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Don’t miss these upcoming events!
We have several exciting events coming up — opportunities to learn and have a little fun! Check out what's on the calendar and be sure to RSVP. If you are unable to attend live, be sure to sign up anyway as a recording will be sent out after each event (and also posted in Community).
ACE Spotlight: "Builder Community Challenge" Recap on September 17
Our August Community Challenge invited people to share creative or useful Anaplan models they've built, and it's time to showcase a few of our favorites! Join us September 17 as Anaplan Principal Solution Architect (and Community Boss) Noah Jackson (@NoahJ), along with special guests, walk through 3–4 of the unique and fun model builds. Hint: battleship in Anaplan!
Grab your favorite beverage and let's have a little fun in our day exploring how innovative the Anaplan Community can be!
Register here.
Charting the Course: Change Management for Anaplan CoE Leaders and Implementers on September 24
Often overlooked and underappreciated, effective change management is the single greatest contributor to the success of realizing the benefits of a project.
An Anaplan project does not end with the handover of cleverly built tools to practitioners; it's crucial to ensure that those practitioners can effectively use the tools and reap the benefits. In this discussion, James Snyder (@jasnyder1973) from Allitix and Kyle Welling (@kyle_welling_1) from Anaplan will cover how to establish a change management mindset, assessing appetite and aptitude for change, setting realistic goals, and navigating the process.
Register here.
Modeling tips and tricks: September Challenge recap on October 23
Later this month, Community members will be invited to lend their expertise by sharing their favorite modeling tips and tricks in our September Challenge (keep an eye out for this announcement next week!). In this session, we'll talk through best practices in modeling and share the top tips shared in the challenge.
Register here.
Quarterly platform release webinar on October 30
Our expert-led session will equip you with a practical guide and live demonstrations to help you get the most out of new features and innovations. Get your questions answered during the live Q&A, and be equipped to take advantage of everything the new releases have to offer. Registration is not yet open; but please save-the-date and subscribe to our event series category to be alerted when registration opens. Click the “follow” bell to subscribe.
Polaris use cases and best practices on November 13
Join Rob Marshall (@rob_marshall) from Anaplan, John Dorma (@johndorma) from Twelve Consulting, and Harshita Mysore Shankar (@HarshitaMysoreShankar) from Adobe for a discussion about Polaris. We will talk about how it's different from Classic, various use cases, what not to do, challenges, and lessons learned. The session will be followed by an audience Q&A.
Register here.
We hope to see you there!
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July 30th Quarterly Platform Release Webinar Registration Now Open!
Hey everyone,
Our second installment of our quarterly platform release webinar series is scheduled for July 30th at 8am PT and registration is now open!
Our expert-led session will equip you with a practical guide and live demonstrations to help you get the most out of new features and innovations. Get your questions answered during the live QA, and be equipped to take advantage of everything the new releases have to offer!
Topics covered will include:
* New modules inventory improvements
* Workflow enhancements
* more
Register today!
https://info.anaplan.com/resources_webinars_gen_fy25_q2_jul_glob_gen_wbnr_quarterly-customer-platform-release.html
All the best,
Eric
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Recording now available! April 30 quarterly customer platform release event
If you missed our April 30 platform release event, the recording is now available!
In this webinar, we highlight the most recent feature releases and how to take advantage of these in your environment. Our Operational Excellence Group (OEG) goes through a demonstration of the most recent platform features, provides a technical deep-dive and “how-to”, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
During this session, our experts covered:
* Workflow enhancements
* Management reporting updates
* User experiences
https://play.vidyard.com/U8KdrGvQdR3MZwjGRhE3HL
Resources shared during the event
Helpful links shared during the presentation:
* More information on using dynamic text in a card:
https://help.anaplan.com/manage-text-cards-4de76302-1d96-4cd3-a107-77970643049a#5voma9ltek-use-dynamic-text-on-a-text-card
* Updated: Summary Calculations with the User List
* For a sneak peek at what’s coming next in product releases, check out these two resources:
https://product.anaplan.com/
https://community.anaplan.com/categories/latest-platform-releases
* For future events like this, click the “follow” bell here (once logged in to Community):
https://community.anaplan.com/categories/quarterly-event-series
* The best way to add commentary to formulas is via the Notes field:
https://help.anaplan.com/add-notes-to-an-object-36523604-cbbc-4075-a47b-69f75d7caa2e
Also, if your formula is long and complex enough to require “code comments”, then there is a good chance it should be broken up or refactored per Planual best practices. Planual:
https://community.anaplan.com/categories/planual
Q&A
We encourage you to watch the recording — tons of questions were answered live! Here are a few that were answered in the chat:
Q: Can you pass any parameters, arguments, or values with the navigation? Such as routing to another page but filter on a business unit?
A: For conditional navigation, the list property driver can be in any data format with any formula/logic required. Conditional navigation is intended to route users to different destination pages rather than the same dashboard with different filters applied. There are other methods that can be used to establish page filters based on list context, user context, etc. For example, custom filters can be set up for each page context selector.
Q: For conditional navigation, does it have to be formatted as the list itself or could multiple lists use a navigation list as the format? E.G. a team list that determines navigation pages.
A: For conditional navigation, the list property does not need to be formatted as the list itself. Any data format can be used. For example, a team list or other list attribute could certainly be used to drive the conditional navigation.
Q: Can you remind us who has access to Workflow?
A: Workflow is available for all customers with the entitlement.
Q: Does the system easily link the user login to this list? And its subset? As is, can it auto detect my login and connect it to the user dimension? That was something the fake user list couldn’t do.
A: Yes.
Q: Can we create a new user from UX? Like creation of new item in list?
A: While there is not a specific "Insert User" capability, there may be ways to accomplish something similar. Check out this link: [Start Here] User Access Management - Part 1: Get Started.
Q: How does the view of users with limited access and WSA/full access vary?
A: We would need a bit more detail to clarify, but I'll try my best to answer for some different scenarios! (1) What an end user can see (in terms of which pages, which data elements, etc) will be based on their model role (
https://help.anaplan.com/model-roles-30783e17-b789-4005-b87a-ff15cd3c9044
). (2) There is a setting with the module blueprint which allows you to determine whether or not end users can see the full list of Users or whether it is limited to WSAs only:
https://help.anaplan.com/users-list-f3333ecf-a1cc-43d8-af03-ec65c5cdd428
.
Q: Re: cascaded slides… How do you create the master? Can we show that?
A: The master is created like any other slide. Stephen demoed live how you add linked slides to an existing slide. Here is some detail on Anapedia as well:
https://help.anaplan.com/manage-cascade-slides-ddc50700-5b0b-4897-9db3-90905db1a868
Q: How do cascaded slides look when exported to PDF?
A: They look just like a non-cascaded slide, i.e. you will see all cascaded slides in their own slide.
Q: Will the master slide need to be excluded every time the report is exported as PDF?
A: There is also a new capability to “hide slide”, so you can hide the master slide, which will exclude it from the end user view as well as the exported PDF. No need to manually adjust the export settings every time.
Follow along for future events!
Stay up to date with all platform release announcements by subscribing to the platform release page on the Anaplan Community, and all platform events by subscribing to the events page. Look for the “bell” icon on the page to subscribe.
Questions? Leave a comment!
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New Webcast Series for model builders and end users
Hey everyone,
I'm pleased to announce we are starting a new webinar series, dedicated to helping model builders and end users be equipped and enabled to configure and deploy the newest platform releases! A number of people will be presenting from our Operations Excellence Group, among others, to provide a "how-to" and deep dive demonstration of the new features, along with a Live Q&A session to provide support and answers.
When:
4/30
8am PDT / 11am EDT
I highly recommend registering for the event, even if you can't make it live (I know the time may be tough). Why? We are expecting a big audience for this event and may schedule additional live Q&A sessions, which will ONLY be available for those who register for the 4/30 webinar.
Blog (registration link is embedded in the blog):
https://community.anaplan.com/discussion/157952/april-30-event-quarterly-customer-platform-release
We look forward to connecting with you!
Best,
Eric
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Anaplan Modellers Forum - 6th March
Please join us for the Anaplan Modellers Forum on Wednesday 6th March!
This in-person event will focus on reviewing and improving your Anaplan models within your current environment.
You can sign up for this event here.
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Recording available! Implementing Polaris: A deep dive on best practices
If you missed our event on December 5, the recording is now available!
In this event — Implementing Polaris: A deep dive on best practices — Philipp Erkinger (@PhilippErkinger) and Niko Vilkko (@nvilkko) from Bedford Consulting are joined by Stephen Rituper (@Stephen) and Dennis Lemoine (@DennisL) from Anaplan to discuss the basics of Polaris, use cases, where to focus your time on, and how to think differently versus Classic when approaching a Polaris implementation.
In the recording they cover:
* Welcome and introductions
* Understanding the basics of Polaris
* Use cases for Polaris
* How to think differently vs Classic when approaching a Polaris implementation project
* A walk through the lessons learned along with a technical deep-dive into best practices
* Audience questions
Check it out below and leave a comment with questions!
https://play.vidyard.com/oE2futu3nYAejzAFhmaMEc
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Polaris - Best Practices Event
For those who are interested in learning the best practices of Polaris, here is the link. Get yourself registered. Event on 5th Dec 2023.
https://events.anaplan.com/ACEImplementingPolaris
Thanks,
Misbah
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Seeking Insights on seasonal forecasting within Anaplan: Share Your Experiences and Best Practices!
Hello Anaplan Community,
I hope this message finds you well! As we approach the holiday season, I am eager to learn more about how companies in our community are leveraging Anaplan for holiday forecasting. This is a crucial aspect of planning for many businesses, and I believe there's a wealth of knowledge and diverse experiences within our community.
My company is currently discussing how we can improve our methods for forecasting trends, seasons, and holidays, and I believe this to be a common issue among companies with large assortments of articles, such as ours.
If your organization utilizes Anaplan for holiday forecasting, I would love to hear about your approach. What specific challenges do you face during the holiday season, and how does Anaplan help you overcome them? Are there any unique features or models that you've found particularly effective?
Furthermore, I'm interested in uncovering any best practices that our community members have identified for holiday forecasting with Anaplan. Whether it's related to data integration, collaboration among teams, or refining forecasting models, your insights could be incredibly valuable to others facing similar challenges.
Looking forward to hearing your experiences and best practices!
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Upcoming Virtual Polaris Event on December 5th!
Hi everyone,
Exciting news! We will be hosting an Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) event on December 5th (8:00am PDT/11:00am EDT) around the topic of implementing Polaris and a deep dive on best practices. Community Boss @PhilippErkinger and his colleague Niko Vilkko from Bedford Consulting will also be joined by Anaplan’s Stephen Rituper and Dennis Lemoine to discuss the basics of Polaris, use cases, where to focus your time, and how to think differently versus Classic when approaching a Polaris implementation.
@PhilippErkinger and Niko will provide a walk-through of lessons they've learned as early adopters, and they will open up the session to questions and discussion.
Full details on the event including the agenda, as well as registration can be found here:
https://events.anaplan.com/ACEImplementingPolaris
If you are managing a user group, or know of customers who would benefit from attending the Polaris Event on December 5th, please share this registration URL with them:
Please let me know how we can support you in "getting the word out" for this community-led event!
Best,
Eric
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Modeling at Natural Dimensionality in Polaris
Discover the transformative power of Polaris in this session led by Dave Harding, Principal Product Manager at Anaplan. Explore how Polaris enables the modeling of large-scale business problems with natural dimensionality, revolutionizing the way we approach complexity. Learn how Polaris simplifies models, enhances their power, improves user experience, and streamlines management.
Speaker: Dave Harding, Principal Product Manager, Anaplan
Recorded: June 6, 2023 at the Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) event in San Diego, CA
https://play.vidyard.com/iDm6bmWB6kmRXKctNaaucG?
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Here’s what you missed at ACE!
What an amazing experience we all had in San Diego a few weeks back! Always incredible and inspiring to see so many familiar and NEW faces in-person. From dynamic keynotes to impactful breakout sessions, there was a little something for everyone at the Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) and Connect.
A huge congrats to both Anne-Charlotte Vidal, our Center of Excellence Leader of the Year, and Adam Cookson, our Certified Master Anaplanner of the Year. We were able to honor and celebrate them in-person. You can read the announcements and interviews with them here:
* Announcing the 2023 Center of Excellence Leader of the Year!
* Announcing the 2023 Certified Master Anaplanner of the Year!
ACE breakout sessions are now available to watch!
* Developing extensible Data Hubs to scale with your use cases
Marcus Trott, Business System Analyst at Google introduces us to how Google has optimized their Finance Data Hub to allow for faster releases, less development, and fewer processes. Google's Anaplan solution has enabled more than a dozen production models to be supported by a single Finance data hub that is easily managed with dynamic parameter-based views.
* Center of Excellence showcase: Navigating the Anaplan landscape for sustainable success
Join Will Lederer, Solutions Architect: FP&A, Business Technology Director from Okta, for a session and discussion on how to make your Center of Excellence as effective as possible. Will’s presentation highlights the following: embracing new features, sustainability, scalability, data governance and strengthening business partnership.
* Modeling at Natural Dimensionality in Polaris
Discover the transformative power of Polaris in this session led by Dave Harding, Principal Product Manager at Anaplan. Explore how Polaris enables the modeling of large-scale business problems with natural dimensionality, revolutionizing the way we approach complexity. Learn how Polaris simplifies models, enhances their power, improves user experience, and streamlines management.
* Connected Planning journey with Mattel
Get ready to turn data-driven insights into insights-driven action with speaker Angshuman Das, Key Senior Manager from Mattel. Hear how this leading global toy company leverages seamless, Connected Reporting tools and enriched analyses to move from data and insights to actions and outcomes quickly and confidently.
* The Value of Anaplan
This dynamic panel discussion, with speakers from American Airlines, Cisco, and Databricks, showcases the value of Anaplan. They share their success stories and envision the future of their companies with Anaplan so you can gain insights and ideas from real-world experiences to take back to and inspire your organization.
* My path to Google: a blended customer and partner journey
Where do you want your Anaplan journey to take you? Hear how Zeke Johansson, Business Systems – FP&A Engineering at Google navigated various roles during seven years in the Anaplan ecosystem and lessons to support your own career path.
Additionally, the Anaplan Connect sessions from San Diego are now available to watch here.
As always, the Community team is committed to providing events that educate, inspire, and connect. Stay tuned for more opportunities — both virtual and in-person — with a community focus!
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Developing extensible Data Hubs to scale with your use cases
An introduction to how Google has optimized their Finance Data Hub to allow for faster releases, less development, and fewer processes. Google's Anaplan solution has enabled more than a dozen production models to be supported by a single Finance data hub that is easily managed with dynamic parameter-based views.
Speaker: Marcus Trott @MarcusTrott, Business System Analyst, Google
Recorded: June 6, 2023 at the Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) event in San Diego, CA
https://play.vidyard.com/VkkmbM8167o2NySvrqXuBi?
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Center of Excellence showcase: Navigating the Anaplan landscape for sustainable success
Join Will Lederer, Solutions Architect: FP&A, Business Technology Director from Okta, for a session and discussion on how to make your Center of Excellence as effective as possible. Will’s presentation highlights the following: embracing new features, sustainability, scalability, data governance and strengthening business partnership.
Speakers:
* Will Lederer, Solutions Architect: FP&A, Business Technology Director, Okta
* Mariam Azeez, Principal Engagement Manager, Customer Centers of Excellence at Anaplan
Recorded: June 6, 2023 at the Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) event in San Diego, CA
https://play.vidyard.com/fhQNCXiZ1MKhw2p9bJiN1G?
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Connected Planning journey with Mattel
Get ready to turn data-driven insights into insights-driven action. Hear how Mattel — a leading global toy company — is leveraging seamless, Connected Reporting tools and enriched analyses to move from data and insights to actions and outcomes quickly and confidently.
Speakers:
* Angshuman Das, Key Senior Manager, Enterprise Architecture of Supply Chain and Finance Domain, Mattel
* Dennis Lemoine, Principal Community Experiences Program Manager, Anaplan
Recorded: June 6, 2023 at the Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) event in San Diego, CA
https://play.vidyard.com/HeZHsddABB5Yqg4vDZ8maw?
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The value of Anaplan
This dynamic panel discussion showcases the value of Anaplan. Hear from three customers as they share their success stories and envision the future of their companies with Anaplan. Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights and ideas from real-world experiences to take back to and inspire your organization.
Speakers:
* Akash Vinayak, Senior Manager, Customer Analysis and Data Science, American Airlines
* Cody Stipcic, Global CoE Lead, Sales Planning, Cisco
* Steve Marzo, Senior Finance Manager, Databricks
* Dennis Lemoine, Principal Community Experiences Program Manager, Anaplan
Recorded: June 6, 2023 at the Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) event in San Diego, CA
https://play.vidyard.com/jakX3Sac14k6ypvAggPfVX?
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My path to Google: a blended customer and partner journey
Where do you want your Anaplan journey to take you? Hear how one Googler navigated various roles during seven years in the Anaplan ecosystem and lessons to support your own career path.
Speaker: Zeke Johansson @zeke.johansson, Business Systems – FP&A Engineering, Google
Recorded: June 6, 2023 at the Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) event in San Diego, CA
https://play.vidyard.com/7s7QnEkKimeFCLKyhA5DXm?
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[Pre Work] COE Maturity: Arendelle Analytics Case Study
Maturing Your Anaplan CoE - Handouts and Activities.pdf
Pre-Work: Read the following Case Study and post below in the comments your response to the following question:
As Anna WarmHeart, what would be your recommended strategy and mandate for the Anaplan CoE at Arendelle Analytics?
—Establishing the Anaplan Center of Excellence (CoE) at Arendelle Analytics: A Case Study
Note: This case study is based on a fictional company Arendelle Analytics, and a fictional character, Anna WarmHeart. However, it closely resembles the experiences and challenges faced by many of our CoE’s. The purpose of this case study is to provide insights and best practices for organizations looking to establish or scale their own Anaplan CoE.
Abstract:
This case study explores the challenges faced by Arendelle Analytics, a leader in software design and engineering, due to the absence of a formalized Anaplan Center of Excellence (CoE). The lack of a CoE led to difficulties in project prioritization, stakeholder management, knowledge retention, and team scalability.
Arendelle Analytics successfully addressed these challenges by establishing a structured CoE, implementing a project intake process, developing model building standards, and adopting a comprehensive staffing strategy.
The case study highlights the importance of a formalized CoE in managing growing demand for Anaplan projects and offers valuable insights for other organizations looking to establish or scale their own Anaplan CoE.
Background:
In 2019, Arendelle Analytics became a customer of Anaplan, and its finance organization began exploring the platform's potential. The team noticed the limitations of traditional planning techniques and recognized that Anaplan could support Arendelle Analytics' “Future of Finance” initiatives to create engaging new career paths and build a top-notch finance team. As the tool gained traction, the number of use cases skyrocketed, sparking excitement throughout the company.
Challenges:
Between 2019 and 2023, external partners developed numerous models but left behind scant documentation, resulting in maintenance becoming both challenging and costly. As external partners departed, they took their expertise with them, leaving the Arendelle Analytics team to navigate the complex models without proper guidance. This knowledge gap jeopardized the long-term sustainability and success of Anaplan's implementation at Arendelle Analytics.
During this period of growth and exploration, the organization grappled with a lack of defined project intake and prioritization processes. Work was often allocated to the most vocal stakeholders instead of prioritizing projects based on impact and value. Consequently, finding the right balance between maintenance and new projects became increasingly difficult, leading to inefficiencies and frustration among team members.
As Anaplan projects continued to accumulate, effective workload management became a significant challenge. With no clear process in place for task monitoring and capacity optimization, miscommunication and inadequate stakeholder alignment ensued, resulting in missed opportunities and unmet expectations. Moreover, knowledge transfer and retention within the team emerged as a critical issue.
Recognizing these mounting challenges, Elsa ColdFusion, the Vice President of Finance Transformation, decided to take action and sponsor the formal creation of an Anaplan Center of Excellence (CoE). In 2022, Elsa hired Anna WarmHeart to lead the CoE with a mandate to "connect, optimize, and automate."
Current State of Arendelle Analytics' CoE:
Use cases: Four live use cases, all in the Finance organization:
* Revenue Planning
* Opex Planning
* Long Range Planning
* Workforce Planning
Users: ~350 across all use cases
Integrations: Automated using MuleSoft
Existing model builders: ~2 model builders: one certified MB, and one who has only done L1. Anna is a Certified Master Anaplanner (CMA), but doesn’t have the capacity to be a full time Solution Architect (SA). Arendelle Analytics had a partner who was acting as SA but their contract ended shortly after Anna started in her new role.
Defect/enhancement process: The team currently uses something they call the “Big Anaplan List”, which is an Excel file they use to track enhancements. Anna has mostly been maintaining this on her own.
Performance/best practices approach: Arendelle Analytics leverages Anaplan Hypercare and has a budget set aside for Model Optimizations and Concurrency Testing. There are no modeling standards currently set internally.
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Upcoming Live Virtual Event Series! ** Rescheduled to July 11th and July 13th**
Hi everyone,
We're very excited to announce a series of live forums for ESG - Sustainability group members! The purpose is to share our knowledge and experience, and to stimulate creative thinking and problem solving in this increasingly important area of planning. This is a new and rapidly growing topic so there are no right or wrong answers! Just endless opportunities to learn and develop our skills.
To get us started we have planned two sessions:
1 - The 101 of Sustainability for Business Planners
2 - Advanced Sustainability Planning and ESG Use Cases
We have created two groups based on time zones, and each group will have a session for each topic, so nobody misses out. <strong><br /><br /><br />Group 1</strong>: (APAC, ANZ, Western USA)
Session 1 - The 101 of Sustainability for Business Planners
8.00 AM (SGT) / 11.00 AM (AEST) / 5.00 PM (PST)
Tuesday 11th July
Session 2 - Advanced Sustainability Planning and ESG Use Cases.
Date TBA
<strong>Group 2</strong>: (Eastern USA, EU and India)
Session 1 - The 101 of Sustainability for Business Planners
8:00 AM (EST) / 2:00 PM (CET) / 6:30 PM (IST)
Thursday 13th July
Session 2 - Advanced Sustainability Planning and ESG Use Cases
Date TBA
We have two wonderful group leaders - @KBeltz (Group 1) and @TimothyK (Group 2) - so please reach out to them or @schlachter1 with any questions. Official event registration links will be available soon, but in the meantime please put the dates in your diary so you keep the time free. More info below for Session 1.
We look forward to "seeing" you there!
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Virtual Event Support Request
Hi everyone,
I trust this message finds you all doing well and having a terrific week! If you are a non-Anaplan employee, and …
* you are planning an event for a community user group you're leading,
* and would like support (a page developed to highlight the event description, etc.,)
Then please follow these 2 steps:
Step 1: Please fill out and submit this form (or have your CSBP submit the form):
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2ZRJPDX
*If you are an Anaplan employee, Field Marketing has a similar form for you to fill out.
STEP 2: Send this "content doc" to me as a PM.
FY24-ACEGroups_ContentDoc - Copy.docx
It will be used to create the Event Page. (There is an alias being created, but for now just send to me). I'll forward it to the field team.
Best,
Eric
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June 28th User Group Event Registration Now Open!
If you'd like to register for the upcoming event on June 28th, please follow this link to reserve your spot!
Click Here to Register
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Virtual event: Unlocking the Power of ACE + Anaplan Connect
Are you in interested in possibly attending our upcoming ACE event in San Diego June 5-7? (SoCal folks, we’re specifically talking to you!) Join us for a sneak peek into all that’s happening in San Diego for ACE!
Date: Thursday, May 18 at 11 a.m. PST
This event has ended. View the recording:
https://play.vidyard.com/bxWc7WavWdkA5kNbTndruL.html?
Featuring team members from the Anaplan Community, Anaplan’s Operational Excellence Group, and Academy, we’ll share more information on:
* How this event will provide a wealth of insights to supercharge your career.
* More information on the various sessions, including how to incorporate the latest features into your Pages and provide a great experience for your end users, gain insights and enhance your understanding of native Anaplan Data Integration, and better understand how model architecture affects model performance.
* Additional learning opportunities with our Model Builder training, CMA exams, and Connect sessions.
This hour-long session will be your chance to ask questions about the event and hear more about how your career and personal development can benefit from being in attendance.
If you already know you’d like to attend ACE, register here for the big event! Check out an ACE event preview below.
https://play.vidyard.com/wbnvPqfhE1QnBp1jhavSsu.html
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ACE is back and in person in San Diego June 5-7!
The Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) will be joining together with Anaplan Connect in San Diego, to offer an incredible experience for Anaplan community members and users. Featuring inspiring keynotes and multiple breakout sessions focused on Your Anaplan Journey, a deeper look into Modeling & Data Management, plus networking sessions with Anaplan experts and fellow Community members.
Event agenda:
8:30 a.m.: Welcome and Anaplan Company vision
9:00 a.m.: Product update
9:45 a.m.: Customer Panel: The power of Anaplan to drive organizational transformation
10:30 a.m.: Launching a successful Center of Excellence
11:30 a.m.: Networking lunch
1:00 p.m.: Breakout sessions (Your Anaplan Journey, A Deeper Look into Modeling and Data Management, network sessions)
4:00 p.m.: Networking reception
Register today!
Additional learning opportunities
As an add-on to Tuesday’s ACE sessions, we’re offering several learning opportunities on Monday and Wednesday at special reduced rates:
* Operational Excellence Group Led Workshops (Monday, June 5)
Discounted for this event: $800 (normally $1,200)
Price includes two courses:* Course 1: Understanding and Identifying Model Optimization Opportunities.
* Course 2: Maturing Your Anaplan Center of Excellence: The Journey to Self-Sufficiency.
* Course 3: Design and build a great user experience.
* Course 4: Native Anaplan Data Integration in a Nutshell
* Certified Model Builder Training – Instructor Led
Discounted for this event: $1,500 (normally $2,250)
Level One (June 5-7)
Level Two (June 5-7)
* Get Certified! (Wednesday, June 7)
Certified Master Anaplanner exam
Discounted for this event: $375 (normally $550)
Space is very limited and filling up quickly. Don’t miss out on these special opportunities at discounted rates, to expand your skills and connect with Anaplan experts in an intimate setting during ACE. Prerequisites, course descriptions and more information can be found on the ACE San Diego registration page.
Register today!
Please Note: for those unable to attend ACE and Connect, breakout sessions will be recorded and available to view following the event.
Questions? Leave a comment!
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Reflections from ACE: CloudWorks for Anaplan CoE enablement
Author: Tiffany Rice, Certified Master Anaplanner and Anaplan Model Builder, Prudential Financial.
With a new year upon us, this is a great time for reflection on the prior year and the capabilities that have been added to Anaplan. During the recent Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) this past November, there was an informative session on CloudWorks as a key lever for Center of Excellence (CoE) enablement featuring Will Lederer, Solutions Architect: FP&A, Business Technology Director at Okta, and Ashwin Krishnamurthy, Principal Product Manager at Anaplan. If you missed it, the replay is available here:
https://community.anaplan.com/discussion/152205/whats-new-for-coe-leaders-breakout-session
For those of you unfamiliar with CloudWorks, this is a native no-code integration tool within the Anaplan platform. That’s right — NO CODE — and within the UX you are accustomed to working in every day. As a model builder from a non-technical background, I must tell you this was immediately intriguing to me. In my experience, integrations can be one of the most challenging aspects of an implementation, due to resourcing constraints as often you have multiple projects competing for the same pool of integration developers. This can lead to short-term approaches of manually triggering actions which unfortunately sometimes become long-term solutions once the workaround was created.
So how does CloudWorks help?
One of the most powerful features is the ability to schedule model-to-model imports without the use of an ETL tool or API. As Will phrased it, “CloudWorks really frees us up.” Members of the CoE and business users are now empowered to set up their own integration schedules. The setup is quick and easy with intuitive prompts. The scheduler capability allows for hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly integrations with the ability to configure them around the desired time zone. If you are looking for quick-win opportunities to begin capitalizing on these features, I recommend identifying the recurring tasks that you may be manually running today. Great examples are actions to update lists or modules from Data Hubs or to dynamically generate list subsets based on model updates. Before getting started, avoid the gotchas and be sure to read the documentation to configure a process. A common error is when working with lists that have selective access enabled you must first grant the “Integration (Full Access)” account access before the integration runs. Note: this integration account will not be found in the users panel and access must be granted within the list itself.
The next big win is the notification functionality which is massive from an ease-of-mind perspective. No longer do you need to review time stamps to determine whether an action ran successfully, within the setup you can specify which users should be recipients. These notifications can be customized based on run status, should the integration fail; you may want to notify your CoE team to begin triage and error resolution. For successful integrations, you may want to notify certain end users or possibly receive no notification in a no news is good news type of approach. The successful notification is particularly impactful in instances where end users have a dependency on the action being completed before they can move on to the next step within their process. If the action is a routine update that occurs in the background, I tend to gravitate towards no success notifications to minimize traffic. Notifications can be In-App, email, or both. I would recommend failure notifications be sent via email, particularly for off-cycle processes where there may be a delay before you observe the notice In-App. This capability eliminates the need to log on during weekends or nights to confirm critical integrations run successfully. See this help article for additional information on configuring notifications.
A less lauded but helpful feature of CloudWorks is the ability to see the run history of an integration without running history for the entire model. This provides not only an audit log of successes/failures but also allows you to view duration. This can be helpful in assessing changes over time for recurring processes. For example, if you have a daily job that has scaled up over time to include additional actions you can see the impact those additions had on the run time duration. Should the integration fail, the activity detail can be used to review error details as well to initiate an email to Anaplan support with the pertinent identifiers included (customer ID, integration ID, etc.). Note, it is best practice to troubleshoot internally for common errors prior to engaging Anaplan support. More can be read here on viewing activity details.
For those of you thinking that this all sounds very cool, but what can we look forward to on the roadmap? I am so glad you asked! My absolute favorite feature in development is the ability to “bundle and save” as Will so eloquently put it. Integration flows will enable admins to create sequential processes to address dependencies and streamline the setup process. Today to accommodate a sequential integration, each process must be scheduled individually with the duration accounted for in the start time of each subsequent step. In the future, you will be able to bundle these processes into a single flow where a step is triggered only after the preceding step is completed. One potential savings from the bundle is achieved if there are a series of processes across multiple models that should run on the same cadence such as feeds for Hub and Spoke models. By setting up a single flow, you can minimize the time spent configuring the schedules and have fewer maintenance points. I’ll certainly be watching the product releases for this much-anticipated orchestration capability.
Ashwin also covered a forthcoming feature to create a limited integration user role. The current integration role sets the permission at a tenant level whereas in a future release, we can look forward to access being provisioned at the workspace level. This will be impactful in those instances where it is desirable to empower business-led integration while still restricting integration access to any sensitive or highly controlled workspaces/models. Security and risk mitigation is an area that is always of chief concern and the roadmap clearly reflects those priorities.
A parting thought for those who have a robust and established system of existing integrations... it is perfectly acceptable to retain your preferred ETL. Managing the cost of change is part of the role the CoE must play, and the needs of each organization are unique. However, I would encourage consideration of the maintenance over time and if there might be opportunities to achieve scale and lift through a hybrid integration approach. The internal Anaplan processes are a goldmine of synergistic opportunities to empower your CoE and eliminate dependency on resources external to the CoE. Look for the right use case to explore the power of the native no-code capabilities and assess the leverage your teams could achieve.
Key takeaways
* Tenant administrators can assign Integration admin roles to users which will make CloudWorks accessible.
* Review technical documentation before setting up your first integration.
* Ensure the Selective Access is addressed for the “Integration (Full Access)” account.
* Ellipsis indicate additional functionality is available, use these to see detail, edit, etc.
* Use the right tool for the job, when contemplating setting up an integration think about the source, target, data transformation needs, and the development resources at your disposal.
* Stay tuned for future product releases!
Questions about this ACE session? Leave a comment!
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Recognizing our ACE Award winners
This past November at our Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) event, we recognized two Community members who have gone above and beyond in 2022 to represent Advancement, Culture, and Education — the key elements of ACE — and who embody the spirit of the Anaplan Community. The winners were chosen specifically for their contributions to the Community and with input from Anaplan field teams who are closely aligned with the work they do every day. They truly set the bar high for what it means to be an exemplary member of the Anaplan Community.
Today, we want to again recognize and highlight our two winners: Senior Financial Analyst, Timmy Thomas (@TimothyThomas) at Groupon, and Anaplan Process Developer, Andrew Tye (@andrewtye) at Aviva!
Meet the winners
Timothy (Timmy) Thomas, Senior Financial Analyst at Groupon, spent his first five months at Groupon dedicated to leading and developing the solution for the Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) global implementation, as well as supporting the CoE team. Previously at Roseburg Forest Products, Timmy is celebrated for his all-in commitment to Anaplan — actively leveraging the Community to learn best practices and collaborate with his peers. When Timmy joined Roseburg Forest Products, Anaplan Customer Success Business Partner Aaron Wasinger said he’s never seen or heard of anyone who has gone through the Anaplan trainings so quickly who wasn’t a partner or Solution Architect, ultimately finishing Level 3 Model Building and becoming a Certified Solutions Architect at the end of 2021. Since then, Timmy has continued his devotion toward accelerated learning and is on track to become a Certified Master Anaplanner by early 2023.
As a top-engaged Community member in 2022, Timmy has an impressive 300+ engagement activities, including 110+ overall posts and 100+ replies. Timmy has not only maximized Community engagement opportunities to advance in his own career but also gives back his time and talents to peers who are looking to grow in their Anaplan journey.
Andrew Tye, Anaplan Process Developer at Aviva, holds a CoE leadership role and has been delivering complex Anaplan initiatives there for three years — all while supporting and mentoring team members on their individual Anaplan development. Previously at Thomas Cook, he was the Anaplan owner in Finance and delivered a number of Anaplan use cases, including FP&A and cash flow planning.
Andrew, a Certified Master Anaplanner (CMA) for nearly 4 years, passionately advocates for new Anaplan product features and actively enables others within their organization and externally within the broader Anaplan ecosystem. He is a top most-engaged customer Community member in 2022, boasting 110+ posts, 7 ideas posted, and over 150 kudos received. Andrew is also one of the top CMA contributors across EMEA, completing all three of the CMA engagement zones so far this year – Thought Leader, Technical Expert, and Connected Planning Evangelist. In 2022, Andrew spoke on an Anaplan Product webinar, participated in the pilot program cohort for the Anaplan Growth Program, contributed UX Quick Tip videos, and spoke at the ACE event.
We asked Timmy and Andrew to share more about their participation in the Community.
How has the Anaplan Community helped in your career advancement and journey?
* Timmy: The Anaplan Community has helped my career in a multitude of ways, from early on as a new model builder to helping me land my current role. When I was first starting out, I used the Community to help problem solve when my team was running into issues, and through creating my own posts as well as referencing others, I was able to get quick help from Certified Master Anaplanners and others with more experience to help solve complex problems, which helped me learn expert tips and tricks for future building. The community also encouraged me to work towards the Certified Solution Architect badge, which was an invaluable asset when talking with recruiters throughout the job search process - the CSA designation is clearly valued by talent sourcers!
* Andrew: The community helped me answer questions I was having, especially in the beginning when the team I was on was all learning Anaplan at the same time. It has also helped with being to able answer most questions that either myself or the team has in easy-to-understand solutions.
What do you enjoy about the culture of the Anaplan Community?
* Timmy: I love that the culture of the Anaplan Community is genuinely focused on teaching, learning, and sharing knowledge. There are so many out there with a wealth of Anaplan experience who have stressful, demanding jobs who still make it a priority to help others with questions they may have. There is a genuine sense of community there that seems to come from true enjoyment of the tool itself, and I find that very heartening when looking to the future of the community!
* Andrew: Everyone in the community is there to be a better Anaplanner, and that means it’s a highly collaborative environment.
What advice would you give to others looking to get more involved in Community?
* Timmy: I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but my advice is to simply not be afraid to jump in and get involved. Start reading questions people are posting on the forums, start trying to think through potential solutions, and begin answering when you can. You will meet experts and can make great connections that can turn into friendships, future career opportunities, or both! There's truly not a downside to getting more involved in the community.
* Andrew: If you want to get involved — start where you’re comfortable. Ask and answer questions on the forum and if someone has answered a problem you’ve been having, say that they solved it for you too. Before you know it, you’ll be writing articles and hosting sessions in User Groups!
Thank you, Timmy and Andrew, for being exceptional leaders in the Anaplan ecosystem!
Are there other Community members you would like to thank for their guidance and help? Leave a comment and shout them out!
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Spotlight event: Transitioning from Classic to UX
Don't miss this upcoming virtual event for the Anaplan Community — Transitioning from Classic To UX!
On Wednesday, July 20 at 10 a.m. ET I’ll be joined by Taylor Rogers, @taylor_rogers Certified Master Anaplanner & Merchandise Systems Model Builder at Stitch Fix, and Andy Martin, @andrew_martin_1 Director, Operational Excellence Organization at Anaplan, for a fun and informative session focusing on the migration from Classic to UX. We’ll be chatting about Taylor's experience with the process, Management Reporting, and ALM, as well as answering your questions along the way!
[Registration is closed; event has concluded.]
I hope you’ll join us on July 20, and in the meantime check out the UX Designer hub for a collection of best practice and how-to articles, quick-tip videos, personal experiences, and other content designed to support those responsible for delivering superior visuals, establishing user interface design methodology, and collaborating with end users on the delivery of the finished product.
Can’t make it? Don’t worry, we will be recording and posting the event to the UX Designer hub afterward.
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6 New Year Resolutions for driving Anaplan ROI and value
A Happy New Year!
Many of us have made personal New Year Resolutions but what about New Year Anaplan Resolutions? Are we going to continue good practices? What about changing an undesired trait and behaviour? Perhaps accomplish a goal? How can we improve our behaviour?
Let us share some suggestions with you.
Maintain/Improve Communication
Firstly, agree to keep in touch with your Anaplan Customer Success Business Partner. They are here to support you throughout your Anaplan journey and to offer strategic advice on implementing new use cases and increasing Anaplan ROI across the business.
Get Active: Attend/Join Events
Multiple events are planned for 2023. These will be a combination of online and face to face; strategic, technical, process and industry related. Event details will be posted in this User Group. Switch on your notifications so as not to miss anything!
Gain Knowledge: Enablement
Our training courses are constantly being updated. Now is the perfect time for team members to engage with the Anaplan Academy and gain recognition for their Anaplan skills. For model builders I would recommend L1, L2 and Anaplan Way. Want to go further? Check out the Master Anaplanner programme. More specific courses? Try our Data Integration, Plan IQ, Optimizer courses. A full list of courses is available here.
Improve Processes using New Features & Functionality
How about a new year resolution on using Anaplan features & Functionality? Here are a few suggestions
* Transitioning from Classic Dashboards to the UX – take advantage of improved functionality and an all-round better User experience
* Embrace Anaplan Management Reporting– easily produce, analyse and distribute highly formatted reports all within Anaplan, reducing time to produce and creating more time for analysis
* Improve Data Integration processes – with more options now available including scheduling
* Consider Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) to set up dev/test/live environments
* Use Collaboration features – spark effective conversations and decisions to align quickly and speed time to action
* Process Orchestration/Workflow – digitize your processes with structured and flexible automation (available mid 2023)
* Power BI Connector - Connect Anaplan for rich, interactive data visualisations
* Optimizer - Improve planning and decision making using linear programming to solve your complex problems
* Plan IQ - Use statistical, artificial intelligence and machine learning for more accurate forecasts using internal and external drivers
Better Housekeeping
Our Anaplan environment is constantly evolving. We build to meet new requirements and as always, they all must be done now! Try and schedule a little time maybe once a quarter, once a month to review the environment and do some housekeeping. Tidy up that naming convention; delete those redundant dimensions; tidy up those formulas / user lists. Consider a model review with Anaplan / Implementation Partners
See the future: Roadmap
The Anaplan roadmap is inspired and driven by you, our customers. Your Anaplan Customer Success Business Partner can explore the latest Roadmap in detail during a Success Review Meetings but also you can check out the new Product website on the Community, Ideas Exchange – (Add an idea/up vote an existing idea). Want to engage with the Product Team? No problem. Talk to your Anaplan Business Partner and let’s make it happen!
So how could I best define my Anaplan resolutions?
Just follow these simple steps.
* Be Specific
* Plan Ahead
* Track your Progress
* Make Realistic Goals
* Make Relevant Goals
* Make Timely Goals
Whatever your resolutions you decide to do, your Anaplan team will be here to help you along your journey.
What Anaplan resolutions have you made? Share them with us and your peers in our forum.
Wishing you a Happy New Year and together let’s make it happen!
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That's a wrap on the Anaplan Community Experience!
Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) 2022 is in the books! We had an incredible two days of sessions, networking opportunities, and our first-ever ACE Awards. Thank you to all our incredible presenters, hosts, and producers for making this inaugural ACE a huge success! And most importantly, thank YOU for being members of the Anaplan Community — we couldn’t do it without you.
“We’re so excited to provide everybody with the opportunity to learn directly from other customers, even if you missed our live event. In these videos, you’ll find inspiration on what other customers are doing with the Anaplan platform, including technical details on how they made it happen. We hope these recordings provide as much value to you as they did to the live audience, and I encourage you to follow up with the speakers to learn more from them directly through Community!” - Chris Weiss, Sr. Director, Community Engagement & Development at Anaplan
Videos are available here.
Recordings available
Main stage
* Community overview and update
* Ease of modeling
* Product roadmap: CoE preparation begins now!
* ACE awards and recap
Breakout sessions
* UX Design
* Migration to UX with Matt Shields, Russ Goza
* Delivering Outstanding Demos with Ryan Whalen, Stephen Rituper
* Getting the Most out of Management Reports with Jared Dolich, AJ Balsamo
* What’s New in the UX with Byron Mikowicz, AJ Balsamo
* APIs & Data Management
* Data Hub structure and collaboration with Taryn Townsend, Rob Marshall
* Data Hub Automation Options with Fabien Junod, Edward Vecht, Timmy Thomas
* What’s New with APIs with Sean Culligan, Quin Eddy
* Integration and Automation with Anaplan with Kirill Barshevsky, Quin Eddy
* Modeling & Architecture
* What’s New with Modeling Experience with Andrew Tye, Elizabeth Schera
* Model Builder Collaboration with UX Designers & Users with Lily Liu, Ryan Kohn
* Intentional System Architecture with Aaron Overfors
* Model Performance with Prince Ayinde, Mitch Aist, Julie Ziemer, Rob Marshall
* CoE Management* Turning Strategic Goals into Executable Plans through Effective Prioritization with Hayli Hay
* What’s New for CoE Leaders with Will Lederer, Ashwin Krishnamurthy
* Executive Engagement with Mohamad Hadi, Josh Baker
* Cross-Functional Meeting Cadences with Rita Griebenow
If you attended or watched the recordings, we would love your feedback. Did you like this new format? What were your main takeaways from the event? Let us know in the comments!
We can’t wait to see you all in 2023 for our next event — stay tuned here in Community for the latest!
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Breakout tracks announced for the Anaplan Community Experience!
Anaplan Community Experience (ACE) is coming up soon — next Wednesday and Thursday — and we hope you'll join us for this new virtual event!
We are excited to announce new sessions and speakers added to our event line-up, from Meta, Autodesk, Groupon, Deloitte, and more. You can look forward to four main stage sessions, including an interactive Product Roadmap discussion highlighting the near-term planned improvements for the Anaplan Platform and an introduction to the Anaplan Prescriptive Talent Mix. In addition, we've prepared breakout sessions in four different tracks: UX Design, APIs and Data Management, Modeling and Architecture, and CoE Management.
In each of the four tracks, you'll find breakout sessions on:
* What’s new? Join Anaplan experts for an overview of one new product feature critical to your persona track/focus. Leave inspired and informed, with additional resources to continue your learning.
* Cross-persona collaboration. Learn best practices on how to work collaboratively across teams and with other Anaplan roles to accomplish transformational benefits and achieve results.
* Panel discussion: customer journey. Hear from Anaplan customers in different stages of their Anaplan journey. No matter where you are in your career progression, you’ll find inspiration in hearing from your Community peers!
* Professional development. Boost your skills and accelerate your career as you explore topics such as impacting change, motivating teams, and influencing your organization more effectively
You'll also have a chance to chat and connect with your peers on a variety of topics, through our Certified Master Anaplanner-hosted networking tables. These networking tables will be open both days from 10:00 - 11:00 am, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, and 2:00 - 3:00 pm (EST). Additional open networking tables will be available throughout the two-day event for opportunities to drop in and connect with your fellow Anaplanners.
If you haven't RSVPed yet, register here. Can't make it? All main stage and breakout sessions will be recorded and available to view the week following the event here on Community. Make sure to RSVP even if you are unable to attend live — you'll be first to know when they are posted!
Do you have questions about the event? Leave a comment!
