Kissflow is a low-code platform for custom application development tailored to business operations. Kissflow empowers process owners and IT developers to automate and build processes and applications for internal business operations.
$1,500
per month
Oracle APEX
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
Oracle APEX (or Oracle Application Express) is an online low-code application builder that allows users to develop a database-drive application, customize the application's UI, and then give their users access to the application via URL. Oracle APEX includes a suite of pre-built productivity applications and examples, such as a Survey Builder, Bug Tracking, P-Track project management, etc
KiSSFLOW is well suited for any information heavy paperwork that multiple people approve and have access to complete work. It is less suited for processes that require a lot of back and forth with a form initiator. The workflows like to be very linear without much back tracking. It can do that but it prefers to be forward linear.
It is appropriate for database application development supporting data driven processes, online transaction processing, BI/reports/analytics ... for addressing about any business data processing need I can think of. Oracle Application Express is fantastic for creating beautiful rich user interfaces with support for all major browsers rendering well on a range of devices. It is less appropriate for applications requiring native low level access to device peripherals and is less appropriate for applications that must execute offline without network/internet connection to supporting application and database servers.
I appreciate the automatic email notifications when it is your turn to complete a task. This keeps everyone on track.
I appreciate being able to "reassign" a task as well--leaving flexibility for some folks to cover for others when needed.
I appreciate the personal check-ins from our rep, asking how things are going. That makes me feel like someone is paying attention and wants me to be happy with the product.
Learning. If you are coming from a 100% paper process and have employees who know nothing more, then there is definitely a learning curve. You will need to bring someone in to help you train employees on the core concept of the change (the "Why are we doing this" questions). KiSSFLOW does have support, but this is more getting down to the details in your own work environment.
Visual learners will love it, but not non-visual. If you are an accountant, and your brain works like an accountant, then this program will be difficult to learn. It is very visual, and I have seen more success with visual learners than any others.
Bugs. A few years ago, there were a lot of bugs. There are not that many anymore. This is to be expected with any program, so if you are training an impatient staff who doesn't do well with error messages, you will want to be sure to pad the training sessions. I have not seen error messages in a long time; however, the nature of the beast is that you won't see one until you actually find one...
For complex APEX applications you need to be a pro expert in PL/SQL
Debugging in APEX can be complicated if there is a logical error. Syntax errors will end up shown as ORA errors
Lack of designer interface. Even though you are designing a form you need to do it by means of APEX interface using a series of steps, no UI for design
Oracle specific not applicable for other databases
I felt very comfortable using Oracle Application Express from the start. I designed my data model and quickly developed the basic CRUD pages for master tables. Then I designed the main functionality and was able to test and deploy it in a couple of days work. I will probably share the app with other members of the team and continue adding some features in the short term.
The system has room to grow as it's limited by not being able to edit POs after they've been approved. The system is great for registrations and syncing to other systems while including the attachments. The reporting from Kissflow is also easy to setup to link to other platforms such as Looker
Because it's very easy to develop, fast, secure, has a lot of features. It's like a prototyping tool such as figma, but it can be used as a real product. Dynamic action, plugin, rest api, minimize a lot of coding, a lot of templates, PWA, really bring Oracle APEX functionality to be able to solve most common internal users pain points.
I haven't encountered a need for support with KiSSFLOW. It's not a perfect platform, but it's functional, dependable, and reasonably intuitive. I can't fault a support team just because their product works!
Very active and knowledgeable community support includes quick and helpful responses from the Oracle employees on the product development team. I've never had to raise an official support request - everything is dealt with via forums and user groups - or via direct emails. The supposrt commuinty is one of the great things about Apex.
Using it on the cloud is really simple, the entire process of configuring and provisioning an Oracle Database takes only a few minutes (less than 10) and then Oracle APEX is already deployed on the database, so you just have to start using it. I would strongly recommend using APEX on Oracle Cloud Free Tier.
KiSSFLOW wants you to be able to increase productivity, make it possible to "manage the chaos" (their own words) and simply make things better. It is exactly what it sounds like. For a visual learner, KiSSFLOW is perfect. It really does make good on its promise to help you manage the chaos, and it makes it easy for your employees to understand how your business works. More specifically, I recommended this program for a small school that had never automated anything. They knew nothing about the process. Bringing in KiSSFLOW allowed them to not only refine their process, but it gave awareness to other employees and ensure that they could work as a team, knowing the intricacies of how each department works (so, the Director would understand the many steps of Admissions before taking over after enrollment -- they would know what each family experienced).
Oracle APEX and Oracle Visual Builder are both low-code development platforms within the Oracle ecosystem, but they serve different purposes. Oracle APEX is more suited for the people who are familiar with SQL, PLSQL. It provides rapid application development features based on data residing in Oracle database. It's a low code platform and best suited for web based applications/extensions based on Oracle DB that may use REST APIs and other web services. It also provides mobile application support. Oracle Visual Builder is best suited for web applications based on Oracle Cloud services. It utilizes javascript based drag-drop UI builder. It's very deeply integrated with Oracle Fusion Cloud platform.
Somewhat expensive compared to other cheap (or free) task management alternatives. ROI depends on your specific needs and the size of your organization.
ROI can be ambiguous since KiSSFLOW is primarily for internal company use. A simple email thread could accomplish many of the same things, but with less efficiency.
It has increased our development output over Forms greatly. For instance, when starting at my current company, I was able to replace our aging ASP Intranet site within 4 months when our IT manager had budgeted over a year for the task.
We've been able to standardize under one technology, incorporating previously unsupportable disparate systems under one roof.
It's free with an Oracle Database so the only investment was our time, something we now have more of thanks to Application Express.
