Anaplan - a powerful flexible tool with nearly endless potential
May 15, 2017

Anaplan - a powerful flexible tool with nearly endless potential

Tara Kirby | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Anaplan

Our road map is to implement Anaplan globally to connect all departments and all levels of the organization for end to end planning, management reporting and analysis. Our initial phases focused on seamlessly connecting orders reporting and forecasting to revenue and gross margin forecasting. Anaplan allows all levels of the organization to have one version of the data and was the catalyst for rolling out consistent forecasting processes across all regions and functions. Anaplan will bring efficiency to our organization by eliminating shadow finance activities, improving data integrity and allowing consistent on demand analytics.
  • It is a very user-friendly platform that allows individuals without IT backgrounds to build models in simple syntax. If you know how to use Excel, you will be able to pick up model building in Anaplan with relative ease using the guided build methodology.
  • Anaplan is a blank slate that allows for multi-dimension models in which we determine the dimensions versus forcing us to adhere to predetermined dimensions.
  • Maintaining our company hierarchies in data hub allows us to change information there and have it automatically pushed out to all spoke models versus changing 10-20 spreadsheets.
  • The dashboard functionality is basic therefore, we have to bring in Tableau to provide a more professional view of the outputs as well as to allow management to more easily slice and dice data.
  • There is an Anaplan learning center however, I have not found it useful when I have questions. We are fortunate to have Aviana Global guiding us through the initial phases of our process. Without our consultants, learning Anaplan would be overwhelming.
  • The Anaplan Connect needs to be improved. We are considering a third party ETL, but we prefer that Anaplan have this capability built into its platform.
Anaplan was an easy choice because two other divisions in our company used it in limited ways - either only sales ops or financial reporting. In addition, it was the hands down best choice given the complexity and size of our organization. We operate in a highly matrixed organization across the globe therefore, we needed a powerful and flexible platform; not all options allowed for this flexibility nor were they suited for large multi-national companies.
Because it is flexible, Anaplan is well suited for complex global organizations. We are a multi-matrix organization therefore, having the ability to establish multiple hierarchies in data hub and use those to slice and dice in the spoke models improves efficiency and accuracy. We are in the early stages of our implementation therefore, we are yet to encounter scenarios where Anaplan is not appropriate. My guess would be that if you have a small company with little complexity, then you might consider a less powerful tool.

Anaplan Feature Ratings

Long-term financial planning
Not Rated
Financial budgeting
9
Forecasting
9
Scenario modeling
7
Management reporting
8
Financial data consolidation
9
Journal entries and reports
Not Rated
Local and consolidated reporting
Not Rated
Detailed Audit Trails
Not Rated
Financial Statement Reporting
Not Rated
Management Reporting
8
Excel-based Reporting
9
Personalized dashboards
6
Color-coded scorecards
6
Cost and profitability analysis
9
Key Performance Indicator setting
6
Flat file integration
9
Excel data integration
9
Direct links to 3rd-party data sources
7