RetailPlanning:TheBusinessCaseforAnaplanByJaredDolichPrincipalConsultant,ColumbusConsulting2020MasterAnaplanner,CommunityBoss,&RetailPlanningEnthusiast

ArticleAbstractAnaplanisanidealplatformtoenablevirtuallyallretail,wholesale,andecommerceplanningactivities.ThevalueprovidedbyAnaplancombinestheflexibilityofspreadsheetsandtheconnectedbusinessdriversintoday’smostcommonpointsolutions.Butthebestpartisthatwhenfullydeployedtotheorganization,Anaplanensurestherightpeopleareplanningwiththerightdata,attherighttime,andwithintherightconnectedprocessenvironment.Meaning,plannersaredrivingbusinessinsteadofrunningaroundendlesslypiecingdatatogetherfromdifferentpartsofthebusiness.

RetailPlanningHistoryIthinkit’simportanttostartwithhowtechnologywasusedtoenableplanningactivitiesoverthelast40orsoyearsbecausethesesolutionsframedtheretailplanninglandscapethatweseetoday.

Thevisionandinteresttoconnectretailplanningactivitieswaswellunderstoodbefore1990,buttechnologywasn’tasevolvedasourambition.

Before1990–LedgerPaperBecausetechnologywassolimitedanddatastoragesoexpensive,theRetailInventoryMethod,orRIMwasthedominantmethodforinventoryvaluationandforinventory

balancing.RIMdoesnotuseunits,butratherestimatesthecostofgoodssoldbytrackingthecumulativemarkuponnewreceipts.Themethodformerchandiseplanningandstoreplanningwastouseledgerpaperandelectricerasers.Icanstillremembertheholesmyerasercreatedfromreworkingmyplansoverandover.Themostimportantobservationfromthistimeperiodisthatthedemandforplanningautomationwassohighthatevenaone-personsolutionwasconsideredvalue-add.IshouldnotethatVisiCalc(1979),SuperCalc(1983),Lotus-123(1983),QuattroPro(1988),andExcel(1987)showedupinmostoftheretailersby1990butitwasforDOS,slow,limitedmemoryandusuallyforonePCthateveryoneonthefloorhadtoshare.Mainframeshadarolebutmostlyfortransactionalsystemslikeitemsetup,allocation,purchaseorders,andreplenishment.

1990to2010–TheRiseofSpreadsheetsandOn-PremisePointSolutionsTheracewasontoinnovateusingwhatevertechnologywasinGartner’supperright-handquadrant.Astechnologyevolved,wecontinuallyrebuiltourplanningapplicationsintheseeminglynever-endingchasetogetusonestepclosertoourconnectedplanningvision.By2000,spreadsheetsweresopervasivethaton-premisepointsolutionswereabletomakeagoodcasefortheirofferingstoconsolidateandenforceconsistencythroughbestpractices.Butitdidn’ttakelongforretailerstorealizethatintegratingtheseproprietarysystemstogetherwasharderandmorefinanciallyburdensomethantryingtointegrateallthosespreadsheets.Sadly,mostretailerscontinuedtousetheirspreadsheets.

2010toPresentInternetandcomputingspeedsarefastenoughtosupportsoftware-as-a-service(SaaS).Thenewgenerationofcloudvendorswereabletolearnfrompriorgenerationsolutionsto

buildplatformsthatwereveryfunctionallyrichandflexible,whilealsotakingadvantageofthelatestadvancementsintechnologytomaximizespeedandscalability.Anaplan’sfounder,MichaelGould,hadbeeninvolvedinthedevelopmentofthreepriorgenerationsofplanningtools.Anaplanalsobenefitedfromnothavingtoworryaboutcompatibilitywithlegacyapplications,astheyhadafreshstart.Asonemightexpect,retailerswereslowtoadoptSaaSbecausemanyhadalreadymadesignificantinvestmentsinpointsolutionsandpoint-to-pointintegrations.Thepathwaytoaconnectedplanningenvironmentwouldrequireapracticalandfinanciallyachievableroadmap.Meanwhile,itwasobvioustoretailplanningsolutionprovidersthatSaaSwasthefutureandtheyquicklyinvestedintheirtechnologyroadmaptopointtowardsthataim.Theproblemformostofthem,however,isthattheirapplicationsweremeantforon-premise,mostlyclient/serverplatforms,andthetransitiontocloudwas,andstillis,verychallenging.Nativecloudsolutionsareinherentlybetteroptimizedforconnectedplanningbecausetheyuseopensourcetechnologies,providerichdataintegrationmethods,outsourcescalableandsecuredatacenters,relyheavilyonin-memorystorage,andbestofallleverageandconnecttheircustomersandpartnerstohelpimprovetheirofferings. 2020RetailPlanningandAnalysisProcesses

Retailershaveknownforaverylongtimewhattheywantfromaplanningecosystem.Everythinginthisretailwheeloffunctionalityshouldrelatetoacommondatasourcebutbecauseoftoday’smishmashof

spreadsheets,pointtopointsolutions,andunsupportableintegrationpoints,thisdiagram,formost,tendstoresembleawheelofidealism,anunobtainablelibraryofenabledandconnectedprocesses.

ValuedriversAcommonrealizationbecameevidentasretailers’solutionsevolvedfromledgerpapertoakludgyandexpensiveintegrationofpointsolutions.Thatis,ifthevisionofaconnectedplanningenvironmentwasthegoalthentherewouldhavetobeafinanciallyrationalizedstrategicroadmapthattakesthemfromtheircurrentstateofinvestmentstotheenvisionedstate.Inaddition,theroadmapmustalsorealizeanongoingreturnoninvestment.Toaccomplishthistask,manyretailersusedvaluedrivers,orcapabilities,thatmustbepresentinthesolutionasthecomplexityofthesolutionsincreased.ThevaluedriversarethenmappedtoKPIswhichinturnaremappedtomeasurablefinancialdriverstorationalizecapitalinvestment.

How it Starts Toworkwithintheboundariesofanorganization’shumanresources,appetiteforscope,andbudgetallocation,astrategicroadmapcanbeimplementedatapacethatoptimizesthesethreecompetinglevers.Implementationsstartwithonetofiveusecases,typicallyframedinalong-termroadmap,toarticulatetheorganizationslong-termvision. Illustrativeexampleofatypicalroadmap

Onceafoundationissetandthebenefitsaredocumented,moreadvancedapplicationscanbebuiltandconnectedtoeachother.Afterthat,otherdepartmentsanddivisionswilltakeaninterestandeventuallyacriticalmassisreachedwherethereisaconnectedplanningenvironmentestablished.Applicationsareintegratedintoacommondatahub,ideallygovernedbyanAnaplancenterofexcellencetosupportadherencetostandards,knowledgesharinganddatagovernance.

WhyAnaplan?Anaplanconnectsandenablesplanningactivitiestogetherinasingleplatform,adreamthatstartedwithretailplannersbefore1990andbornfromfrustrationwithhavingtoerasetheirmerchandiseplansdozensoftimesinordertoachieveturnoverout3decimalpoints.Anaplanfurtheradoptstheadvantagesoffuturesolutionsbytakingtheeaseofuseandflexibilityofspreadsheetsandlayeringonthebenefitsofpointsolutionslikesecurity,scalability,andauditability.Anaplancanaccommodateaspectrumofapplications,fromsimpletofullyintegratedandautomated.ThisisAnaplan’sdistinctadvantagetoconnectalltheplanningactivitiesinoneplatform.

AnaplanrelievesthepressureonITbecausetheapplicationdevelopmentisdesignedtobebuiltbybusinessusers.Inadditiontothedevelopmentbenefitsandthefinancialbenefitsthatcomefromconnectedplanning,Anaplanalsoprovidesfourdistinctfeatures.

Addressing Change Management YoumightbeaskingwithallthischangehowdoesAnaplanensureuseradoption?Weallknowthatretailprocessesarefundamentallythesameattheircore,butwealsoknowthatnoretailerimplementsthemthesamewayorconnectsthemsimilarly.Evenwithinorganizationsthathavemultiplesaleschannels(retail,wholesale,ecommerce)andregions(Americas,Europe,AsiaPacific)thereareusuallyinconsistentprocesses.Anaplansquarelyaddressesthisneedbyconnectingapplicationsfront-to-back,meaningtheystartwiththeuserstoryandbuildoutasolutionaroundit.Therearenopre-conceivedsolutions.Agreat,flexibleplatformcanmissthemarkifproperdiligenceisnotputinduringtheplanningandexecutionoftheapplication.Giventhespeedandflexibilityoftheplatform,AnaplanimplementationstypicallyfollowaAgile/SCRUMmethodology,calledtheAnaplanWay.Anaplanalsoprovidesa

blueprintfordevelopinganAnaplancenterofexcellenceintheorganizationwiththeintendedvisiontoensureuser-adoptionremainshigh,dataqualityismaintained,andapplicationsareconnectedoptimally.

Butformany,thebestpartofAnaplan’secosystemistheirCommunityExchange.Thereyoucanaskanyquestionabouttheplatformandusuallywithin5or10minutesyou’llgetananswer,usuallymorethanone,frompeopleallaroundtheworld.InadditiontobeingabletocollaboratewithotherAnaplannersyouwillalsofindavastlibraryofdocumentation,best-practices,blogarticles,andnewsworthyevents.

Summary Post1990,retailersfinallycouldgrowbeyondtheone-storeformatnowthattechnologycaughtupandallowedthemtoautomateroutinetasks.Theirvisionofconnectingallthefunctionalareasofthecompany:humanresources,merchandising,finance,accounting,operations,supplychain,marketing,anddesignwasalwayswellunderstoodbuttechnologycouldonlytakethemsofar.Overtheyears,retailersmademassiveinvestmentsintechnologyandbenefitsweregained.However,withtheintroductionecommercemega-retailers,traditionalcompaniesneedtoplanmoreeffectivityandrespondtoinsightthroughimprovedvisibilityacrosstheorganizationiftheywanttocompete.WiththeadoptionofSaaSplatformslikeAnaplan,thetimelessvisionofconnectedplanningispossible.Implementationofaconnectedplanningecosystemdoesn’thavetoberapidbutrather,resolute,measured,andfocused.Onapersonalnote,I’veworkedwithmanyretailplanningsystemsovertheyears.WiththeintroductionofAnaplan,aSaaSprovider,IhaveanoptimisticoutlookforwhatI’vealwaysbelievedtobetheidealretailplanningconfiguration.

AuthorJaredDolich2020MasterAnaplanner,CommunityBoss,&RetailPlanningEnthusiast

PrincipalConsultant,ColumbusConsultingBio:Jared’spassionforretailtracebacktohishighschooldayswhenhesoldcinnamontoothpickstohisclassmatesandwhenhelearnedfirsthandtheconceptofinventorymanagement,costofgoodssoldandhowtomakeatidyprofit.AfterbeingintroducedtoretailplanningsolutionsasabuyeratTargetStores,he’sbeenonapersonaljourneyeversincetohelpretailpractitionersreachtheirpotentialbyusingsoftwaresolutionsthateffectivelyenabletheirprocesses.Recentlynameda2020

MasterAnaplannerandCommunityBoss,Jaredprovidesretailers,wholesalers,andecommerceplannerstherigor,training,andpositivethinkingneededtohelpthemfullyoptimizetheirAnaplanplatform.PriortojoiningColumbusConsulting,aconsultancyfocusedontheretailindustry,JaredwasaretailITexecutiveforTarget,TuesdayMorning,Payless,andAscena.

Contributors TomPhelps,ColumbusConsultingPartnerMarkMcNeela,ColumbusConsultingPrincipalConsultantAmenehMcCullough,DirectoroftheMasterAnaplannerProgramatAnaplan