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Enterprises are moving beyond siloed, traditional budgeting toward integrated, continuous business planning powered by dedicated software platforms. New research from ISG highlights this shift, revealing how AI-powered tools are enabling companies to unify planning across departments, accelerate forecasting, and align operational execution with strategic objectives in real time.
ISG research identifies a shift from siloed budgeting to integrated, AI-powered business planning.
Dedicated software platforms unify planning across finance, revenue, and workforce functions.
AI and GenAI features accelerate forecasting, reduce bias, and enable self-service analytics.
Multidimensional modeling allows instant scenario analysis across products, customers, and units.
By 2028, 25% of FP&A teams will implement this form of integrated business planning.
OneStream, Anaplan, and Oracle are top-rated providers across multiple planning categories.
Companies require continuous, cross-departmental planning to anticipate change and manage resources effectively. Traditional financial planning, often confined to a few dimensions, is being augmented by business planning practices that identify growth opportunities. Dedicated software platforms refine forecasting, planning, and analysis cycles, improving the performance of FP&A teams and executives while overcoming the limitations of disconnected, manual processes.
The integration of AI is transforming these platforms. Generative AI and agentic AI features make planning cycles faster and more agile, increasing participation and offering benefits like automated analytics and decision recommendations. Furthermore, modern business operates in multiple dimensions (products, customers, currencies). Multidimensional modeling within these platforms allows leaders to adjust assumptions globally and instantly calculate effects, enabling interactive scenario exploration during decision-making meetings.
ISG's 2025 Buyers Guide evaluates providers across Business, Financial, Revenue, and Workforce Planning categories. OneStream emerged as the top Overall Leader across all four platform categories, followed by Anaplan and Oracle. These platforms are rated for their capability, customer experience, and overall product offering. A separate guide for emerging providers recognized Sage, Abacum, and insightsoftware as leaders, highlighting innovation in the financial planning space.
The evolution of business planning software, supercharged by AI, is turning a routine operational function into a strategic asset. As these platforms mature with advanced data management and API integrations, they reduce manual effort and allow planners to focus on strategy. “Rapid advances in software, especially with AI, are turning business planning from an operational burden into an asset for decision-making and action,” said Mark Smith of ISG. This empowers enterprises to anticipate change proactively rather than simply react to it.
About ISG Software Research
ISG Software Research provides authoritative coverage and analysis of the business and IT software industry. It distributes research and insights daily through its user community, and provides a portfolio of consulting, advisory, research and education services for enterprises, software and service providers, and investment firms. Its ISG Buyers Guides™ help enterprises evaluate and select software providers through tailored assessments powered by ISG’s proprietary methodology.
About ISG
ISG is a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm. A trusted partner to more than 900 clients, including 75 of the world’s top 100 enterprises, ISG is a long-time leader in technology and business services that is now at the forefront of leveraging AI to help organizations achieve operational excellence and faster growth. The firm, founded in 2006, is known for its proprietary market data, in-depth knowledge of provider ecosystems, and the expertise of its 1,600 professionals worldwide working together to help clients maximize the value of their technology investments.
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