A marketing plan should enable marketing managers to document their assessment of the opportunity in terms of effective allocation of limited resources. This Article was written by Alan Gleeson. Alan is the Managing Director of Palo Alto Software, Ltd., creators of Business Plan Pro® 2007. He holds an MBA from Oxford University and an MSc from University College, Cork, Ireland. For further information on business planning visit www.bplans.co.ukand www.paloalto.co.uk