Anaplan workspace capacity is the data and processing allowance that comes with an Anaplan subscription. Two measures are in use. The first is the workspace allowance in gigabytes, which limits how much model data a workspace may hold. The second is the Hyperbyte allowance, called the Fair Use Limit, which measures in-memory data processing capacity.[1][2] Both are in gigabytes, and they are not the same thing, so a customer should keep the two apart when reconciling its Order Schedule against what the Administration console shows.
Editions
Capacity attaches to the platform subscription, and the constructs documented by Anaplan are as follows.
| Construct | Documented behaviour |
|---|---|
| Workspace (Classic Engine) | General-purpose engine for dense data sets; each workspace is either Classic or Polaris[3] |
| Workspace (Polaris) | Engine for sparse, highly dimensioned data; provisioned on request if the subscription includes Polaris[4] |
| HyperModel | Models larger than 130 GB, up to 720 GB, discussed with the account team[1] |
| Data Orchestrator package | Tenant allowance in packages with soft and hard limits[5] |
Classic and Polaris. Anaplan describes two calculation engines, the Classic Engine and Anaplan Polaris. The Classic Engine is the general-purpose multidimensional engine for dense data sets where most cells are populated. Polaris is designed to store and calculate models with sparse data sets, with greater potential size, dimensionality and granularity.[3] Each has its own workspaces. A workspace is either a Classic workspace or a Polaris workspace, it cannot contain both kinds of model, and it cannot be converted into the other kind.[3] A Polaris workspace is provisioned for a customer whose subscription includes Polaris, and any model created in it uses Polaris.[4]
Anaplan’s statement of direction says Polaris has been generally available since 2023 and will be the primary focus of future calculation development, while Classic will be maintained and supported but will not receive major new calculation functionality.[6] The statement also recommends Polaris for new model development.[6] For licensing this means that a migration is a project with a commercial side: new workspaces are needed, and the subscription must include Polaris. The statement itself does not say how capacity is exchanged between the two engines, and the Anapedia pages reviewed do not either, so the conversion of allowances is a point for the account team and the Order Schedule.
Metrics
Workspace size. Each workspace has a size of storage on the Anaplan servers. The documentation says workspace size “is the sum of the sizes of all non-archived models in the workspace”, and each workspace has an allowance that Anaplan monitors and that is “tied to your monthly subscription”.[1] The Workspaces page of the Administration console lists every workspace in the tenant with its enabled state and Usage (GB), and a right-hand panel shows Usage, Allowance, workspace ID and region.[7] The Allowance (GB) is described as the maximum data storage limit for the workspace in gigabytes.[7] See Workspace capacity (GB).
Model size. Each model also has a size, shown on the About dialog and in model settings.[1] Anaplan models can be as large as 130 GB. If a larger model is needed, up to 720 GB, the documentation directs customers to the account team about HyperModels.[1] If a large model exceeds the core workspace allowance, the options listed are splitting it across several workspaces or changing the standard calculation policy to a virtualised data set for a limited number of use cases, which is arranged through Anaplan Support.[1]
Model count. A separate limit applies to the number of models. Amber warnings display in the Model Management dialog when the model count exceeds 4,500 or workspace size reaches 75% of the workspace’s capacity limit, and warnings display above 5,000 models, at which point connectivity issues may occur.[8] See Models per workspace. The page describes these as warnings, and suggests archiving unused models and, if more space is needed, submitting a case to Anaplan Support.[8] The documents reviewed do not state a contractual consequence of exceeding a workspace allowance, so that point depends on the Order Schedule.
Hyperbytes. With the purchase of the platform access subscription, the client is granted a Hyperbyte allowance, the Fair Use Limit. A Hyperbyte is “a unit of in-memory data processing capacity within the Anaplan Service, measured in 1 gigabyte (GB) increments”.[2] See Hyperbyte. The Fair Use Policy page is the only public document reviewed that defines the term.
Counting / floors
How the Fair Use Limit is set. The Fair Use Limit is assessed on three inputs, all as specified in one or more Order Schedules: the number of Client Employees, the number of Use Cases being planned for, and the number and type of lines of business involved.[2] Client Employees are defined as full-time, part-time and temporary staff and contractors acting for the client.[2] A Use Case is a business process or activity made of a sequence of tasks and steps designed to achieve a specific business objective, and it has one or more attributes: it leads to a distinct business outcome, occurs on an independent recurring planning cycle, or carries a discrete set of activities with different owners.[2] Anapedia’s Use Case page organises standard Use Cases by line of business and names finance, HR and workforce, supply chain, and sales and marketing.[9]
The count of employees is not the count of users. It sizes the Hyperbyte allowance, and it does not say who may log in, which is governed by licensed seats.[2][10] A customer that adds a new planning process may therefore add a Use Case, which the policy treats as an input to the limit.
Estimate, not guarantee. The policy calls the Fair Use Limit “an estimate, based on historical trends and industry practices” that should be sufficient for most clients if reasonable use guidelines are followed. Anaplan says it set the limit by analysing the distribution of Hyperbyte utilisation within each Use Case and employee band by line of business so that 98% of customers are within reasonable limits.[2]
Reasonable use. The guidelines include actively managing models and deleting dormant or unused workspaces, adopting best practices for archiving data, and following Anaplan’s documented model-building practices.[2] Archived models do not count toward workspace size, and the same documentation lists archiving unused models, using smaller data sets for production and test models, limiting versions, and limiting the number of years and the time granularity as ways to reduce workspace size.[1]
Adjustment. “To uphold the quality of the Anaplan Service for all Clients”, Anaplan “may adjust allocated capacity to more closely align with actual usage over the last 12 months”, and it will notify and work with an affected client.[2] An unused allowance can therefore be reduced. Whether and how this interacts with the rule that purchased quantities cannot be decreased by the client during the term depends on the Order Schedule; see the SaaS Subscription Agreement article.
Revisions. Anaplan reviews and revises the limits periodically. Changes impact clients whose contracts begin after the revision date but do not modify existing agreements. Anaplan may also introduce new Use Cases, as long as they do not conflict with an existing one.[2]
Audit. “Anaplan reserves the right to audit and amend the Subscription Fees in accordance with the Anaplan SaaS Subscription Agreement.”[2]
Virtualization & partitioning
Capacity is partitioned by tenant and workspace. A tenant is a client account in the platform that contains the client’s workspaces and authorized users, and a workspace stores the models of one company or autonomous workgroup, with its own set of users.[1] A customer can therefore split one allowance across several workspaces, for example for development, test and production, and the sum of non-archived models in each workspace is measured against that workspace’s allowance.[1] A request for more space, or for bulk deletion of models, goes through the Anaplan Support portal.[1]
The documentation treats Polaris and Classic as distinct, so a customer with both holds separate workspaces for each, and models cannot be mixed within one workspace.[3] For Optimizer, the Anapedia page says the service is not currently available in Polaris workspaces, although Polaris models can integrate with a Classic workspace model that runs the Optimizer action.[11]
Cloud / BYOL
There is no bring-your-own-licence concept: capacity is hosted by Anaplan. The workspace region, the data centre location, is a property of each workspace shown on its details tab.[7]
Programs
Data Orchestrator. Anaplan Data Orchestrator imports, transforms and loads data into Anaplan models for integration administrators.[5] It is sold in packages, and the tenant allowance is based on the number of packages. Each package includes the following, with a soft limit that triggers warnings and a hard limit that stops further activity.[5]
| Allowance per package | Soft limit | Hard limit |
|---|---|---|
| Managed data storage | 25 GB | 50 GB |
| Datasets | 250 | 500 |
| Model links in a rolling 24-hour period | 500 | 1,000 |
| Data extract syncs in a rolling 24-hour period | 200 | 500 |
Additional packages “can be purchased in any number of units”, and the maximum number of concurrently executing processes is five, which does not scale with packages.[5] The tenant administrator receives an email when an allowance exceeds the soft limit. At the hard limit a tenant can no longer perform the activities subject to that allowance, for example adding datasets, until existing source datasets are removed or more packages are entitled.[5] See Data Orchestrator package.
Fair use for other products. The Fair Use Policy page links an “Additional products with fair use” page, which on retrieval listed Anaplan Geo-mapping as an additional product with fair use thresholds.[12]
What to track
A capacity inventory for Anaplan can use the data the console already provides.
- Usage and allowance in GB for each workspace, with the workspace’s engine (Classic or Polaris).[7][3]
- Model counts against the 4,500 and 5,000 warning levels.[8]
- The Hyperbyte allowance and the Use Cases, lines of business and Client Employees recorded in the Order Schedule.[2]
- Archived models that could be deleted, since archived models do not count toward size but still exist.[1]
- Data Orchestrator usage against the soft and hard limits of each package.[5]
Out of scope
The article does not cover technical model design guidance, the performance characteristics of the engines, or the geo-mapping product’s thresholds. The amount of workspace capacity or Hyperbytes in any particular contract is not public.