Appian Data to be accessed by non-apian users

Like the others replying to this thread I don't see the benefit to having them not be Appian users, especially since if I understant licensing correctly there's no additional charge for the extra users.

I do however, see significant detriment to attempting to allow non-users access to Appian system and data.  Appian is very secure against SQL injection and cross-site scripts and other attacks.  Other interfaces might not be as secure, and adding another layer adds more ways for problems (not only hackers but most likely hackers) to get in.

How are you going to configure security on the system the users DO have access to and configure security on the Appian process models that system is going to connect to?  If there's a problem with this thing you built, is the problem in the external interface, in the Appian, or in the connection?  Can you afford supporting all 3?  If you made them Appian users, you'd only need to support the one system and they'd already have only the correct permissions at no additional cost.  Why wouldn't you make them Appian users?

Like the others replying to this thread I don't see the benefit to having them not be Appian users, especially since if I understant licensing correctly there's no additional charge for the extra users.

I do however, see significant detriment to attempting to allow non-users access to Appian system and data.  Appian is very secure against SQL injection and cross-site scripts and other attacks.  Other interfaces might not be as secure, and adding another layer adds more ways for problems (not only hackers but most likely hackers) to get in.

How are you going to configure security on the system the users DO have access to and configure security on the Appian process models that system is going to connect to?  If there's a problem with this thing you built, is the problem in the external interface, in the Appian, or in the connection?  Can you afford supporting all 3?  If you made them Appian users, you'd only need to support the one system and they'd already have only the correct permissions at no additional cost.  Why wouldn't you make them Appian users?

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The licensing model is a matter that should be discussed between the licensee and their account executive.  It’s not accurate, in general, that there is “no additional charge for the extra users”.

Bhanu Voora

We see sometimes that designs are geared towards “gaming” per users licensing.

As all Appian consultants would agree, a primary guiding principle of Appian application design is implementing correctly. Users notice when an application is intentionally built in a sub-optimal fashion for the purpose of license rationing.  Without user satisfaction, achieving success with your application can be an uphill battle.

Thanks David and Robert for your response. As per my understanding the client has asked for this requirement as it is something related to cost per user accessing the Appian is being charged and so they want to limit the no. of Appian users.

Robert Shankin Use case is - As part of the application only one task need to be assigned to a group of managers who needs to review the data and provide their comments back. 

As mentioned above, as it is the only task the managers work on, client doesn't want them to be Appian users and also as they are the managers at high level they don't want to put their efforts in logging into any system and were expecting to have  a simple way to provide their comments in the task.

Does the client use Outlook, and do they have SSO enabled?

If so, this could be a good solution:

https://docs.appian.com/suite/help/19.1/Task_Viewer_Add-in_for_Microsoft_Outlook.html

Thanks Robert Shankin for your suggestion. I guess this approach will fulfill the requirement provided Admin rights to Outlook. Could you please clarify my below points with respect to this Task Viewer Add-in

1) The task url which we are being shown in the mail would be a normal task built on SAIL or any additional things to be configured for making it Embedded Interface?

2) Does the user on whose Outlook the Add-in is configured could be a Non-Appian user?

3) What will be the Assignment of the task which we are sharing in mail

I couldn't find answers to these points in the documentation shared hence requesting for your help.Thanks in Advance.

Bhanu Voora

Note: at this time, this functionality is limited to the versions listed in Appian's documentation.

To your questions:

1) no additional work. 

2) The recipient needs to be an appian user.

3) Assign the task to the user.

This is why I bring in SSO.  If these users are a small few high-level executives.  You can go to the effort to set up their PC's with the necessary add-ins, and to verify SSO is working for them.  Then the users don't need to goto Appian - they just complete the task in their inbox.