Not sure if you need Anaplan, Pigment, Planful, or something else entirely? Start here.
What is it?
We call it the Bolt Blueprint. You might know it as an optimisation study. Either way, it's a proper look at your finance systems, processes, and technology before you commit to anything.
We've done this 30+ times across Anaplan, Pigment, Planful, and IBM Planning Analytics. It works because we're not trying to sell you software. We're working out what you actually need.
Who this is for
Every vendor says they're the best fit. You want someone with no dog in the fight to tell you which one actually is.
You know spreadsheets have hit their limit, but nobody's given you a straight answer on what to replace them with or what it costs.
Your last EPM project stalled or failed. Before you throw more money at it, you want to know what actually went wrong.
The board wants better reporting and forecasting yesterday. You need a credible plan you can show them in weeks, not months.
You've sat through enough demos and sales pitches. You want someone who'll give you a straight answer without trying to sell you their platform.
What you get
Where you are now and where you need to get to, written down properly. You'll see the gaps between the two.
Process gaps, data issues, integration headaches. We find these together before they blow up during implementation.
We test each platform against what your business actually needs, not what looks good in a demo.
3-5 year total cost of ownership. Licensing, implementation, support, change management. The real number, not the sales deck number.
Integration complexity, data readiness, change management. Each one scored so you know which ones to worry about first.
A prioritised action plan with dependencies, written in your language. You can execute it with us or take it to someone else.
Why it matters
Vendors will sell you what they have, not what you need. Every platform looks brilliant in a demo. The awkward questions only come up during implementation, when changes cost ten times more.
Most EPM projects go wrong because of bad scoping, not bad technology. Requirements get missed. Integrations get underestimated. Nobody thinks about user adoption until it's too late. The Blueprint catches all of this before you've signed anything.
Better to spend thousands on getting it right than hundreds of thousands on getting it wrong.
How it works
We agree what's in scope, what's not, and who needs to be in the room. No ambiguity.
Workshops, interviews, system walkthroughs. We learn how work actually gets done, not how the process doc says it should.
Technical review of your systems, data flows, and integration points. We need to see what we're actually working with.
Current state vs future state, with the gaps between them mapped out. Specific to your business, not pulled from a template.
Your options laid out plainly. Which platforms fit, what they'll cost, and where the risks are. No spin.
We write the report together. It needs to make sense to your leadership team, not just to us.
What makes it different
We hold certifications across Anaplan, Pigment, Planful, and IBM PA. We don't get paid more for recommending one over another.
3-5 year total cost of ownership, including the bits that never make it into the sales deck. No surprises at year two.
Integration complexity, data quality, change management. These are the things that derail EPM projects, and we flag them before they can.
We've run this across Anaplan, Pigment, Planful, and IBM Planning Analytics. We know what trips people up because we've seen it happen.
Investment
Final cost depends on how many systems, stakeholders, and locations are involved. We'll talk through your situation and give you a fixed-price proposal before anything starts.
Book a call and we'll have a straight conversation about what you're dealing with. No pitch.