Anaplan’s latest release: the latest “little one” of 2017!

At the start of 2018, Anaplan presented its roadmap to its partners for the year ahead. While the features will remain secret until their official announcement, this is an opportunity for us to look back at the features of the latest release deployed in the last days of 2017.

A welcome release, offering content broadly focused on usability for end users, including new presentation options on dashboards and a new type of filter. Modelers are not left out either, notably with access to the workspace user list and enhancements to import/export security management. We propose to focus on the new features that caught our attention through two themes: modules and dashboards.

Modules

User List

In our view, the main advantage of this update is the ability to access the Anaplan “Users” list directly from modules. Until this release, it was only possible to use the user list to manage roles and permissions, and it was necessary to manually maintain a mirrored list to integrate the notion of users into modules. Anaplan now allows you to use the “Users” list directly in modules, in the same way as the “Version” or “Time” list. Its main feature is that it becomes dynamic and therefore contains, in real time, all users who have access to the company’s Workspace. In other words: a new Anaplan user = a new item in the “Users” list.

Advanced List Filter

The second “must-have” in this update concerns the addition of a “list filter”. Until now, module filtering functions could seem obscure, as the user had to specify the rows and/or columns as well as the value to filter. With this release, the user can now directly filter a line item based on a list by selecting the value to display from a drop-down list (like Excel). This makes it possible to display specific data simply and efficiently.  Note: this option is also available in dashboard navigation mode.

Dashboard

Waterfall and dynamic charts

Regarding visualisations and charts, Anaplan has added a feature for “Waterfall” charts. It is now possible to dynamically select the data to display on the chart. The chart is therefore no longer fixed to a data selection, and new list items will appear without dashboards needing to be modified by a modeler.

Button customisation

Simple things are sometimes the best. This is the case for button customisation in Anaplan. Until now, it was impossible to change the appearance or size of a button in a dashboard. Anaplan now makes it possible to customise a button’s dimensions (and therefore align them):

• Automatic: inserting text into a button will automatically size the button’s width and height,
• Specific: button dimensions can be set specifically and on demand by the user (finally!)

In addition, it is now possible to choose the button style from three available:

• “Primary”: a blue background to highlight a button among others, for example.
• “Standard”: the classic Anaplan button.
• “Link”: a button in the form of a link.

Taskbar

Finally, one of the last interesting new features of this release is the addition of a taskbar in the dashboard tabs, making it easier to access the various design features (add text, save changes, etc.).

In navigation mode:

• Reset: when filters or selections are applied across different modules or dashboard charts, this button returns to the original view. Ideal if you have accidentally filtered data you can no longer find,
• Refresh: refreshes the dashboard data,
• Copy: duplicates a dashboard,
• Export: easily exports the Anaplan dashboard,
• Edit: switches to Design mode to customise or modify dashboard elements.

Once in design mode:

• Add text: adds text elements,
• The “design / preview” switch: a welcome new feature that allows you to quickly preview changes without having to completely exit design mode or save changes, and then return to design mode (very practical).

In summary

What we take away from this update is the desire to improve the user experience. From small improvements for the end user (buttons, filters, …) to the addition of a taskbar on dashboards, including adding access to the “users” list: Anaplan is clearly tackling the optimisation and modernisation of its usability. This set of “small” new features therefore helps us wait for this year’s wave of releases!

Meltone Advisory therefore welcomes this year’s latest “little one” with enthusiasm.

And of course, as with every release, there are plenty of new Apps to discover on the Anaplan App Hub: https://apphub.anaplan.com.

Would you like to learn more about the content and benefits of this update? Would you like to understand the advantages of a tool such as Anaplan for your company? We are here to help. Please do not hesitate to contact cmaurice@meltone.com

MeltOne Advisory, Anaplan’s Partner.