The sunset of SAP APO: What now?

For years, SAP APO was a pillar of enterprise supply chain planning. But in today’s fast-moving world, legacy systems like APO are showing their age. ERP systems like SAP APO are designed for transactional consistency and not the kind of agile, scenario-based decision-making that gives modern planners the ability to navigate around the new volatilities of today’s supply chain. As SAP sunsets APO and encourages customers to transition to its Integrated Business Planning (IBP) suite, many teams are asking the same question: is this really an upgrade — or just a newer version of the same limitations?

At Anaplan, we believe this moment presents more than just a migration checkpoint. It’s a chance to rethink what your supply chain planning platform should enable.

Modern supply chains need more than batch updates, siloed data, and delayed insights. They need agile scenario modeling and greater transparency and collaboration across functions to be able to effectively assess tradeoffs and make quicker, more confident decisions. And they need a platform that evolves with them — not one that locks them in legacy enterprise software models.

Anaplan was built with this future in mind. Designed for flexibility, built for scale, and continually innovated with AI and cross-functional planning at its core, Anaplan offers a path forward for organizations ready to move beyond legacy planning methods — and embrace transformation.

In this blog, we explore how Anaplan compares to SAP IBP, what today’s supply chain leaders really need from their planning tools, and why now is the right time to take a bold step forward.

Why it’s time to let go of APO (and think beyond SAP IBP)

SAP APO was once a pioneering solution — but the pace of innovation in supply chain planning has accelerated dramatically, and APO simply hasn’t kept up. While still in use by many large enterprises, APO hasn’t received significant functional updates in over a decade. That stagnation has led to increasing complexity, high maintenance costs, and growing frustration among planning teams.

SAP is now encouraging customers to transition from APO to IBP, but that move is neither seamless nor straightforward. The two platforms are fundamentally different, requiring teams to rethink and rebuild core processes — not simply migrate users, data, forecasts, and plans. 

The introduction of SAP IBP brings new challenges. It's often described as inflexible and heavily reliant on IT resources for configuration and updates. Many businesses find that SAP IBP still reflects the same ecosystem constraints that limited APO — just wrapped in a newer interface.

Do you want to stay in the same system, or is it time to break free?

Leading organizations are using this moment not to switch from one SAP product to another, but to evaluate solutions that offer:

• Business ownership over planning — not just IT-driven configuration
• Faster time to value with more nimble implementations
• Real-time collaboration across functions to break down silos
• Continuous innovation and flexibility that keeps pace with supply chain complexity

The world has changed. Your planning platform should reflect that. In the next section, we’ll explore what supply chain leaders really need today — and how Anaplan is built to meet those demands.

What supply chain leaders need today

Modern supply chains aren’t linear, predictable, or easily contained within one function. They’re global, fast-changing, and tightly interconnected with finance, sales, operations, and external partners. For planning leaders, expectations have shifted dramatically.

Today’s supply chain executives and planners are being asked to:

• React faster to disruption, whether it’s demand volatility, supplier risk, or geopolitical change
• Move from static to scenario-based planning, exploring what-if possibilities with agility and confidence
• Connect financial and operational planning in a single platform to understand the financial impact of every decision in real time
• Collaborate across the enterprise, ensuring plans reflect real-time shifts in finance, sales, and production
• Own more portfolios, with fewer resources without compromising accuracy or accountability

Legacy tools like SAP APO were designed for a different era — one where batch updates, IT-controlled modeling, and disconnected planning silos were the norm. But that model no longer works.

The right platform should empower planning teams to make better decisions, faster, with tools that support real-world agility. It should unlock a more adaptive, collaborative, and insight-driven way of working.

Anaplan vs. SAP IBP: A side-by-side comparison

When evaluating what comes next after SAP APO, many organizations naturally look to SAP IBP as the successor platform. But choosing the familiar option isn’t always the best option — or the easiest.

Let’s take a closer look at how Anaplan for Supply Chain compares with SAP IBP across the areas that matter most to modern supply chain leaders:

1. Business agility and ownership

• SAP IBP often requires significant IT involvement to make even small changes to models or inputs. Customizing a dashboard, adding a new data stream, or adjusting planning logic may involve tickets, delays, and external consultants.
• Anaplan, by contrast, is designed for business users. With a no-code interface and intuitive modeling, business process owners can configure and adapt their environment in real time — without waiting on IT.

2. Implementation speed and flexibility

• SAP IBP deployments have been noted as being lengthy and complex, due in part to the complexity of data, configuration, and testing.
• Anaplan’s modular approach typically allows customers to stand up core planning models in just three to four months, with extended phases reserved for advanced features or enterprise-wide rollout.
• The composable architecture of Anaplan enables teams to build, connect, and scale planning applications flexibly to suit your unique needs.

3. Collaboration and visibility

• In SAP IBP, collaboration often happens outside the platform — via emails, spreadsheets, or separate interfaces.
• Anaplan centralizes collaboration with in-platform commenting, tagging, Slack integrations, and shared scenario workspaces. Teams can align in real time, not after the fact.

4. Total cost of ownership (TCO)

• SAP IBP’s complexity drives up both implementation and long-term service costs. Frequent reliance on SAP partners or consultants creates ongoing overhead.
• Anaplan empowers internal teams to maintain and evolve their models, reducing reliance on outside help and lowering TCO over time.

5. AI/ML and advanced planning

• Both SAP IBP and Anaplan offer AI/ML-enabled forecasting, but the approaches differ. SAP IBP often layers analytics via SAP Analytics Cloud, requiring separate licenses and coordination.
• Anaplan embeds PlanIQ directly into the platform — delivering AI-driven forecasting, explainability, and scenario testing without additional tools or integrations.

6. Integration and ecosystem flexibility

• SAP IBP performs best when paired with SAP ERP systems, but integrations with non-SAP tools often rely on batch processes and custom middleware.
• Anaplan is platform-agnostic and widely adopted in hybrid IT environments. In fact, approximately 70% of Anaplan customers use SAP as their ERP system, proving you don’t need to abandon existing investments to modernize and future-proof your planning.
• With Anaplan Data Orchestrator (ADO), teams can automate data ingestion, transformation, and distribution through a no-code interface. This built-in automation and single source of truth enables teams to make more accelerated, accurate decisions and draw actionable insights from their data.  

7. User experience

• While SAP IBP’s interface may appear familiar to users accustomed to Excel, that familiarity can mask the significant complexity of the platform. Many planning tasks still rely on offline workflows, creating redundant copies of data and repeated imports. Due to its complex, vast functionality and specific jargon, SAP IBP often requires specialized training and a deep understanding of business processes to navigate and leverage effectively. This can all lengthen onboarding times and create usability issues across the board.
• Anaplan takes a different approach — designing for business users first. Our interface is intuitive and UX optimized, allowing planners to interact with models, dashboards, and workflows without needing deep technical expertise. Applications are designed to handle sophisticated planning logic while minimizing underlying complexity in the user experience. Built-in workflows manage team handoffs and alert plan changes, keeping everyone in sync — all on a unified platform.

Why choose Anaplan

Anaplan powers the planning engines of some of the world’s most recognized and complex organizations — serving over 2,500 customers globally across industries like manufacturing, consumer goods, automotive, retail, and life sciences. From high-growth disruptors to Fortune 500 leaders, these companies rely on Anaplan to drive agility, alignment, and smarter decision-making across their supply chains and beyond.

This trust isn’t incidental — it’s earned. 

Built for change

Anaplan was purpose-built to help organizations navigate uncertainty and complexity. From day one, we have prioritized flexibility and speed — delivering real-time scenario planning, business-owned modeling, and a cloud-native architecture that evolves alongside your business.

Innovation that doesn’t stand still

Where legacy systems often stall out, Anaplan continually invests in new capabilities. Whether it’s integrated AI and machine learning through PlanIQ or advanced forecasting collaboration via Anaplan CoPlanner, Anaplan’s innovation roadmap is designed to solve real-world problems.

Planning that goes beyond supply chain

Supply chain planning doesn’t operate in isolation — and neither should your platform. Anaplan extends across finance, sales, HR, marketing, and operations, creating one connected planning environment for the entire enterprise. That means faster decisions, fewer silos, and a more unified path forward.

Trusted by leaders, backed by experience

Anaplan supports some of the world’s most complex organizations — from global manufacturers to retail leaders to logistics providers. Our partner ecosystem, support infrastructure, and customer success teams are here to guide you through transition and transformation.

Don’t just migrate — modernize

The transition away from SAP APO isn’t just a software upgrade. It’s a chance to rethink how your organization plans, collaborates, and makes decisions.

For supply chain leaders, this is a rare opportunity to move away from reactive updates and legacy constraints and take an objective perspective on the best path forward. Whether you're preparing for change now or evaluating your next step, Anaplan offers the clarity, capabilities, and experience to bring informed guidance and transformative change to your enterprise.