NNIT: Seeing is believing

NNIT modernizes planning process on time and within budget with Jedox software and Accobat consultancy.

"The process has been impressive. The project was delivered on time and budget and with significant higher user satisfaction than other internal IT projects."

-Carsten Krogsgaard Thomsen,

CFO at NNIT

"We downloaded Jedox ourselves, ran some integration tasks, uploaded our data, crunched the numbers and liked what we saw."

- Klaus Hosbond Skovrup,
VP at NNIT

Fast-growing, international IT consultancy

Effective planning and performance controls are essential for a dynamic company like NNIT that started out in Denmark. Today, it has more than 3,000 employees and a strong global reach – selling and sourcing from various locations in Asia, the United States, and Central Europe.

New steering model

As the business grows, the complexity of its original planning system has mushroomed as well. At its height, the Excel-based tool supported over 200 users and sourced data from 28 stored procedures in underlying databases. A change in the steering model for the division “IT Operations Services” at the start of 2017 sealed the system’s fate. The complex allocations needed to gain transparency in profitability were just not possible in Excel.

Simplifying and stabilizing planning

NNIT screened the market for suitable products based on a request for information and research from Gartner®. The main goals were to support the new steering model, build profitability cubes, and stabilize the planning environment. The company quickly focused its search on standalone products that were tailormade for planning and compatible with Microsoft. Jedox was among those on the short list.

More than a gut feeling

“Many competitors in this market are similar in terms of pricing, architecture, and front end, but most do not have – or even allow – trial versions,” confides Klaus Hosbond Skovrup, VP at NNIT. “We downloaded Jedox ourselves, ran some integration tasks, uploaded our data, crunched the numbers, and liked what we saw.”

Response time was another important criterion for the system, which was to be hosted in Europe but used heavily in Asia. Jedox passed various latency tests with flying colors. “The fact that we could play around with Jedox was decisive in my opinion,” he added. “None of the other providers offered that.”

Efficient, lean project team

A small and dedicated team from NNIT consisting of a subject matter expert and an IT business consultant, who was responsible for tasks such as integration, security, and ETL ensured efficiency and minimized waste during the tight build phase. The team worked together with Accobat consultants.

200 users in initial rollout, 100 more users added quickly

Today, NNIT uses Jedox for financial management, which encompasses rolling-16-month budgeting, FTE driver-based P&L planning and P/L profitability analysis on Customers and Divisions. The system gives 300 users worldwide a single point of entry for their financial planning. They can view their input in near real time and the aggregated results as the process evolves.

“The Jedox solution fits perfectly our need for financial transparency. It gives an overview and facilitates everyday financial management," states Ricco Larsen, SVP, IT Operations Services.

High user satisfaction

User feedback has been very positive. Performance issues, which were commonplace in the former planning tool, are now a thing of the past. Jedox has eliminated many different tabs and steps so users simply input their data in one place. Many of these inputs are now even driver-based so they can create capacity forecasts or build a cost budget just by adding their FTE’s.

Project delivery on time and within budget

The management team at NNIT is also satisfied with the new planning solution, which the Accobat consulting team delivered on a 3-month timeframe and on budget.

"The process has been impressive. The project was delivered on time and budget and with significant higher user satisfaction than other internal IT projects. In addition, we are pleased with the Jedox solution that has pushed us further - in the right direction," concludes CFO Carsten Krogsgaard Thomsen.

The company sees great opportunities for using Jedox outside of finance as well. Accobat and NNIT have already made plans for other business areas to be implemented in the Jedox solution.