RESTON, VA--(Marketwired - Jan 21, 2014) -   Appian, the market leader in modern business process management (BPM) software, congratulates the Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (DSDIP) for its recognition as the overall winner of the Planning Institute of Australia's (PIA) 2013 Queensland Awards for Planning Excellence. DSDIP, the lead state agency for land use planning, was recognized for its implementation of a new Appian-based system, called "MyDAS," for accelerating the application, assessment and approval process for development projects requiring state agency involvement. MyDAS drives process efficiency and transparency for DSDIP's State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA). SARA supports the state government's key priority to create the most efficient and effective planning and development assessment system in Australia. SARA not only won the 2013 Improving Planning Processes and Practices Award, but also took out the Overall Winner Award from a field of 14 finalists and a total of 70 nominees.

The PIA is Australia's national body representing all planning industry professionals and organizations. Through education, communication and professional development, PIA is a pivotal organization serving and guiding thousands of planning professionals in their role to create better communities and deliver improved planning processes.

"The recognition of the SARA program is a great accomplishment for our department," said Seija Wellington, Manager, SARA Systems Innovation Team, DSDIP. "SARA is an example of our efforts to improve the efficiency of development assessment across multiple state agencies and the development industry."

Last July, the DSDIP launched SARA to reorganize and streamline development applications covering everything from high-rise building permits, to clearing vegetation. The DSDIP sought out Appian to build a completely new system that would support the efficient on-line operation of SARA for both the department, other state agencies, and developers. The system (MyDAS) takes applications directly from the web, then coordinates the process of development assessment by DSDIP with potential input from multiple state agencies. This allows for the efficient assessment of a range of issues based on legislated criteria -- while helping the interested parties manage the legislated service levels, and saving applicants time and money. The system also supports ease of submission and tracking of the application process. The go-live date for the system needed to coincide with the launch of the new SARA agency, and Appian was able to develop and deploy the system in less than three months. Appian has created a single agency assessment point for development applications, where the state has jurisdiction and decision making authority.

The Appian BPM Suite is a modern work platform that empowers all employees in an organization to make smart and efficient decisions, and take rapid business action. Appian discovers and unites enterprise data, connects users through social and collaborative engagement in the context of business data, and provides the leading BPM platform to execute business processes, enforce rules, and ensure all actions taken by users are in accordance with corporate policies and procedures. Appian delivers its full suite capabilities on-premise and in the cloud, on the desktop and on all major mobile device platforms.

"SARA is an innovative program that delivers enhanced business performance and agility to streamline the assessment and approval of development projects," said Matt Calkins, President and CEO at Appian. "We heartily congratulate DSDIP on this well-deserved recognition."

About Appian
 Appian's market leading Business Process Management (BPM) Suite seamlessly integrates work automation with native mobile and social capabilities. All the data, all the processes, all the documents and all the collaborations - in one environment, on any device, through a simple social interface. The Appian BPM Suite is available on-premise and in the cloud, with complete portability. More than 3.5 million users, from Fortune 100 companies to the mid-market and small businesses worldwide, trust Appian to power their critical business processes. For more information, visit www.appian.com.