This question is in regard to loops in process models as it relates to Appian Health Checks. Recently I have taken on a more administrative role and one of my regular tasks is to review monthly health checks across our environments. During these reviews I see a lot of items related to looping processes. I understand large looped processes may not be performant. The thing that drew my attention and for which I have not found a relevant explanation in documentation is the health check description (see below) the highlighted section says that 10 or more nodes is considered high (makes sense) but 2 or more is medium. That seems like a very low threshold.
1 process flow(s) contain unattended loops with 10 or more nodes (High) and 19 process flow(s) contain unattended loops with 2 or more nodes (Medium). Looping is typically an indication of using processes to perform extract-transform-load (ETL) type operations. It is recommended to use specific ETL tools (such as a database) to implement complex and bulk background operations.
I realize that high and medium do not define an absolute metric but I regularly would design processes that looped over 2-4 nodes and I never considered that a bad or risky practice. Is there something here I'm not understanding?
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You probably already knew this, but as some level of reassurance, just remember that much of their automated guidance needs to be taken with a large grain of salt.