Empowering KSS Energia Power BI Journey with Sulava's PBI Advisor Service

At KSS Energia, Power BI is primarily used for interactive and visual data reporting. At Sulava’s Power BI course, the idea of establishing a continuous, low-threshold support service for KSS Energia emerged. Every other month, KSS Energia receives sparring assistance and targeted consulting from Sulava’s consultants for current Power BI work. Through cooperation, the full potential of technology can be utilised in the best possible way.

KSS Energia Group is a nationwide and diversified energy company. KSS Energia’s goal is to sell, produce or contract purely the best energy and energy solutions. The company’s services include the sale of electricity, district heating and natural gas, as well as the sale, implementation and consulting of new energy solutions, such as solar power plants and electric vehicle charging solutions. KSS Energia and its subsidiaries employ nearly 250 people.

In connection with the Sulava Power BI course, KSS Energia’s reporting needs were discussed more extensively. The company’s data analysts are responsible for compiling reports according to the needs of the business units and needed additional support for sensible reporting. Based on the discussions, Power BI Advisor cooperation was started, the aim of which is to support and spar KSS Energia in Power BI work and share best practices for the effective use of the tool.

Power BI Advisor Service to support KSS Energia

Power BI Advisor-service was born to meet customer needs. Sulava has experienced experts in different areas for using the tool, preparing data and, for example, processing financial data. Since reporting needs vary widely depending on the size and domain of the company, the client company is always offered a service and expert tailored to its needs.

In cooperation with KSS Energia, an experienced Sulava consultant will help to improve the efficiency of Power BI. Sulava consultant also advise how to utilise the full potential of the technology in the best possible way. Every two months, KSS Energia has a one-day workshop with a Sulava, the aim of which is to consult on current topics, while developing the company’s data analysts’ own Power BI expertise. Prepare for the workshop in advance in a short meeting where current Power BI needs are discussed and the content of the coming day is planned with the needs in mind.

“The bi-monthly meetings have been adapted according to our needs. Sometimes there has been a long list of individual issues to go through, and other times we have wanted to focus on one larger whole. At times, we’ve needed expertise in specific areas, and that’s when we’ve been able to involve an expert from Sulava in the workshop,” says Aleksi Rautiainen, Data Analyst at KSS Energia, appreciating the flexible collaboration model.

During the past year, a total of five workshops focusing on KSS Energia’s Power BI needs have been held. The meetings have been sparred on the most sensible and effective way to use Power BI and how to avoid the most common pitfalls. Broader issues, such as security and data processing settings that affect everything we do in Power BI, have been discussed. In the meetings, KSS Energia’s data strategy has been planned and the connection between the strategy and reporting and the general data architecture has been discussed. The entities discussed in Power BI courses have also been discussed in more depth, and specific topics related to reporting, such as the concept of management team reporting, have been developed further. In one workshop, Sulava presented the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence and the use of AI tools in reporting.

“While training is good for understanding the big picture, the support service focuses specifically on the company’s environment. The meetings deal in much more detail with topics that are important for one’s own work,” Rautiainen says.

“An outside view is valuable, as Sulava’s consultant is able to challenge ingrained habits with their own expertise and advise on how to adopt better and more efficient methods to replace old ones.”

KSS Energia says that the meetings have found solutions to more complex Power BI problems that could not be solved internally. In addition, the meetings have provided ideas and suggestions for improving the design and logic of the reports, as well as tips for coding in Power BI DAX and M.

“We have learned a lot from each meeting and received practical advice on how to use Power BI, which has come a long way through collaboration. One of the biggest benefits of the collaboration has been understanding the big picture and learning how to do Power BI work at KSS Energia, starting from managing it to individual reports,” says Verneri Mäntymaa, Data Analyst at KSS Energia.

Power BI more widely used throughout KSS Energia’s organization

Power BI is in use throughout the KSS Energia company, but there are only a few active users of the system. The reports are largely processed by data analysts.

The plan is to implement the tool throughout the organization in the near future. Broader adoption requires a much deeper understanding of the role of Power BI and how to use it. Relevant data and its use must also be considered so that data can be prepared in time.

“The customer always has the best understanding of the business environment and the substance expertise needed to develop reporting. It is rewarding for a consultant to see how the team develops and how the know-how is implemented in the organization. In long-term cooperation, I can see how the issues discussed in the workshops have been genuinely taken into use and developed further. We will be happy if KSS Energia’s expertise becomes so strong in the future that we will no longer be needed,” says Sulava’s consultant Pentti Hämäläinen.

Author: Merja Turpeinen
Published: February 2024