Anaplan Advancements: User Acceptance Testing in Action

Stay up-to-date on Anaplan advancements!

Over the past several months, the University's Anaplan implementation for the Academic Division has continued to make meaningful progress. This effort has been shaped by ongoing collaboration with key stakeholder groups and the broader Budget Community, including engagement through Budget Office Hours. As we move closer to go-live, User Acceptance Testing marks an important milestone in ensuring Anaplan's system is ready to support UVA's budgeting needs. 

Recently, Michelle Gregory, Manager of Finance Data and Analytics, led a series of User Acceptance Testing sessions focused on validating key components of the Anaplan system. These sessions brought together colleagues across schools and units to actively test functionality and provide real-time feedback. 

User Acceptance Testing in Action

The testing sessions spanned two days, covering a wide range of functional areas essential to the budgeting process, including:

• Vacant Position Management & Base Planning
• State Planning 
• Supplemental, Wage, & Bonuses
• New Positions
• Pooled Labor
• Deployment Topics 
• Data Conversion 
• Reconcilement

This phase of implementation is intentionally collaborative and iterative. Participants were encouraged to ask questions, share insights, and identify opportunities for improvement. Feedback was incorporated in real-time, so that the system could be refined as testing progressed. This collective approach ensures that Anaplan reflects how budgeting works across Grounds, while also introducing thoughtful enhancements.

Michelle Gregory at a UAT session

Looking Ahead

As testing wraps up, the team is focused on preparing for the next phase of implementation. We are now approximately five months away from the FY28 Budget Kickoff and the full transition from Adaptive to Anaplan. 

We are so grateful to everyone who has contributed their time, expertise, and reflective feedback throughout this process (including our consulting partner, Tru Consulting!). Your collaboration is helping us build a stronger, more effective budgeting platform for the future!