Anaplan vs. SAP Business Warehouse

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Anaplan
Score 8.7 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Anaplan is a transformative way to see, plan, and run your business. Using its proprietary Hyperblock™ technology, Anaplan lets you contextualize real-time performance, and forecast future outcomes for faster, confident decisions. Anaplan enables connected strategy and planning across your enterprise to move your business forward. Based in San Francisco, Anaplan has over 200 partners and more than 2,000 customers worldwide.N/A
SAP BW
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
SAP Business Warehouse, or SAP BW (formerly SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse) is SAP's legacy data warehouse solution, now superseded by SAP BW/4HANA, and the SAP Data Warehouse Cloud which was launched in 2019. SAP BW versions up to 7.4 have reached end of maintenance. SAP BW 7.5 support is extended to align with SAP Business Suite with NetWeaver components. For existing customers maintenance is scheduled to continue through 2027, with extended support available through 2030.N/A
Pricing
AnaplanSAP Business Warehouse
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AnaplanSAP BW
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AnaplanSAP Business Warehouse
Considered Both Products
Anaplan
Chose Anaplan
Anaplan is a way more efficient solution that SAP BW. Performance of Anaplan beats SAP definitely and people prefer to use Anaplan more than SAP. It's much easier to adopt Anaplan which is easy than SAP which needs some experience before using it efficiently. Generally Anaplan …
Chose Anaplan
Prior to Anaplan I used SAP with BW. It has been several years since I used BW but in comparison Anaplan is much easier to build out forecast and reports and easier to understand calculations. It also provides greater visibility to end users on how items are calculated. Also …
SAP BW

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
AnaplanSAP Business Warehouse
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
7.5
205 Ratings
4% below category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Pixel Perfect reports6.41 Ratings00 Ratings
Customizable dashboards8.7205 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
9.1
2 Ratings
10% above category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis9.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities9.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration9.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
8.8
212 Ratings
7% above category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Publish to Web9.11 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to PDF8.6211 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Versioning9.1185 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.33 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
8.2
2 Ratings
7% above category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)9.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization9.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics6.42 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
9.3
215 Ratings
7% above category average
SAP Business Warehouse
8.8
3 Ratings
0% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)9.12 Ratings9.73 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model9.6215 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)9.12 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control9.670 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)9.12 Ratings9.73 Ratings
Location-Based Data Governance00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
7.7
205 Ratings
1% below category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access8.4196 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Application7.7184 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.0191 Ratings00 Ratings
Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
Comparison of Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
9.1
317 Ratings
9% above category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Long-term financial planning9.4292 Ratings00 Ratings
Financial budgeting9.5296 Ratings00 Ratings
Forecasting9.3305 Ratings00 Ratings
Scenario modeling9.2307 Ratings00 Ratings
Management reporting8.1306 Ratings00 Ratings
Consolidation and Close
Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
7.3
272 Ratings
9% below category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Financial data consolidation8.5252 Ratings00 Ratings
Journal entries and reports7.6208 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency management6.211 Ratings00 Ratings
Intercompany Eliminations6.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Minority Ownership6.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Local and consolidated reporting8.5241 Ratings00 Ratings
Detailed Audit Trails8.4253 Ratings00 Ratings
Financial Reporting and Compliance
Comparison of Financial Reporting and Compliance features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
8.4
289 Ratings
3% above category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Financial Statement Reporting8.8268 Ratings00 Ratings
Management Reporting8.2280 Ratings00 Ratings
Excel-based Reporting7.8258 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated board and financial reporting9.013 Ratings00 Ratings
Analytics and Reporting
Comparison of Analytics and Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
9.1
308 Ratings
12% above category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Personalized dashboards8.6302 Ratings00 Ratings
Color-coded scorecards9.2287 Ratings00 Ratings
KPIs9.119 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost and profitability analysis9.3266 Ratings00 Ratings
Key Performance Indicator setting9.4276 Ratings00 Ratings
Benchmarking with external data9.113 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration
Comparison of Integration features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
8.8
314 Ratings
5% above category average
SAP Business Warehouse
-
Ratings
Flat file integration9.6304 Ratings00 Ratings
Excel data integration8.5283 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct links to 3rd-party data sources8.4264 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Modeling
Comparison of Data Modeling features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
-
Ratings
SAP Business Warehouse
9.0
3 Ratings
12% above category average
Data model creation00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Data Exploration
Comparison of Data Exploration features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
-
Ratings
SAP Business Warehouse
5.6
3 Ratings
3% above category average
Visualization00 Ratings5.63 Ratings
Data Warehouse
Comparison of Data Warehouse features of Product A and Product B
Anaplan
-
Ratings
SAP Business Warehouse
7.7
3 Ratings
1% above category average
High-Volume Data Processing00 Ratings8.03 Ratings
Data Warehouse Management00 Ratings9.33 Ratings
Administrative Automation00 Ratings7.63 Ratings
Self-Optimization00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AnaplanSAP Business Warehouse
Small Businesses
IBM Planning Analytics
IBM Planning Analytics
Score 8.2 out of 10
Google BigQuery
Google BigQuery
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Centage
Centage
Score 9.5 out of 10
Cloudera Enterprise Data Hub
Cloudera Enterprise Data Hub
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Prophix
Prophix
Score 8.9 out of 10
Oracle Exadata
Oracle Exadata
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AnaplanSAP Business Warehouse
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(326 ratings)
8.3
(14 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(35 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.9
(54 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.7
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.8
(22 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.9
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.1
(6 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(27 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.4
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.3
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AnaplanSAP Business Warehouse
Likelihood to Recommend
Anaplan
Anaplan is great for enterprise clients that want to pursue a path of connected planning. If designed correctly, a data hub can be your central data repository which acts a shared dataset across your organization. From Marketing and Sales, to HR and Finance - Anaplan will be the one source of truth as individuals contribute to the business process.
Read full review
SAP
SAP BW is best for: 1. Large enterprises 2. Enterprises with 3+ legacy systems with entrenched users (politically difficult to merge) 3. Enterprises with employees who can understand both the technical capabilities of SAP BW and the needs of the business users - ability to speak both languages, otherwise the program could be unwieldy and potentially underutilized (it's not particularly inexpensive) SAP BW is less appropriate for: 1. Small enterprises 2. Enterprises who have well established, same location, CRM and UFS - the integration of data analysis will be easier and less expensive with other solutions 3. HANA
Read full review
Pros
Anaplan
  • Anaplan has a very fast calculation engine which is able to model across multiple dimensions in real time across huge data sets. This helps in calculating complex scenarios instantaneously
  • Easy to maintain by business teams which reduces dependency on IT teams within the organization and also on external consultants
  • Advanced Tenant controls which allows administrators to manage security and access across various models
Read full review
SAP
  • It tracks bin locations for parts which can be really helpful.
  • SAP Business Warehouse tells you who has a part checked out so you can find it.
  • It shows current parts shortages so buyers are flagged to get parts on order based on current demand.
Read full review
Cons
Anaplan
  • I would like there to be additional visualization improvements/features for reports
  • Additional technical support resources would be great to quickly resolve bugs
  • I would like for improvements around the ability to have a lot of dimensions in a table of data and the speed around processing those calcs.
Read full review
SAP
  • Age of software is showing as it struggles with very large data modules, which were not as prevalent in its early years
  • Querying performance at times can be very slow
  • Support and development for BEx has been discontinued or hard to find.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Anaplan
Anaplan is a very strong multi-dimensional modeling tool that provides a calculation engine to empower a complex planning process. It is fairly easy to learn for those with experience in similar tools, or excel. It forces structure and auditability that spread sheets do not have, along with extensive security capabilities
Read full review
SAP
No answers on this topic
Usability
Anaplan
Anaplan is very usable from a user perspective. Anaplan's level 1 and level 2 training courses are great resources and I highly recommend any power users of the platform consider completing both. These courses showcase, and therefore unlock an understanding of the platform which allows for quick and easy, agile, and iterative front end design
Read full review
SAP
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Anaplan
There are very few outages. Maintenance is scheduled on two or three Saturdays per month, so as not to affect businesses. When there is an outage, users are kept informed of progress to restore the platform and typically this takes no more than an hour. Anaplan customer support is very responsive if we ever have questions about platform issues
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Performance
Anaplan
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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SAP
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Anaplan
Support quality has dropped since Thoma Bravo has taken over. I think some serious re-focus needs to happen here -- part of the beauty of being in the Anaplan community was how involved you felt in it before. Before I didn't dread sending a support ticket, now I am starting to.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
Anaplan
In my opinion, in-person training is always the best if you have the option to do so. This allows real-time interactions with the instructions, whereas the online training I took required me to write-down questions, email them, and wait for responses. This slows down the process, as you can imagine. That said, in-person training is an extra cost and it likely isn't needed for everyone. I would suggest selecting a small number of people to take in-person training and then having them act as mentors to the rest of your team. That way, as the rest of the team takes the online training, they have a resource to help them in real time.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Anaplan
Anaplan training materials are clear, simple, easy to understand and to follow. Visuals are excellent. The vendor is good at updating training materials in a timely manner and encouraging users and administrators to keep coming back to Academy site for refresher courses or new feature courses. I really like their interactive diagrams
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Anaplan
The platform allows a flexible implementation mechanic to be put in place, since the possibilities and functionalities are vast and there are very few things the tool cannot do well. The solutions for the financial planning and the integrated business planning we put in place were easily adopted by the end users and their day-to-day work was made easier.
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Anaplan
Compared to OneStream and Venna Anaplan offers a more modern look and feel of the platform. It is better situated and maintained in regards of platform updates as it's a full SaaS software there are never any issues with the system version as it's always automatically up to date with no backward compatibility issues. Due to the flexible nature of the modelling engine, it is also better suited to perform larger multi-department use cases, like IBP (Integrated Business Planning)
Read full review
SAP
SAP Business Warehouse scores higher in data warehouse functionalities for integration to SAP ERP and other SAP solutions such as SAP CRM, SAP APO, and SAP SRM. Standard SAP data source extractors which are available in SAP ERP can be used immediately for full or delta replication into SAP Business Warehouse. System governance in SAP Business Warehouse is top-notch with change management support for migration between system landscape from the development system to production system.
Read full review
Scalability
Anaplan
We have managed to leverage Anaplan for financial planning and forecasting across the business. It is now used by almost every department, with more than 50 users (but I know of companies that have hundreds of users) and still the platform is quick and reliable. It is easy to make changes to divisions and departments or add users and apply different user settings - the core part of the model is not affected and end users can continue their work without any disruption
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SAP
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Anaplan
  • We've typically seen an average of 40% removal of time from processes using Anaplan an enabler
  • Though difficult to quantify, we consistently find our processes less error prone than in the past. Essentially, we've removed a previously "hidden cost" of risk due to poor data quality that was buried in our processes.
Read full review
SAP
  • Positive - This tool report output is in Excel so it's a good tool if your users are familiar with Excel.
  • Positive: this tool has rich BI content so developing extractors for standard processes from SAP ECC can be done in minutes.
  • Negative: It lacks lot of features which are available in other newer tools today. For ex. - rich charts, rich filtering, exporting capabilities, user interface.
  • Negative: Its not a plug and play tool like Qlikview, Lumira, or Tableau. Even a single report development in this tool takes a lot of time compared to others.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Anaplan Screenshots

Screenshot of Platform: The Anaplan platform is a unified cloud-based solution that connects people, data and plans to enable complex scenario modeling and drive growthScreenshot of OpEx Planning: Review revenue-target-setting goals by brand, season, and capacity all on one, unified, highly-visual dashboardScreenshot of Supply Planning: Break down costs across assembly production to project profitability and align your supply chain to market opportunitiesScreenshot of Territory and Quota Planning: Keep track of sales goals and quotas across territories and industries to optimize sales performanceScreenshot of Headcount Planning: Easily align workforce plans with your strategic plans and quickly see where the best qualified talent resides to fit your organization’s staffing needsScreenshot of Marketing: Eliminate spreadsheets to drive efficiency across planning and manage budget against planned activity