Yulia Staneva, Managing Partner and Head of Business Consulting at Planingo
A few years ago, we were approached by a manufacturing company based in Central Asia. Their challenge? A production and sales planning system, implemented nearly a decade earlier, had become more of a digital archive than a functional planning tool.
Although it was originally designed to streamline planning processes, it was rarely used – if at all. Most of the work was still being done in Excel, and finalized spreadsheets were uploaded into the system only to “tick the box”. It offered no real value in decision-making or risk assessment.
Management was reluctant to write off the investment and decided instead to improve the system and enforce its usage. But despite being based on proven “best practices”, the platform didn’t align with how the business actually operated. It didn’t help the team solve real problems – so they simply chose not to use it.
One of the most expensive mistakes a company can make when selecting an IT platform for business planning is underestimating the uniqueness of its own business processes – and blindly trusting the “best practices” embedded in out-of-the-box solutions.
Imagine taking a shiny, top-of-the-line tour bus up a rugged mountain road filled with switchbacks, falling rocks, and darting wildlife. The bus is reliable, but in these conditions it is unmanageable and even dangerous. Would you have the courage to admit the mistake and switch to a more suitable vehicle?
Fortunately, this company did. They scrapped the old system and transitioned to a modern platform that fits their operational realities. It took them more than a year to make this decision, and it was not easy. They had to pay twice: invest in a new project and abandon the investments they had already made. However, this step undoubtedly strengthened trust within the team: the company’s leaders, who initially wanted to “make do” with the existing setup, ultimately chose to listen to their people.
Why did this company (like many others) need an IT platform for business planning so badly that the need to invest twice did not deter them?
Simply put: to move away from manual labor and the errors, delays, and rework that come with it. To make objective, business-beneficial decisions, quickly evaluate scenarios, and select the optimal one. Moreover, it’s much easier to coordinate cross-functional efforts and maintain a record of decision-making when using a dedicated tool rather than scattered spreadsheets and email threads.
What should you pay attention to?
Choosing a business planning IT platform is a lot like buying any complex product. First, clearly define your goals and needs. Then explore the market and compare your vision with what’s actually available.
Here are a few non-obvious but important tips that can help you make a well-informed decision:
- Don’t Choose Based on Price Alone. Going with the cheapest solution often results in higher costs later. Focus instead on total cost of ownership over the next 3–5 years. Consider not just license fees, but also implementation, support, infrastructure, user training, and the cost of not solving your business problems.
- Involve Future Users Early. Bring key business users into the selection process. Ask short-listed vendors to run a demo using your real data samples and predefined scenarios. Let the team assess usability and functionality for themselves.
- Consider young (or relatively young), dynamic vendors. These companies are tech-native, fast-moving, and often at the cutting edge of AI and machine learning. They frequently offer early access to new features – even before full production rollout – giving you a chance to be first to market with advanced tools.
- Don’t be afraid of the cloud. There’s ongoing debate about whether on-premise storage is truly more secure. But when it comes to performance and calculation speed, on-premise systems almost always lag behind. For business planning, that’s critical. Cloud solutions have a real – and sometimes dramatic – advantage here.
- Talk to Current Customers. Ask the vendor / system integrator not to participate in the conversation, because the goal is to hear honest opinions on whether the project goals have been achieved, how well the platform works, whether the business team is satisfied and how interaction with the vendor/integrator went. It is a good sign if the IT system is actively evolving and acquiring new functionality.
What should you definitely NOT pay attention to?
- How long the product has been on the market – if it’s been around forever, that often means outdated approaches,
- Its rank in analyst ratings (presence matters more than position),
- and even its integration capabilities (modern platforms integrate well by default – what’s more important is the quality and consistency of your data).
Is It Time to Automate Your Planning?
Here’s a quick self-assessment to help you determine whether your company is ready for automated planning – and what your next step should be.
Q1. How often do you create or revise plans?
- 1 point – Annually. We plan once a year and stick to it. Our market is stable, and contracts are long-term.
- 2 points – Annual budget and monthly plans. We review the budget twice a year and adjust monthly plans for big events.
- 3 points – The market is volatile, so we have to recalculate often. We want to update the plan even more frequently and in more detail, but it’s difficult.
- 4 points – We practice rolling planning for 12–18 months ahead and model multiple scenarios in real time – even mid-meeting.
Q2. What tools are you using?
- 1 point – Excel is our only tool.
- 2 points – Advanced Excel, but it’s cumbersome and labor-intensive.
- 3 points – We’ve implemented budgeting software, but everything else is still in spreadsheets.
- 4 points – We use an integrated planning platform (S&OP, budgeting, forecasting), some models are AI-assisted.
Q3. How would you rate your data quality?
- 1 point – Everyone keeps their own spreadsheets with their own data.
- 2 points – Master data is being cleaned up, but there’s no consistent structure across IT systems and business units.
- 3 points – Data at the top level is reliable, but we struggle with SKU-level details and reconciling plan vs. actual.
- 4 points – Data is clean, consistent, and centralized. Historical data goes back at least 3 years.
Q4. Do you have a single, unified plan?
- 1 point – Each division has its own plan. What is a ‘unified plan’ anyway?
- 2 points – Finance consolidates a company-wide plan, but it does not align with the needs of other functions.
- 3 points – We’re working toward a unified plan, but trust in the numbers varies.
- 4 points –The plan is created jointly, financially justified and used by everyone. All changes are visible, tracked, and reflected in IT systems.
Results
- Average Score: 1 Automation is not yet a priority. Focus on building a common planning culture and aligning departments.
- Average Score: 2 Time to start exploring IT solutions. Start by researching the market and improving data quality – this is key to successful implementation.
- Average Score: 3 You’re ready for a full Integrated Business Planning (IBP) platform. Real-time scenario modeling and collaboration tools will deliver strong ROI.
- Average Score: 4 Congratulations! Your organization is a leader in planning maturity. Next step: Collaborative planning with key partners across the value chain.
