A business may need a partner to run its planning function. Another may have an experienced team but need help establishing a Center of Excellence. A third may need access to planning software, additional training or specialist advice.
Each represents a different starting point for Planning as a Service.
PaaS can combine technology, people and expertise in a way that reflects an organization’s capabilities and priorities. The scope can also evolve as the business develops its own planning capacity or encounters new demands.
Before choosing a support model, establish what the business needs planning to deliver and where the current gaps sit.
A team struggling to maintain a reliable planning cycle may need operational support. An organization introducing new technology may need training and process development. A business expanding across sites may need shared standards and clearer governance.
These situations require different responses. Defining the need helps avoid buying more support than necessary or expecting a narrow intervention to resolve a broader capability gap.
The discussion should cover existing technology, available skills, decision responsibilities and the capacity to sustain improvements.
PaaS can include software access or leasing where that arrangement fits the business’s needs. It can also extend to running the planning function, with a partner providing the people, processes and technology required within an agreed scope.
For organizations building internal capability, support may focus on establishing a planning Center of Excellence. That could include defining roles, governance, common methods and responsibilities for maintaining the planning process.
Other businesses may need targeted training, ongoing coaching or access to specialists who can advise on particular planning challenges.
These elements can be combined. A business might use managed planning support during a transition while developing the team that will eventually take greater responsibility.
Our article, Building the Planning Team Your Business Needs Next – neos by Argon & Co, explores how roles, processes and technology should align with the decisions a business needs to make.
PaaS can help put that development into practice.
For example, an organization may want planners to spend more time evaluating scenarios and working with commercial and operational teams. Achieving that may require help with recurring planning activities, improvements to workflows and coaching on how to interpret and communicate recommendations.
The support arrangement should identify which capabilities the partner will provide and which the internal team will develop. Knowledge transfer needs ownership and time within the delivery plan.
A flexible service still needs clear boundaries.
Agree which activities are included, who owns decisions and how issues will be escalated. Where software is provided, clarify access, data responsibilities and how the arrangement will work if the scope changes.
Performance measures should reflect the support being delivered. Managed planning may be assessed through process reliability and relevant business outcomes. Training and advisory may focus on demonstrated capability, adoption and the team’s ability to perform agreed activities independently.
Review the arrangement as needs change. Support can expand, become more specialized or reduce as internal capability grows.
Begin with the planning outcome you need to improve. Identify what is preventing progress, then consider which combination of technology, delivery support and capability development would address it.
neos by Argon & Co offers flexible Planning as a Service support, from software access and running planning operations to COE development, training and advisory. We help organizations shape an approach around where they are today and what they need next.
