If you want to stay ahead in the game, you cannot run your business the way it has always been run. You need to adapt, and the same goes for the systems that help you run your business.

At Toms Gruppen, a leading manufacturer of chocolate and other sweets in Denmark and Sweden, Chief Information Officer Per Lerche Møller and Chief Financial Officer Anders Hagh decided it was time to re-evaluate the group’s financial reporting processes and pave the way for a deep implementation of a robust Business Intelligence strategy.

“We run SAP almost wall-to-wall but we also depend on other systems to provide data for reporting. Not everything is working as logically and smoothly as it could,” explains Anders Hagh.

Comprehensive report

Toms Gruppen turned to Affecto for assistance on a new BI strategy. The task defined was twofold:

1. Assess the current processes and systems and suggest relevant changes
2. Help define a new BI strategy and provide a roadmap for implementation

“We worked with two consultants from Affecto over a period of four weeks. They conducted interviews and workshops and came up with a comprehensive report. The report has more than 30 suggestions on how we can amend our internal processes as well as make some relevant system changes. The report also recommends system upgrades and provides a roadmap for the future,” says Anders Hagh.

According to CIO Per Lerche Møller, a detailed BI strategy will eventually serve as a motivating factor across the organisation:

“When your business intelligence strategy is in place and systems are working according to the strategy, people will be motivated because the numbers they are required to keep an eye on are in fact updated and easily accessible.”

Need to fix some fundamentals

Eventually, the future lies in SAP BO Business Intelligence 4.0. But it will take some time to get there, Anders Hagh admits:

“One of the things Affecto’s consultants helped us realise is that we need to fix some fundamentals before we move on to a large scale implementation of a whole new system. Right now, we are working on two specific items mentioned in the report: A new chart of accounts and a revised product hierarchy. We simply need to have a logical data structure that provides valid data.”

“I think of it as major engine room overhaul that we must perform before we proceed with a new, smooth interface with dashboards and a whole range of other features.” Adds Per Lerche Møller:

“Defining a BI strategy also helped direct our attention to parts of our systems where some housekeeping needed to be carried out, in areas that are not necessarily a priority. With the BI strategy in place, it was easier for us to make the rest of the organisation understand the importance of completing these tasks.”

Valuable assets

Anders Hagh expects implementation of SAP BO Business Intelligence 4.0 to commence in 2012. He and his  colleagues have, however, already set their sights on some of the benefits to be obtained by the ongoing engine overhaul:

“We will have fast and easy access to valid data. It will be easier for us to correct data if needed, and the revised product hierarchy will provide a set of much more logical numbers.”

Affecto’s combined insights in both business and IT proved valuable assets for Toms Gruppen.

“We are quite happy working with Affecto. The consultants very quickly had a good understanding of our business needs and challenges, and they based their report and advice to us on that understanding. They were not “just” IT specialists trying to sell us this or that system because of some wonderful new features,” says Anders Hagh.