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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
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Event recording available: Building Valuable Anaplan Workflows
If you missed our event on Anaplan Community Experience: Building Valuable Anaplan Workflows, a recording is now available!
Anaplan experts Chris Stauffer (Director of Platform Adoption), David Elston (Director of Product Management Applications), and Elizabeth Schera (Architecture and Adoption Director, Operational Excellence Group) shared how organizations are utilizing advanced Workflow capabilities to streamline planning processes and manage enterprise scale.
The session covered:
* The new Advanced "Batching" suite: How Batch Submit, Batch Notifications (summarized daily at midnight UK time), and Batch Approvals work together to save massive amounts of time for planners and approvers alike.
* Standard workflow enhancements: A look at new platform capabilities including Decision Task Commentary writeback, a 20-action Canvas Undo/Redo session history, and running Anaplan Optimizer actions directly inside workflow steps.
* UX-driven workflow design: A practical demonstration from David Elston on how the Operational Workforce Planning (OWP) app leverages background Data Write tasks to automate cell confirmation and eliminate confusing front-end filters for a seamless user experience.
* Scale and performance safeguards: Essential architectural considerations from Elizabeth Schera, including managing model density with flat modules, leveraging native user dimensionality, and using machine tasks to offload commentary audit trails.
* Testing for concurrency: Best practices for simulating real-world production environments in UAT, testing user-journey bottlenecks, and mitigating core model queuing limitations.
ACE-Building Valueable Anaplan Workflows.pdf
Check out the recording below.
https://play.vidyard.com/12yS7eETKR1Z333qboxqSv.html?
Chapters
0:00
Webinar Overview
3:32
New Workflow Features
7:40
Batch Approvals Demo
14:30
Implementation Considerations
23:08
Commentary and Writeback
26:10
Operational Workforce Planning
41:14
Tips and Best Practices
49:55
Q&A and Wrap-Up
Additional resources
Configuring batch approvals
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Recording now available! July 29 platform release event
If you missed our July 29, 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
* Security & Admin: Learn about key administrative enhancements, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and new user activation emails, that keep your Anaplan environment secure and streamlined
* Modeling: 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
Anaplan Q2 Quarterly Product Webinar.pdf
Recording
https://play.vidyard.com/6g3b7wn6YbZzwuHNuvxQrK.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:
* April 2026* Release notes
* Supplemental blog
* May 2026* Release notes
* Supplemental blog
* June 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: Driving Security, Compliance, and Governance with the Anaplan Audit Log
If you missed our recent Anaplan Community Experience event on Driving Security, Compliance, and Governance with the Anaplan Audit Log, a recording is now available!
Anaplanners from across the globe joined our panel of experts, Chris Stauffer, Bill Dowling, and Jon Ferneau, for a deep dive into how you can build a robust framework for security, compliance, and governance. The session focused on a new, community-driven reporting solution designed to transform raw log data into actionable insights within your Anaplan models.
Key topics covered in the session include:
* Anaplan Audit vs. Model History: Clarifying the critical differences between the tenant-level Audit Log (for user access and integration events) and model-level History (for granular data and structural changes).
* Automated Data Extraction: Showcasing a new Python script to automate the extraction and transformation of log data, solving common reporting challenges like dynamic data structures.
* Actionable Reporting in Anaplan: Loading processed log data directly into an Anaplan model to create powerful UX dashboards for security, compliance, and adoption analysis.
* The Technology Behind the Solution: Outlining the technical architecture, which uses Anaplan APIs and DuckDB for high-performance data processing before loading to the platform.
Check out the recording below:
https://play.vidyard.com/e3DB5Y3zR3mp7R4df3cBij.html?
Chapters
0:00
Anaplan Audit Webinar Introduction
8:37
Anaplan Audit Feature Demonstration
22:30
Anaplan Model History Reporting
27:27
Anaplan Model History Reporting
31:46
Model History Export Best Practices
42:49
Q&A
Additional Resources
https://help.anaplan.com/audit-034cf52f-8ccf-49e0-a545-96861b12a645
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Event recording available: Managing Hierarchies with Anaplan Data Orchestrator (ADO)
If you missed our spotlight event on Anaplan Community Experience: Managing Hierarchies with Anaplan Data Orchestrator (ADO), a recording is now available!
Anaplan experts Stephen Day (Product Manager for ADO) and Jon Ferneau @JonFerneau (Data Integrations Expert, Operational Excellence Group) shared how organizations are utilizing ADO to streamline hierarchy management and support planning at scale.
The session covered:
* Centralizing data preparation: How ADO acts as a purpose-built data foundation to reduce manual data prep and ensure trusted, governed data is always planning-ready.
* Complex hierarchy building: A practical demonstration of building a four-level cost center hierarchy from two separate and disparate source systems (HR and Finance).
* Advanced transformation & direct dissemination: How to apply anti-join deduplication and dynamic list pruning, and use a single ADO link to populate all hierarchy levels without individual import actions.
* Lineage & traceability: Visualizing end-to-end data lineage from source data to the final planning model using ADO's visual data map.
Webinar - June 2026 - ADO Hierarchy Management - Copy.pdf
Check out the recording below to learn how ADO can modernize your hierarchy management.
https://play.vidyard.com/oUJiHh1iGN4UHFNTm8VR1k.html?
Chapters
0:00 - Intro and Qonto Customer Story
3:29 - What Is Anaplan?
5:57 - Why ADO Matters
9:38 - ADO Capabilities
12:20 - Meet the Demo
13:33 - Hierarchy Demo
15:56 - Source Data Setup
19:12 - Transformation Views
22:37 - Merging Hierarchies
25:57 - Leaf and Level Walk
29:42 - Linking to Anaplan
32:25 - Model Map and Push
34:41 - Workflow and Refresh
37:15 - Q&A Begins
54:43 - Closing Remark
Frequently Asked Questions
* Connectivity & Integration: Attendees were very interested in how ADO connects with other systems. This includes questions about integration with various data sources like Azure, Snowflake, Google Cloud, and on-premise solutions like Oracle.* ADO has pre-built connectors to many different systems. Each connector has it's own protocol for how it connects to the source system, for example: SQL connectors typically use JDBC as the connection protocol.
* Hierarchy Management: Many questions centered on the management of hierarchies and lists within Anaplan, a core data structure. This suggests a common challenge for users is maintaining complex and dynamic hierarchies.* ADO is very capable of assisting with hierarchy management, as demonstrated in the demo. Another powerful feature of ADO is the ability to "Balance" a ragged hierarchy. Complex hierarchy remapping that requires complex formula logic and the use of SUMS/LOOKUPS would still be best done in an Anaplan model until ADO gains new functionality to close the parity gap on what Data Hubs are doing today.
* Security & Access Control: Questions around security indicate that ensuring data governance is a key concern. This theme covers topics like user restrictions, workspace permissions, and secure data handling.* ADO utilizes "Dataspaces" to separate out different data sources or types of data based on your use case and how you choose to segregate your data. Access to ADO itself is restricted to the "Integration Admin" tenant level role. Each Integration Admin can be granted access to specific Dataspaces through Anaplan Administration. Integration Admin A might only have access to DEV and Finance dataspaces, while Integration Admin B might have access to all dataspaces.
Additional resources
Anaplan introduces Snowflake Writeback in Pipelines
Integrating your Oracle data: The Anaplan connector
Speeding up ADO data syncs with Workflow
Hybrid approach to planning and execution: Anaplan for Salesforce and ADO
For all articles on the Anaplan Community about Anaplan Data Orchestrator (ADO), click here.
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Polaris Modeling and Optimization Challenge recap — event recording available!
We recently hosted a Community Q&A Challenge inviting members to test their skills in Polaris modeling and optimization. Our internal experts developed a series of challenges, featuring a module rebuild alongside optimization challenges focused on the optimization of high calculation effort and high calculation complexity.
Theresa Reid ( @TheresaR), Architecture and Performance Director, and Seb McMillan (@seb_mcmillan), Principal Platform Adoption Specialist shared their expert perspectives as they walked through the challenges, providing insights on effective problem-solving strategies. They also shared their go-to optimization techniques and answered Polaris questions from the audience.
Watch the recording
https://play.vidyard.com/bKYZDhwscEyTkW7PTWxCw7
Timestamps
* Welcome and introductions — 00:00
* Guest hosts introduction — 1:50
* Module challenge — 2:38
* Optimization challenge: high calculation effort — 8:13
* Optimization challenge: high calculation complexity — 23:41
* Bonus questions: optimization techniques — 35:17
* Q&A — 43:13
You can check out a PDF of the event presentation below.
ACE Community Challenge Recap Polaris Modeling and Optimization.pdf
Links and resources
Below are links to articles we references in the presentation.
* Anaplan Polaris – Getting Started
* On-Demand Calculation in Polaris
* Anaplan Polaris – Optimizing Calculation Performance Using Inline Conditions
* Iterative Development in Polaris
To keep building your skills, check out our collection of Polaris articles here.
We highly recommend taking the Level 2 Model Building in Polaris course. In the words of our host, @TheresaR, it is the best way to "shift your mindset and instill the model building methods that will help you succeed in Polaris."
*In order to gain access to this training, you must have completed Level 1.
Questions? Leave a comment!
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Event recording available: CoModeler for Clear, Correct, Continuously Improved Models
If you missed our spotlight event on Anaplan Community Experience: CoModeler for Clear, Correct, Continuously Improved Models , a recording is now available. Our partners at Polestar Analytics, Steven Gnatovich and Vijay Vyakaranam shared with us how they are utilizing CoModeler in their implementations.
The session focused on exploring CoModeler and how it can be used to support model building and planning workflows within the Anaplan ecosystem. The discussion provided a practical look at how partners are leveraging the tool, including demonstrations of workflows, implementation approaches, and opportunities to improve efficiency and scalability for model builders. The event also highlighted emerging capabilities and gave attendees insight into how AI-assisted tooling may support future planning and development processes.
A recording of the event is below.
Recording
https://play.vidyard.com/34tnYngsAyNeEfUCjg1TeC.html?
Chapters
0:00 - Welcome
1:28 - Polestar Introductions
3:01 - Who is Polestar Analytics?
4:59 - CoModeler Overview
8:59 - CoModerler Demo
44:21 - Panelist Q&A
51:32 - Closing
Additional resources
CoModeler Overview | Anaplan Academy
CoModeler: Model Building Workshop | Anaplan Academy
The Future of Planning: Anaplan Co-Modeler in Action | Polestar Analytics
Request a Demo of CoModeler
