Better Together: Complementing your Anaplan Strategy with Power Platform

Finding a solution greater than a sum of its parts.

Anaplan is a great tool. Trust me, I have been using it for nearly a decade, delving deep into its most intricate nuances. I have also architected many models that have spanned industries and use cases. As a flexible calculation engine, there are not many EPMs that can hold a candle to Anaplan.  

But it's not good at everything. 

At OVG, we pride ourselves in being technology agnostic. We don't bring a specific tool to the right customers; we bring our customers to the right tools. Maybe one day there will be a tool that can do everything, but it is not this day. Until then, we strive to find the right suite of tools that can best serve our client’s needs without breaking the bank. 

Over the last year we have ramped up on a low-code platform that we believe strongly complements Anaplan, Microsoft Power Platform. Power Platform is a suite of products that includes Power BI, Power Automate, and Power Apps. These low-code tools allow for powerful analytics, automation capabilities, and applications that allow you to get the most out of Anaplan while reducing overall spend. 

With that in mind, what parts of Anaplan need complementing?

The first big one is reporting. Anaplan's reporting capabilities aren't bad, they just leave something to be desired. The charting options are relatively limited, and you need to buy licenses for any user who needs to see them. We find Power BI to be a very strong alternative that provides better reporting at a fraction of the cost. Power BI also has a native connector to Anaplan, so the implementation time is minimal. While many mature organizations have a BI department that handles this, many SMBs do not.  

Second is data entry. How many Anaplan licenses do you have allocated to users that come in once a quarter to enter a few numbers? We have seen tremendous success with building simple, custom Power Apps that allow data-entry stakeholders to perform their duties quickly, at a fraction of the cost, with no downside to the flow of information. What if we want to build an automated email and Teams message to remind them to input their numbers? Maybe build in multi-level approvals? That could be spun up in an hour. What if it's an on-the-go user who would rather enter data on their phone? Power Apps can be built natively as a phone app.  

But just as Anaplan is not a panacea, neither is Power Platform. We find that a combination of tightly integrated technologies can lead to value greater than the sum of its parts. If you are an Anaplan customer that would like a non-biased evaluation of your tech stack, don't hesitate to reach out. We may find that Anaplan alone is sufficient for your needs, in which we'll help you get the most out of your models. But we may also find areas where Power Platform can greatly enhance your overall processes.