My main use case for Anaplan is financial planning and supply chain. In financial planning, we receive historical data and forecast by adding a percentage of increase and growth percentage to obtain forecast data for the next couple of years. We generate gross revenue, profit, and margin reports based on these forecasts.
Anaplan
Anaplan, IncExternal reviews
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Integrated planning has improved forecasting accuracy and now saves our team significant reporting time
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Anaplan offers excellent features including workflow and cloud integration, along with cloud and integration management. Recently, I came across Data Orchestry, which represents the main features Anaplan currently provides. I also work with many features inside Anaplan's classic engine, and I would appreciate exploring that further.
Cloud integration management is straightforward. We have a Windows system where we perform scripting, and based on those tasks we handle in Anaplan, such as data loading and data exporting, we can accomplish our objectives.
Data Orchestry functions similarly to cloud integration management but is provided directly by Anaplan, where users can view the data directly, whether they are standard users or Anaplan developers. It is very useful and represents an extended version of how cloud integration works, with incremental load functionality.
Anaplan has positively impacted my organization by reducing the time my team previously spent hours on reporting. Now this time has been minimized, and they are easily maintaining things in Anaplan.
What needs improvement?
Anaplan is performing well currently and is introducing many new features, which is positive. I chose a rating of eight because there is one backlog item: we are currently not using Anaplan for data reporting purposes. If that feature becomes available in the future, I would rate it ten out of ten.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in my current field for almost four years.
What was our ROI?
I estimate that my team is saving sixty percent of the time compared to before.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for others looking into using Anaplan is that it is a better tool you can use for your purpose; it is truly a good tool. Anaplan is growing significantly, so you can build a career around it. I would suggest that freshers or any experienced candidates who would like to learn should definitely explore Anaplan, as it is a zero-code tool requiring no coding at all. I would suggest one thing for future interviews: when conducting reviews or similar assessments, it is better to ask scenario-based questions or something more interesting rather than standard questions. I rated this product eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Reporting and forecasting have become more automated through intuitive data organization and flexible number calendarization
How has it helped my organization?
Anaplan provides me with real time insights and I find it beneficial for decision making. I rate it an eight. After we have loaded our operation plan into Anaplan, it is easy to go back and recalendarize or reallocate numbers forward or backward.
For example, with rolling forecasts, you can go back after three months to do a rolling forecast and determine whether to replan forward or backward.
Anaplan saves time for me and is cost effective.
What is most valuable?
I like about Anaplan the simplicity and the way it makes reporting easier and planning is broken down well. You can calendarize your numbers and do some auto allocations of numbers. These features make it a very robust planning tool.
The main benefits that I have seen from using Anaplan are the ease of automation and the way the feature looks and feels. The UI and UX is simple and you can easily see the general overview of what you have done. The chart tree is easy to follow. If you are not used to using that resource, it may take some time, but for Anaplan, it is easy to get your way around with the tree of the charts and chart of accounts.
What needs improvement?
I do not have any improvements from my own end at this time.
There are some specific features or functionality that I would like to see included in Anaplan in the future. From what we have been using, I do not think there is any specific one because we import and export numbers. Importing and exporting with CSV files is already available in Anaplan. I do not have any special requests from Anaplan.
I still decided to give Anaplan an eight because I have not seen a specific dashboard on Anaplan. Anaplan could have a dashboard where you can see the flow of your numbers displayed on pictorials rather than just saying this is the number. Simple dashboards should be implemented.
What other advice do I have?
Anaplan's scenario planning feature is used for forecasting. The integration capabilities of Anaplan have helped to streamline data consolidation in my organization. We use JD Edwards as the basic ERP system and the data from JD Edwards is transmitted into Power BI so that it can be transmitted into Anaplan. The interface of this process is wonderful and simple for users. We can perform integrity checks where you can verify all the data from JDE to Anaplan to HFM and see them at a glance to ensure all the numbers are complete and there is no variance. The user interface is very friendly.
Anaplan has helped to adapt to market changes. Planning happens outside of Anaplan because you need to consider economic situations and the factors that are driving your numbers. If, for example, we are planning inflation to be single digit but it becomes double, you have to go into Anaplan to change that. Anaplan will not automatically do that for you.
I like Anaplan more than the Cognos product because it is more updated and works with different tools. You can automate with various features and even implement artificial intelligence to help data flow properly. Anaplan is more current. In the age of artificial intelligence, if Anaplan could research into using more artificial intelligence to design and sort data, that would be beneficial.
My recommendation for other organizations considering Anaplan is to adopt it for the ease of working with it to do reporting and planning. It consolidates your efforts so that you do not have to report in one place and budget in another place.
I gave this review a rating of eight.
Cloud technology enhances budgeting and reporting with intuitive features
What is our primary use case?
My client is using Anaplan for budgeting and planning purposes. They execute their budgeting and planning processes by utilizing this tool.
What is most valuable?
Both Hyperion and Anaplan serve the same purpose for budgeting and planning, but Anaplan is cloud-based. Previously, my client was using Oracle Hyperion Planning and Essbase, which was on-premises. Anaplan, being a cloud-based platform, allows customers to adapt easily. It is easier to enter data, load data, and develop reports compared to Hyperion.
In Anaplan, once you create a system, the end user can utilize the reports immediately. Users can create UX pages with boards and worksheets. The boards contain different cards such as bar cards, chart cards, map cards, KPI cards, and field cards. These cards are used for high-level reports and top-level management reporting. For plant-wise location, worksheets can be created for analysis purposes, analyzing data at the plant level, while reports are used for top-level purposes.
The board functionality works similarly to a dashboard, where users can add different cards. Users can drag data and add chart cards, field cards, map cards, and KPI cards to a single board.
Anaplan can handle large sets of data and models within its ecosystem. Data volume is not an issue for the platform.
What needs improvement?
The tool is very effective from a user perspective, providing good analysis and reporting capabilities. It is an excellent tool for financial planning, supply chain planning, and territory and quota planning.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have a total of 3.5 years of experience in Anaplan.
How are customer service and support?
I provide technical support for clients but have not had experience contacting Anaplan's technical support directly.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The setup of Anaplan is very straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Currently, Anaplan is more expensive compared to other tools. This pricing is based on the tool's demands. However, I believe the price might decrease after some time.
What other advice do I have?
I previously worked with Hyperion Essbase and Hyperion Planning from Oracle, and now I work with Anaplan technology.
I provide technical support to users for security-related issues, creating new administration roles, and workflow management. We assist with security provisioning, user creation, workflow issues, and technical business logic modifications. On a scale of 1-10, I rate Anaplan a 9.
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
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