Anaplan Center of Excellence Charter
The charter template and general information guide are cornerstones to standing up the CoE team. — By Josh Baker, CoE Leader @ PJT Partners, and Asslam Umar Ali, CoE Leader @ Fortescue Metal Group(@Asslam).
Hundreds of customers have established an Anaplan Center of Excellence (CoE), recognizing it as a foundational element for unlocking true Connected Planning and maximizing their investment in the Anaplan platform.
While every Anaplan CoE is unique—shaped by industry, company size, geographic footprint, and use case complexity—we realized all of our customers follow a similar progression in their development. That's why we've outlined 9 critical developmental stages that capture the typical maturity curve of an Anaplan CoE, helping teams benchmark progress and identify opportunities for growth.
Download the Anaplan Center of Excellence Charter Template below.
The 9 Developmental Stages of an Anaplan CoE
Outlined in the Anaplan Center of Excellence Charter Template, these 9 stages provide a roadmap for building and maturing a high-performing CoE:
- Certified Solution Architect
A dedicated Certified Solution Architect, ideally on the path to becoming a Certified Master Anaplanner, ensures scalable design, seamless system integration, and adherence to best practices to support evolving business needs. - Executive Sponsor
A committed and engaged Executive Sponsor is essential to your CoE's success. Their involvement ensures alignment with company-wide strategic goals, provides critical support and visibility, and empowers the CoE with the influence and resources needed to drive meaningful, long-term impact. - Business Proximity
The CoE must maintain strong ties with their partners across the business, ensuring initiatives are grounded in real-world needs and closely aligned with planning objectives. - Recurring Meetings
Regular, structured touchpoints (weekly, monthly, quarterly) keep CoE members aligned and foster continuous collaboration and engagement across stakeholders. - Defect Resolution Process
A clear, documented process for managing bugs, support issues, and SLAs is essential to sustaining a dependable user experience. It establishes clear expectations, fosters end-user trust, and drives adoption by assuring users their issues will be addressed quickly and effectively. - Enhancement Requests
A robust process for collecting, prioritizing, and delivering enhancements allows your CoE to be responsive to evolving business requirements and the requests of end-users. - Connected Planning Roadmap
A well-defined roadmap that outlines past wins, current priorities, and future use cases is essential for sustaining momentum and achieving long-term planning success. It also helps secure stakeholder support for the journey ahead and ensures there's a clear plan in place to allocate the resources needed for execution. - Governance Structure
Your governance model should reflect the structure that best fits your organization—whether centralized, federated, or a hybrid approach. It defines how responsibilities are distributed, ensures standards are upheld, and supports scalable, sustainable growth of the Anaplan platform. - ROI Tracking
Measuring the ROI of your CoE initiatives is essential for demonstrating impact and securing sustained executive support. Define meaningful metrics and apply a consistent approach to track and communicate the value delivered by both the CoE and the Anaplan platform.
The Anaplan Center of Excellence Charter Template is available to help guide you on your CoE journey. This template outlines all 9 developmental stages to guide both newly forming and established CoEs as they build, grow, and mature.
Screenshots of the Template
Use the Charter Template to Guide Your CoE Journey
The Anaplan Center of Excellence Charter Template is your guide through this journey. It offers best-practice examples, templates, and prompts to help document:
- Your CoE's mission and mandate
- Current and future goals
- Team structure and roles
- Governance model and support processes
- Your CoE's place in the broader Anaplan strategy
Whether you're just starting out or refining an established CoE, the template helps you reflect on where you are, where you're headed, and what support you may need to get there.
Please email your completed Anaplan CoE Charter to the CoE Program (COEProgram@anaplan.com) and let us know if you are requesting feedback or guidance.
Download Anaplan CoE Charter Template:
