What users are saying about
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Top Rated
362 Ratings
Anaplan
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Top Rated
362 Ratings
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Based on 362 reviews and ratings
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
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Top Rated
180 Ratings
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Based on 180 reviews and ratings
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Likelihood to Recommend

9.1
Anaplan
91%
214 Ratings
9.3
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
93%
74 Ratings
Likelihood to Renew

8.8
Anaplan
88%
6 Ratings
8.3
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
83%
4 Ratings
Usability

9.0
Anaplan
90%
4 Ratings
8.0
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
80%
39 Ratings
Availability

9.1
Anaplan
91%
3 Ratings
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
N/A
0 Ratings
Performance

9.1
Anaplan
91%
3 Ratings
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
N/A
0 Ratings
Support Rating

9.1
Anaplan
91%
6 Ratings
9.0
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
90%
82 Ratings
In-Person Training

3.0
Anaplan
30%
1 Rating
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
N/A
0 Ratings
Online Training

9.1
Anaplan
91%
2 Ratings
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
N/A
0 Ratings
Implementation Rating

9.1
Anaplan
91%
25 Ratings
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
N/A
0 Ratings
Product Scalability

9.1
Anaplan
91%
2 Ratings
9.1
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
91%
1 Rating
Likelihood to Recommend
Anaplan
Depending on the specific requirements there are areas in which some tools perform better than others or are more adequate than others. For example, Anaplan doesn’t offer the on-premises solution being a natively cloud SaaS; instead, Anaplan allows real-time calculations and refresh of the entire model with the possibility to fully drill down the results. Therefore, a preliminary software selection would be desirable to select the software that best fits the requirements. Anaplan is capable to support and connect very well any planning process, instead, it is not the most appropriate tool for use cases like detailed transactions storage.

Verified User
Manager in Finance and Accounting
Management Consulting Company, 10,001+ employeesIBM Planning Analytics with Watson
IBM is a strong and go-to solution in daily needs for all analytics need right from Marketing, sales, and designing different data model depending on different process or business characteristics which differs from different season to Season along with the data available from the past making sure maximum dimensions are considered a while modeling. Having a strong scalability platform like Watson makes sure resource is never an issue to the creativity of data modeling and having a next-generation data model which can be leveraged as a backbone all streamline models for machine learning and artificial intelligence e capabilities for stronger next-generation enterprise decision-making.

Verified User
Account Manager in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employeesPros
Anaplan
- 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

Verified User
Professional in Finance and Accounting
Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employeesIBM Planning Analytics with Watson
- [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.

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 11-50 employeesCons
Anaplan
- 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.
Master Architect
Anheuser Busch In BevFood & Beverages, 10,001+ employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
- 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.
Strategic Planning Manager
Home Assist HealthHospital & Health Care, 51-200 employees
Pricing Details
Anaplan
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Entry-level set up fee?
Optional
Starting Price
—IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Likelihood to Renew
Anaplan
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.
Anaplan Solution Architect
B EYE LtdInformation Technology & Services, 51-200 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
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.

Verified User
Employee in Human Resources
Banking Company, 10,001+ employeesUsability
Anaplan
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.
Director, Financial Planning & Analysis
Cherwell SoftwareComputer Software, 201-500 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
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.

Verified User
Consultant in Professional Services
Information Technology & Services Company, 10,001+ employeesReliability and Availability
Anaplan
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.
Manager, Financial Systems
Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Performance
Anaplan
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.
Manager, Financial Systems
Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Anaplan
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.
Manager, Financial Systems
Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
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.
Web Developer
BBVA Next TechnologiesComputer Software, 1001-5000 employees
In-Person Training
Anaplan
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.
Manager, Financial Systems
Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Anaplan
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.
Anaplan Consultant
EnqueroComputer Software, 501-1000 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Anaplan
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.
Head of Sales Compensation
Robert HalfStaffing and Recruiting, 10,001+ employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Anaplan
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].

Verified User
C-Level Executive in Professional Services
Computer Software Company, 1-10 employeesIBM Planning Analytics with Watson
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.
Human Resources Recruiter
WalmartRetail, 10,001+ employees
Scalability
Anaplan
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.
Manager, Financial Systems
Research NowMarket Research, 1001-5000 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson 9.1
Based on 1 answer
No answer on this topic is available.
Return on Investment
Anaplan
- 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.
Senior Consultant
Deloitte India (Offices of the US)Information Technology & Services, 5001-10,000 employees
IBM Planning Analytics with Watson
- 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.
Senior Account Executive
GiggComputer Software, 11-50 employees