With Polaris, Anaplan takes a major technical leap forward enabling smarter, faster, and more granular modeling. Yet to unlock its full potential, expert and business-oriented support is essential. Beyond Plans combines deep technological and functional expertise to turn every Polaris project into a measurable performance driver.
A Powerful Platform, Designed for Business Users
Launched in 2023, Polaris is Anaplan’s new calculation engine, built to overcome the limitations encountered in complex or large-scale models. Its key innovation lies in “natural dimensionality,” an approach that allows data to be modeled at its true level of granularity without the constraints of rigid data hierarchies.
In practical terms, this means a company can model workforce data down to individual roles, supply chains by SKU, or sales forecasts by opportunity while maintaining high performance levels.
Immediate Business Benefits
Polaris delivers tangible benefits across multiple dimensions:
- Improved forecast accuracy
- Faster processing times
- Greater flexibility in business modeling
- Sharper analytics across all organizational levels
According to Forrester, the average ROI of an Anaplan project reaches +303% over three years, with break-even achieved in under six months. Polaris pushes this even further by expanding the range of addressable use cases.
Key Sectors Already Transformed
Finance, supply chain, sales operations, HR… the range of applications is vast. At a major retail client supported by Beyond Plans, Polaris helped industrialize promotion planning and model its impact on margins by channel and region. The result: a 12% reduction in unnecessary marketing spend within six months and a significant improvement in cross-functional budget alignment.
Why Polaris? Why Beyond Plans?
Polaris becomes the natural choice when models reach a complexity threshold no longer manageable with standard engines: high multidimensionality, volatile datasets, and the need for rapid simulations.
Beyond Plans stands out for another reason: its ability to speak the language of business while managing robust technical architectures. As a certified Anaplan partner, the firm brings proven experience across dozens of projects, including several successful Polaris deployments.
A Proven Methodology
Every Polaris engagement led by Beyond Plans follows a clear and structured approach:
1. Business Diagnosis & Scoping
Objective: Identify core needs, assess Polaris’s potential, and define high-value use cases. Beyond Plans acts as a functional consultant to formalize business rules and define technical foundations.
2. Progressive Modeling
Business teams are involved from the first iterations. Polaris’s native granularity is used to accurately reflect real-world operations.
3. Skills Transfer
Special attention is given to user onboarding. Beyond Plans trains key users in Polaris logic, best practices, and how to maintain autonomy over time.
4. Results-Based Validation
Each model is tested against real scenarios. ROI is measured within the first months often through productivity gains and more reliable forecasting.
Sustainable Impact and Fast Adoption
Unlike many tech overhauls, Polaris does not disrupt user habits: the interface remains unchanged, and Anaplan’s modeling logic is preserved. This ensures a smooth adoption, even across multicultural or international teams.
Beyond Plans also supports migrations from legacy engines to Polaris through a dedicated methodology built on real-world experience.
What’s Next?
Several clients are already extending Polaris to new areas: workforce planning, strategic management, incentive modeling, and more. In every case, the approach remains the same: co-build with business teams, support at every step, and aim for measurable impact.
