In early 2022, with the backing of the prominent private equity firm Axcel, Init was founded to consolidate the best automation companies in the Nordics. By mid-2024, Init had expanded to over 800 employees across 37 locations, facing the complexities of integrating various routines, competencies, and a diverse system landscape, especially on the data side.
A man with a mission
Jesper Guldager Sørensen, a seasoned financial expert, joined Init Group as Senior Finance Business Partner in November 2023. Brimming with excitement, optimism, and a refreshing display of confidence Jesper knew he could make a difference.
His primary mission was to make systems and processes compliant, and to improve Init’s business decision-making using the available data.
Init began in 2022 with an ambition to unite the best industrial IT and automation companies in the Nordic region. Today, Init is a family of 17 companies spanning a diverse set of specialisms spanning HMI programming, production, digitalisation strategy, and IT/OT cyber security.
An unsustainable reality
However, Jesper’s enthusiasm was quickly tempered when he encountered a largely manual and risk-prone system.
Financial reporting required consolidating data in different formats from different companies, into something resembling a group report. A tedious and highly stressful task due to the tight deadlines.
And the existing on-premises, open-source solution, where the data was collected and organized, was proving both unstable and unsustainable. The challenge was compounded by disparate systems with incomplete documentation and heavy reliance on specific individuals for data extraction.
A call for innovation
Recognizing the need for substantial improvement, Jesper knew that a traditional consolidation system wouldn’t suffice. He envisioned a Data Warehouse capable of handling real-time data integration and providing comprehensive insights.
In December 2023, Init reached out to VENZO, who had previously helped with cloud migrations, and who had a reputation for solving complex problems quickly and reliably.
A strategic gamble
Mathias from VENZO was onboarded in December 2023 and immediately understood the urgency and the challenge. He also knew that a future-proof solution required cutting-edge tech. Because Init’s IT setup already took advantage of much of the Microsoft ecosystem, he proposed using Fabric, a new unified analytics platform that Microsoft had released only two months earlier.
On paper, Microsoft Fabric could integrate data engineering, data science, real-time analytics, and business intelligence into a single, scalable environment, enabling seamless collaboration and advanced insights across an organization.
Mathias got two weeks to prove that it could work.
"VENZO’s Microsoft Fabric solution has really made a difference in our daily operations. It's reliable and scalable, allowing us to focus on what we do best without worrying about data issues. Additionally, the decentralized possibilities have empowered our teams across different locations to take ownership of data and use it to make better informed decisions. It has both brought peace of mind to my team and given us an appetite for more."
Jesper Guldager Sørensen, Senior Finance Business Partner, Init Group
The race against time
With two weeks on the clock, Mathias worked tirelessly, checking in with the CTO daily. And to everyone’s surprise and relief, the POC was a success. In fact, the new platform demonstrated live data integration and robust reporting capabilities, surpassing all expectations.
Jesper and the Init team were convinced, giving Mathias the green light for a full-scale implementation.
Building the future
From January to mid-2024, the transformation accelerated. Building on the result and earned goodwill from the POC, VENZO doubled their presence to match the urgency required. Because Init continued to grow.
Designing an architecture that would scale for the future, Mathias and VENZO integrated 10 systems from 16 companies into a unified data platform.
Each day brought new hurdles, from local systems still running on Windows Server 2008 to documentation in Spanish only accessible through specific individuals, but gradually they were all overcome.
VENZO also trained a new BI specialist at Init to ensure the platform’s long-term sustainability, and within just 8 months, the new system, underpinned by Microsoft Fabric, was operational and handed over.
The solution provided unprecedented scalability and flexibility. It eliminated the burdensome manual data consolidation, significantly reduced errors, and enabled real-time financial transparency. It has also empowered teams across different Init locations to take ownership of their data and make better informed decisions.
Most importantly, there is no longer a limit to Init’s ability to grow and expand. At least when it comes to data and business intelligence, they’re unstoppable.
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