What is Anaplan and is it the right enterprise planning platform for your organisation?

Anaplan is a cloud-native enterprise planning platform designed to help large and mid-sized organisations align financial, operational, and strategic planning across the business.

Known for its flexibility and speed, Anaplan enables real-time modelling, forecasting, and scenario analysis, allowing decision-makers to respond faster and more confidently in dynamic environments.

Unlike traditional spreadsheet-based planning tools or siloed enterprise systems, Anaplan provides a connected, collaborative environment where teams across finance, sales, supply chain, HR, and operations can plan together - using a single source of truth.

As the pace of change accelerates, more organisations across Australia and New Zealand are turning to Anaplan to improve agility, visibility, and business performance.

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Key features of Anaplan

  • Unified cloud platform for financial, workforce, and operational planning
  • Real-time scenario modelling and dynamic forecasting
  • In-memory calculation engine for fast, scalable performance
  • Connected planning across finance, sales, supply chain, and HR
  • Role-based access and version control for secure collaboration
  • Customisable dashboards and reporting tools
  • Integration with ERP, CRM, and business intelligence systems

Built-in AI and predictive capabilities for advanced planning

Who Anaplan is best suited for

Anaplan is a strong fit for:

  • Mid-sized to enterprise organisations with complex planning requirements
  • Businesses undergoing digital transformation or ERP modernisation
  • Organisations with disconnected or spreadsheet-heavy planning processes
  • Enterprises seeking real-time collaboration across finance, operations, HR, and supply chain
  • Teams looking for greater agility in scenario planning, resource allocation, and performance tracking

Strengths and challenges of Anaplan

Where Anaplan delivers value:

  • Empowers real-time decision-making with advanced modelling and “what if” analysis
  • Unifies planning across departments, reducing silos and duplication
  • Scales easily from departmental use to enterprise-wide adoption
  • Flexible architecture supports rapid implementation and configuration
  • Strong community and marketplace of pre-built models and connectors

Where it may fall short:

  • Initial setup can be complex without the right implementation partner
  • Requires strong data governance and integration with ERP or CRM systems
  • May be more advanced than needed for small businesses or static planning cycles

Licensing can become expensive at scale if not well-managed

Alternatives to Anaplan

Depending on your organisation’s size and planning needs, you may also consider:

  • Workday Adaptive Planning – ideal for finance-led planning and reporting
  • Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) – strong for global enterprises with complex consolidation needs
  • SAP Analytics Cloud Planning – well-integrated for SAP-based environments
  • Board International – combines business intelligence with planning
  • Jedox – flexible option for Excel users looking to scale planning

Compare these options in our Enterprise Planning Software Guide.

Planning your Anaplan journey

Need to assess whether Anaplan is right for your enterprise planning needs? Let’s work through it together.

Expert insights from SMC

At Solution Minds Consulting, we help organisations rethink how they plan. That often means moving away from static spreadsheets and fragmented tools – and toward agile, integrated platforms like Anaplan.

We’ve worked with businesses across manufacturing, energy, retail, public sector, and financial services to define future-state planning needs, evaluate platforms, and implement systems that support scalable growth.

Our advice is always vendor-neutral and outcome-focused. Whether you’re exploring Anaplan for the first time or optimising an existing implementation, we help align your planning tools with broader digital strategy.