Practice Exam
To help you prepare for the Professional Solution Architect Certification, this practice exam is designed to simulate the structure and rigor of the actual exam. It includes a mix of multiple-choice and scenario-based questions that cover the key concepts outlined in this study guide.
The purpose of the practice exam is to:
- Familiarize you with the types of questions you can expect.
- Assess your current understanding across all exam topics.
- Highlight areas where you may need further study or review.
While this practice exam does not contribute to your final certification score, it is a valuable tool for identifying knowledge gaps and building confidence ahead of the official assessment. Use it as a checkpoint to measure your readiness and ensure you're applying best practices in real-world Anaplan scenarios.
Overview
The Professional Solution Architect Certification evaluates whether a candidate is equipped to design, guide, and support successful Anaplan implementations. Practical, scenario-based questions will test your ability to apply Anaplan’s architecture principles in real-world projects across our most strategic customers, employees, and partners.
To pass, candidates should demonstrate:
- Deep knowledge of the Anaplan platform and ecosystem.
- Application of best practices across the full implementation lifecycle.
- Ability to translate business problems into scalable, sustainable models.
Recommended Study Resources:
- Anaplan Community
- Anapedia
- Planual (Anaplan Modeling Best Practices)
Key Exam Areas and What to Study
Each topic is tested through conceptual and scenario-based questions. The following areas are critical to your preparation:
1. Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)
You should understand:
- How to use ALM for model version control and development.
- The difference between Deployed, Standard, and Archived modes.
- Managing structural vs. production data changes.
- Synchronizing between models using revisions.
Study Tip: Review ALM use cases and lifecycle workflows for dev-test-prod environments.
2. The Anaplan Way (TAW)
You should understand:
- The Agile methodology adapted for Anaplan projects.
- Sprint planning, backlog grooming, and stakeholder roles.
- The four phases: Pre-Release, Foundations, Implementation, and Finalization.
Study Tip: Be ready to identify which TAW phase a scenario is in and what tasks are appropriate at that point.
3. Best Practices – Modeling
You should understand:
- Naming conventions, sparsity reduction, model size management.
- Formula optimization and line item formatting.
- Avoiding performance bottlenecks.
Study Tip: Know Planual rules and how to spot anti-patterns in model structures.
4. Data Management / Integration
You should understand:
- Import/export actions and source mappings.
- File-based vs. connector-based integrations.
- Data Hub role and integration with external systems.
Study Tip: Practice resolving scenarios involving data mismatches, failed imports, and hierarchy updates.
5. Data Modeling
You should understand:
- Hierarchies, modules, lists, and line items.
- Use of Time, Versions, and subsets.
- Differentiating system modules from reporting modules.
Study Tip: Study the implications of using numbered lists, selective access, and list properties vs. line items.
6. Model Design
You should understand:
- Designing scalable and maintainable architecture.
- Separation of calculation, data, and input modules.
- Performance-aware model structure.
Study Tip: Apply DISCO methodology to break down model components logically.
7. User Security
You should understand:
- Roles, selective access, and dynamic cell access (DCA).
- Managing access across multiple models and workspaces.
- User provisioning and auditing.
Study Tip: Be ready to troubleshoot scenarios involving incorrect access or visibility.
8. User Actions
You should understand:
- How users interact with saved views, actions, processes.
- Model behavior with imports, deletes, updates.
- Creating intuitive UX flows with minimal user clicks.
Study Tip: Practice reviewing user-driven processes to identify inefficiencies.
9. UX Design
You should understand:
- Page types: Boards, Worksheets, Report pages.
- Best practices for cards, navigation, and context selectors.
- Personalization and mobile optimization.
Study Tip: Know how to improve a dashboard's usability based on stakeholder feedback.
10. Best Practices – Implementations
You should understand:
- Common pitfalls and how to avoid them.
- Documentation standards.
- Stakeholder communication and governance.
Study Tip: Prepare for case studies asking how to improve a failed or delayed implementation.
11. Data Orchestrator
You should understand:
- Purpose of the Data Orchestrator for scheduling and automation.
- Creating and managing flows and dependencies.
- Integration with CloudWorks and actions.
Study Tip: Identify when Orchestrator is a better fit than manual or basic scheduled jobs.
12. Workflow
You should understand:
- Task assignments, approvals, and completion tracking.
- Use in forecasting, budgeting, and compliance.
- Enabling and managing business processes inside Anaplan.
Study Tip: Know when to recommend Workflow vs. UX pages for process management.
13. General Apps
You should understand:
- Deployment of Anaplan Apps across use cases.
- Reusability of models and pages.
- Managing app navigation and user experience.
Study Tip: Think like a solution architect—how do apps fit into a long-term ecosystem strategy?
Final Prep Tips
- Focus on understanding how decisions impact scalability, usability, and performance.
- Review end-to-end case studies where you must analyze and recommend solutions.
- Practice identifying mistakes in model designs and UX layouts.
- Understand when and why you would use a particular feature—not just what it does.