimizing your business processes in the best possible way.

Appian’s business process optimization solution comes with many add-ons that make it a one-of-a-kind enterprise low-code development tool in the industry. Its dedicated business process management workflow simplifies the workflow design and lets users automate their business processes while inspiring automated collaborative work culture. Furthermore, its Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solution caters to fast, innovative and flexible business process deployment and high-level optimization and automation.

Verdict: Appian beats Visual LANSA when it comes to optimizing business processes.

See More: Low-Code Automation: How Businesses Can Avoid the Pitfalls

Which Enterprise Low-Code Development Tool to Choose?

Both Visual LANSA and Appian demonstrate highly competitive features and solutions that are much sought-after across all industries. With low-code development gaining fast traction, enterprises from diverse sectors are adopting it at an increasing rate. 

It is tough to decide by only following the trends, as every business or enterprise has unique objectives. Furthermore, it depends greatly on the industry or sector where they operate. 

Aside from considering the above-mentioned features and solutions, organizations’ choice of either of these tools should be based on their industry and use cases. Here we have listed the key industries and use cases for Visual LANSA and Appian:

Visual LANSA is suitable for the following industries and use cases-

• Information Technology and Services
• Warehousing
• Computer Software
• Healthcare 
• Insurance 
• Education
• Wholesale
• Transportation/Trucking/Railroad

Appian is suitable for the following industries and use cases – 

• Automotive & Manufacturing 
• Energy & Utilities 
• Healthcare 
• Insurance 
• Education
• Financial Services 
• Government 
• Telecom and Media 
• Transportation 
• Life Sciences 
• Retail 

You can choose between Visual LANSA and Appian based on your specific industry, use case, key targets, and product and business goals.

Takeaway

Enterprise low-code development tools are poised to garner impressive demand over the next few years. No matter what type of product you need to develop for your business or what is your industry, sector or application area, you must opt for the proper enterprise low-code development tool to stay ahead of the competition.

This comprehensive review of Visual LANSA and Appian will give you a deeper insight into these famous enterprise low-code development tools. All you need to do is decide your requirements and assess which one will be the right pick for you to get started on the right note.

Disclaimer: Unless stated otherwise, any information provided in this review does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement for the products listed in the article. All information in this article is provided in good faith; however, we make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of products that are reviewed. The viewpoints expressed within the content are solely the author’s and do not reflect the views of Spiceworks Ziff Davis or its affiliates. 

Edited by Jayant Chakravarti

Which low code development tools do you prefer to develop your software and applications? Let us know on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We’d love to hear from you!