What Happens When Your Anaplan Model Builder Leaves?

It's Friday afternoon. The resignation email just landed. Here's what you're actually dealing with.

It starts with a calendar invite. "Quick catch-up." Your Anaplan model builder, the only person who truly understands the model, tells you they've accepted another offer. Four weeks' notice. Maybe less if they negotiate.

You thank them, wish them well, and then the quiet panic begins.

The Immediate Problem

Month-end is in two weeks. The model needs dimension updates because the company just restructured two cost centres. The data load from the ERP is throwing errors that nobody else knows how to fix. And the FP&A team needs three new dashboards that were promised to the CFO last month.

None of this is going to happen without someone who knows the model.

The things that break first:

Data loads stop working. Integrations need someone who understands both the source systems and Anaplan's import actions. When they break, your month-end numbers are late.
Hierarchy changes pile up. New departments, cost centre splits, product line changes. These are routine but require model-specific knowledge.
User requests queue up because nobody's picking them up. Access management, new reports, troubleshooting. The ticket queue just grows.
The model stagnates. Improvements stop. Feature requests gather dust. The platform that was supposed to evolve starts feeling like the old spreadsheet it replaced.

The Knowledge Gap

This is the part that hurts most. Your model builder probably knew things that aren't documented anywhere. The logic behind that complex allocation module. Why certain dimensions are structured the way they are. Which data loads need to run in which order. The workaround for that bug in the revenue recognition module.

That knowledge just walked out the door.

If you're lucky, they documented some of it. If you're honest with yourself, they probably didn't. What exists is a half-finished Confluence page from 18 months ago that describes a model architecture that's since changed twice.

The Recruitment Reality

So you go to HR with a job spec. Anaplan Model Builder, £65-80k, hybrid working, London or regional. This is what typically happens:

Month 1: The role goes live. You get 10-15 applications. Half don't have Anaplan certification. Three have relevant experience but want £85k+. Two look promising.

Month 2: First-round interviews. One candidate is good but has already accepted a competing offer by the time you schedule the second round. The other wants full remote; your policy says hybrid. Back to the job boards.

Month 3: The recruiter calls with a "great candidate" who turns out to be a junior with 6 months of Anaplan exposure on a single project. Not what you need. You broaden the search. Maybe the salary needs to go up.

Months 4-6: Eventually you find someone. Recruitment fee: £13,000-20,000 (20-25% of salary). Notice period: 4-8 weeks. Onboarding to actually understand your model: another 4-8 weeks.

Best case? You're looking at 4-5 months with no proper Anaplan support. Worst case? Six months or longer. Meanwhile, month-end keeps happening and budget season is approaching.

The Interim Options

While you're recruiting, you have three choices:

Option 1: Anaplan contractors. Available, but expensive. Expect £600-800 per day for someone certified, and they'll need 2-3 weeks to understand your model before they're productive. That's £12,000-16,000/month for full-time cover, and you still have the knowledge transfer problem when they leave.

Option 2: Anaplan's professional services. They know the platform, but they don't know your model. They charge premium rates. They work to their timeline, not yours. And they'll scope everything as a project, not ongoing support.

Option 3: Managed service provider. A team that specialises in ongoing Anaplan administration. They onboard to your model, provide certified resources, and handle the day-to-day operations. Typically £3,000-6,000/month depending on scope, a fraction of the contractor cost.

The Bigger Question

Most companies don't ask this until it's too late: should we be relying on a single person for this at all?

The reality for most mid-market companies is that their Anaplan environment needs 3-5 days of dedicated admin work per month. Sometimes more during budget season, less during quiet periods. That's not a full-time role. It's a role that gets bundled with other FP&A work, which means the person doing it is split between two jobs and getting frustrated with both.

When they leave (and in the current market, Anaplan-certified people move frequently), you're not just losing an admin. You're losing your entire operational capability on a platform you've invested six figures in.

A managed service eliminates that risk entirely. Not because the individuals never change, but because the knowledge is shared across a team and documented as standard practice. When one person moves on, the service continues without disruption.

What to Do Right Now

If you're reading this because your model builder just gave notice:

Document everything you can in their notice period. Model architecture, data flow diagrams, business logic explanations, known issues and workarounds. Get it recorded. Video walkthroughs work well.
Assess your actual monthly workload. Track exactly what the model builder does this month. Hours, tasks, complexity. This tells you whether you need a full-time replacement or something more flexible.
Talk to a managed service provider before you talk to a recruiter. Not instead of, but before. Understand the alternative so you can make an informed comparison.
Don't rush the replacement hire. A bad Anaplan hire is worse than no hire. Interim cover from a managed service gives you breathing room to recruit properly.