With business constantly changing, the enterprise software landscape becomes spotted with “white spaces” that are filled by isolated Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
TEXT BY KARI KUISTI, IMAGE BY VIA RAMSTÉN
More and more companies are trying to rid themselves of Excel spreadsheets because of their vulnerability.
– Excel spreadsheets pose major issues for companies because they generate manual processes. Excel files are usually tied to one person, which causes additional headaches for digitalization, says Koivu Solutions Oy co-founder, Sami Lahti.
The company’s founders have been trying to kill off Excel for more than 20 years, unsuccessfully. Now, they’ve tackled it from a different angle by developing a tool that enables the universally used spreadsheet program to operate seamlessly in enterprise processes, automation and integration.
– The Koivu solution enables the user to continue using Excel, yet the company’s IT systems see a clear interface and structured data.
According to Lahti, the Koivu Value Flow Cloud solution enables Excel users to work just like they have in the past, yet the data they create gets stored on the cloud making data immediately available to all other systems. This makes the entire arsenal of cloud services available from computing power and analysis tools to machine learning.
Cloud opened the gates
Janne Salmi, also a co-founder of Koivu Solutions, says cloud services reduce costs and accelerate operations.
– Koivu’s solution makes Excel-based processes more transparent, faster and much more efficient. Deployment is easy because users can continue using the familiar Excel and, if they wish, also use Koivu’s mobile and web interfaces, Salmi emphasizes.
All Koivu Solutions founders have vast experience in developing and implementing enterprise software to support enterprise processes – they’ve been working the industry since the early 1990s.
Koivu also has experience in the United States where the company operates in addition to Finland.
– Straight out of the gate we positioned ourselves as a global company and today most of our projects are on American soil, Salmi says.
Customers in several industries
Koivu’s current client companies operate in the manufacturing, retail, and services industries. For example, a well-known American fashion brand uses the Koivu VFC solution to plan their sales campaigns. Their pricing analysts manage the creation of campaigns for 300 brand stores in the US and Canada. Salmi says the user experience has been great.
– Users love our solution. The Koivu application accelerated campaign planning by 80 percent while reducing pricing errors by 90%, Salmi sums up.
Alkuperäinen artikkeli suomeksi: Innovaatio-julkaisussa.
