

Anaplan and SAP Business Data Cloud compete in the corporate performance management category. Anaplan holds the upper hand due to its standout features in integration and collaborative model creation.
Features:Anaplan is renowned for connected real-time planning, exceptional data modeling capabilities, and seamless integration with various tools, making it ideal for complex corporate performance management. SAP Business Data Cloud focuses on SAP ecosystem connectivity, predictive analytics, and business intelligence combined with AI capabilities, targeting robust planning and reporting needs with ERP integration.
Room for Improvement:Anaplan needs to enhance its dashboard capabilities, address limitations in model size, and simplify integration with other platforms. Difficult pricing structures and a need for improved automation are also noted. SAP Business Data Cloud could improve connectivity, visualization features, and predictive analytics, with limitations in non-SAP systems integration, and user interface enhancements needed.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:Anaplan offers flexible deployment options from public to private cloud with strong customer support and responsive technical assistance. SAP Business Data Cloud mainly operates in the public cloud with similar support levels but faces integration challenges with non-SAP systems impacting deployment efficiency. Anaplan stands out for its strong community and responsiveness in technical help.
Pricing and ROI:Anaplan positions itself as a premium product with complex pricing tiers, requiring careful budgeting for optimal use but offers substantial ROI through operational efficiencies. SAP Business Data Cloud's pricing is competitive yet considered high for advanced planning features. It provides significant ROI when integrated within SAP environments but may be cost-prohibitive for some businesses.
We have saved a lot on the number of employees, and implementation time for the projects has reduced significantly since we started using the standard features of SAP Business Data Cloud.
Once the content is available, then it is a faster go-live with lesser cost in implementation, and that would give an ROI.
There is a return on investment with SAP Business Data Cloud, as it saves money because it performs results quickly and easily, facilitating integrations and speeding up operations compared to other analytics tools, thereby saving time and money.
The technical support from Anaplan is amazing, with a dedicated team to assist in case of any issues.
We are getting the kind of support that we need from Anaplan.
The technical support is a very well-organized service, with a lot of tools for me as a consultant and for the end user on how to contact SAP support and get issues solved.
For example, when I provide a set of instructions, they often simply ask me to implement those steps without checking whether they are applicable.
In SAP's policy, for the first couple of years, the product team is also part of the support team.
Anaplan had issues before, but the new Polaris engine solves them.
SAP Analytics Cloud can be used by a small company, and it can be used by a large corporate.
Since SAP has consolidated everything on one platform, there is ample room to expand as much as needed.
There are no limitations in terms of scale, so it fits both SMB customers and enterprise customers.
You have a chance to test it on your test tenant in small increments, so it should not break your productive reports and productive environment.
Other than during these quarterly release periods, the availability is excellent.
In a typical quarter, the availability has been over 99%; in a few cases, it dropped to around 98.5%.
If any kind of history can be captured on the front-end UX page, that would be really appreciated and helpful.
Anaplan cannot perform some tasks handled by Planning Analytics due to their different foundations, Anaplan on Hyperblock technology and TM1 on OLAP.
One improvement that could be added to Anaplan is to stabilize the models when data complexity increases, allowing us to manage our time and space well.
On the other hand, it is perfectly fitting to the SAP environment, with seamless integration to all SAP modules, not only ERP but also SuccessFactors and other tools from the SAP family.
If SAP can come up with innovative options to reduce licensing costs, many customers would incline toward SAP Business Data Cloud.
If I compare the cost with SAP competitors, I find that when creating an enterprise data lake, if I don't use SAP Business Data Cloud and make it directly in the hyperscalers, it is pretty much cheaper than doing the same in SAP Business Data Cloud.
Currently, Anaplan is more expensive compared to other tools.
The pricing is slightly on the premium side, but I do not have detailed knowledge about the exact licensing structure.
If I compare the cost with SAP competitors, I find that when creating an enterprise data lake, if I don't use SAP Business Data Cloud and make it directly in the hyperscalers, it is pretty much cheaper than doing the same in SAP Business Data Cloud.
Frankly, pricing, setup cost, and licensing seem a bit high compared to other hyperscalers.
The pricing for SAP Business Data Cloud is higher compared to alternatives.
Anaplan's connected planning feature is its most valuable aspect, allowing for seamless financial planning, HR planning, and updates.
The integration is very seamless compared to any other tools in the market, making Anaplan quite easy to integrate with different tools.
I like about Anaplan the simplicity and the way it makes reporting easier and planning is broken down well.
For SuccessFactors and S/4HANA Cloud, there are pre-built reports available which are commonly used by customers.
SAP Business Data Cloud has positively impacted my organization by federating SAP data, which is now available for all to use.
The main standout feature is BDC Connect, as it is very useful for sharing data without replicating to third-party tools such as Enterprise Databricks, Snowflake or even in the near future, Google BigQuery as well as Microsoft Fabric.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| Anaplan | 6.8% |
| SAP Business Data Cloud | 2.8% |
| Other | 90.4% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 10 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 5 |
| Large Enterprise | 17 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 28 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 19 |
| Large Enterprise | 51 |
Anaplan delivers a comprehensive cloud platform designed for three-dimensional data analysis, visualization, and planning. Known for real-time integration with systems such as Salesforce, it enables efficient budgeting, reporting, and modeling without extensive coding knowledge.
The Anaplan platform enhances operational efficiency with its flexible and scalable capabilities, supporting financial planning, supply chain management, and sales operations among others. Users benefit from features like an advanced in-memory calculation engine, quick updates, and ease of integration with systems like SAP. While Anaplan offers a robust toolset, enhancements in dashboard capabilities and integration processes are needed, with improvements requested in visualization tools, more flexible graphs, and better API integration. Additional desires include machine learning features and streamlined data import processes to reduce latency.
What are the key features of Anaplan?In industries like financial planning, supply chain management, and sales operations, Anaplan facilitates scenario-based analysis, demand forecasting, and business execution. It is employed in marketing, commercial real estate planning, and integrates easily with existing systems. Users in these sectors find it valuable for improving planning accuracy and responsiveness.
SAP Business Data Cloud provides cloud-based predictive analysis, robust visualization, and integrated planning capabilities with seamless SAP integration. It enhances analytics and reporting efficiency with machine learning and AI features.
SAP Business Data Cloud stands out with its user-friendly application design, leveraging TypeScript scripting for flexibility. It enables easy data integration, customizable dashboards, and collaborative planning. Renowned for its seamless connectivity and comprehensive business intelligence offerings, it is designed to support real-time analytics and planning across both on-prem and cloud environments. Improvements are anticipated in visualization features, connectivity, and third-party system integration, with calls for more customizable chart options and real-time reporting capabilities.
What are the most important features of SAP Business Data Cloud?SAP Business Data Cloud serves industries by powering cloud-based reporting, analytics, financial planning, and executive dashboards. Companies utilize it to integrate SAP and non-SAP data sources for insights and forecasts. It is applied in constructing dashboards, boardroom presentations, budgeting, and predictive analytics, supporting versatile use cases across multiple sectors.
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