Booking.com is growing rapidly. The Amsterdam-based travel company now employs more than 15,000 people worldwide. To keep the planning process growing, the organization no longer wants to do its forecasting in Excel. Anaplan implemented advanced planning at Booking.com; so they can now forecast operational costs in various ways, from manual entry to automated statistical forecasting.
"We're growing so fast, we wanted to improve the way we forecast. In the last three years, the number of Booking.com employees and the number of available accommodations on our website have almost doubled. We needed to find the right solution to match that growth," says Chiara Guglielmetti of Booking.com. That's why Anaplan implemented advanced scheduling at Booking.com.
Founded in 1996 in Amsterdam, Booking.com has now grown from a small Dutch start-up to one of the largest e-commerce travel companies in the world. Meanwhile, Booking.com now has more than 15,000 employees in 204 branches spread across 70 countries worldwide.
No restrictions
After considering several options, the company decides to use Anaplan for its planning processes. "We choose Anaplan because of its flexibility and advanced scheduling," says Chiara. "In a company like Booking.com, where changes are the order of the day, we need a tool that is easily adaptable." "We were looking for a scalable solution," adds Andrew DeGennaro of Booking.com.
Therefore, the flexibility of the new tool fits the company's culture. Chiara: "We have an informal and open culture, where we promote creativity. We don't like limitations; if we see a better way to do something, we want to be able to adapt it."
Statistical projections
The main goal of the new planning process is to forecast the full set of operational costs in Anaplan. "No more Excel," Chiara says firmly. Before this, the organization used more than 50 Excel models to forecast its operational costs.
"From manual inputs to statistical methods to create automated forecasts."
The huge amount of data at Booking.com affects the planning process. Chiara: "The volume of data is getting bigger and bigger." "The total roll-up is very large; we forecast more than 1,000 combinations," says Stef Jansen in the Wal. As a consultant at Finext, he is closely involved in the implementation of Anaplan at Booking.com.
Several methods are used to calculate the forecast. "Very simple ones, such as manual input by controllers based on their knowledge, as well as statistical methods to create automated forecasts. Any desired method can be applied at any level of detail," Stef explains.
Planning booking.com
Trade-off between time and accuracy
However, all these possibilities also lead to dilemmas. "The deeper the level of detail, the higher the level of accuracy," says Chiara. "As a company, we are still discovering the right balance between granularity, speed and efficiency. It's a constant trade-off between time and accuracy."
This is one reason why the team spent a lot of time designing the basis for the planning model. "That time pays off handsomely later," Chiara says. "Invest time in the beginning to look at the full picture. In an Agile environment, you're tempted to work in sprints and start with the little things. But the scoping and planning phase should lay the groundwork. At that point it feels like you're not doing anything concrete, but later you gain speed."
Brighter and faster with advanced planning
Chiara and Andrew are excited about Anaplan's advanced planning. "The real-time calculations help us; as soon as you update any part of the model, everything is updated," Chiara says. "Also the data integrity is much better; I trust Anaplan more than Excel." "It's very modular. If there is a problem, you can easily find the part of the model where the calculations take place, and the connection to the outcomes. This makes problems easy to solve, whether it's a quick adjustment in a formula or a problem in the assumptions," Andrew says.
Previously, all 50 Excel models had to be manually loaded into the consolidation tool.
"Now we have almost no manual work, which saves time and reduces the risk of manual errors,"
continues Chiara. "All the calculations are done in Anaplan, after which we only have to do one export to the consolidation tool."
Both expect to see more benefits in the future. "We've only been live for one cycle. In six months, we will really see the benefits; forecasting will become clearer and faster. We will spend less time processing data and have more time to analyze things and help with decisions in the business."
CFO of your own department
End users are also positive. Andrew: "We see that those who have fully accepted it are excited about how they can model the data and how they can present the reports visually. Graphs give a better understanding of the holistic picture. Before this the data was more on a need-to-know basis, now the departments can actually start making decisions."
"We want everyone to become the CFO of their own department or region."
"This helps us streamline processes," says Chiara. "Each region uses its own approach. With the new application, we preview a shared approach by issuing a common model, with shared drivers and shared assumptions. This provides more alignment within the regions."
This approach fits the stage the company is currently in. "As you grow, to make the forecast you need people who are close to the business," says Chiara. "Anaplan helps us achieve this." "We want everyone to be the CFO of their own department or region," concludes Andrew.
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