Overview of Connected Planning

The world in which we live and work is full of change, uncertainty, and opportunity. By leveraging a Connected Planning approach and technology, organizations around the world are finding ways to not only survive, but thrive.

In this short lesson, we'll introduce you to the course and reflect on what it takes for business to plan and adapt in disruptive times to meet the needs of the moment while continuing to work towards long-term goals.

As the title of this module suggests, this week's lessons provide a foundation to understand both what Connected Planning is, as well as why it is needed now more than ever.

We'll look at some key trends impacting organizations around the world, and we'll discuss how and why Connected Planning bridges the gap between strategic plans and operational execution better than traditional planning approaches do. We'll also introduce the three pillars of Connected Planning: data, people, and plans.

Now that you understand what we mean by Connected Planning and why it is so important to today's organizations, let's actually take a step back and talk about how we got to this point.

Using technology to help with planning activities isn't new, but the technology tools needed to enable Connected Planning are much different than what most companies have used in the past. We'll start with a brief history lesson, and then we'll look at how Anaplan, as the leader in Connected Planning technology, is rewriting the story of planning for many organizations.

In this module, we'll cover a few industry trends that are emerging in conjunction with the move towards Connected Planning: (1) the emergence of a new corporate role: Chief Planning Officer, (2) the changing role of the Finance function in an organization, and (3) the incorporation of intelligent technology into planning - predictive analytics, machine learning, and/or artificial intelligence. Whether these trends are driven by Connected Planning or are drivers of Connected Planning is less important than the fact that they are happening. Forward-thinking companies are embracing these trends as they look for new ways to gain a competitive advantage. For those organizations, the future is already here.