Business Challenge
The client faced challenges accessing real-time sales forecasting data due to expensive Anaplan licenses and fragmented business data. The existing Power BI dashboard required migration to the Information Discovery Tool (IDT) for better support, and Anaplan data sources were not centralized, complicating analysis.
Objective
- Migrate the Sales Forecast Dashboard to IDT for easier maintenance and support.
- Centralize Anaplan data in Azure for efficient report development and improved accessibility.
- Address incomplete business data by creating new metrics and dimensions.
- Migrate Anaplan outputs to Azure Data Lake (ADL) and Data Warehouse (ADW) for integration with other data sources.
- Facilitate external tool integration (e.g., IBP).
- Implement a robust data validation (DVR) process for accurate reporting.
Solution
- Cloud Data Integration: Connected Anaplan to Azure for centralized data management.
- Data Transformation: Used Azure Databricks for seamless data transformation across sources.
- Metrics & Forecasting: Developed logic to manage new metrics and improve forecasting based on different planning periods.
- Month-End Data Optimization: Optimized data filtering for month-end analysis.
- Centralized Data Storage: Organized data in ADL/ADW for easy integration and improved analysis.
- Tool Integration: Enabled seamless feeding of data to external tools like IBP.
- Snapshot Interface: Enabled viewing snapshots at various levels (e.g., month, region).
- Data Validation & Pipeline: Implemented a robust pipeline for handling data restatements and ensuring data accuracy.
Benefits
- Improved Forecasting: Comparing actuals to forecasts helped refine forecast accuracy and identify trends.
- Cost Savings: Reduced reliance on expensive Anaplan licenses, cutting reporting costs.
- Streamlined Maintenance: Migrating to IDT simplified dashboard maintenance, saving time and resources.
- Enhanced Analysis: Centralizing data improved analysis capabilities and enabled deeper insights.
- Better Data Accessibility: Data in Azure improved accessibility for external tools and standardized insights across the enterprise.