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Recording now available! October 28 platform release event
If you missed our October 28, 2026 platform release event, the recording is now available!
In this webinar, we highlighted the most recent feature releases and how to take advantage of these in your environment. Our expert-led session demonstrated new features and innovations, provided a technical deep-dive and “how-to”, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topics covered include:
* Planning Experience: Check out multiple UX features, such as a new chart palette and grid theme, hierarchy chart filters, and on-the-fly chart creation, that enhance the experience for your Anaplan users
* CoModeler: Learn about key administrative enhancements, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and new user activation emails, that keep your Anaplan environment secure and streamlined
* Anaplan Data Orchestrator: Explore core modeling updates, such as new Polaris functions and the latest Planual version, that optimize and guide your model-building process
* Workflow: Discover advanced workflow enhancements, such as builder undo/redo, decision task feedback, and batch submission and approvals, that streamline your collaborative processes
* Attendee Q&A
Quarterly Product Enablement Webinar - Q4 CY2026_Customer Webinar.pdf
Recording
https://play.vidyard.com/9oiZNjWGkNgJVJZbPtDBtW.html?
Chapters
0:00
Platform Feature Demo
9:17
MFA and Security Updates
14:22
Polaris Feature Highlights
27:16
Workflow New Features
41:55
Wrap-Up and Announcements
Catch up on recent releases:
* July 2026* Release notes
* Supplemental blog
* August 2026* Release notes
* Supplemental blog
* September 2026* Release notes
* Supplemental blog
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.
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Event recording available: User Experience Design Thinking
If you missed our Anaplan Community Experience event on User Experience Design Thinking, a recording is now available!
Anaplan experts Andy Martin, Director, Platform Adoption Specialist, Seb McMillan, Sr. Platform Adoption Specialist, Kat Owens, Sr. Manager, Product Research, and Richard Halford, Principal Product Designer, shared insights and inspiration for your UX design.
This session covered:
* Design Thinking Mindset: An introduction to applying design thinking to Anaplan UX development, highlighting that page building and model building require distinct skill sets, and emphasizing a shift from merely displaying data to designing front-end experiences that drive adoption and user satisfaction.
* User Research and Empathy: Techniques to uncover the root causes of user friction, detailing how to conduct interviews to build user personas (identifying specific roles and motivations) and map end-to-end user journeys to track chronological actions, pain points, and opportunities for simplification.
* Collaborative Wireframing: A demonstration of how to run rapid design workshops using a collaborative wireframing toolkit built in Lucid, allowing stakeholders to quickly prototype layout concepts using reusable Anaplan components (like grids, KPIs, and charts) before starting development.
* UX Page Archetypes: A framework categorizing user pages into four distinct archetypes to target different user needs: landing pages for navigation, strategic dashboards for high-level executive insights, operational dashboards for managerial review, and analytical dashboards for detailed planner tasks.
* Role-Based Redesign Showcase: A walkthrough of a redesigned OPEX application showing tailored user journeys, including a streamlined analytical page with line-item expand/collapse features for planners, simplified exception-monitoring pages for managers, and a highly branded, interactive reporting dashboard for executives to replace static PowerPoint slides.
Anaplan UX Design Thinking Webinar.pdf
Check out the recording below.
https://play.vidyard.com/h9SG3kk3gyuQv18Grv778Z.html?
Chapters
0:00
Housekeeping and Agenda
2:07
Topic Introduction
6:46
Session Agenda
8:46
Problem Statement
11:24
User Research Basics
13:58
Personas and Journey Maps
20:51
Hand Off to Design
24:37
Design Principles
28:17
Dashboard Archetypes
32:24
Page Redesign Results
38:04
Q&A Begins
45:46
Visualization and BI
48:04
Role-Based Landing Pages
49:43
Responsive Layout Guidance
51:12
Research Time Planning
53:17
Wrapping Up
Frequently Asked Questions
Question:
The images used on the landing pages look fantastic - Have Anaplan published any guidelines on specific image types, sizes, aspect ratios, etc., to achieve the best end result?
Answer:
Within the settings you can choose whether to stretch, fill or retain original size and/or aspect.
Question:
When will we be able to expand/collapse line items (I.e., line item 1, 2, and 3, rolls up to a summary line item) want to collapse line item 1, 2, 3, and only show the summary
Answer:
Thanks for the question. This is a roadmap item which we cover on different types of calls.
Question:
How were you able to add a notation on the trendline for a KPI on the last page you showed?
Answer:
It's relatively new, and I believe you will see it demoed in the Platform Release webinar tomorrow.
Question:
Is it possible for a notification action to iterate over a dimension similar to a workflow notification? I've been running into scenarios where workflow is overkill but the notification action will only email one use.
Answer:
I'm afraid not, but simple workflows can be set up pretty quickly
Question:
Will it be possible to export a Management Report to PowerPoint?
Answer:
This is on our roadmap for medium term
Question:
I find it very useful to "publish" a design sheet that has branding, colors, templates (like where instructions go) early on in a project in accordance with "Dashboard early and often". Avoids lots of re-design
Answer:
That's a great discipline!
Question:
Hello all, thanks for the presentation. Is there any plan to provide Anaplan partners with access to this template without requiring a paid Lucidchart subscription, or is upgrading currently the only option? Thanks!
Answer:
We use lucid so have the template there, would be open to looking at an more open solution
Question:
Richard, thank you very much for sharing. Does that mean when we assign the Landing Page to User Role we can block the main menu and no user can reach to the main menu with pages and Categories?
Answer:
Not at the moment but if they follow the link for the App it will direct them to the right landing page for their role
Additional resources
Community Challenge Recap: Enhanced board layouts
Anaplan Wireframing Toolkit (requires free Lucid account)
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Community Challenge Recap: Enhanced board layouts — event recording available!
Last month, we hosted a Community Q&A Challenge inviting our members to get hands-on, explore how they work, and share what they discovered from our board layout enhancements from our July release.
Throughout September, members participated in testing out new page-building capabilities, submit real world use cases, and exchange practical design tips. Community participants shared insightful feedback, uploaded screenshots of their revamped interfaces, and discussed how these updates have transformed their executive summaries, operational planning dashboards, and reporting boards.
Our featured guest host, Seb McMillan (@seb_mcmillan), Sr. Platform Adoption Specialist at Anaplan, walked through standout submissions from the Community UX Challenge, reviewed problem-solving approaches, and shared his favorite design strategies. Seb was joined by Kaka Siu (@Ka KaS), Sr. Platform Adoption Specialist, who provided Q&A support as the team addressed audience questions throughout the session.
Watch the recording
https://play.vidyard.com/NgYyEXTz21iVY56kAGxvt6
Timestamps
* Welcome and introductions — 00:00
* New layout features — 4:18
* Community examples — 6:13
* Executive Dashboards — 10:31
* Faster builds — 13:30
* Expand and collapse — 16:52
* Branding at scale — 18:53
* Recap and takeaways — 22:06
* Q&A session — 28:44
* Closing remarks — 32:10
You can check out a PDF of the event presentation below.
Enhanced board layouts Community Challenge Recap.pdf
Upcoming event
Ready to take your UX and board-building skills to the next level? Register for the upcoming User Experience Design Thinking event on October 27 at 8:00 AM PDT to get a deep dive into how following Design Thinking principles can have a major effect on end-user satisfaction, leading to increased adoption and improved execution of your business processes.
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Register for our Oct 28 platform release webinar!
Anaplan's next quarterly platform release webinar will be held October 28, 2026 at 8 a.m. Pacific Time. During this session, we will explore the latest features so you can optimize your Anaplan experience.
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 live during Q&A.
Features to be demo'd:
* UX: KPI cards, board layout updates, board insights panel drag and drop, grid row level expand/collapse
* ADO: Pipelines - support for writeback to source system, Validations nodes within pipelines, and Virtual Datasets
* Workflow: Usage breakdown, customizable email notifications
Can't make it? Register for the event and a recording will be sent to all who register. A recap and recording will also be posted on Community.
Register
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Event recording available: Streamlining Business Processes With Anaplan Workflows
If you missed our Anaplan Community Experience event on Streamlining Business Processes With Anaplan Workflow, a recording is now available!
Anaplan experts Elizabeth Schera, Architecture & Adoption Director at Anaplan, Kaka Siu, Sr. Platform Adoption Specialist, Allison Slaught, Architecture & Platform AI Director, and Chris Stauffer, Director, Platform Adoption Specialists, shared insights and best practices on Anaplan Workflow.
The session covered:
* Latest Workflow Features: An overview of recently released enhancements, including a new Usage Page to track user engagement, the ability to add custom subject lines to email notifications for better context, and an auto-refresh capability for UX pages after a machine task completes.
* Batch Approval Processes: A detailed demonstration of a multi-level, batched approval workflow for a workforce planning use case, showcasing how to manage approvals for items funded by multiple departments and how to configure batch settings at both the template and task level.
* Approver Management Best Practices: Techniques to handle changes in assignees and approvers, such as using an approver matrix with a dedicated people list and backup approvers, and setting up automated notifications to alert administrators of configuration issues to prevent stalled or unintentionally skipped approvals.
* Workflow Task Types: A comprehensive refresher on the nine different user-based and automated task types available in Anaplan Workflows, explaining the best use case for each, from simple page tasks to complex hierarchical and value-based decision tasks.
* Status Tracking and Visualization: The importance of using Booleans and write-back actions within workflows to create dynamic status trackers and calendars on UX pages, providing administrators and end-users with clear visibility into the progress of a process.
ACE Workflow Event - 2026.10.pdf
Check out the recording below.
https://play.vidyard.com/ys9sehNAaUtqru3RKdZd1u.html?
Chapters
0:00
Speaker Introductions
5:12
Workflow Updates
10:32
Machine Task Refresh
13:27
Batch Approval Demo
25:51
Approval Best Practices
34:36
Task Type Overview
46:28
Automated Tasks
54:43
Q&A and Wrap-Up
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Are there any resources available to outline the functionality differences between Workflow and Workflow Enterprise?
Answer: Yes, please refer to our Anapedia page for more details: https://help.anaplan.com/workflow-d3ef84e7-e883-4b38-af79-889ea825df9f
Question: Do we have currently a way to extract the workflow diagram for documentation purposes, such as the model map we currently have for models?
Answer: Great Suggestion! We do not have that currently. For now, a screen snag-it tool works well.
Question: Does the template allow for the notification to be dynamic? i.e. "Please review Q1FY27" or is this where we'd have to make copies in order to iterate upon this?
Answer 1: You won’t be able to insert dynamic text from line items, but plain text. You can type out “Please review QFY27”, and this format will be iterated to all items.
Answer 2: If you wanted more context-specific information in your message, you have the option to include context from line items within the center notification section. An example of this will be shown in my demo shortly. It’s important to note that for the emails to be sent with context, certain notification settings must be updated at the tenant level.
Question: I know workflows support parallel tasks within a step, but is it possible to have parallel paths? I mean two separate branches, each with its own sequence of steps, running at the same time and moving forward independently, then optionally merging back later.
Answer 1: Branching and merging is available, but branching is currently based on a true/false or approve/reject/send back choice.
Answer 2: https://help.anaplan.com/branch-and-reconnect-steps-in-a-workflow-45b1cd25-c944-46c0-8b4f-aa5e428e7f67
Question: In ADO workflow, when a single task fails, the overall workflow sometimes gets stuck in a 'running' state instead of transitioning to 'failed.' As a result, the next scheduled run doesn't trigger until I manually cancel the stuck workflow. Is this expected behavior, or is it a bug that the workflow doesn't properly mark itself as failed and resume its schedule?
Answer: This sounds like a use case-specific need, please reach out to your CSBP for help.
Question: Is it possible to have 2 approvers for one action to move to the next stage of the workflow?
Answer: Yes, this is a good use case for a group task.
Question: Is there a native status view or template that shows end-users which step a workflow is on, so we don’t have to build a custom control panel for that?
Answer: The workflow admins have native tracking capabilities whereby they can see which workflows are running vs completed. The audit capability also has many of the workflow events. End users will also have limited availability within the workflow menu to see some items related to them.
Question: Is there a series of workflows possible? if one workflow completed in one model, then another workflow in another model is triggered.
Answer: One of the best features of workflow is that it can cross models in a single template. As KaKa mentioned, a combination of machine tasks and value-based tasks can be used to model related workflow templates.
Question: Is there a way to preview the notification and how all the elements come together in the final message?
Answer: That feature is not available at this time. When building, I always test my workflow and as part of testing, I would review all the messages.
Question: Is there a way to send a notification once a couple of my workflows are complete? Example - If I have 5 outbound ADO workflows and I want to send a notification once all 5 workflows have completed, is there a way to do this or maybe a pipeline feature to be released in the future?
Answer: Currently, Workflows does not support cross-template notification, but this can be achieved by custom modeling. For example, have each of the 5 mark a complete boolean at the end, and use a scheduled notification task to run every X minutes.
Question: best practices for recording the time/date stamp and user when triggering the submit/approve boolean data write? This is recorded in the task details but sometimes we want it shown in a central admin in the UX.
Answer: This is an interesting question. We’re not prepared to show this in today’s session but will consider it for future sessions.
Question: is parallel steps available for standard model?
Answer: Parallel tasks is only available for Workflow Advanced: https://help.anaplan.com/workflow-advanced-f6ad25f7-2e58-4e06-8132-d1cc42dff1b0
Question: is there any prebuilt model/app to download and try the functionality?
Answer: Great Idea! Here are a few articles which have build details you can replicate to test out functionality.
https://community.anaplan.com/discussion/161001/workflow-advanced-coordinating-parallel-approvals
https://community.anaplan.com/discussion/160640/end-user-triggering-of-workflow-processes/p1
https://community.anaplan.com/discussion/160712/bulk-processing-with-workflow
Question: is it possible to move a parallel steps block all together up or down?
Answer: Try Collapsing the block and drag and drop it to a new location.
Additional resources
Latest enhancements in Anaplan Workflow
Bulk processing in Workflow
Anaplan introduces Snowflake Writeback in Pipelines
Using Workflow to schedule Optimizer actions
Previous Workflow Events
Workflow in Anaplan
Building Valuable Anaplan Workflows
Anaplan Workflow Expanded
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Event recording available: Scaling accuracy and automation with Anaplan Forecaster
If you missed our Anaplan Community Experience event on Scaling accuracy and automation with Anaplan Forecaster, a recording is now available!
Anaplan experts Yaniv Dassa, Principle Product Manager @YanivD, Bill Dowling, Principle Platform Adoption Specialist @billdowling, and Shane Betlinski, Principle Architect at Spaulding Ridge @shane.betlinski shared insights and best practices on Anaplan Forecaster.
The session covered:
* Direct & Native Integration: Anaplan Forecaster acts as a built-in time-series engine directly inside the Anaplan platform, eliminating the need for external tools, manual exports, or complex integrations.
* Driver-Based & Explainable Forecasts: Instead of outputting "black box" predictions, it clearly shows which variables—such as price changes, marketing promotions, or macroeconomic signals—are driving the forecast.
* A Focus on Clean Historical Data: The success of any implementation hinges on data quality; teams must spend time up front identifying stockouts, correcting one-time anomalies, and distinguishing true zeroes from missing data.
* "Forecast by Exception" Methodology: Rather than manually forecasting every line item, planners generate an automated baseline for all products and focus their manual override efforts solely on high-value or highly volatile items.
* Forecast Value Add (FVA) Tracking: Implementing a strict "touch policy" and measuring FVA helps organizations analyze whether manual overrides by planners are actually improving or degrading forecast accuracy.
Forecaster_Community_Webinar.pdf
Check out the recording below.
https://play.vidyard.com/eLD6R4kTrJoMjVCCZa8NoT.html?
Chapters
0:00
Session Overview
7:01
Project Success Tips
10:56
Data Quality and Cleaning
13:53
Granularity and Trust
18:25
Planner Review Process
23:36
Project Phases
27:27
Pilot Success Metrics
30:08
Post-Go-Live Improvement
33:17
Demo Introduction
37:06
Data Prep and Insights
40:12
Forecaster UI Walkthrough
47:46
Model Building and Backtesting
52:04
Future Forecast and Explainability
58:26
Closing Remarks
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Forecaster have options to use various methods, how many options are available, and can users modify the values (top/bottom/mid)?
Answer:
* Details on available algorithmic methods can be found in the Anaplan Forecaster Algorithms Documentation.
* Manual overrides are fully supported downstream in Anaplan across hierarchy levels.
Is Forecaster a black box system, or is it possible to tune/define parameters of algorithms?
Answer: Forecaster comes with built-in SHAP-based explainability for granular transparency. The model training process is not open for outside tuning today, but user-defined parameter tuning is under consideration as a roadmap item.
Does Forecaster self-learn, or have the ability to explain why its own forecast was inaccurate?
Answer: Forecasts are generated with a 4-view explainability framework. Each view provides a different angle on what impacted predictions, the dynamics between features, down to a single-prediction breakdown using precise values (not relative impact).
How much historical data can Forecaster handle (e.g., 2–4 years), and does it depend on storage?
Answer: Forecaster supports large datasets and up to 100,000 SKUs (forecast items) in each forecast run, with potentially very long history (up to 10 years). Forecaster reads and writes data directly from the Anaplan platform. In the near future, the Anaplan Data Orchestrator (ADO) will also be added as an additional read/write data source.
Can users update their numbers without requiring them to check the box? Is it dynamic that way?
Answer: Yes. Checking the box is one way to perform the override—it helps identify which value was overridden and keeps both values (previous and overridden) on record. Alternatively, users can choose to edit directly in the main forecast value cell without checking the box.
What is the product lineage between PlanIQ and Forecaster—is Forecaster a next-gen replacement, and what differentiates their predictive capabilities? Is the infrastructure still backed by AWS?
Answer: PlanIQ is no longer available; it was sunset about a year ago. Forecaster is the next-generation replacement and is fully native—the algorithms are owned and operated directly by Anaplan, and no data leaves the Anaplan environment.
What is the minimum historical data (in years) expected to use Forecaster?
Answer: It depends on the method selected. Forecaster has methods specifically designed to generate good forecasts even with very limited history, such as TimesFM (foundation model) and DeepAR (probabilistic neural network).
What is the computational overhead of the forecasting logic in terms of peak calculation engine runtime, formula dependency chain latency, and workspace memory utilization?
Answer: Forecaster runs on its own dedicated computation architecture. Training a model and generating a forecast does not lock the Anaplan model. Writing data into Anaplan does initiate a standard model write lock, with duration depending on the volume of data being written.
Can we fine-tune algorithm hyperparameters or import custom ML models, or are we limited to out-of-the-box algorithms and automated parameter optimization?
Answer: Currently, hyperparameter tuning and importing custom ML models are not supported, and users utilize the out-of-the-box algorithms. However, hyperparameter tuning and importing custom models are both on the roadmap.
How does Forecaster handle new product introductions (NPI) without historical data?
Answer: Several methods in Forecaster are designed to work in low-history scenarios, including TimesFM (pre-trained foundation model) and DeepAR (neural networks). Forecasting with no history at all (zero-shot forecasting) is not fully supported today, but is on the roadmap.
Additional resources
[Start Here] Forecaster overview and resources
Setting up Anaplan Forecaster | On-Demand Course
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Event recording available: Building Smarter Models with Polaris and Planual
If you missed our event on Anaplan Community Experience: Building Smarter Models with Polaris and Planual, a recording is now available!
Anaplan experts Jason Blinn (@jasonblinn) Architecture and Performance Director, Theresa Reid (@TheresaR) Architecture and Performance Director, and Mark Warren (@MarkWarren) Architecture and Performance Director, shared crucial strategies for building and optimizing models with the Polaris calculation engine.
The session covered:
* Polaris Fundamentals & Planual Updates: A foundational overview of how Polaris works by calculating only populated cells (ignoring defaults like 0, blank, or false) and how the Planual has been updated with specific rules for Polaris to guide builders.
* Iterative Development Methodology: A deep dive into the recommended three-tier ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) strategy. This process separates syntax/logic validation in a small Dev model from performance validation in a larger Test model, preventing slowdowns and increasing model builder productivity.
* Blueprint Insights & Performance Diagnostics: A practical guide to using the blueprint's "Line Items" tab to monitor performance. Key metrics like Populated Cell Count, Memory Used, Calculation Complexity, and Calculation Effort can be exported and analyzed to pinpoint performance bottlenecks.
* On-Demand Calculation (ODC) Explained: An explanation of how Polaris defers summary calculations until they are required by a user action (like expanding a hierarchy or changing a pivot). The session included best practices for managing ODC, such as designing targeted UX pages and using the "omit summaries" option on exports to avoid unintended memory spikes.
* Targeted Performance Analysis: A demonstration of how to isolate the impact of a specific action by letting the model sit idle for 10 minutes (which clears the calculation effort cache), performing the action, and then exporting the blueprint to see exactly which line items were affected.
Aug 18 Polaris Webinar.pdf
Check out the recording below.
https://play.vidyard.com/CP31XH4Hh5gGX73HCwoCu1.html?
Chapters
Timestamp
Chapter
0:00
Agenda and Speakers
6:19
Why the Planual Matters
13:28
Iterative Development
27:01
Calculation Effort and Insights
41:11
On-Demand Calculation
53:12
Closing Remarks
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Architectural Design & Migration (Classic vs. Polaris)
Guidance on when to use Polaris, key modeling shifts, and migration strategies.
When to migrate / Choose Polaris:
Question: Should new builders learn Classic or Polaris? When does migrating make sense?
Answer: If you are entitled to Polaris, start there. However, since many environments use a hybrid strategy, understanding both is important. Migrate existing Classic models only if Polaris solves a specific scale/sparsity problem Classic cannot.
Modeling Anti-Patterns:
Question: What is the biggest anti-pattern when migrating Classic models to Polaris?
Answer: Classic models are often designed to minimize size by concatenating dimensions. In Polaris, it is a major anti-pattern; you should separate these into distinct dimensions to let the sparse calculation engine work naturally.
Migration Resources:
Question: Do we need to completely rebuild models to migrate to Polaris?
Answer: Migration is a massive topic. Anaplan has published a comprehensive step-by-step guide in the Polaris Best Practices section of the Anaplan Community.
Community Article
Dimension Limits (DIT/2^64 limit):
Question: What should we do if adding the full production list in the Test environment pushes a line item over the $2^{64}$ limit?
Answer: This must be evaluated during the initial architecture/design phase. Guardrails like subsets and time ranges must be designed upfront to avoid hitting physical platform limits.
2. Performance, Sparsity, & Formula Optimization
How does the Polaris engine calculates, and best practices for writing high-performance formulas.
Sparsity & Cell Count Ceilings:
Question: Is there a maximum cell count or dimension ceiling for sparse modules to maintain performance?
Answer: No. Performance is not driven solely by sparsity; it depends on formula structure, summary methods, and the overall shape of the data.
LOOKUP and PREVIOUS Performance:
Question: How do LOOKUP and PREVIOUS perform in sparse modules? Are there alternatives?
Answer: These functions (especially LOOKUP) can scale slowly at a massive scale because the engine has to search the indexes of populated cells. Use them with caution and test thoroughly. Use SUM where possible, although it is not a direct replacement for LOOKUP. PREVIOUS performs well, so no alternative is needed.
Community Article.
Planual Rule: 2.02-34 Prioritize SUM over LOOKUP
Guarding Formulas with IF THEN:
Question: How do we avoid nested IF statements to guard against "All Cells" calculation? Does nesting degrade performance?
Answer: Use IF statements to guard formulas. In Polaris, nesting IF statements matters less because the engine is highly efficient at finding the fastest path through the logical tree. However, excessively long nested chains in very high cell-count line items can still impact performance. Keep formulas as simple as possible.
Planual Rule: 2.02-36 Use IF THEN statements as guards in formulas
Logical Test Order (IF NOT A vs. IF A):
Question: Is it faster to test for cases we want to calculate, or cases we do not want to calculate?
Answer: The syntax order does not matter to the engine (IF NOT A THEN B ELSE C performs identically to IF A THEN C ELSE B). The goal is simply to write logic that preserves sparsity by keeping the total number of populated cells to a minimum.
Planual Rule: 2.02-26 Early Exits in Polaris don’t matter as much as they do in Classic
Sparsity Breakdown & Empty Cells:
Question: Why does performance degrade on very large dimensions even when highly sparse? Does the engine still iterate over empty cells?
Answer: Polaris naturally ignores empty cells. However, if your formula or logic explicitly instructs the engine to look at zeroes, blanks, or FALSE values, you inadvertently "reverse" sparsity and force the engine to calculate those intersections.
3. ALM, Developer Environments, & Data Loads
Strategies for managing Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and handling heavy data updates.
Three-Tier ALM Setup Value (Dev vs. Test):
Question: Why maintain smaller, stripped-down lists in Dev if we have to test against full datasets anyway?
Answer: This separates syntax/logic validation (done quickly in Dev to maintain model builder productivity) from performance/scale validation (done in Test with millions or billions of cells).
Community Article.
Planual Rule: 6.05-06 Always use Iterative Development with Polaris
Multi-Builder Coordination:
Question: Should concurrent model builders share a single Test model or have their own?
Answer: A single, shared Test environment is sufficient, provided you coordinate development and code pushes using the Anaplan Way or another structured methodology.
Handling Large List Updates:
Question: What is the best way to handle large data loads to a list used in many calculations?
Answer: List updates trigger recalculations across all dependent line items. Be highly intentional with timing: consolidate all list updates, code updates, and subset changes into a single action so the model only has to recalculate once.
Planual Rule: 1.05-14 Update Lists with a single action
Slowing ALM Syncs:
Question: How do we prevent ALM syncs from taking hours when calculations are complex and data is bulky?
Answer: Practice iterative development. Push structural changes in smaller, focused packages (by user story or module) rather than saving up massive releases. This prevents the engine from bottlenecking during a single massive compilation.
4. Model Management, Monitoring, & On-Demand Calculation
How to read calculation metrics and manage real-time engine behavior.
Calculation Effort %:
Question: Is Calculation Effort % a static measure of the whole model? Does it change with user activity?
Answer: No, it is dynamic. It measures CPU time spent on calculations. Immediately following a model restart, it reflects the line items contributing to model open time. During active use, it dynamically updates based on the last 10 minutes of user entries, imports, and dashboard interactions.
On-Demand Calculation (ODC) Dynamics:
Question: What happens when multiple users trigger On-Demand Calculations simultaneously?
Answer: The engine calculates it for the model; once calculated for one, it is available for all users.
Community Article.
Dev vs. Copy Cell Count Differences:
Question: Why does the populated cell count sometimes differ between an active Dev model and a fresh copy of it?
Answer: This is typically driven by temporary on-demand cells populated in the active model that are not saved in the structural copy.
5. View Optimization, Imports, & Exports
Best practices for moving data and designing user-facing grids.
Saved Views for Hub-and-Spoke Data Transfers:
Question: How do we optimize saved views between Polaris spoke models to prevent slow loading times?
Answer: Avoid nesting multiple large dimensions on the rows of pivoted export grids. Instead, pivot the view to show a single flat list on the rows and filter it using a single Boolean line item (e.g., Is Populated? = TRUE). Let the target Spoke import map and parse those dimensions upon ingestion.
Default Views & Open Times:
Question: Should default views have hidden levels to reduce model open times?
Answer: Yes. Default views should be set at the leaf level only to prevent triggering heavy On-Demand Calculations upon opening.
Planual Rule: 2.04-03 Keep the Default View clean
Additional resources
Blueprint Insights
Calculation Effort
Understanding Blueprint Insights and Optimizing for Populated Space
Migrating a model from Classic to Polaris
The power of SUMs
Iterative Development in Polaris
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Event recording available: Achieving enterprise savings with Anaplan Optimizer
If you missed our event on Anaplan Community Experience: Achieving enterprise savings with Anaplan Optimizer, a recording is now available!
Anaplan experts Thuener Armando da Silva (Principal AI Product Manager), Pritha Shah (Sr. Product Marketing Manager), and Bill Dowling (Principal Platform Adoption Specialist) shared how organizations are utilizing Optimizer capabilities to transform complex decision planning challenges into measurable financial savings.
The session covered:
* What is Anaplan Optimizer: How this prescriptive analytics tool uses the industry-leading Gurobi engine to evaluate millions of possibilities and prescribe the absolute best course of action for complex business decisions.
* Real-world success stories: A look at how AGC reduced production costs by 10–15% (with a 1–2% EBITDA uplift), Jaguar Land Rover achieved 98% forecast accuracy, and Froneri automated complex daily logistics deployment plans in minutes.
* Practical live demonstrations: Interactive use cases showing Optimizer in action—from balancing production schedules and building stock ahead of demand spikes in supply chain, to assigning high-volume casework based on skills, availability, and cost in workforce management.
* Performance and technical best practices: Crucial modeling safeguards, including using custom lists instead of native time dimensions, and isolating Optimizer processes in a dedicated workspace to manage native "blocking action" concurrency.
* The Optimizer roadmap: A sneak peek at upcoming platform enhancements, including multi-objective optimization support and future integrations with AI agents to simplify model building.
Webminar Optimizer Aug 2026.pdf
Check out the recording below.
https://play.vidyard.com/Y1c8CJQVyH6gMbQJ92nTdC.html?
Chapters
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Technical Capabilities & Limitations
* Does Optimizer work with the Polaris engine?
Not directly at this time. A direct integration is on the roadmap and expected by the end of the year. For now, you will need two separate workspaces: one using the Classic engine for Optimizer and another for Polaris.
* Can Optimizer use native Anaplan time dimensions?
No, Optimizer cannot use native time dimensions. The recommended best practice is to use a custom list to represent time periods in your optimization models.
* Can inputs and outputs be spread across different modules?
Yes, the data for Optimizer actions (inputs, constraints, and outputs) can be located in multiple modules within your Anaplan model.
* How does Optimizer evaluate variables?
It does not process variables and constraints sequentially. Instead, it evaluates all decision variables, objectives, and constraints simultaneously to find the best possible feasible solution.
2. Performance and Concurrency
* Does Optimizer lock the model while running?
Yes, Optimizer is a "blocking action," which means it can prevent other users from making changes to the input/output models while a run is in progress.
* What are the best practices for managing performance and reducing the MIP Gap?
For detailed guidance on improving Optimizer performance, a great resource is the Performance Tuning in Anaplan's Optimizer post on the Anaplan Community.
https://community.anaplan.com/discussion/157946/performance-tuning-in-anaplan-s-optimizer
3. Modeling Best Practices
* How do you differentiate between a constraint and a variable?
A constraint represents a limited resource, such as time, capacity, or materials. In contrast, a variable represents a decision you need to make, such as assigning an employee to a project or determining how much of a product to manufacture.
Additional resources
Optimizer on Anapedia
Anaplan Academy On-Demand Course
[Start Here] Anaplan Optimizer
Optimizer: Hands-on exercises
Introducing the Optimizer Toolbox
Anaplan Optimizer Guides
