When embarking on a digital Integrated Business Planning (IBP) project—whether in Anaplan, Jedox or another platform—it’s natural to focus on getting to results quickly. After all, the value of a new platform is in the outcomes it enables: better decisions, faster planning cycles, and improved collaboration. But here’s the reality we’ve seen proven time and time again: if you want to go fast in the end, you need to go slow at the start.

At Profit&, we call this principle “Slow Start, Fast Finish.” And it’s one of the most important concepts to understand if you’re considering a new IBP project. Why? Because the first phase of the project—the Define & Design phase—is where the foundations for success are laid. And getting this stage right is what unlocks speed, quality and confidence later.

The Importance of the Define & Design Phase

This phase is not just about ‘getting started.’ It’s about doing the work that will make the rest of the project run like clockwork. During this stage, we work closely with your team to:

• Analyse your business requirements.
  
  
• Agree and communicate your strategy and key outcomes - what will change and what is new.
  
  
• Design a high-level solution.
  
  
• Plan project sprints and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
  
  
• Clarify roles, responsibilities and business processes.
  
  

• Value and benefit statement.
  
  
• Process and role diagrams.
  
  
• User stories.
  
  
• A high-level model schema.
  
  
• A master UAT plan.
  
  
• A stakeholder engagement plan.
  
  
• A fully scheduled and structured sprint plan.

All of these outputs are subject to formal review and sign-off. They’re not just “nice to have”—they’re essential to ensure that everyone involved is clear, aligned and pulling in the same direction.

Why It Feels Slow – and Why That’s Good

I won’t mislead you!  To some, this phase can feel slower than expected. It requires effort, attention, and time from your internal team. Writing user stories, articulating the desired outcomes, reviewing test plans—all of this takes commitment. But this work is not optional. It’s the your responsibility, and it cannot be delegated to consultants.

Whilst we aim to inspire and guide you towards best practices, each business is truly unique, and the flexibility of modern planning tools allows a perfect fit to be achieved.  Our role as your consulting partner is to support, guide, and train your team—not to write your requirements or define your acceptance criteria for you. After all, only you know what good looks like for your business.

What Happens If You Rush?

When the Define/Design phase is rushed or undercooked, the consequences show up fast. Common problems include:

• Misalignment between what is built and what was expected.
  
  
• Misalignment between process and platform
  
  
• A high volume of change requests mid-build.
  
  
• Rework or complete rebuild of models.
  
  
• Confusion about roles, responsibilities and outcomes.
  
  
• Delays in UAT and go-live.
  
  
• Budget overruns.
  
  
• Loss of faith in the platform.

What Happens When You Get It Right?

When this phase is done thoroughly and collaboratively, something powerful happens: the project moves fast. Once we get into sprint implementation, everything flows. Developers know what they’re building. Stakeholders know what to expect. UAT is structured and targeted. Issues are surfaced early and resolved quickly.

The end result?

• A solution that meets expectations

• Go-live achieved on time and on budget

• Confident, capable users

• A clear return on investment

What You Can Do Now to Prepare

If you're planning an IBP project, here are a few things to think about:

• Plan internal time for writing high-quality user stories. These are not technical documents—they’re business stories, written by your team, to define what they need and why.

• Ensure you have time and ownership around UAT. This isn’t just a box-ticking exercise—it’s how you verify that the platform delivers what your business needs and it's critical to user adoption.

• Engage your stakeholders early. Alignment at the Define/Design stage pays dividends later.

• Don’t underestimate the effort needed up front. The more clarity and detail you put in early, the faster and smoother things go later.

Final Thought