Optimizing the impact of IT spend with Anaplan at AB InBev

The challenge

AB InBev faced significant challenges managing IT capital expenditure across their global organization. Due to multiple acquisitions and mergings of different companies, each country and zone managed their capex and opex differently.

"We had more than 18 sources of different systems," explains Gabriel Mazzafera from AB InBev's Value Creation Next Level team.

"Each country would have different management styles, different management processes and that was very messy when we looked things in a global view because we wouldn't have the possibility of understanding what was really our impact as a global company."

The challenges included:

• Multiple systems across zones and countries
• Low data accuracy
• Massive manual operations and reconciliations
• Lack of proper visibility on IT impact at AB InBev
• Difficulty understanding project business cases and benefits

The solution

AB InBev chose Anaplan because it was already being used by their Global Finance team as part of a finance transformation initiative. The solution impressed them with its diversified functionality, high standardization capabilities, fast calculations, and multiple integration possibilities.

Working with Keyrus, they built an end-to-end process covering everything from purchase requisitions to management reporting, including:

• Data integration: Connected multiple sources including SAP, Workday, other ERP systems, and various internal models. Automated data loads run 2-4 times daily depending on the zone.
• Centralized catalog: Created a "brain" where all project details are defined and mapped, including categories, investment orders, and project manager assignments.
• Budget planning: Developed a robust one-year planning process where users report not only capex spend but also benefits, KPIs, and future operational costs.
• Business case enhancement: Built calculators for project managers to define benefits and operational expenses through question-based scenarios, enabling calculation of payback, return on invested capital, and economic profit.
• Integration ecosystem: Connected to Power BI for reporting, PowerApps for approval processes, and Capex 360 for official reporting.