Anaplan Case Study: Central European Media Enterprises (CME) Implements Transparent Top-to-Bottom Forecast Process in Record Time
CME is a leading media and entertainment company that serves approximately 50 million people in six Central and Eastern European markets. The task of creating a comprehensive and transparent forecast across three divisions, six regions, and dozens of locally managed teams is a highly complex operations that required a 15-strong team of dedicated power analysts.
The Issue
The FP&A team was using a combination of Hyperion Enterprise and Excel spreadsheets to create a forecast. Without a connected cash flow or balance sheet, the manual work required to tie up the numbers meant that FP&A was forced to focus on data collection and processing, instead of actual analysis. The team was instructed to implement a new planning system that coordinated with the implementation of new financial systems, with a go-live deadline of three months.
The Results
Anaplan was implemented after the FP&A leaders saw its potential to “make a miracle happen.” Anaplan’s user-friendly interface made it easy for the team to begin working in the platform self-sufficiently. The platform rendered complex operations simply, so that employees could focus on the analyzing the data instead of trying to make sense of it. As a result, productivity soared. As Bruce Dixon, the VP of FP&A explains, “Our board report turn around time used to take six to eight working days. With Anaplan we’ve set a new record by turning the report around in two days.”
Simply put, Anaplan enabled the team to put the ‘A’ back in FP&A.
