‍Anaplan Promises a Planning Revolution—But at What Cost?

Enterprise planning is at the heart of business success, and Microsoft Excel has been the undisputed leader in this space for decades. Despite its limitations, Excel remains the go-to planning tool for 54% of businesses worldwide, thanks to its ease of use, flexibility, and deep-rooted familiarity among professionals. However, as planning processes scale, organizations often seek alternatives like Anaplan—only to encounter a new set of challenges that increase costs and disrupt operations.

While Anaplan positions itself as a cutting-edge enterprise planning platform, the reality is that many companies struggle with its implementation, rigid structure, and sky-high costs. Businesses investing in Anaplan often face:

• High Total Cost of Ownership – Beyond licensing fees, implementing Anaplan can take months or even years, requiring extensive customization, third-party consultants, and ongoing maintenance. According to Forrester, the total economic impact of Anaplan implementation over three years can exceed $2.7 million, including training, support, and configuration costs.

• Expensive Licensing Fees – Anaplan licenses range from $30,000 to $50,000 per year per model, and enterprise-wide implementations can quickly escalate into multi-million-dollar investments.

• Complex Model Migration – Moving existing Excel-based planning models to Anaplan demands unraveling intricate formulas, rewriting logic, and reconfiguring workflows.

• Rigid System Architecture – Anaplan’s structured approach forces businesses to conform to its framework rather than allowing for flexible, on-the-fly modifications.

• No Data Level Auditability – Anaplan’s data model does not capture data level changes over time, thereby making it impossible to derive and learn from changes.  

• Heavy Change Management Burden – Employees familiar with Excel face a steep learning curve, leading to adoption resistance and costly retraining efforts.

• Performance Bottlenecks – Large models experience sluggish performance, while overwritten data makes it difficult to track historical changes for comparative analysis.

Over time, these challenges become so disruptive and expensive that many users end up reverting to Excel, defeating the entire purpose of the transition. Instead of accelerating planning, Anaplan can slow it down.

Introducing Boardwalk Velocity: The Future of Enterprise Planning Without Leaving Excel

What if you could scale your planning capabilities without sacrificing Excel’s familiar and flexible interface? Enter Boardwalk Velocity, the fastest, most cost-effective way to transform your Excel planning models into enterprise-grade applications—without the disruption, costs, and complexities of traditional point solutions like Anaplan.

Boardwalk Velocity allows businesses to leverage their existing Excel-based planning models while solving the common pitfalls associated with large and slow workbooks, formula-heavy spreadsheets, and collaboration challenges. Instead of forcing a complete system overhaul, Boardwalk Velocity enhances Excel’s power by moving calculations and data storage to a patented zero-code, server-based platform.

How does Boardwalk Velocity Solves Enterprise Planning Pains?

1. 15x Faster and More Cost-Effective Than Anaplan

• No need for months-long migrations or complex customizations—simply connect your existing Excel models.

• Reduces licensing, implementation, and ongoing maintenance costs dramatically.

2. No More Bloated, Slow Excel Workbooks

• Shifts calculations to a high-performance server, making Excel sheets lightweight and highly responsive.

• Eliminates the need for excessive pivot tables, SUMIF formulas, and complex workarounds.

3. Zero-Code Platform for Seamless Planning Model Updates

• Any modifications to planning models are instantly reflected without requiring IT intervention.

• Keeps pace with business changes effortlessly, ensuring that planning remains agile.

4. Advanced Data Governance & Historical Tracking

• Unlike Anaplan, where data is frequently overwritten, Boardwalk Velocity tracks data at the cell level.

• Users can compare historical changes instantly, ensuring full transparency and auditability.

5. AI driven Planning Insights

• Unlike Anaplan, where data is frequently overwritten, Boardwalk Velocity tracks data at the cell level.

• Velocity data time store becomes the perfect ground to accurately train AI/ML models

6. Minimal Change Management and User Impact

• No need to retrain teams or force them into a rigid system.

• Keeps Excel as the interface while supercharging its capabilities in the background.

Why Switch to Boardwalk Velocity Instead of Anaplan?

Organizations seeking to modernize their planning processes should ask themselves: Is it worth spending millions of dollars and months of effort on a rigid system when there’s a smarter alternative?

Boardwalk Velocity transforms Excel into an enterprise planning powerhouse at a fraction of the cost and time, all while maintaining the flexibility users love. Instead of forcing businesses into a one-size-fits-all model, it enhances what already works—without disruption.

Companies that use Velocity typically see the following benefits

• Improve margins by 2-4%

• Improve planning process efficiency by 70-80%

• Improve data accuracy and integrity up to 100%

• Reduce inventory by 4-10% driven by rapid and real time planning cycles

If your company is considering Anaplan, pause and explore how Boardwalk Velocity can deliver the same enterprise-grade benefits at 15x the speed and 15x lower cost.

Don’t Replace Excel. Reinvent It with Boardwalk Velocity.

Learn more about how Boardwalk Velocity can revolutionize your planning process today. Visit www.boardwalktech.com/velocity to get started.