Running and maintaining a full scale Business Intelligence solution is not a minor task, especially not when your IT department is relatively small and has numerous other day-to-day duties.

That is why OK a.m.b.a. - a Danish energy cooperative with 400 employees, 680 gas filling stations and annual turnover of DKK 6,7 billion - chose to extend its relationship with Affecto far beyond the average  consultant/client relationship. Not only did OK choose Affecto as the provider of a new Business Intelligence solution based on Informatica PowerCenter and BusinessObjects; they also entered an Affecto Service Management (ASM).Says Erik Bjerre, Head of IT Development at OK.

“Actually, ASM wasn’t really a product or service that we were actively looking for. But when we first heard of it and looked at the concept a little closer, it became clear that it made good sense for our business to tighten our relationship with Affecto.”

“Through the Affecto Service Management agreement we have access to an extremely competent team that we wouldn’t normally be able to draw on. Our IT department only has 14 employees and given the amount of tasks we are required to carry out, that is a quite small department. This means we can’t be experts on everything and will therefore need expert assistance on a regular basis.”

Framework for smooth operation

With a robust Business Intelligence solution, the IT department and management at OK’s headquarters are able to keep track on sales from it’s 680 filling stations, monitor crucial operational data and generate reports to management and sales representatives across the country.

“To put it shortly, BI enables us to optimise decision making and make adjustments necessary to drive our business further,” Erik Bjerre explains. And with the Affecto Service Management contract, OK’s IT people and Affecto’s consultants have a framework for collaboration that ensures smooth operation and development of the Business Intelligence system.

A huge relief

According to Erik Bjerre, one of the key benefits is the way Affecto’s consultants and OKs own IT people communicate and work together:

“Affecto’s consultants have deep knowledge of our business and the way we operate. That makes things so much easier for us, and Affecto adds a tangible amount of value to our business. The simple fact that we speak the same language makes quite a difference.”

“We have instant access to all of Affecto’s knowledge, a huge support organisation and future product upgrades without the need to have external consultants physically present with us all the time.”

“Another major benefit of ASM is that we and Affecto have a mutual obligation to point out issues and propose new ideas. We also keep a comprehensive log file that we walk through together once a month and use to discuss if something needs to be debugged or fine-tuned. We are not left alone with the burden of identifying potential issues or errors. For a small IT department like ours, that is a huge relief,” says Erik Bjerre.