Adopting Anaplan: Comparing Approaches and Best Practices
A planning solution is only as valuable as the way it’s used. When it comes time to choose a user adoption strategy for Anaplan, one essential question arises:
A planning solution is only as valuable as the way it’s used. When it comes time to choose a user adoption strategy for Anaplan, one essential question arises: which solution can truly anchor lasting usage? Let’s compare the main approaches to help you select a strategy that delivers adoption worthy of Anaplan’s promise.
In an Anaplan project, the early stages are often full of momentum. The business need is clear, use cases are well defined, prototypes are convincing. The client has validated the platform’s power. But one doubt remains: how can we ensure that users, once left on their own, will actually make full use of the model?
This is the critical moment that separates a good project from a truly successful one—and the difference lies in the adoption strategy. Companies must ask the right question: which solution not only trains users but drives long-term adoption of Anaplan?
Traditional Training, Documentation, E-Learning… What Are the Limits?
Faced with this challenge, organizations often turn to classic options:
- Hosting in-person or virtual training sessions
- Creating user manuals in PDF or PowerPoint
- Providing e-learning modules through existing LMS platforms
While these approaches have their merits, they also come with clear limitations:
- They consume time—often at the expense of day-to-day operations
- They lack context: one-size-fits-all guides and generalized training
- They become outdated quickly: one model change, and everything must be redone
In practice, this means users are left alone three weeks after training, facing an interface they no longer understand. The consequences are well-known: constant calls to the project team, reverting to Excel, bypassing the tool altogether. In short, adoption fails—despite the best intentions.
Lemon Learning: A New Model for Adoption
This is where Lemon Learning, in partnership with Beyond Plans, offers a game-changing solution. Lemon Learning isn’t just another training tool. It’s an integrated adoption solution embedded directly within Anaplan—turning each user into an autonomous actor in their own learning journey.
Lemon Learning enables:
- Step-by-step tutorials directly within the Anaplan interface
- Interactive tooltips and targeted messages based on user profiles
- Real-time updates aligned with model evolutions
The result: each user is guided at the exact moment they perform a task, within their own business context. They never leave the Anaplan interface. They learn by doing. They make progress without barriers.
Comparing Adoption Approaches
Here’s a summary table comparing the main adoption methods:
| Criteria | Traditional Training | PDF Documentation | Standard E-learning | Lemon Learning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Available anytime | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Tailored to user profile | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Contextualized within Anaplan | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Easy to update | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Measurable impact on adoption | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅✅ |
This table clearly shows that Lemon Learning checks every box for a modern, effective, and sustainable adoption solution.
A Real ROI Accelerator for Your Anaplan Project
The goal isn’t just to help users get by. It’s to maximize the business impact of your Anaplan model. Successful adoption helps:
- Drastically reduce input and interpretation errors
- Shorten budgeting and forecasting cycles
- Improve cross-functional collaboration and data quality
By integrating Lemon Learning, organizations see faster ROI, because adoption becomes seamless, ongoing, and self-sustained—and that changes everything.
The Winning Duo: Beyond Plans + Lemon Learning
Beyond the technology, what sets our offer apart is the full integration of Lemon Learning into our project methodology. At Beyond Plans, we don’t just add an adoption tool. We co-create user journeys, personalized messages, and embedded training sequences that evolve with your Anaplan model.
We’ve industrialized this process—without making it generic. Every client has their own processes, user profiles, and challenges. But they all share one goal: ensuring that Anaplan is truly and sustainably adopted.
Conclusion
Choosing Anaplan means betting on agile, collaborative, and integrated performance management. But for that bet to pay off, user adoption must be guaranteed. By integrating Lemon Learning into every project, Beyond Plans delivers a unique solution that supports each user daily, directly within the Anaplan interface. For a smooth, personalized, evolving—and most of all, truly effective—adoption experience.