leads with data far into the future

The energy sector is undergoing massive changes, and Kuopion Energia is responding to them. The company is developing tools and practices for data-driven management to enhance decision-making. This marks yet another leap in Kuopion Energia’s long-term digitalization journey, where business is developed systematically and in a modern way. Together with Sulava, the company is leveraging the opportunities brought by new tools.

Founded in 1906, Kuopion Energia is currently working hard to plan their future and determine how to respond to the biggest driver of change: combating climate change. The outbreak of the war in Ukraine accelerated this transformation, as it became necessary to quickly eliminate reliance on Russian fossil energy.

“The electricity market now needs to adapt, especially to the fact that in the future there will be more weather-dependent energy in use – wind power in particular is growing rapidly and, alongside nuclear power, is likely to become one of the most significant energy sources of the future,” comments CEO Esa Lindholm, and continues:

The lack of well-functioning storage solutions, combined with the electrification of industrial processes and transportation, creates an enormous challenge for the entire sector. Investments aiming for economies of scale typically have a very long time horizon, meaning that decisions made now must be committed to for up to 25 years.

At the heart of long-term business development is “betting on the right horse” – being able to make informed assessments of which energy sources and solutions are worth investing in now so that they will pay off in the long run. According to Lindholm, data-driven management and better utilization of data in business offer Kuopion Energia numerous opportunities, from planning investments to improving the efficiency of existing energy systems.

Kuopion Energia and us have traveled a long road together, collaborating extensively on initiatives such as the adoption of modern tools, development of the Azure environment and cybersecurity, and creating applications for warehouse management and site inspections. Kuopion Energia is also a customer of our Advisory services, which include identifying new opportunities and assessing how they align with the company’s strategy.

“Building a virtual data factory”

Chief Digital Officer Jami Miettinen explains that the need for data-driven management had been present in the company for a long time, and related keywords were frequently mentioned. Kuopion Energia has worked extensively with us on cloud solutions, and as data-related tools have become more accessible to companies of Kuopion Energia’s size, a more systematic approach to data-driven management was adopted.

“A few years ago, for example, data warehousing would have meant very large investments and major changes. With the cloud, this has changed significantly. We already had extensive collaboration with Sulava on our Azure environment, so it naturally evolved into this,” Miettinen says.

The company has used many data sources and systems to manage operational activities, which has led to fragmented information that could not be reliably utilized in business decision-making.

“In our digital solutions, data management takes the lead – information management, data warehousing, analytics, and processing in many forms are absolutely key,” Miettinen comments and continues:

Operations must be approached very systematically, meaning the entire chain must work seamlessly: data loading, storage, analytics, and integration. You could say we are building a virtual data factory that will be harnessed to support the company’s business strategy.

Data-driven management is closely tied to ensuring data quality and accuracy so that decisions are based on valid information. “It’s primarily about optimization – precision in data handling is essential, and that’s where we’re heading,” says Miettinen. “In addition to the technological side, the whole picture also includes the human perspective – skills. Changes in working methods are needed to operate effectively in this new world.”

In short, Kuopion Energia’s goals in developing data-driven management are to streamline reporting, consolidate information in one place (enabling the creation of new insights), utilize real-time data in production environments, and improve cost efficiency. By leading with data, the company can identify which new trends to follow and predict the direction in which the business will develop.

Responding to customer demands with data

In addition to supporting business and investment decisions, more systematic data management and solutions also enable meeting the ever-growing customer expectations and industry requirements. These solutions provide clear competitive advantages for the company and, for example, help society reduce energy waste.

“We can offer efficient solutions for consumers to monitor their own energy consumption and even for heat storage,” says Esa Lindholm, and continues:

Electricity production is becoming increasingly decentralized, and customers themselves may have solar panels and geothermal solutions in use. The concentration of solutions is constantly decreasing, and effective and functional digital environments are essential for managing and optimizing this. Cybersecurity must, of course, also be in place to avoid creating new risks.

New types of solutions requiring data management are also emerging, such as building heat regulation and, as sensor technologies advance, forecasting electricity consumption.

“All of these require error-free, timely information to be as widely available as possible. Developing reporting and distributing it efficiently, for example by using Power BI, is an important step toward broader data utilization,” says Miettinen.

In the future, Kuopion Energia plans to leverage more new IoT data sources for data-driven management and operational development. There are numerous aspects in the operating environment from which data can be collected via sensors to monitor conditions and predict related actions. Miettinen cites an example of measuring conditions such as humidity in district heating wells, enabling faults to be detected earlier and more efficiently. Previously, faults could only be detected by visiting the site in person.

Organization and leadership involved in the change

The success of business digitalization projects, such as Kuopion Energia’s data utilization and data-driven management development initiative, depends heavily on management support and the entire organization’s commitment to the change and its implementation. According to the CEO, Kuopion Energia’s engineer-based organization has been highly committed.

“In our company, leveraging new technology is written into the strategy’s must-win battles in bold letters. The purpose of technology is specifically to support the business, and its utilization is one of the most important things we must succeed in,” Lindholm notes and continues:

“From a competitive perspective, we cannot afford to opt out of this development. We have managed to unify architectures and practices well, meaning that business units are not trying to do things independently, but development is carried out rationally from the perspective of the entire organization. I’m very pleased with our company’s readiness for change!”

According to Chief Digital Officer Miettinen, the success of business digitalization is largely tied to changes in corporate culture and working methods.

“Management must be interested and provide opportunities for digitalization and changes in working practices. In many companies, IT environment development has been viewed through budgeting, as if the only goal is cost savings, making its sole purpose reducing expenses. In such a desert, no flower grows—it leads to stagnation. But when management understands the opportunities technology brings and provides the conditions for action, business can truly be developed in a modern way.”

“This needs to be viewed on at least a 5–10-year timeline. In my opinion, we are in a good position—there’s been no need to fight on any fronts, and we’ve been able to focus on genuinely important matters,” Miettinen says.

Broad capabilities and powerful tools with Azure

Kuopion Energia’s key tool for both infrastructure and data is Microsoft Azure, which, for example, brings cost efficiency to data processing compared to the on-premise model. Data is processed on a selected cycle, such as once a day, meaning resources are only needed at specific times, allowing costs to be scaled. In an on-premise model, capacity would constantly need to be available at maximum demand.

“Microsoft technologies have developed tremendously in recent years. The toolbox is comprehensive, and solutions can be found for all kinds of challenges,” Miettinen describes and continues:

“In addition to the growing palette of technologies, one of Azure’s key advantages is that extensive support is available both from Microsoft and its partners. And since the operating principles of the tools are similar across the board, you don’t have to learn new principles for service management every time you adopt a new service. This allows us to focus on what matters in development, while unnecessary tinkering is minimized.”

“By using a partner, we increase our own understanding and expertise where needed. For example, in using Azure technologies, we need a strong partner like Sulava to provide precise and deep expertise and help us get the most out of the technologies.”

Skilled and understanding partners

Kuopion Energia and Sulava have traveled a long road together, collaborating extensively on initiatives such as the adoption of modern office tools, development and management of the Azure environment, and improvements in cybersecurity. Through Azure application development and Power Platform, they have jointly implemented applications for warehouse management, easing the workload of the IT department, and site inspections.

Kuopion Energia is a customer of our Advisory services. Within this service, dedicated consultants work with the company to advance agreed initiatives and look far into the future to identify new opportunities and assess how they align with Kuopion Energia’s strategy.

“In the energy sector, regardless of customer base size, there are quite a few requirements for the systems and functions we need to have in place. It’s neither possible nor sensible to maintain a large in-house pool of experts. The smart move is to build strong, long-term partnerships with reliable and skilled partners. This means not just short, one-off implementations, but having a partner on the same front line, working alongside us,” Miettinen explains and continues:

This requires a certain approach from the partner. It can’t be faceless or assembly-line work with impossibly long ticketing chains. There must be designated contacts who genuinely take responsibility and understand the bigger context and overall picture. With Sulava, this has worked exactly that way.

“We work largely with the same people who know our needs. There’s no need to explain everything from A to Z or provide historical details every time—it’s efficient work and expert execution,” he praises.

Published in May 2023
Written by Juhani Lassila