Exam Name: Appian Lead Developer
Requirement(s): Associate and Senior Developer certification
Number of items: 35 Items
Duration: 90 Minutes
Price: $200
Cut Score: 65%*

*All exam scores are final, for more information see our program policies.

This exam validates the knowledge and skills of individuals and their knowledge and experience with leading Appian project teams to success. This page helps you understand the expectations of a Lead, as well as provide you with resources to prepare for the exam itself.

An Appian Certified Lead Developer has between one and three years of delivering Appian projects with clients. They have a comprehensive understanding of how Appian can be used to digitize, optimize, and automate Business Process Management (BPM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) strategies. Lead Developers have a complete understanding of Appian’s platform architecture and effectively use it to design and implement end-to-end transformative solutions.

Appian Certified Lead Developers lead teams by providing guidance on the technical design requirements while following development and database best practices. They make solution architecture decisions based on operability, performance, scalability, maintainability, and usability. They also present options to the client, identifying and clearly communicating the benefits and risks of each decision and solution.

Lead Developers have a holistic understanding of relational databases as well as hands-on experience implementing advanced Appian components and configurations. They have an academic understanding of extending Appian with additional authentication mechanisms, advanced user management, plug-in development, networking and more. They also monitor performance, enforce Appian user experience design guidance, develop, and document best practices, and take preemptive measures to keep projects on track.

Lastly, Appian Certified Lead Developers are responsible for managing resources with a client’s internal team (i.e. database administrators, DevOps, quality assurance, etc.) throughout the project lifecycle. They are proficient in debugging and troubleshooting most issues that escalate from Associate or Senior Developers and proactively engage Appian’s expert resources when appropriate.

Candidates should fully prepare for an exam using the objectives below as a checklist to identify possible gaps between knowledge and the skills measured by the exam. The relative weight illustrates the approximate size of each section. It is recommended that focused preparation should be in areas where any knowledge gaps are found.

Platform Management (19%)

- Implement advanced and comprehensive Appian applications to scale
- Schedule, execute, and troubleshoot application deployments across environments
- Recommend strategies based on knowledge of platform architecture
- Monitor and troubleshoot platform-based issues
- Implement user management, authentication, and authorization across the platform

Multiple-Application Best Practices (16%)

- Evaluate and design applications for consistency and reusability
- Design parallel development best practices across multiple teams
- Understand platform enterprise architecture
- Design time management standards across the platform
- Implement all administration console settings

Advanced Relational Databases (14%)

- Analyze and evaluate new and existing relational database schemas
- Migrate data between various systems
- Analyze, evaluate, and troubleshoot high-volume database structures
- Implement advanced database features

Application Load and Concurrency (16%)

- Monitor and troubleshoot all application-based issues
- Design data management strategies
- Perform and evaluate load testing
- Evaluate and design optimistic and pessimistic locking mechanisms

Extending Appian (18%)

- Design and troubleshoot advanced integrations
- Program advanced web APIs to communicate external systems
- Strategize advanced document generation
- Differentiate between various authentication mechanisms
- Evaluate existing plug-ins and recognize when to develop custom plug-ins

Project and Resource Management (17%)

- Interpret client requirements and recommend technical design options
- Coordinate and lead essential activities across multiple teams
- Recommend the protocols and procedures involved in Appian governance

Preparation is the key to certification success. While training is not required, we do provide specific course recommendations that provide you with skills validated by the exam. It’s important that you couple your technical training and familiarity with Appian documentation  with practical application to ensure your highest chances for success on your exam. Use the below resources to guide your preparation based on a thorough review of the exam objectives.

The Lead Developer certification builds upon the knowledge and skills of a Senior Developer.

Resources:

- Appian Documentation
- Appian Knowledge Base
- Appian Methodology
- Appian Max
- Lead Developer Practice Test
- Hands-on, real-world experience