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[UPDATED] Summary Calculations with the User List
Author: Rob Marshall, Director of Architecture and Performance at Anaplan, Operational Excellence Group (OEG). Prior to the February 2024, users were not allowed to use aggregation functions (SUM, ALL, ANY, AVERAGE, FIRSTNONBLANK, LASTNONBLANK, MAX, MIN, RANK) when having the Users list in a module because the system could…
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Setting up a process to remove inactive users
Author: Kay Kuang is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principal Data and Insights Architect at Anaplan. Actively managing the users list to keep the list small and to keep only users who need access to the model will make the model go a long way. The users list can have a big impact on the model's performance — especially…
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Creating a Data Integration Schema for your Models
A data integration schema describes the integration and flow of data across systems. It will typically consist of a combination of diagrams, tables, and other visual components that provide the ability to quickly understand the flow of data. In an Anaplan context, a data integration schema outlines the movement of data…
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Unlocking High-Efficiency Data Uploads in Anaplan: A Multithreading Approach
In cloud-based business planning, the ability to swiftly and effectively upload large datasets is an important aspect of maintaining up-to-date planning. This post introduces the concept of multithreading to enhance data upload speeds to Anaplan significantly. This approach, however, is specifically tailored for data…
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Using the Anaplan Certificate with the Anaplan REST API: A Comprehensive Guide
If you're diving into integrating with the Anaplan REST API using an Anaplan Certificate, you'll need to know certain requirements. This post is a step-by-step guide to ensure a seamless connection using Python. If you'd prefer to avoid a programmatic approach to using your certificate, then please check out the CA…
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How to review models and applications to drive improvement
Author: Andrew Martin (@andrew_martin_1), Operational Excellence Director at Anaplan. Overview Many stakeholders ask this question for different reasons. Examples include: A CoE leader needing comfort that best practices have been followed in the build A Solution Architect seeking affirmation that the architecture is the…
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Get to know the model experience as an end-user
Welcome to the Anaplan modeling experience (MX)! The Anaplan functionality you know and love, with a modern look and feel and simplified, intuitive navigation. In February 2023, the updated model experience became the default for all users. In April 2024 the ability to toggle back to the old classic experience will be…
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[Start here] Modeling Experience
If you are an experienced model builder, you are already familiar with the power and flexibility that the Anaplan platform provides when solving your teams' planning needs. In February 2023, we made the enhanced Modeling Experience (MX) the default experience for our users, and from April 2024, the old classic interface…
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OEG Best Practice: Best practices for model cleanup in Anaplan
This article helps everyone with the suggested cleanup activities of existing models where Anaplan best practices weren’t adhered to from the beginning. Please follow this and develop a more user-friendly model. User access Begin by revisiting all the tabs in the User Access setting and set appropriate access by roles. A…
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OEG Best Practice: Dimension order
Dimension order affects calculation performance Ensuring consistency in the order of dimensions will help improve the performance of your models. This consistency is relevant for modules and individual line items. Why does the order matter? Anaplan creates and uses indexes to perform calculations. Each cell in a module…
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Transactional APIs - Part 2: Use Cases
Introduction Following use cases will be presented in this section: How to retrieve id for a given dimension/list & list member from its name or code How to retrieve allocated & consumed space for a Workspace & Model Workspace Sizing Use case Model Memory Usage Use case How to retrieve permitted number of Items & Index…
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PlanIQ and related data
Author: Evgy Kontorovich is the Sr. Director Product Management at Anaplan. Background Customers are frequently wondering what can be used as related data. When thinking about related data, we can think about different types of “internal” time dependent inputs: Historical and future promotions Stockouts Price fluctuations…
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Summary Calculations With the User List
Even though the Users list does not have a top member assigned to it, with the release on April 24, 2021, model builders will be able to use the following summary functions with the Users List: SUM, LOOKUP, ISFIRSTOCCURRENCE, CUMULATE, ALL, ANY, AVERAGE, FIRSTNONBLANK, LASTNONBLANK, MAX, MIN, RANK. Lookup First, let’s look…
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Manage inputs to Management Reporting
Author: Kay Kuang is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principal Data and Insights Architect at Anaplan. Management Reporting is a great dashboard type in Anaplan. It looks clean, professional, and provides a familiar PowerPoint look to people while it is powered by the live data from the Anaplan model. It is a wonderful…
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CA Certificate Quick Start Guide using Sectigo
Creating an Anaplan CA Certificate using the Sectigo Personal Email Security (S/MIME) certificate involves several steps. Here's a quick start guide to help you through the process: Step #1: Purchase the Sectigo Personal Email Security (S/MIME) certificate from Sectigo's website. You can find it here. The cost is $15 for a…
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Anaplan's Device Grant API Flow: A Seamless Machine-to-Machine Authentication Option
In the world of modern application development, seamless authentication is key to providing a smooth user experience. Anaplan, a leading platform for planning and performance management, offers a versatile approach to authentication through its Device Grant API Flow. In this blog post, we'll explore the Device Grant…
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Anaplan's Authorization Code Grant API Flow: A Seamless App-to-App Authentication Option
In the realm of contemporary application development, achieving seamless authentication is paramount for delivering an exceptional user experience. Anaplan, a prominent player in the realm of planning and performance management, presents a flexible and robust solution for enabling resource authorization between Anaplan and…
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OEG Best Practice: Anaplan Python OAuth Example
The Anaplan Python OAuth Example demonstrates using the Anaplan REST API with OAuth with device-based authorization. The code highlights how to generate a device_id, access_token, and refresh_token. Additionally, the code highlights a multi-threaded approach to request a new access_token while performing other,…
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Use fake week to replace default week calendar
Author: Kay Kuang is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principal Data and Insights Architect at Anaplan. Some businesses run their planning or operations by weeks. However, setting the Anaplan model default Calendar Type to Week format can be inconvenient. For example, converting dates to monthly format can sometimes be…
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Using Anaplan Connect with OAuth
How to Use Anaplan Connect with OAuth Authorization Anaplan Connect is a powerful command line interface that allows you to automate your Anaplan environment, enabling seamless data integration and synchronization between Anaplan and other systems. While Anaplan Connect offers various authentication methods, including…
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Bi-directional Integration: Bridging Workday and Anaplan
In today's fast-paced business environment, seamless integration between different enterprise solutions is crucial. This post delves into the specifics of establishing a bi-directional integration between Workday and Anaplan, two leading platforms in their respective domains. Workday to Anaplan Integration Extracting Data…
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Data distribution design from Data Hub to multiple spoke production models
Author: Hanwen Chen is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principle Solution Architect at Anaplan. Use case You may have encountered a situation on your Anaplan project where the model size is too big when you try to load data from different business units (BUs)/GEOs/product groups in a Data Hub into a single spoke model.…
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Set up Aligned DCA and Selective Access Management
Author: Kay Kuang is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Principal Data and Insights Architect at Anaplan. On a list level, you can use two ways to manage the access: Dynamic Cell Access (DCA) and Selective Access. There are benefits and limitations for both approaches. I'd like to share an approach that could leverage the…
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Update Current Period Action
From April 24, 2021, model builders will be able to update Current Period via an action. Workspace Administrators (WSAs) can always update the Current Period manually via the Model Calendar, however, this may not always be convenient. The Update Current Period action enables the WSAs to increase efficiency and reduce…
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Setting current time period
This guide will walk through the Time setting in Anaplan models, as well as some best practice recommendations on automating the current time period to simplify formulas and dashboard views. The Time setting is a critical component of the model structure and should factor in long-term objectives and the purpose of a new…
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Guidelines for model impacts when removing a user from a workspace
Removing a user from a workspace There are two different ways to prevent a user from seeing and accessing models: You can set the user's model role to "No Access." This is set on a model-by-model basis and will prevent the user from seeing the model on the Tiles screen, as well as completely preventing the user from…
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Matrix Inverse using Optimizer
In the following article, we will discuss how to use Anaplan Optimizer to compute Matrix Inverse. Matrix Inverse as a functionality can be used to solve a Multi Linear Regression Problem in Anaplan. Using Matrix Inverse, we are going to solve the following Multi Linear Regression equation: Y = b0 + b1x1 + b2x2 + b3x3 +…
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Introducing the Anaplan Integration Script Generator: Simplifying Anaplan Connect Scripting
Introduction Anaplan, a leading platform for enterprise planning, has revolutionized the way organizations manage their data and streamline processes. However, leveraging Anaplan's powerful features often requires scripting with Anaplan Connect—a command-line utility for interacting with the platform. To simplify this…
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OEG Best Practice: Line item subsets demystified
Line item subsets are one of the most powerful and efficient features in Anaplan, yet one of the least understood. The COLLECT() function is probably the only “black box” function within Anaplan as is it not immediately apparent what it is doing or where the source values are coming from. In the following article, I will…
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RESTful API How To
You can interact with the data in your models using Anaplan's RESTful API. This enables you to securely import and export data, as well as run actions through any programmatic way you desire. The API can be leveraged in any custom integration, allowing for a wide range of integration solutions to be implemented. Completing…
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User Access Management: Part 2 - This is how we do it
At Anaplan, we are using Anaplan internally for many of our business processes; this is how we set up our User Access Management. Anaplan User Access overview Unlike most enterprise software, Anaplan is extremely customizable. Access happens at 3 levels: * Page builders are provisioned at the tenant level * Model builders…
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How does Authentication with CA Certs work?
Why CA Certs? The purpose of this blog series is to give a deeper look on the use of Certificate Authority (CA) Certificates, especially on how this method of authentication works and how to use them for your different integrations. A Quick Recap On Anaplan APIs Authentication We recommend our readers to have some basic…
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OEG Best Practice: Data integration decision app
We built this app to make getting started on your Anaplan data integration journey simple with a quick questionnaire and helpful information and links. A common question that arises during Anaplan implementations (or even after go-live) is "How can I automate data feeds into and out of Anaplan?" While the ultimate decision…
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PlanIQ - Probabilistic forecasting using forecast quantiles
Probabilistic forecasts & forecast quantiles PlanIQ produces probabilistic forecasts. This means that PlanIQ algorithms output a distribution of possible values, rather than a single point forecast typically outputted by other solutions. This distribution can be divided into quantiles. Applied to forecasting, quantiles…
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OEG Best Practice: Formula structure for performance
Thinking through the results of a modeling decision is a key part of ensuring good model performance; in other words, making sure the calculation engine isn’t overtaxed. This article highlights some ideas for how to lessen the load on the calculation engine. Formulas should be simple; a formula that is nested, or uses…
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Unlock Your Next Level Model Building Potential with Improved Anaplan DX
Hi Anaplan Community! I’m excited to present you Improved Anaplan DX by valantic, a Chrome extension, that also works seamlessly on Edge. This tool is designed to make your Anaplan model building experience smoother, more efficient and supercharge your productivity. Download the Improved Anaplan DX today to bring your…
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Building a pyramid visual using a bar chart
Author: Subham Garg is a Senior Data & Insights Architect at Anaplan. Anaplan doesn’t have a pyramid chart option for reporting. However, there are certain metrics that work better with a pyramid chart than any other chart format. For instance, sales pipeline or number of employees at different ranks in a company are best…
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Anaplan API Live: Unlock the power of Anaplan APIs with this comprehensive instructional guide
Author: Anirudh Nayak is the co-founder of Elite EPM and an Anaplan Community Boss. Introduction Whether you're a model builder, a business owner, or an enthusiastic Anaplan user, harnessing the power of Anaplan APIs can be a game-changer. To help you on this journey, I am excited to introduce a new instructional guide in…