Gartner calls it extended planning and analysis (xP&A) — we call it Connected Planning
Whatever you call it, extended and connected planning is the way of the future, helping CFOs and finance teams modernize and navigate business disruption.
What is xP&A?
As market conditions evolve, business leaders need to adjust with speed, decisiveness, and confidence. Gartner has recently identified the trend of cloud extended planning and analysis (xP&A), a maturing approach to enterprise planning, that “extends traditional FP&A solutions focused solely on finance into other enterprise planning domains such as workforce, sales, supply chain, and marketing.”
xP&A seeks to provide better-informed and timely tactical and strategic organizational decision-making. According to Gartner, “by expanding planning participation beyond finance to other operational areas using xP&A, a collaborative information feedback loop takes hold. This helps the organization to continuously adapt in lockstep with quickly altered business priorities and shifts in strategy.”
Forrester calls it DOP&A, and at Anaplan, we’ve call it Connected Planning since 2017. For hundreds of leading companies, the ability to connect planning across the organization through predictive tools and data analytics has become business critical and a force multiplier. In a world where uncertainty and volatility are the new constant, business agility and resilience are more important than ever.
Transforming the office of finance
- Once perceived as merely overseeing an organization’s finances, the role of the CFO is rapidly evolving and today can be seen as a cross-cutting common denominator linking every part of an organization.
- xP&A helps CFOs work with C-suite peers, line managers, investors, and boards to focus on performance and capabilities, rather than just numbers.
- Embrace your inner change-agent with a modern planning approach that has the power to bring together strategic, operational, and financial planning.
xP&A — a CFO’s new secret weapon
“Given that every operational planning decision has a financial impact, the CFO organization — which is positioned at crossroads intersecting every major business function in the organization — is well-suited to engage in collaborative enterprisewide planning efforts.”
Gartner: Market Guide for Cloud, Extended Planning and Analysis Solutions, David Penny, Robert Anderson, Greg Leiter, 16 January 2024.
xP&A recognizes that change is a constant
- xP&A, like Connected Planning, is about access to the right data and the right insights at the right time to better influence decision-making and maximize performance.
- According to Gartner, the primary drivers linked to xP&A adoption include, “increasing pressure to track, monitor, and align enterprise plans, maintaining resilience to changing market conditions by sustaining competitiveness and growth, and improving overall business efficiency despite accelerated business velocity and disruption requiring more agility.”
- Break free from traditional siloed planning and move from responding to anticipating change, so you can gain a competitive edge.
Enhance your decision-making based on insight – not instinct
“Having an integrated view of the business as a baseline for decision-making ensures that, when business disruption occurs, the pieces are already in place to quickly assess the situation, evaluate options, and move forward rapidly with a solution.”
Gartner: Market Guide for Cloud, Extended Planning and Analysis Solutions, David Penny, Robert Anderson, Greg Leiter, 16 January 2024.
Move beyond traditional FP&A with these xP&A resources
Gartner, Market Guide for Cloud Extended Planning and Analysis Solutions, By Robert Anderson, Greg Leiter, Melissa Hilbert, 19 July 2022
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