Strong growth and stock prices hitting a new IPO high are clear signs that Anaplan is proving it’s connected planning services are expanding to more businesses and helping transform the way companies make strategic decisions.

Started in 2008, Anaplan offers cloud-based planning software across finance, sales, supply chain, operations and human resources. The business released its first planning product in 2011 and by the start of this year, their revenue has exceeded $240 million. Anaplan is within a market that has been valued by IDC to be in the region of $17 billion, predicted to rise to $21 billion by 2021. There are reported to be over 70 million workers that are planning software users. Anaplan has replaced many traditional systems that have been incapable of interacting with other services and has removed the manual planning that quite often is complex, expensive and lacking efficiency.

Anaplan is capable of managing large data volumes processed in real-time. The system enables thousands of users to have access to a centralised data system, incorporating all levels of data enabling better decision making.

There are a number of ways Anaplan services can be used within a business. This includes budgeting and forecasting through to modelling and pricing measurement. Anaplan planning tools can be utilised to measure sales, manage department budgets, marketing spend and handle technology project budgets.

Anaplan tends to focus on securing agreements with large enterprise accounts. As of this year, Anaplan had close to 250 accounts with an annual yearly payment of over $250,000. The enterprise market is highly lucrative for Anaplan, resulting in the average contract value being just over $200,000, significantly higher than competitor Adaptive Insights, now Workday, which stands at $27,000.

Anaplan went public last year with opening trades at just over $24 and reached a post-IPO record high of just over $40 earlier this year. Data reports have also proven to show a significant rise in overall revenues at Anaplan. During the last quarter, the average size of the 10 biggest deals at Anaplan was greater than $500,000.

The partners at Anaplan are an essential part of the company as they drive new business, particularly within the larger enterprise sector. Anaplan now employs over 1,000 consultants and it is recorded that nearly half of all deals at Anaplan involve a partner.

EY has become a major partner for Anaplan, looking closely at supporting financial services companies and improving results through the use of the Anaplan platform. Anaplan has also worked with EY to provide a dedicated cloud spend optimisation system which identifies where money is not being used appropriately on cloud solutions and provides methods of improving the process.

Anaplan has also collaborated with Deloitte to create a planning system targeting consumer packaged goods companies. The tool focuses on improving demand planning with an aim to ensure products are always available to the customer.

This year, Anaplan intends to expand its sales team and continued to expand the product portfolio.

The head of finance at Anaplan has recently highlighted what actions should be taken by finance managers when implementing machine learning into their business.

Technology has improved dramatically in recent years, with machine learning viewed as a strong market within technological change. Machine Learning has entered nearly every market worldwide and for some is a vital tool used to transform business activities by enabling significant changes in managing large volumes of data.

Although there may be more focus on the growth of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning is growing rapidly, with a number of industry examples of businesses incorporating Machine Learning into their business activity.

From social media to voice assistants, many of our systems we use are continuously implementing machine learning to understand our behaviour and personalise our online experience. Machine Learning can go even deeper, however, with revenue management systems using ML to create an algorithm to generate pricing and inventory suggestions.

More businesses are incorporating the benefit of ML, with other companies prioritising plans to incorporate ML into their business activity, particularly within the finance market.

Many finance experts believe ML can enhance financial planning and analysis, wealth management, and how finance managers can control advanced analytics within their company.

What are the opportunities in Machine Learning?

Machine Learning is highly flexible and can potentially be integrated into a range of technologies. Looking specifically at the finance market, data is by far the most critical part of the industry. ML can supply finance teams with more capability to reveal and measure business potential and associated data that allows financial managers to make more informed and insightful decisions.

A good example of ML in finance is with the wealth management technology platform Forward line. The platform is utilising both AI and ML systems to support wealth managers in organising and measuring their data, providing real-time information to make informed choices for their customers.

What to consider with Machine Learning?

Implementing new systems does involve significant investment planning. With this in mind, it is essentially a business ensures they gain the full benefits of ML.

What is the quality of your data? – Data is essential for financial businesses, but as numbers increase, data can get diluted and a little chaotic. Prior to implementing any ML system, businesses need to prioritise the process of cleaning their data and ensuring it is reliable and accurate.

Do you have data governance?

During the ‘data cleansing’ process, there will undoubtedly be inaccurate forms of data and a number of errors. Finance teams must ensure this data is repaired prior to implementing any new technology.

Ensure you understand external and unstructured data

Ensure your team understand your data and what insights it could offer for your business. ML technologies can then support this process and take it to the next level.

Prepare for connected planning in your business

As data grows and diverges across a number of business areas, it is critical to ensure teams can communicate and collaborate on the information provided. This generally involves implementing dynamic planning systems and collaborative business processes, connecting teams with each other in real time. With this in place, ML technology can create insights and communicate between multiple areas of a business.

Ensure you allow time for effective business planning

Developing a business plan is definitely something that shouldn’t be rushed. It is critical that companies establish a realistic time-frame to achieve their end goals.

There is undoubtedly an emerging trend of innovative technology and the rise of more sophisticated machines. Despite the concerns, there is unlikely any threat of machines replacing the human workforce. In reality, most systems will always require some form of input from humans. As finance organisations expand their interests in machine learning, a key factor is ensuring they understand where human input is necessary. Finance leaders need to deliver plans in how machine-learning and human activity will interact in the future.

The software market has continued to evolve over recent years, offering a range of systems to support businesses worldwide.

Of the many brands competing, the focus seems to be placed on Anaplan and Adaptive Insights. Both companies provide a unique service, with Adaptive Insights existing for nearly 15 years whilst Anaplan has only just recently emerged. Codex Recruitment explores the benefits and values of each system for businesses.

Measuring Cost

Adaptive Insights software is available to around 100 countries worldwide, providing a simplistic and accessible option for low to mid-level businesses seeking a user-friendly tool. In contrast, Anaplan is more of a high-end product that is limited to a select number of clients due to its high initial market cost.

Compatibility with Excel

There will always be a requirement to control your business processes and data via Microsoft Excel. Adaptive Insights is the system that enables customers to drag and drop information into custom templates far easier than other tools. The dashboard enables employees to utilise a tool known as integrated process tracker which provides useful details to ensure individuals are guided through the entire integration process. Anaplan, on the other hand, is not as flexible to sync with Excel data.

Compatibility with small companies

There is a range of benefits to both Anaplan and Adaptive Insights but in terms of suitability for smaller companies, Adaptive Insights is proven to be more popular. It offers a more friendly option that is flexible and suitable for the requirements of smaller businesses.

Business Intelligence Tools

There are many software packages available today that can provide business intelligence solutions, enabling managers and analysts to continue focusing on their day-to-day duties whilst the system delivers on specific targets. Industry experts believe Adaptive Insights provides a more superior level of real time data analysis and individual dashboards that display results specific to each individual user.

Ultimately, both Anaplan and Adaptive Insights provide a range of valuable benefits to its customers looking for the most suited software package for their business. An analysis suggests, however, that Adaptive Insights may meet more requirements of a standard business.

In the last week, Anaplan released their financial results for its fiscal third quarter ending on the 31st October 2018.

Frank Calderoni, the chief executive officer at Anaplan highlighted that for their first quarter as a public company, they are very happy with the results and that it clearly shows Anaplan is a leader within the Connected Planning market.

Anaplan has proven to be a pioneer in the arena of connected planning. Their platform, powered by Hyberblock technology is a dedicated system for connected planning. It enables intelligent, collaborative and sophisticated planning techniques. Large businesses utilise the Anaplan system to integrate data, people and plans, enabling real-time decision-making process and plans in a continuously evolving business environment. Anaplan is situated in San Francisco, with 20 global offices, 175 partners and over 1,000 worldwide customers.

Calderoni explains that their customers have emphasised how much they value the platform for faster and more efficient decision-making. The CEO also states that their customers continue to support Anaplan’s innovative plans within other businesses.

Financial results for Anaplan: Third Quarter 2019

• Total revenue reached $62.0 million, an overall increase of 40% year-over-year. Revenue from subscriptions exceeded $54 million, marking a 42% increase year-over-year.
• Calculated billings hit $72.0 million, representing a 43% increase year-over-year
• The GAAP operating loss was just over $37 million, equating to 60% of total revenue, compared to $10 million loss in the same period for 2018, the equivalent of 23% total revenue.  Non-GAAP operating loss exceeded $18 million or 29.5% of total revenue, compared to $8 million in the same period for 2018, which matched 18% of total revenue.

The financial outlook for Anaplan

Anaplan has released guidance notes for its final quarter for 2019 and the full fiscal year for 2019. The total revenue for the final quarter of 2019 is expected to exceed $63 million with the non-GAAP operating margin forecast to be negative 33%. The full year fiscal period for 2019 figures show total revenue of $235 million and a non-GAAP operating margin standing at negative 34%.

Recent Developments at Anaplan

• Anaplan has recently announced the release of the IFRS 17 General insurance application created in an exclusive collaboration with Deloitte.
• Anaplan confirmed a new partnership with Wipro to create a one-click on-premise to be implemented to the cloud-based Anaplan system.
• Anaplan made the Forbes 2018 CLoud 100 for the third year running and was also named in the Deloitte’s 2018 Technology Fast 500 TM list of Fastest Growing Companies.

Despite a fairly disruptive week of trading for the technology market, Anaplan saw a significant surge after joining the stock market at the end of last week. Shares for Anaplan increased by over 30% to around $24 by the end of their first day of trading, providing a market value of nearly $3 billion. Anaplan confirmed last week that it had raised just over $263 million in its offering, selling individual shares at a price of $17.

Anaplan launched their $263.5 IPO last week

Frank Calderoni, the CEO of Anaplan explained to media that they had no intention of delaying the IPO despite disruptions to the market which moved Nasdaq to its lowest point since May. Calderoni highlights that business remains positive, with new technology jobs at the business and reaching nearly 1,000 clients, including some significant players within other industries. Calderoni was previously the chief financial officer at Cisco and Redhat and replaced the previous CEO at the start of 2017.

Anaplan now joins a series of other emerging software businesses that have joined the public market this year, These include companies such as Dropbox, DocuSign, Elastic and Smartsheet. Most of these emerging companies have had little regard to recent market volatility, with most tech stocks continuing to climb throughout this year.

What is Anaplan?

Anaplan is a market leading cloud-based platform for integrating planning focused systems to large companies. During its IPO, Anaplan intended to raise $217 million but exceeded $263 million. The financial performance of the business is relatively similar to a typical SaaS company, experiencing rapid revenue growth, combined with a continued decline in operational losses. Nearly a thousand businesses spanning 46 nations are using the platform to support a range of business activities including budget management, sales and operational planning.

The Anaplan platform enables the combination of all employees, data and projects of a business to create a strategic plan and make real-time decisions. Key customers of Anaplan include some leading large corporations such as Coca-Cola, United Airlines and HP.

The Anaplan IPO commenced on the NYSE on October the 12th. Earlier this year, one of Anaplan’s key competitors, Adaptive Insights was acquired for just over $1.5 billion. Despite having a large number of competitors and a lengthy history of losses, the existing price indicates a fairly positive upside potential for Anaplan.

Anaplan was founded in 2008 and focuses on selling cloud-based software that businesses utilise for overall planning strategies. The main competition facing Anaplan comes from IBM, Oracle and SAP. In the last month, Anaplan hired Dave Morton as the Chief Financial Officer after a small placement period at Tesla. Calderoni explained that Morton has been a long-term customer of Anaplan and so fitted naturally into the business and its overall strategy.