Denmark’s municipalities strive to deliver optimal services for the country’s 5.4 million citizens. Their joint IT governance company KOMBIT works with the foremost providers in the market to ensure that local government efforts are supported by the latest and most sophisticated IT solutions. Representing all 98 municipalities, Local Government Denmark (LGDK) wanted to implement a comprehensive data warehouse solution. Its aim was to give local authorities on-demand access to shared data which would encourage best practice and strengthen decision making. The ambitious solution, codenamed FLIS, was one of a string of initiatives to improve municipal services, launched by LGDK in the wake of Denmark’s Local Government Reform, which included a two-thirds reduction in the number of municipalities along with a changed division of labour between state and local government. Charged with developing the data warehouse solution and preparing it for public tender, KOMBIT approached several consultancies for help. Affecto soon emerged as the leading contender. Says Thomas Christiansen, Chief Market Officer, KOMBIT: “FLIS is one of the largest and most complex data warehouse solutions ever designed and built in Denmark’s public sector. For that reason, we had to be sure that the company we chose had the competence and experience to deliver. During the engagement process, it was clear to us that Affecto was the best qualified candidate for the job,” says Thomas Christiansen, Chief Market Officer, KOMBIT.

KOMBIT was particularly impressed with Affecto’s proven track record as Denmark’s leading provider of data warehouse solutions and the fact it had worked extensively with the public sector in the past. Says Peter Egelund, Chief Information Officer, KOMBIT: ”The success of our data warehouse project depended on knowledge that we didn’t have inhouse. Not only did Affecto’s consultants have the skills and experience required – their level of competence was pretty much unique in Denmark, which made our choice straightforward.”

Affecto helps deliver roadmap for comprehensive data warehouse

Following its swift appointment to the project, Affecto worked closely with KOMBIT to deliver a roadmap that would see the project through to tender. The aim of FLIS was to use existing municipal data as a basis for creating shared standards for a range of key indicators. Together, these indicators would provide municipalities with a stable data platform to support their daily operations and enable decision making for the benefit of citizens – not replacing, but complementing individual municipal IT solutions. Affecto’s consultants helped KOMBIT choose an advanced approach by which the team would develop and test a detailed concept before proceeding to tender. This would save time in the bid phase and facilitate a faster and more effective end solution.

What’s more, by implementing a concept environment first, KOMBIT would retain control of the project, ensuring an ultimate solution that met the needs of the municipalities, as opposed to one dictated by technology. Starting the project, LGDK worked with 40 municipalities to identify key local government data for four areas – vulnerable children and youths, schools, disabled adults and the elderly. After this process, Affecto helped KOMBIT implement the initial concept environment for four municipalities. Due to the size and complexity of the project, the team chose to base the pilot on Informatica PowerCenter 8.6 data integration software, as this provided a high degree of flexibility as well as the user-friendly interfaces required to handle large-scale data sets. For easy front-end use by the municipalities, the team chose SAP BusinessObjects for the concept environment. Over time the project evolved, and KOMBIT and Affecto soon extended the initial concept environment to include data from up to 26 municipalities. The extension allowed LGDK and KOMBIT to build up even more experience of shared data warehousing and pinpoint requirements. “Affecto’s consultants were extremely helpful and competent throughout the development stage of our data integration project. They worked alongside us to help shape and improve the concept over and above what was originally intended,” says Peter Egelund.

Unique Affecto methodology saves time and minimises risks

Affecto’s consultants base their approach on Affecto Solution Framework (ASF) – a unique methodology which allows them to draw on Affecto’s experience from implementing more than 250 successful Business Intelligence projects across the Nordic region. ASF provides consultants with useful guidelines, templates and best practice as well as real-life sample documents from past Affecto projects. For KOMBIT, this meant that Affecto’s consultants were able to work faster with the company to design FLIS and develop the concept environment. It also helped minimise the risk of delays due to technical issues.

Seamless partnership is a key to success

Working on-site, as an integrated part of KOMBIT’s team as opposed to a separate entity, Affecto’s consultants brought instant benefits to the project. “Right from start, Affecto acted as our trusted advisor rather than keeping the conventional distance between consultant and project owner. It was never a question of ‘them and us’,” says Thomas Christiansen and adds: “The fact that we have worked so successfully together on a data integration project of this scale is a credit to both KOMBIT and Affecto. It has been hugely beneficial to our project as it has allowed us to pool our resources effectively in order to create the best possible outcomes.”

FLIS – supported by Affecto – sets new standard for future projects

In future, once the extended FLIS concept has been tested, gone through tender and been implemented by the
appointed solutions provider, LGDK wishes to expand FLIS, eventually to comprise all 98 municipalities as well as data for many more areas of local government, subject to consultation. KOMBIT’s cooperation with Affecto’s consultants on the design and development stage of the project has set an important precedent for the company’s future approach to FLIS and other large-scale IT projects. “Working with Affecto on our data warehouse project has taught us that selecting the right partner from the beginning of a project of this size brings a great number of benefits – such as a faster and more efficient progress of work. Thanks to the partnership between KOMBIT and Affecto, the design and development phase has been a success,” says Thomas Christiansen. KOMBIT is well aware that the project would have been very difficult to get off the ground without the highly specialised competences brought to it by Affecto. Says Peter Egelund: “When you are talking about a project as ambitious as a shared data warehouse for all of Denmark’s municipalities, finding the right partner is critical – a job well done doesn’t suffice, we have to strive for the best of the best – and so far Affecto is the right choice.”