Anaplan vs IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

What users are saying about

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Score 8.9 out of 10

Based on 362 reviews and ratings

Score 8.7 out of 10

Based on 180 reviews and ratings

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Feature Set Ratings

Anaplan ranks higher in 6 feature sets: Ad-hoc Reporting, Report Output and Scheduling, Data Discovery and Visualization, Access Control and Security, Financial Reporting and Compliance, Analytics and Reporting
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson ranks higher in 5 feature sets: BI Standard Reporting, Mobile Capabilities, Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting, Consolidation and Close, Integration

BI Standard Reporting

7.6

Anaplan

76%

7.7

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

77%

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson ranks higher in 2/3 features

Pixel Perfect reports

6.4

64%

1 Rating

7.7

77%

53 Ratings

Customizable dashboards

8.7

87%

105 Ratings

7.8

78%

59 Ratings

Report Formatting Templates

N/A

0 Ratings

7.5

75%

55 Ratings

Ad-hoc Reporting

8.4

Anaplan

84%

7.9

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

79%

Anaplan ranks higher in 3/4 features

Drill-down analysis

8.6

86%

2 Ratings

7.9

79%

62 Ratings

Formatting capabilities

8.2

82%

2 Ratings

7.8

78%

63 Ratings

Report sharing and collaboration

8.2

82%

2 Ratings

7.9

79%

60 Ratings

Integration with R or other statistical packages

N/A

0 Ratings

7.7

77%

49 Ratings

Report Output and Scheduling

8.5

Anaplan

85%

7.8

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

78%

Anaplan ranks higher in 4/4 features

Publish to Web

9.1

91%

1 Rating

7.7

77%

58 Ratings

Publish to PDF

8.2

82%

107 Ratings

7.9

79%

58 Ratings

Report Versioning

8.5

85%

93 Ratings

7.7

77%

58 Ratings

Report Delivery Scheduling

8.3

83%

3 Ratings

7.8

78%

52 Ratings

Data Discovery and Visualization

8.0

Anaplan

80%

7.8

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

78%

Anaplan ranks higher in 2/3 features

Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)

8.6

86%

2 Ratings

8.1

81%

63 Ratings

Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization

8.2

82%

2 Ratings

7.8

78%

59 Ratings

Predictive Analytics

7.3

73%

2 Ratings

7.6

76%

54 Ratings

Access Control and Security

9.2

Anaplan

92%

8.2

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

82%

Anaplan ranks higher in 4/4 features

Multi-User Support (named login)

9.1

91%

2 Ratings

8.2

82%

64 Ratings

Role-Based Security Model

9.4

94%

108 Ratings

8.2

82%

64 Ratings

Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)

9.1

91%

2 Ratings

8.1

81%

65 Ratings

Single Sign-On (SSO)

9.1

91%

2 Ratings

8.1

81%

60 Ratings

Mobile Capabilities

7.7

Anaplan

77%

7.9

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

79%

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson ranks higher in 2/3 features

Responsive Design for Web Access

8.6

86%

98 Ratings

7.5

75%

57 Ratings

Mobile Application

7.4

74%

81 Ratings

8.1

81%

73 Ratings

Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile

7.6

76%

91 Ratings

8.0

80%

44 Ratings

Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting

8.9

Anaplan

89%

9.4

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

94%

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson ranks higher in 5/5 features

Long-term financial planning

9.1

91%

185 Ratings

9.4

94%

67 Ratings

Financial budgeting

9.3

93%

189 Ratings

9.7

97%

68 Ratings

Forecasting

9.3

93%

200 Ratings

9.4

94%

68 Ratings

Scenario modeling

9.1

91%

201 Ratings

9.3

93%

67 Ratings

Management reporting

7.8

78%

199 Ratings

9.3

93%

67 Ratings

Consolidation and Close

7.0

Anaplan

70%

7.9

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

79%

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson ranks higher in 5/7 features

Financial data consolidation

8.2

82%

150 Ratings

7.7

77%

63 Ratings

Journal entries and reports

7.2

72%

116 Ratings

7.3

73%

59 Ratings

Multi-currency management

6.2

62%

11 Ratings

8.1

81%

59 Ratings

Intercompany Eliminations

6.0

60%

8 Ratings

7.7

77%

59 Ratings

Minority Ownership

6.0

60%

7 Ratings

7.6

76%

54 Ratings

Local and consolidated reporting

8.1

81%

140 Ratings

7.7

77%

62 Ratings

Detailed Audit Trails

7.4

74%

148 Ratings

9.3

93%

64 Ratings

Financial Reporting and Compliance

8.3

Anaplan

83%

8.1

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

81%

Anaplan ranks higher in 3/5 features

Financial Statement Reporting

8.1

81%

162 Ratings

8.0

80%

63 Ratings

Management Reporting

8.2

82%

173 Ratings

8.1

81%

61 Ratings

Excel-based Reporting

7.9

79%

159 Ratings

8.2

82%

64 Ratings

Automated board and financial reporting

9.0

90%

13 Ratings

8.2

82%

58 Ratings

XBRL support for regulatory filing

N/A

0 Ratings

7.8

78%

44 Ratings

Analytics and Reporting

8.7

Anaplan

87%

8.0

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

80%

Anaplan ranks higher in 6/6 features

Personalized dashboards

8.9

89%

199 Ratings

8.2

82%

64 Ratings

Color-coded scorecards

8.6

86%

183 Ratings

7.8

78%

62 Ratings

KPIs

8.1

81%

19 Ratings

8.0

80%

64 Ratings

Cost and profitability analysis

8.6

86%

162 Ratings

8.0

80%

63 Ratings

Key Performance Indicator setting

9.0

90%

172 Ratings

8.1

81%

61 Ratings

Benchmarking with external data

8.7

87%

13 Ratings

8.1

81%

53 Ratings

Integration

8.8

Anaplan

88%

8.9

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

89%

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson ranks higher in 3/3 features

Flat file integration

9.3

93%

198 Ratings

9.4

94%

63 Ratings

Excel data integration

8.7

87%

184 Ratings

8.7

87%

63 Ratings

Direct links to 3rd-party data sources

8.4

84%

163 Ratings

8.6

86%

56 Ratings

Attribute Ratings

Anaplan is rated higher in 3 areas: Likelihood to Renew, Usability, Support Rating
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson is rated higher in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend
Anaplan and IBM Planning Analytics with Watson are tied in 1 area: Product Scalability

Anaplan

91%

214 Ratings

9.3

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

93%

74 Ratings

Anaplan

88%

6 Ratings

8.3

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

83%

4 Ratings

Anaplan

90%

4 Ratings

8.0

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

80%

39 Ratings

Anaplan

91%

3 Ratings

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

N/A

0 Ratings

Anaplan

91%

3 Ratings

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

N/A

0 Ratings

Anaplan

91%

6 Ratings

9.0

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

90%

82 Ratings

Anaplan

30%

1 Rating

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

N/A

0 Ratings

Anaplan

91%

2 Ratings

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

N/A

0 Ratings

Anaplan

91%

25 Ratings

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

N/A

0 Ratings

Anaplan

91%

2 Ratings

9.1

IBM Planning Analytics with Watson

91%

1 Rating

Pros

Flexibility - the tool can be built the suite the company's needs. It allows for maximum customization for even the most complex business models.
Data Integrations - the tool has the ability to connect to many different data sources so that data can be passed seamlessly.
Connected Planning - the tool allows for teams across the organization to pass information and data back and forth between models, enhancing the ability to do connected planning

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Verified User

Professional in Finance and Accounting

Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employees

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[I appreciate the] ability to work with the same Excel functionality we’re familiar with while having the power of an enterprise planning solution.
We can change the number of users of the system or increase data volumes and planning models anytime without reducing the overall performance of the system.
We can test our assumptions and see the impact of our decisions by creating personal sandboxes before releasing them to the system.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Information Technology & Services Company, 11-50 employees

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Cons

Considering a collaborative platform, workflow features need to be more sophisticated to handle event-based triggers.
ALM governance is tedious in multiple developers set up, as it does not allow to migrate changes by each developer rather forces to migrate at a model level that includes all changes by all developers.
Reporting ability is still limited, many times dependency on other reporting tools is unavoidable.
Time referencing (e.g. default today's date) is not possible without engaging an integration interface.
NUX pages are rich in features but building pages for DEV/UAT and PROD are not straightforward.

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Bikash R Shil

Master Architect

Anheuser Busch In BevFood & Beverages, 10,001+ employees

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The interface of IBM Planning Analytics should be more updated, to suit the modern designs.
The support agents are quite slow, more so in some states and they delay the operations of the software.
[In my experience] Some IBM Planning Analytics versions fail to easily integrate with some programs like excel.

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Jadwel Mayna

Strategic Planning Manager

Home Assist HealthHospital & Health Care, 51-200 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

Optional

Starting Price

—

General

Free Trial

Yes

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

Starting Price

—

Likelihood to Renew

Anaplan 8.8

Based on 6 answers

In any line of work, a tool that is flexible and would allow different departments of your company to easily interact and exchange valuable insights, is highly anticipated and needed. For me, what Anaplan provides to a business, be it a smaller one or an enterprise customer, is an easily scaling, agile planning and modeling platform that can meet almost any need and give a high-end solution to the problems any company faces on a daily basis.

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Alexander Denchev

Anaplan Solution Architect

B EYE LtdInformation Technology & Services, 51-200 employees

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IBM Planning Analytics with Watson 8.3

Based on 4 answers

Since IBM Cognos Express is suitable only for medium data warehouse environment, we are not sure if this tool solves the long term need as the business keeps growing rapidly. So its a 50/50 ratio to renew Express license. But having said that, the components of IBM Cognos Express are also available in other Cognos BI suites like Cognos 10.x version. So we will probably upgrade our environment to IBM Cognos 10.x which comes with more new features.

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Verified User

Employee in Human Resources

Banking Company, 10,001+ employees

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Usability

Anaplan 9.0

Based on 4 answers

There is a dependency in this rating - in that I find Anaplan extremely easy to use, but I've spent the necessary time developing a strong understanding of the platform. Once you understand how to use it, the platform is flexible, easy to use, and fun to use.

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Chris Friederich

Director, Financial Planning & Analysis

Cherwell SoftwareComputer Software, 201-500 employees

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IBM Planning Analytics with Watson 8.0

Based on 39 answers

Again, some room for improvement here. Some competitors are really improving on this front and IBM must not lag behind. This will make a real difference. Overall the tool is quite intuitive and with a bit of practice works well for the mind. A more modern look would not harm.

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Verified User

Consultant in Professional Services

Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employees

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Reliability and Availability

Anaplan 9.1

Based on 3 answers

In nearly 3 years, I have only had 1 issue of being unable to access my model for an unplanned maintenance. Even planned maintenance windows are handled during low traffic hours on the weekend.

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Joe Bradbury

Manager, Financial Systems

Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Performance

Anaplan 9.1

Based on 3 answers

Everything is calculated in memory in the cloud. It's nearly instantaneous updates when you make changes. The only time things get a little slow is when you have a massive model with very intricate calculations...but "slow" for Anaplan is not what I would call "slow" for something like Hyperion. We used to have Hyperion calcs that ran for 60 mins before you could use data. The equivalent would be 60 seconds in Anaplan.

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Joe Bradbury

Manager, Financial Systems

Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Support Rating

Anaplan 9.1

Based on 6 answers

I feel like the support team is a little lacking in product knowledge. Several times I have contacted them to get help, and ended up finding a solution to my own problem before the team could get back to me with anything useful. I have also submitted a few bugs, and never got updates to when they were fixed in later releases.

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Joe Bradbury

Manager, Financial Systems

Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees

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IBM Planning Analytics with Watson 9.0

Based on 82 answers

The overall support of IBM has been very effective throughout the deployment journey. They have always been available 24/7 giving our implementation team the best support they require. They give video links that have the best lessons on effective requirements and full implementation processes. I can say that this is the best customer support team I have come across since we deployed this platform.

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Hogan Taylor

Web Developer

BBVA Next TechnologiesComputer Software, 1001-5000 employees

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In-Person Training

Anaplan 3.0

Based on 1 answer

The in-person training is simply not worth the cost. After a few weeks of playing in Anaplan, I went to the basic training and knew more than the person teaching it. a year down the road, I was the first person to complete the advance training, and again could have been teaching the class better than the person running the session. Spend some time on your own trying out different things and you will get all the understanding you need to be successful.

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Joe Bradbury

Manager, Financial Systems

Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Online Training

Anaplan 9.1

Based on 2 answers

Learning made easy . One of the best trainings i have attended. Training was very detailed training by the trainer, which helped me understand the basics of the model building. Level 1 training was easy and instructor was most helpful here. Level 2 training was challenging but was able to go thru due to understanding of the basics.

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Sai Bandaru

Anaplan Consultant

EnqueroComputer Software, 501-1000 employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Implementation Rating

Anaplan 9.1

Based on 25 answers

Agile methodology and breaking the work down into sprints was very helpful. Implementation required a deeper dive into our data than expected for the consultants to be able to construct the data model. But once it was in place, the focus on knowledge transfer enabled us to be able to use the product effectively after the team rolled off.

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Steve Ridgley

Head of Sales Compensation

Robert HalfStaffing and Recruiting, 10,001+ employees

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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

Anaplan works well where you have a requirement for complete flexibility, such as in business structure, or in calculation methodology that is bespoke. You can tailor the system to your exact requirements, whereas some products come with pre-built modules that you might struggle to do certain things with. All in all [it] depends on the business requirements as there is a different tool for a different job. Anaplan succeeds in being a very strong all [arounder].

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Verified User

C-Level Executive in Professional Services

Computer Software Company, 1-10 employees

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During our process of buying a planning and forecasting tool, we found IBM planning analytics was offering an affordable price compared to others software in the market offering the same services. also, there were many positive reviews on the internet that convinced us that we need this tool for Ur business.

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sandra roberts

Human Resources Recruiter

WalmartRetail, 10,001+ employees

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Scalability

Anaplan 9.1

Based on 2 answers

It's going to handle most of what you can throw at it. The problem lies in the sparsity of some datasets. When you have over 5ish dimensions of sparse data, the size of the model gets bloated for not much value. In several cases, I have had to adapt my model to account for sparsity in a way that minimized use of space, but also made interacting with the data more cumbersome.

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Joe Bradbury

Manager, Financial Systems

Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees

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IBM Planning Analytics with Watson 9.1

Based on 1 answer

No answer on this topic is available.

Return on Investment

The agile implementation methodology used to deploy the system has helped our clients to use and realize the benefits of the system right from the early stages of the implementation.
The system can be easily managed and maintained by the end users reducing dependency on IT teams and making business more self-sufficient.

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Pavan Kiran Bellamkonda

Senior Consultant

Deloitte India (Offices of the US)Information Technology & Services, 5001-10,000 employees

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With predictive insights on IBM Planning Analytics with Watson, it [rapidly makes] future decisions.
Evaluating [the] performance of our products in the market, client experiences, and marketing channels with this CPM tool [helps] us gain more profit.
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson has reduced [our] workload and time by streamlining and optimizing FP&A processes.

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Austin Cooper

Senior Account Executive

GiggComputer Software, 11-50 employees

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Screenshots

See All (6) Anaplan Screenshots

See All (4) IBM Planning Analytics with Watson Screenshots