Author: Kevin Dale Bandelaria is a Certified Master Anaplanner and Solutions Delivery Head at OmniQuest, Inc.
Solution overview
The User Management process in Anaplan was developed to simplify how administrators set up and maintain model roles and selective access settings for users. Traditionally, configuring access in the backend can be tedious and error-prone, especially for large-scale implementations involving multiple regions or user groups. This solution brings that backend process into a structured, front-end experience, allowing administrators to manage user roles and data access through a single and intuitive interface within the app.
How it works
At the core of the setup are two modules: one for defining user-level configurations such as model access and hierarchy level, and another for managing the specific items to which users have selective access. Dynamic Cell Access (DCA) logic drives which parts of the input tables are editable based on user selections, ensuring consistency and control. A six-step process then streamlines the backend updates — resetting previous access, assigning new access, and syncing everything to the Anaplan Users tab with a single click.
Core benefits
This approach significantly reduces the time and effort needed for user onboarding and access maintenance. Instead of manually editing the Users tab, administrators can perform all actions from a guided interface, minimizing errors and removing the need for backend navigation. It also improves governance by enforcing structured inputs and ensuring that model roles and selective access levels follow the organization’s hierarchy and security design. Overall, it enhances scalability and provides a more user-friendly experience for workspace administrators.
Key system behaviors discovered
During development, several system behaviors were uncovered that are crucial for making this process work. For instance, when importing selective access data, Anaplan only accepts reference codes from numbered lists as text-formatted values — not display names or list codes. The process also relies on hidden “None” columns in the Users tab to properly reset user access. Another key finding was that save views must be flat, with all dimensions in rows; otherwise, imports won’t process correctly. Lastly, while there are displayed Write and Read columns inside lists that have selective access enabled, these are columns that cannot be imported into. These insights were instrumental in achieving a fully automated and reliable workflow.
The resulting framework provides a robust foundation for managing user access at scale, and it can easily be extended to handle additional logic such as read/write permissions or role derivations based on model selections. By moving complex backend processes into a guided front-end interface, this solution not only streamlines administration but also deepens understanding of how Anaplan handles user and access data under the hood. It’s a strong example of how automation and thoughtful model design can transform a common pain point into a seamless management experience.
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