22 February 2026 · By Frank Taylor, Bolt Consulting

Anaplan Strategy Decision Guide

Anaplan In-House vs Outsource: Making the Right Decision for Your Business

This isn't a sales pitch for outsourcing. Sometimes hiring is the right answer. Here's how to work out which is right for you.

If you're managing an Anaplan environment, at some point you face this question: do we hire someone full-time to run it, or do we bring in an external team? Both options work. Neither is universally right. The answer depends on your specific situation.

I've been working with Anaplan environments for over a decade, and I've seen companies thrive with in-house teams and others where outsourcing transformed their operations. I've also seen both approaches fail when the wrong choice was made. Here's the framework I use when clients ask me this question.

When to Hire In-House

Hiring makes sense when the workload, complexity, and strategic importance justify a dedicated resource. Specifically:

You have 5+ models with daily administration needs. If your Anaplan estate spans FP&A, workforce planning, sales operations, and supply chain, that's enough work to keep someone genuinely busy five days a week. The economics favour hiring because you're paying for utilisation you'll actually use.

Anaplan is central to your operating model. If every business decision flows through Anaplan, if the CFO, COO, and CHRO all rely on it daily, then in-house expertise isn't a luxury, it's operational necessity. You need someone who's embedded in the business, sitting in planning meetings, understanding context that an external team would miss.

You're building a Centre of Excellence. If your strategy is to expand Anaplan across the business and you need someone to own the platform roadmap, manage the relationship with Anaplan, and evangelise the tool internally, that's a full-time strategic role. Outsourcing admin doesn't build internal capability.

Your model builder also serves as a business partner. Some companies find people who combine genuine Anaplan technical skills with strong FP&A business partnering. These unicorns add value beyond model administration. They translate business needs into technical solutions and vice versa. If you find one, hire them.

Regulatory requirements demand in-house control. Certain financial services firms, particularly those in heavily regulated environments, have policies requiring in-house management of financial planning systems. If this applies to you, outsourcing may not be an option regardless of economics.

When to Outsource

Outsourcing makes sense when the workload doesn't justify full-time headcount or when the risk of key person dependency outweighs the benefits of having someone in-house.

You have 1-3 models with 3-5 days of admin work per month. This is the most common situation for mid-market companies post-implementation. The model needs regular care (data loads, dimension updates, month-end support, user requests) but not enough to fill a full working week. Paying £90k+/year for 3-5 days of actual Anaplan work per month is poor economics.

You've been through the hire-and-leave cycle. If your last Anaplan hire stayed 18 months and you spent 4 months recruiting them, you've had 14 months of productive support out of 22 calendar months. And you paid £15k in recruitment fees. The third time this happens, the cost of the cycle itself (£15k fees + 4 months vacancy + 2 months onboarding) often exceeds the annual cost of a managed service.

Budget season creates capacity spikes you can't staff for. Most Anaplan environments need 2-3x the normal support level during budget and forecast cycles. A full-time hire can't flex. A managed service can. You'd either need to hire for the peak (and overpay the rest of the year) or struggle through peaks undermanned.

You need architectural oversight you can't afford full-time. A model builder at £72k handles day-to-day admin. But for structural decisions (should you restructure this module? how should you handle the acquisition integration?) you need a Solution Architect at £90-110k. A managed service gives you access to senior expertise for a fraction of the full-time cost.

You're in a post-implementation dip. The implementation partner has left. The project team has dispersed. You're in the first year of "business as usual" and working out what ongoing support actually looks like. A managed service is a lower-risk way to establish your operating rhythm before committing to a permanent hire.

The Hybrid Model: Often the Best Answer

For mid-market companies, the optimal setup is often a combination of in-house and outsourced resources. Here's how it works:

In-house: FP&A Analyst (£45-55k)

Owns the relationship with business stakeholders
Prepares forecasts and variance analysis
Builds basic Anaplan reports and uses dashboards
Translates business requirements into change requests
Attends planning meetings and understands context

Outsourced: Anaplan Technical Administration (£3-5k/month)

Handles structural model changes and technical maintenance
Manages data integrations, ETL processes, and error handling
Builds complex dashboards and new model components
Provides platform health monitoring and performance optimisation
Delivers architectural guidance and upgrade planning

Why this works: the FP&A analyst is easier to recruit (larger talent pool, lower salary), stays longer (because the role is broader and more interesting), and provides the business context that an external team can't replicate. The managed service provides the technical depth that an FP&A analyst typically lacks, at a cost that reflects actual utilisation.

Combined cost: £55k salary + £15k employment overhead + £48k managed service = £118k/year. Similar to a single high-end Anaplan hire, but with broader capability, no single point of failure, and better retention on the in-house side.

Decision Framework

Answer these five questions to work out where you sit:

1. How many days per month does your Anaplan environment need dedicated admin work?

Under 5 days: Outsource is likely more cost-effective
5-10 days: Hybrid model works well
Over 10 days: In-house hire makes sense

2. How many Anaplan models do you have?

1-2 models: Outsource
3-5 models: Either, depending on complexity
5+ models: In-house (or hybrid with more outsourced capacity)

3. How strategic is Anaplan to your business?

It's a budgeting tool used by finance: Outsource is fine
It's expanding across multiple functions: Consider hybrid
It's the central nervous system of the company: You need in-house

4. What's your retention experience?

Previous admin stayed 3+ years: Hiring risk is manageable
You've lost 2+ Anaplan people in 3 years: The cycle cost favours outsourcing
You haven't hired for this role before: Start with outsourcing while you learn your requirements

5. How much do budget season peaks exceed normal workload?

Minimal difference: In-house capacity can handle it
2-3x normal: Outsource or hybrid provides flex
Massive spike requiring temporary contractors: Outsource is definitely cheaper

Cost Comparison Summary

	In-House	Outsourced	Hybrid
Annual cost	£90-120k	£36-72k	£105-130k
Recruitment risk	High	None	Low
Key person risk	High	Low	Low
Budget season flex	Fixed	Built in	Built in
Business context	Strong	Moderate	Strong
Technical depth	Individual	Team	Team

What to Do First, Regardless of Decision

Before you commit either way, do these three things:

Document your current model. Architecture, data flows, business logic, operational procedures. Whether you hire or outsource, this documentation is essential. If you don't have it, that's your first priority.
Measure your actual monthly workload. Track the hours your current person (or the gap if they've left) spends on genuine Anaplan administration. Not FP&A work, not meetings. Actual model admin. This number drives the decision.
Calculate the true cost of employment. Not just salary. Use the full cost breakdown we've published. Then compare it honestly against managed service pricing.

Our Honest Recommendation

We're an outsourced Anaplan managed service provider. We have obvious commercial interest in you choosing to outsource. That said:

If you have a complex, multi-model environment with daily admin needs and the budget for a strong hire, hire. An embedded expert who truly understands your business is hard to beat.

If you have 1-3 models with periodic maintenance needs, outsourcing saves you money and eliminates the recruitment cycle that drives CFOs mad.

If you're not sure, book a 30-minute call with us. We'll tell you which option we genuinely think is right for your situation, even if the answer is "hire someone."