Item: Anaplan
Rating: 9
Author: Ravi Vandavagili

Overall Satisfaction with Anaplan

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Overall 6+ year of experience in Anaplan we implement Sales Planning, Headcount Planning and Financial Planning. To manage monthly, Quarterly and Annual planning for all use cases. Anaplan helped to integrate many data sources, Prior to using Anaplan we used to excel and workday Planning, sometime it is difficult to maintain. We are now planning to implement demand , Capacity and Scenario planning in Anaplan..

Pros and Cons

Pros

We are use using cloud works to run the weekly data into Datahub to Account Metrics and then to Territory and Quota Planning.
While creating formulas with automatic suggestions.
We integrated the different sources example - SAP to IICS to Anaplan

Cons

For end user should have provided more options
Reporting should be more stronger
Sizing issues

Return on Investment

Capex based planning
operating Revenue calcuations
Intelligent decision making

Alternatives Considered

Workday Adaptive Planning

Anaplan has greater flexibility and ease of use for any use cases, It connect different planning models with ease and making it is easy to adjust to changing business structures. It is able to handle large data, it is also helps complex planning and Analytics. It is well suited to a number of planning models across business.

Key Insights

Do you think Anaplan delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Anaplan's feature set?

Yes

Did Anaplan live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Anaplan go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Anaplan again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Informatica Cloud Data Integration, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform, Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Likelihood to Recommend

During my 6+ year of experience have implement many uses cases, When we compare with other products with Anaplan is excels connected planning which covers all the uses cases, Very flexible to implement any uses cases and great platform for make integrations. Recently with new cloud works features helped our business to run the weekly data , we are able to schedule the time and with all the process in one time go. Hypermodel ability to hold large data of various use cases.

Anaplan Feature Ratings

Anaplan Implementation

Implementation Rating

Implementing Anaplan can be transformative for organizations looking to enhance their planning, forecasting and performance management processes. Here are key insights to consider when implementing Anaplan:
1. Start Small: Focus on high-impact areas first and scale gradually.
2. Data Quality: Ensure Clean, accurate, and integrated data for effective modeling.
3. Cross-functional Teams: Involve all relevant departments early for a holistic solution.
4. User Training: Prioritize user adaption with clear training and intuitive dashboards.
5. Iterative Approach: Build and refine models over time, starting with basic Version (MVP).

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

Yes - Yes, Anaplan implementations are typically broken into Phases:
1. Discovery & Planning: Define goals and gather requirements.
2. Model Design: Build and MVP and validate the users.
3. Data integration: Clean and integrate data with existing systems.
4. Testing & Training: Test functionality and train users.
5. Go-Live: Launch, gather feedback, and refine models.

Change Management Lessons

Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled - Yes, Organizational change management is essential in Anaplan implementations to ensure user adoption and smooth transition to new process.

Implementation Issues

Complex Integration: Connecting Anaplan to legacy system can be challenging
Scope Creeps: Expanding the project delays initial plans can cause delays.

Comments

Please log in to join the conversation

Anaplan is flexible for all business use cases