Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software is often used by governments but Application Platform-as-a-Service (aPaaS) is better suited for modernization efforts as it allows building customized applications rapidly. Unlike COTS that may only satisfy 80% of needs, aPaaS provides 100% of requirements while reducing legacy infrastructure costs. It enables multiple applications on shared infrastructure and mobile app development without maintaining different OS versions. aPaaS deployed on FedRAMP certified cloud reduces security spending needs.

1. COTS vs aPaaS:
When 80% isn’t
Good Enough

2. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
software has long been the answer
for many government needs.
However, Application
Platform-as-a-Service (aPaaS)
is the future for any organization
that is serious about IT
modernization efforts.

3. aPaaS holds the key to digital
transformation.
It’s the underlying technology that allows
government agencies to rapidly build
and customize innovative applications.
Why?

4. The 80/20 Rule
If you failed to discover a product
that satisfies at least 80 percent
of your requirements, you would
consider building a solution
or accept a COTS solution as
‘good enough’.

5. The problem with these choices
is that you're destined to be
unsatisfied:
Either the custom solution takes
too long to build, or you discover
the remaining 20% of your
requirements are actually critical
to your success.

6. The 100% Solution
Achieve the 100% solution, while also
reducing the cost of your legacy infrastructure.

7. Although operations and maintenance
(O&M) costs will never be eliminated,
with aPaaS, further funds can be allocated
toward new technologies.
In a report by Forrester Research,
the measured economic value for customers
interviewed for the report totaled over
$28M over a three year period.

8. Within your public sector agency,
multiple applications can be
deployed on the same set
of infrastructure.
Additionally, unlike COTS point
solutions, these applications can
serve virtually any function that
an agency performs.
Reduce Your Operations
and Maintenance Spending

9. Integration components are
shared by developers, which
ultimately reduces
the level of effort to tie new
applications into an existing
legacy environment.

10. By leveraging aPaaS for development,
your organization can easily build and deploy
native mobile applications, removing
the responsibility for maintaining and testing code
against multiple mobile operating system versions.
1 2 3 4 5

11. Deploying your applications
on a managed, FedRAMP
certified cloud reduces
the need to spend
on IT security to maintain
the environment.

12. aPaaS is the perfect driver for innovation within public sector,
as it gives organizations the flexibility they need for rapid, agile
development. Through aPaaS and Appian, federal agencies can now
create and deploy applications 10x faster.
aPaaS is the perfect driver

13. Benefits
of the Cloud
The Appian Platform is available
in the cloud with the security
certifications government
agencies need in order to ensure
a well governed and compliant
solution.

14. This can dramatically reduce overhead
costs for maintaining systems while
allowing the vendor to manage uptime.
Moving to the cloud also ensures a clear
upgrade path for future releases, all
handled by the vendor.

15. Visit our Federal resource center
to learn how your agency can harness the
power of the Appian Platform to uncover
strategies for high-speed, cost-effective IT
modernization that fit your specific
organization demands.
appian.com/federal

16. Learn More
twitter.com/appian
facebook.com/AppianCorporation
linkedin.com/company/appian-corporation
youtube.com/user/appian
appian.com/blog