APRIL – JUNE 2018
I’m so enthusiastic about
WHAT AI CAN
DO FOR US My goal is for people to get rid of their fear of AI
Thomas F. Anglero Director of Innovation at IBM Norway
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CONTENT 4
Digital Health Nordic 2018
44
A brave new municipality
6
Ian Khan: 3 Pillars of technological wisdom
45
Wireless IoT at Elgood
8
Solita is working to build the future IoT
46
Built-in innovation yields success
48
Sharing views on cyber security
10
We breath transform & development
50
Paying it forward
12
Getting it together
52
Intelligent automation from Attido
14
Smart and secure IoT connectivity with DNA
54
All passwords must die
16
Siemens creates value with the IoT
55
Value chains are the next big thing in IoT
18
The science of where
56
Hymy brings a smile to Kesko’s customers
19
IFS turns data into actions in the IoT
57
Pengon passes the Business Intelligence test
20
Futurice builds IoT with a human touch
58
Intelligent dental care
22
Manage your documents
24
Empty land fills?
59
Did you wash your hands? Clean office for a healthier workplace
25
Viria offers comprehensive security for the IoT
60
LähiTapiola sees a new era of risk management
26
More digital clout, more human centric healthcare
61
Welcome to Finland, PSD2!
28
Innokas Medical defines the future of medtech
62
Protacon makes digitalisation practical
30
Pagero keeps your business healthy
63
Improving the use of capital with common sense
32
Firstbeat – personalised insights on fitness, stress and recovery
64
More creative thinking is needed in Customer selection
65
The Future of us
33
Philips leads healthcare digitalisation
34
Peace of mind with Vivago
66
Servus – The best software for managing and improving organizations's daily security activities
35
VTT builds a good life for Finland
66
Propentus leads the way in identity management
36
Smart City 2017
67
An ancient area of business, a new way of doing it
37
Tiivi Connect – Innovative smart technology for home windows
68
Kairos – bringing people together
69
Knowledge holds the key to change
38
Real estate developing with heart and wits
70
Hi! I’m ready to help you
40
Aveso ensures data quality in IoT
71
The bigger the contract, the bigger the risk
41
PostNord Strålfors keeps the channels open
72
How to combine international growth, responsibility and fun? Camaleonte has the recipe
73
Character & Creativity
42 The importance of customer service in a regulated environment
APRIL – JUNE 2018
I’m so enthusiastic about
WHAT AI CAN
DO FOR US My goal is for people to get rid of their fear of AI
Thomas F. Anglero Director of Innovation at IBM Norway
On the Cover: Thomas F. Anglero Director of Innovation at IBM Norway Keynote Speaker at Digital Health Nordic 2018 Read the article on page 4
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Eemeli Wang ART DIRECTOR Hanna Knaapi CONTRIBUTORS Tim Bird, David J. Cord, Mia Heiskanen, Kati Keturi, Päivi Remes, Pauliina Toivanen, Juho Kuva MEDIA SALES Valtteri Rantalainen +358 40 561 7703 Editor Helsinki www.editorhelsinki.fi PRINTED BY N-Paino Oy, Lahti, Finland 2018 PUBLISHER BIG Business Insight Group Oy Kalevankatu 31 00100 Helsinki Finland www.bignordic.com
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 3
Digital Health Nordic 2018 Technology is revolutionising – and disrupting – how we manage our health and wellness.
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echnology is advancing modern medicine, healthcare and wellness. From AI and big data to virtual reality and robots, health technology is providing great opportunities for public officials and entrepreneurs, but it is far from a straightforward path. In the spring of 2018 about 600 business executives, healthcare professionals, academics, politicians and thought leaders attended the Digital Health Nordic 2018 event in Helsinki to plan the convergence between digitalisation and healthcare. It was moderated by journalist and television presenter Ella Kanninen. DON’T CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
Thomas F. Anglero, Director of Innovation at IBM Norway, led off the event. He spoke of the fusion of technology, culture and people, and his message went far and wide: even television news crews were on hand to interview him. “This event is great,” Anglero says. “There are very interesting people here from all over Europe. I’ve been to Finland three times to speak and I’m glad they keep inviting me back!” IBM plays a central role in the digitalisation of health thanks to their work with machine learning and AI. Anglero wants to help people really understand AI’s role, as well as what it can provide. IBM Watson can interpret genetic testing faster for cancer patients, help researchers identify new drugs and help government agencies deliver health care services more efficiently. “My goal is for people to get rid of their fear of AI,” he says. “Do you remember how excited you were when you first graduated college and the whole world was open to you? That’s the way I feel every day because 4 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
"My goal is for people to get rid of their fear of AI" - Thomas F. Anglero, Director of Innovation at IBM Norway
I’m so enthusiastic about what this can do for us. I want everyone to share my enthusiasm.” PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HEALTH SECTORS
Sitra, the independent Finnish “think- and do-tank” was also present at the event, as improving healthcare is one of their themes. Senior Adviser Hannu Hämäläinen was at the Digital Health Nordic event to network. “This is a good place to meet people,” he says. “I’m especially interested to meet people from the public and private sectors and see how they view their roles. We have
new legislation coming regarding the use of healthcare data, as well as a new system – IHAN – which allows people to manage their data. This requires cooperation between both sectors.” Jouni Toijala, CEO of Innokas Medical, and Henrik Ekman, Global Product Manager for GE Healthcare Finland, shared the stage to talk about changes in the medical device industry. “Everything happens in the medical field 3-5 years later than in other industries, thanks to regulations and a reliance on hardware,” Toijala says. “We’re here to talk to people how this is changing. I set
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up many pre-booked meetings before the event even started, so people are eager to talk.” “Yes, the networking is quite good,” Ekman says. “Listening to the presenters is also helpful, because they have been sharing a lot of useful information.” INNOVATIVE STARTUPS
No digital health event would be complete without innovative startups, and there were plenty of them present. Jari-Pekka Pyörälä of Weela was at the event to show off their smart mobile gym. “This was eight years in development, and now it is used by professional athletes like the Oulun Kärpät ice hockey team, physiotherapists and personal trainers,” he says. His goal for the conference is to find customers and distributors in the Nordic region. “We’ve set up some meetings, and a lot of people simply stop by and want to try it out,” Pyörälä says. Jaakko Hattula, CEO of PulseOn, came to the event to show off his company’s health wearables. They have solutions for consumers, such as their heart rate wrist band coupled with a training app, but they also have wearables for the professional market. “We’re targeting the professional wearables market for hospitals and general practitioners,” Hattula says. “We came here to meet potential investors and partners. We have had very positive feedback and have set up a number of meetings. This is a good event for networking and meeting new people.” www.digihealthnordic.com www.bignordic.com April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 5
Ian Khan:
3 pillars
of technological wisdom Futurist Ian Khan lists the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Technology as three game changers in the immediate and foreseeable future.
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an Khan’s fascination with technology dates back to his early school days when, aged five, he found himself face to face with a BBC Micro. “This was probably the first time a school had invested in technology in my city,” he recalls. “That first exposure to computers fascinated me. From there and over the next 40 years, I took a deep dive into technology and always kept learning through formal education, self-learning and exposing myself to new ideas and what was happening around the world.” These days his work is based on everything that he has learned since then and how he can impart that knowledge to others “so that they can create value in their lives and the lives of the people around them.” Technology has leapt so far forward to the extent that it affects the lives of just about everyone on the planet. “In the last 20 years things have rapidly expanded within different technologies to the extent that today all of us carry devices that are more powerful than the computers that landed the first person on the moon.” Khan describes his role as “to help audiences understand the impact of technology on their lives and businesses. As an advocate of change, value creation, and the possibilities for tomorrow, I look at technology broadly as well as specific technologies to help understand the impact on our future. There are a few technologies that I believe stand at the core off this technological revolution, often called the fourth industrial revolution.” The first of these, he says, is the Internet of Things (IoT), which represents a quantum leap in terms of being connected to the Internet. “With IoT, we can now gather a tremendous amount of information from these devices and use that informa6 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
tion to take an action. For example in a smart city or a connected city of tomorrow, technology will help us understand the flow of traffic and address road maintenance issues and proactively ensure that there is the least amount of disruption. If you extrapolate that to large cities such as Helsinki, Chicago, Singapore, New York, Toronto, and Dubai, the impact is much bigger.” Artificial Intelligence is another new technology at a very initial stage of development. “As AI goes from Artificial Narrow Intelligence to Artificial General Intelligence, we will see a lot of automation that eliminates inefficiencies in repeatable tasks performed by us today.” Thirdly, Khan identifies Blockchain technology as a core area for extensive change. “Blockchain essentially provides a way to create transactions so that trust is inherently built in to every transaction, he explains. “This means that people do not need to doubt the legitimacy of the transaction or whether a certain document is valid. This extends into industries such as logistics, transportation, banking, investments, real estate, and retail. FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Khan believes that these three technologies will form the three core pillars off the technological revolution powering tomorrow’s world. “And by tomorrow, I don’t mean 50 or 100 years from now, but the next two to five years and beyond.” IoT will be especially pivotal in an era where technology will dominate the world that we will inhabit, he says. “It means connecting devices to the Internet and doing something with them. This may include controlling these objects in various systems that help us analyze their usage, current state and oral condition. Think
about a Tesla Car or an App controlled door lock. These are both examples of IoT. It has a huge number of possibilities when it comes to creating value through technology across the board.” Khan believes that IoT will power our infrastructure, including our homes, buildings, offices and transportation industry including autonomous vehicles, essentially reshaping how we interact with the world around us. He points out that Barcelona is a prime example of how the IoT can create an efficient city that optimally serves its citizens. Khan’s CV covers a career that includes a host of roles, from speaker to Forbes and CNN contributor and from author to even moderator. How does he keep so many balls in the air at one time? “It’s definitely a handful,” he concurs. “I believe the only way to manage complexity at work or a busy schedule is to prioritize tasks. Setting aside time to do things specifically helps. You can block time for certain activities and ensure that you do not overlap with other tasks you need to do. Of course, it’s much easier said than done. Today when people work from home or travel and work it’s definitely a challenge to keep everything balanced.” He’s been excited about attending the NordicIoT week in Helsinki. “It’s a fantastic event for anyone who wants to learn how technology is reshaping business outcomes. Aspiring speakers in general need to really look into a few things before they dive into speaking as a career. Having said that no matter what your speaking position and capacity, you always and well most of the times become a speaker because you have something to share. As a speaker you have to keep your wits, and leave the audiences with more than they have asked for.” DAVID J. CORD
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 7
Aki Helin, Software Designer at Solita
Solita is working to BUILD THE FUTURE IOT Innovative technologies and new techniques are shaping how the IoT works today and what it will do in the future.
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e’ve been involved in the Internet of Things (IoT) before it had a name,” says Kimmo Kuusipalo, Digital and IoT solutions specialist at Solita. “We were equipping machines with sensors decades ago, back when we called it machine-to-machine communications. It’s not new in certain industries, but what is new is how many more possibilities we have today.” Solita is a digital business consulting and services company. Their 650 professionals specialise in everything from business intelligence to digital service development, from analytics to the cloud. 8 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN IOT
“One thing that is happening is that connectivity is so much better. It is easier to get data and send commands than ever before,” Kuusipalo continues. “Another major development is the ability we have to combine and enrich data from different sources, such as weather forecasts or even social media.” Kuusipalo says the third major trend, which follows the first two, is the rise in automation. “In the past we received data and used it for manual decision making,” he says. “We saw the data and our action was to pull the lever. Now technical and business decision making can be automated. If the weather
forecasts say it will be especially hot, we might know that ball bearings wear out twice as fast. A predictive maintenance system could order new ball bearings before they fail. Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a big role in this.” IOT BUILDING BLOCKS
Solita’s concept is that the IoT should be approached modularly. Each customer is different and has different needs, so their solution should be custom-built. “Our customers rely on our expertise to provide the correct software and hardware modules,” Kuusipalo says. “They might need a specific type of sensor, dashboard, business intelligence or data analytics.
We don’t want our customer to be locked in one system.
Kimmo Kuusipalo, Digital and IoT solutions specialist and Janne Siltari, Head of IoT at Solita
We work with them to clarify the business case and what modules they need.” Janne Siltari, Head of IoT at Solita, explains that the IoT is not a platform or product. It can renew or generate new business with data and tailored service design. Solita’s modular IoT service path is a unique solution. “We don’t want our customer to be locked in one system,” Siltari says. “We want them to have their own solution which is expandable in the future. Maybe they want to add new modules, like new data sources, or dig into old data with new analytics. We have open integration for future elements so you don’t have to rebuild every three years.” INTELLIGENT IOT
One of the most important developments in IoT is the new advances in AI, yet this might not be exactly what you think. “The term AI often conjures up thoughts of sentient robots,” says Aki Helin, Software Designer at Solita. “Current progress in AI does work towards general purpose intelligence, but the main goal in recent development is a specific, efficient kind of narrow intelligence.” Helin says that our own ability to write software has been holding back development, while application of AI techniques has been stymied by lack of suitable hardware. “We’ve gotten pretty good at building certain kinds of programs, but there are problems we have not been good at solving,” he says. “For example, we humans
can understand what we see and hear, but we haven’t been able to write the kind of fuzzy, complex code that seems to be required to do it.” FUTURE OF MACHINE LEARNING
The key to solving these complex problems is machine learning, Helin says, and it is growing fast. “Machine learning relies on raw power of computers to train specific kinds of programs,” he explains. “These programs are usually modelled after the way natural neural networks work. Their training requires lots of examples and usually some help from a human, but the heavy lifting is done by computers.”
Solita is investing heavily in AI development, even running a year-long training programme for developers. The goal is to develop top-class expertise so visions can be turned into functional, scalable and maintainable services. “Our new tools in AI seem to be extremely flexible and efficient at solving many kinds of problems,” Helin says. “We are surrounded by opportunities to use these new techniques to learn something new, understand something better, or automate something thought to be too complex. We are now working hard to wield them for the best results for our customers.” DAVID J. CORD www.solita.fi April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 9
We breath transform & development Wapice knowhow in digital services for industry has it´s roots in 20 years of expertise.
10 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
Mr. Pasi Tuominen, founder and CEO of Wapice Ltd., a private owned software company that offers digitalisation of full business line for industry companies.
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hen the CEO of Wapice Ltd., Mr. Pasi Tuominen, speaks about industrial innovation, digitalisation, IoT, automation end technology development, you can hear enthusiasm in his voice. ”Building new service platforms, and methods in general, that can help your industrial customers success, is so rewarding that you never get tired of it. At Wapice we have supported industrial companies since 1999 in their journey of digitalization. Our company name Wapice has been built of the WAP technology, so we have been in this business for a long time and we´ve been digitalizied customer´s systems since the year 2000.” Digitalisation enables new business models and possibilities rise continuously because, unlike ten years ago, technology is not a limitation factor anymore. ”That is why we are constantly developing tailored IoT solutions using number of different cloud platforms, and not only vendor clouds but Amazon, Microsoft Azure and IBM clouds, too”, Tuominen explains. USER FRIENDLY MEANS EASY TO USE
We tend to utilize in marketing, terms like user friendly, service design and agile softwear development. Most of the time it is totally justified to do so. However, it seems to be more believable if companies´ sails figures also show that their service platforms and software produts actually are easy to implement and to use – and with the help of these solutions the end users are considerably boosting their business. ”We have great figures to show. And why we have been able to gain such high numbers? Because we offer digitalisation of full business line”, Pasi Tuominen says. BEST AI SALESMAN FOR A GLOBAL COMPANY
Sales and marketing can be supported by Summium®, which is a browser-based visual tendering and ordering tool for configuring, pricing and quoting (CPQ) mass-customized products, services and entire projects. ”Summium® utilizes AI in different languages, helping an average guy to sell and deliver exactly right products with the best possible gross profit.
Wapice employs over 340 software and electronics experts at 10 offices in Finland.
With the help of Summium, companies like ABB and Danfoss, sell products valued over two miljard euros every year.” IoT-TICKET® is a complete Internet of Things (IoT) tool suite and platform. Boundary of using different clouds can be decreased significantly when using IoT-Ticket. ”It is really easy to implement and use. Within one hour you are ready to go”, Tuominen promises. CONSULTING IN FULL SCALE
Agile DevOps and service design are part of Wapices services. ”We consult service design companies create innovative digital produts and services. But first of all, we help our customers in all their digital business solutions”. R & D is also in the core business. ”We invest 1,5 million euros, that is seven procent of our turn over, every year in order to develope our own competence.” Today most of Wapice´s customers rank in the TOP 200 list of Finnish industrial manufacturing companies. ”We do a great amount of development work also together with our customers. Our passion is to utilize the newest technologies available and create best solutions based on customer’s, that is our partners, individual needs”, Pasi Tuominen elaborates. PÄIVI REMES www.wapice.com April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 11
Getting it together Dell Boomi’s cloud-based integration gets all the different IoT systems to work together quickly and easily.
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f you ask an engineer whether she would prefer to work on a system integration project or herd feral cats, she might have to consider. Yet now Dell EMC’s cloud-based integration platform as a service makes integrations much easier and faster. “Integrating different systems in the IoT can seem daunting,” says Dell EMC’s Tommi Valjakka, Sales Director for Finland Commercial Sales. “You have the different sensors, security systems, ERP software, analysis tools, applications, data centre solutions – a massive portfolio of tech which you have to make work together. Boomi is our integration engine which can get it done better than ever before.” TRANSFORMATIVE IOT
Dell Technologies, a group of companies that Dell EMC is part of, is putting great emphasis on helping their clients in the IoT, even creating a new IoT division in the autumn of 2017. Boomi is Dell EMC’s integration Platform-as-a-Service which aligns with the evolution of the IoT. Petri Ahveninen, Dell Boomi’s Channel Lead for the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East, says this is because the IoT is no longer just a tool. “Companies are using the IoT to create new business models,” Ahveninen explains. “Boomi provides a single platform as an integration hub for all data used to run a business, including IoT and business data.” “The IoT is transformative; it can change the fundamentals of our daily lives,” says Valjakka. “Sensors are so cheap you can use them anywhere, but how do you create 12 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
value from their data? This is how we can help.” MAKING DATA RELEVANT AND USEFUL
When used properly, the IoT has clear business value: it can raise operational efficiency, improve the customer experience, increase safety and boost revenue. But to gain the benefits you need the right partners. “There is often a disconnect between IT and sales. What is this data, how is it relevant, and how do we use it?” says Ahveninen. One example they cite is the Dutch startup Digital Angel. By working with Dell Boomi and Nalta Group, Digital Angel is creating a revolutionary open IoT platform for connecting and managing data from any smart healthcare device. They needed to connect disparate and continually expanding IoT device data, applications and relational databases on a massive scale. “By combining sensors, data, connections, computing power, storage and analytics you can create real business value,” explains Valjakka. “We view ourselves as an enabler in this transformation.” BENEFITS OF BOOMI INTEGRATION
Dell Boomi for IoT can help with application integration, API management, workflow automation and edge integration. “With Boomi the benefits you get are in time and money,” Valjakka continues. “You can integrate faster, shorten your time to market and improve your lifecycle because you get new features and functionality automatically. You can increase
revenue and save costs. Currently we see that even up to 70 per cent of an IT project budget is spent on integrations – with Boomi easy-to-use tooling this can be reduced big time. But most importantly you can unleash innovation.” The action camera maker GoPro came to Dell Boomi for help when their popularity suddenly surged. Huge retailers demanded specific electronic communication requirements and the company feared they couldn’t meet deadlines. They chose Boomi as their integration solution, and today credit this decision as one key to achieving their market-leading status. GLOBAL TECH PORTFOLIO + LOCAL EXPERTISE
“I think one of Dell EMC’s unique strengths is that we combine a massive global tech portfolio with local knowledge,” says Valjakka. “We are right here next to our local customers, but we can leverage all our global expertise and solutions. The end result is fantastic service.” The goal of Dell EMC’s efforts is to improve business value for their clients, helping them to avoid losses, increase productivity, improve competitiveness and create new, innovative revenue streams. “Dell Boomi offers a build once philosophy, that you can run anywhere, with one-click deployment and zero-effort upgrades,” says Ahveninen. “It gives easy and fast integration and a complete 360-degree view of the customer’s business. We’re ready to help you succeed.” DAVID J. CORD www.dell.com www.boomi.com
JUHO KUVA
Dell EMC’s Tommi Valjakka, Sales Director for Finland Commercial Sales and Petri Ahveninen, Dell Boomi’s Channel Lead for the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 13
Markus Puukki, Director, Wholesale at DNA
Smart and secure IoT connectivity with DNA
If you want an outstanding Internet of Things solution you need state-of-the-art network.
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NA has got a solid history of being a strong machine-to-machine connection provider in the Finnish IoT market,” says Markus Puukki, Director, Wholesale at DNA. “We see that IoT evolves along with mobile network capabilities. Thus, it is clear we have got a role to play as a first-class provider for smart and secure connectivity for IoT solutions.” Founded in 2000, DNA is the youngest network operator in Finland. It has got modern network capabilities that give excellent coverage for IoT use cases. “The IoT market is developing through a wide range of solutions such as industrial IoT, smart cities, retail, connected cars, healthcare, transportation and logistics,” Puukki continues. “Our focus is to be part of the main IoT platforms and ecosystems.”
14 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
In 2018, DNA will introduce a new IoT-specific global scale service, by partnering with IoT Connectivity Management Platform from Cisco Jasper. This platform and a group of DNA’s highly competent IoT professionals will provide major benefits to manage connectivity, costs and security of IoT solutions all over the world. It also supports ecosystems thinking by providing users with full independence to choose their preferred IoT partners. THREE MAJOR IOT TRENDS
In many ways, the Internet of Things is already well on its way. However, DNA sees platform economy, digitalization and new mobile network radio standards as key trends. As an IoT forerunner DNA is already well positioned to meet the requirements of these trends and able to support the ramp up of the new era of IoT business development.
IoT solutions rely more and more on global and scalable ecosystems and platforms. “The utilisation of these more integrated ecosystems and platforms will showcase the Finnish market and industries on a global scale,” says Puukki. “DNA’s smart and secure connectivity is capable of supporting this development.” A second major development is how IoT integrates in the evolving digitalised business environment. “IoT is part of the digitalisation process. Companies can undergo digitalisation and develop IoT solutions hand-in-hand,” explains Puukki. “DNA’s smart connectivity opens great opportunities for digitalisation and IoT.” The new mobile radio network standards such as NB-IoT and LTE-M are already here and provide narrow band technologies that focus on indoor cover-
DNA’s smart connectivity opens great opportunities for digitalisation and IoT.
age, low cost, long battery life and a large number of connected devices. More diverse sensors in challenging locations can be connected to the network and operated cost efficiently. “These new standards support more efficient IoT connectivity, complemented with our comprehensive mobile networks, frequency portfolio and the connectivity interoperability with our international platform partners,” Puukki says. BENEFITS OF SMART CONNECTIVITY
DNA has already optimized its network for IoT, but it continues to push for improvement. “Now, we are leveraging our position by going further towards smarter IoT connectivity, full integration and interoperability with IoT platforms and ecosystems,” says Puukki. “It remains to be seen whether the market develops via machine-to-machine connections or IoT solutions.” Puukki stresses that DNA provides scalable, dynamic, flexible, secure and global management of IoT connectivity. The operator considers itself “global ready” and it works to provide global IoT solutions in Finland. Moreover, DNA can offer its deep expertise and experience for the customers. “When companies are developing cutting edge solutions, we support them with smart connectivity that allows maximum freedom. We also support new IoT business development, and welcome all new IoT businesses and ideas to the Finnish market, regardless of their verticals.” THE BEST IS YET TO COME
Already in 2017, DNA’s 4G network was used for an IoT experiment utilising the new NB-IoT standard. The purpose was to measure indoor radio conditions in a retail store.
The pilot project was a success and serves as a hint of things to come. DNA’s NB-IoT readiness now covers about 85 per cent of Finland’s population. “We are very excited about scalability, integration possibilities, and our capability to provide connectivity in a secure fashion to global customers,” Puukki says. “Together with IoT Connectivity Management Platform from Cisco Jasper, we will have an outstanding way to connect IoT to platforms and ecosystems.” DAVID J. CORD www.dna.fi April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 15
Siemens creates value
with the IoT Siemens helps customers make that digital leap: realising greater efficiencies by merging the real and virtual worlds.
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eemu Pajala is the Head of Cloud Application Solutions in the Nordic and Baltic countries for Siemens. In his role he is able to participate in the great changes happening in our economy and society. “Digitalization changes everything,” he says. “The business focus is changing more into selling value and outcome instead of technologies or products. This leads to new types of business models and is done more and more in ecosystems and networks of partners.”
Siemens is a global powerhouse focusing on electrification, automation and digitalization. As one of the world’s largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of systems for power generation and transmission, infrastructure and industry solutions, as well as medical diagnosis. This new era seems to be tailor-made for them. “Digitalization adds a new dimension: the virtual world with all its advantages in terms of diagnostics, simulation and optimisation,” Pajala points out.
“Every machine and system in your business holds a wealth of data,” says Pajala. “MindSphere is the operating system that lets you understand it. It lets you connect your machines and physical infrastructure to the virtual world and provides powerful industrial apps and digital services that can unleash more productivity and efficiency across your entire business. MindSphere lets you reduce downtime, increase output and use assets more effectively. And it’s a completely open platform that lets you develop and run apps like never before.”
UNCOVERING TRANSFORMATIONAL INSIGHTS
MindSphere is a great example of how Siemens is helping their clients in the digitalization era. It is a cloud-based, open IoT operating system and each Siemens business has their own MindSphere Application Center. “MindSphere lets you connect your machines and physical infrastructure to the virtual world,” Pajala continues. “It lets you harness big data from billions of intelligent devices, enabling you to uncover transformational insights across your entire business.” One key to uncovering these insights is increasing transparency, as well as focusing on ecosystems and networks of partners. 16 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
Teemu Pajala, Head of Cloud Application Solutions in the Nordic and Baltic countries for Siemens
BRINGING THE BENEFITS OF DIGITALIZATION
The MindSphere solution meshes perfectly with the Digital Enterprise Suite, Siemens’ answer to Industry 4.0. It is a perfect digital copy of the value chain, with simulation, testing and optimisation in a completely virtual environment, allowing for increased flexibility, quality and efficiency. “The Digital Enterprise Suite enables manufacturing companies to streamline and digitalize their entire business process,” Pajala explains. “They can begin at any point of their value chain, from product design to service, and can extend digitalization gradually, depending upon their needs. MindSphere allows you to analyse production assets and products as they perform, and feed back the insights into the entire value chain for continuous optimization.” With Siemens’ help, customers reduce time to market, enhance flexibility, increase quality, improve efficiency and boost security. Some of the concrete benefits they provide are evident with Railigent, the smart solution from Siemens’ Mobility Services for railways. “With Railigent, rail transport is made more cost effective, punctual, reliable and safe thanks to monitoring,” says Pajala. “You can get realistic cost savings up to 10 per cent. Out of 2,300 trains we had only 1 late one. We also have proven availability over 99 per cent.” END GOAL: CREATING VALUE
“Value creation is based on Siemens’ and our network’s expertise, technologies and solutions, including digital solutions and service business,” says Pajala. “A prerequisite for success is genuine relationships with customers where both stakeholders benefit from reaching mutual goals.” “The most important thing for us at Siemens is to create business value for customers,” Pajala concludes. “We have the ability to help our customer to be more successful by using greater insights about the wealth of data. Together we can find new business ideas, models and correlations which we might not have even known had existed in the past.” DAVID J. CORD
www.siemens.fi/asiakaspalvelu April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 17
The Science of
WHERE If you want to get somewhere, you first need to know where you are.
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sri has been helping organisations understand where they are and where they are going since 1969. Esri provides geographic information systems (GIS), which lets us visualise, question, analyse and interpret data to understand relationships, patterns and trends. They can help retailers find the best locations, governments plan smart cities, manufacturers manage supply chains and utilities keep the power on. They provide great value to IoT applications: data collected by connected devices need context, which can be provided by geolocation data and analysis.
“We work with several industries,” says Ilkka Suojanen, Esri Finland’s chief technology officer. “A typical customer is a large or mid-sized organisation which has a lot of assets that need to be managed, runs mission critical operations and needs real time, or near-real time, awareness combined with analytics for their decision making.” GREATER EFFICIENCY WITH ARCGIS
Esri’s key solutions is ArcGIS, an open platform which supports all types of GIS applications. It allows for more collaboration and networking among users, as well as spatial analytics, 3D and real time as core capabilities. It can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud and as Saas. “ArcGIS is the go-to technology for making better decisions about locations,” Suojanen continues. “Common examples include real estate site selection, route optimisation, evacuation planning, conservation, natural resource management and asset management. Making correct decisions about location is critical.” Organisations use ArcGIS is to achieve greater efficiency. It is widely used to optimise maintenance schedules and daily fleet movements, for example, which can save 10-30 per cent in operational
Ilkka Suojanen, Esri Finland’s Chief Technology Officer
18 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
expenses through a reduction in fuel and manpower, improved customer service and more efficient scheduling. Another core benefit is improved communication. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. “Maps and visualisations assist in understanding situations and storytelling,” Suojanen explains. “They are a type of language that improves communications between different teams, departments and disciplines. GIS is becoming essential to what is happening and what will happen in geographic space. Once we understand, we can prescribe action. This new approach is critical to the success of an organisation.” Suojanen urges customers to set high expectations for their GIS systems. They should be easy to use, uniform across the organisation, available to all users within their organisation and support all types of use patterns and scenarios. “I’m excited to see that organisations are getting ready to use spatial analytics and are willing to integrate that capability to their real time awareness views and dashboards,” he says. “This will allow them to gain new insights into their business. DAVID J. CORD
www.esri.fi
IFS TURNS DATA
into actions in the IoT The IoT is giving us a wealth of new data, but that information is worthless if you can’t take action upon it.
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ur approach is different from what you typically see in the industry,” says Hannu Hynninen, Consulting Manager for IFS Finland. “Our clients can take real action in their business systems based upon the information they receive from their IoT applications.” IFS develops and delivers enterprise software for customers around the world who manufacture and distribute goods, maintain assets, and maintain service-focused operations. Their team of 3,500 employees supports more than one million users worldwide from a network of local offices and a growing ecosystem of partners. “The basic idea of our approach is to make the IoT concrete,” Hynninen continues. “It isn’t just gathering and analysing data, but it is using that data to make business decisions and transactions through ERP systems.” NEW SERVICES AND MODELS
One example is IFS’ client Songa Offshore, a midwater drilling contractor. They use an integrated ERP foundation, IFS Applications and IoT Business Connector, to achieve high-performance condition-based and predictive maintenance. IFS Applications is a single, integrated application suite, while IoT Business Connector brings operational data together from Big Data analysing tools like Azure IoT hub, and then provides relevant business insights that can be acted upon. The end results can be increased revenue, improved efficiency, expanded operations,
better customer satisfaction and even entirely new services. “You can use an integrated ERP foundation as a springboard for digital innovation,” says Jari Knuutila, Sales Manager for IFS Finland. “Our clients come up with new services or even entirely new business models. By using the cloud and analysing data you can discover new connections which you never considered before, and this opens up entirely new possibilities.”
The basic idea of our approach is to make the IoT concrete.
END-TO-END SOLUTIONS
IFS Finland’s business has been growing quickly for the past couple of years. They serve a range of industries, but they see particular demand from service providers, the energy sector and manufacturing. “You always hear about ‘new digital possibilities’, but this is concrete and available today,” Knuutila says. “We have practical experience making this happen, and our customers are using these solutions right now.” IFS works with local and global industry partners as well as Microsoft to deliver a complete end-to-end IoT solution. With their partners they can connect sensors, collect and analyse data, and provide actions on that data in one system. “You don’t have to start with something complex,” Knuutila says. “You can start with one simple project that has a huge payback so you earn your investment back quickly. Next you ask yourself: how can I expand this to benefit more?”
Hannu Hynninen, Consulting Manager for IFS Finland
DAVID J. CORD
www.ifsworld.com
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 19
Futurice builds IoT with a human touch Sensors and data can be cool, but what good do they do for Dick and Jane?
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he name “Internet of Things” can be problematic. It implies connected things, but the name gives no hint of what good a connected thing can do for people. Futurice takes a different approach. “Our methodology, the Lean Service Creation, is all about the end users,” says Lauri Anttila, Business Development Manager at Futurice. “For each IoT solution there’s always a person who will interact with the data, the physical products or a service built on top of these two. Our focus is to provide value for them.” Futurice is a digital agency which focuses on digital service ecosystems, disruptions and culture. They give advice, build software and co-create with customers. Futurice seeks to understand people’s behaviour in order to redefine the way humans and technology interact – the perfect match to build the IoT with a human touch. UNDERSTAND THE USER
A FEW TIPS FROM FUTURICE FOR WORKING ON AN IOT SOLUTION
• • • •
Never assume you know what the end user wants. Make prototypes and validate them with end users early. Find the devices and services suitable for your needs. If necessary, build your own. Keep the whole organisation in the loop. Nothing comes out of silos.
futurice.com leanservicecreation.com iotservicekit.com 20 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
“Often we are asked for an IoT solution as a way to solve some problem our clients have, such as improving workflows and making better decisions,” Anttila continues. “There’s an urban legend going around that adding sensors to things will make everything better, because more data means better results. This might result in various ‘dashboards’ that show this data to end users. But end users are rarely interested in the data itself but what that means and what kind of actions different numbers trigger.” He points out that in many cases the actual problem is not lack of data, but something else. Futurice’s approach is to talk to the users and help determine the actual problem.
the human end user, but also all the humans in the organisation. “We coach our clients to break down organisational silos and keep the users in the loop,” Anttila explains. “Developing things in isolated departments result in complete failures or achieve only a fraction of their potential. Having a holistic view is essential when creating something.” Futurice has developed tools to get everyone in a client’s organisation involved in designing new services, such as the IoT Service Kit. They also bring something very human to the table: their philosophy. “Our company values – trust, transparency, care and continuous improvement – are building blocks which we try to use,” says Anttila. DAVID J. CORD
“Intelligent devices can help, but are hardly ever the silver bullet to solve the end users’ problem. We need to understand them in order to help them,” says Anttila. “Sometimes the solution might not be to add more intelligence to existing products, but to work with the things we already have available.” NEW VALUE, NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Anttila sees small-scale IoT experimentation happening everywhere. Some companies seem to forging ahead, while others are still trying to understand the benefits. “For many companies, building an actual business case around connected devices is still hard,” he explains. “IoT is still a buzzword. Usually this means gathering data from everything without any clear plan on what to do with it, or just adding connectivity to things, not because it actually adds real value to the end user.” Yet if done properly the IoT can add real value to end users. Anttila is excited about horizontal solutions which connect different manufacturers and industries together to create new and innovative business opportunities. “What many people don’t realise is that they have quite smart devices already hidden in their basements, measuring their energy consumption,” Anttila says. “The next generation of these smart meters enable new kinds of services related to things such as home automation and virtual power plants.” SMASHING SILOS AND BUILDING TRUST
Futurice works hard with their clients to put the human in the IoT. This involves April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 21
Manage your documents Businesses run on documents – both physical and digital – so managing them properly is essential.
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e believe we are the only company who has a holistic approach to documents and the print environment,” says Lasse Talikka, Director, Managed Print Services for OIF. “We help to manage the whole lifecycle of a document, and we can prove it to our customers.” Founded in 2005, Office Innovation Finland (OIF) is a specialist in document processes and the print environment. They help with hardware, software and 22 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
services, making sure their clients’ documents are safely and efficiently managed for a positive impact on their bottom line. DESIGN PRINT ENVIRONMENT
Many organisations have a print environment which has grown organically, with individual decisions made to fit whatever need they had at the time. This could be anything from needing a new printer for a department to limiting hard copies for sustainability reasons. Yet the problem with this is they are left with an ineffective environment.
“We help to design a more efficient way of doing things,” Talikka says. “We help our clients analyse their print environment and design a better way which includes their workflows, document processes and security. Our team helps to implement and manage their plan for a better print environment.” As a Xerox Premier Partner OIF has access to the best solutions available anywhere in the world. “We can offer state-of-the-art Xerox tools to our customers,” Talikka continues. “As a Xerox Innovation Partner we
are also creating new tools and processes to help our clients improve their businesses.” DIGITALISATION OF PAPER ARCHIVES
Few companies are 100 per cent digital, but even if they are they probably have paper archives. OIF can digitise these archives to save time and money. “So many businesses have huge paper archives which take up space and cost money with rent,” Talikka says. “Paper archives are time-consuming to search, and they are also risky: a fire or flood could destroy all your important records.” OIF can digitise paper archives, as well as develop a system to digitally store all future documents. This way a company’s records are more secure, available at the click of a button, and the only space they take up is cyberspace.
OIF assists their customers in keeping their document secure through a variety of measures, such as device settings, how it is used, memory, logs, software and firmware. They stress that a company’s print environment needs to be part of their security policy. “We can help any organisation in the public or private sphere which uses documents,” says Talikka. “Our goal is make sure our clients improve efficiency, security, compliance and control while achieving a cost savings.” DAVID J. CORD www.officeinnovations.fi
Lasse Talikka, Director, Managed Print Services for OIF
SCANNING INTEGRATION
The multifunction printer – which print, copy, scan, fax and email – is a marvellous device, but it is even more marvellous when it is fully integrated into a company’s systems. “OIF integrates these devices into our customers’ existing systems or cloud services,” says Talikka. “They need information on multiple systems, like ERP and CRM systems.” The solutions offered by OIF allow you to scan a file so that it goes to several destinations, and can even convert the information into new formats. “There are many opportunities to automate processes and workflows so a business runs more efficiently,” Talikka explains. “You can capture information from virtually any source, process and automate it, and deliver it to virtually any system.” DOCUMENT SECURITY
Businesses run on physical and digital documents, so keeping those documents secure is paramount. “Every company has a policy to keep their computers up-to-date with the latest security patches,” Talikka says. “But a multifunction printer is also a computer! The only difference is that your printer has documents going through it so it is the crossroads between the digital and analogue worlds. It is extremely important to keep these devices secure, but they are often overlooked when companies develop their policies.” April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 23
Empty land fills? Taking the world one step closer to a zero waste future is driving the innovation efforts at Walki.
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ake a minute to think about your everyday life. Chances are that you will come across Walki’s membranes and flexible packaging materials as you go about your daily business. For instance, thanks to Walki’s Active membrane, your house stays warm without running the risk of trapping mould-causing moisture in between the isolation layers. Environmentally-friendly flexible packaging material makes sure that your food stays fresh while minimising the harm to the environment. “The fact that our solutions are present in so many people’s lives is a position of trust we want to take seriously,” says Leif Frilund, Walki’s CEO. “By making sustainable choices in our innovation process, we can really make a difference.”
That is a bold statement, but one Frilund feels confident to make. Walki has a long history of making products and solutions that can help tackle future challenges. “We work hard on translating our customers’ needs into physical values like strength requirements, barrier properties, sealing behavior and other materials needs like antistatic, low friction and gloss properties. The possibilities are endless: hundreds of different compositions can be created depending on the customer’s wishes.” Walki has its own testing facility in Pietarsaari. In this Technical Competence Center, the company is able to efficiently run tests and make experiments to tailor the optimal solution for any customer. When a new product is developed, several different tests are run and analyzed in-house. More than 3,000 tests samples were run last year alone.
MATERIALS WE LEAVE BEHIND EVERY DAY
24 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
“Thanks to our testing facility, we can make as many test samples as necessary without halting normal production,” says Frilund. “This gives us flexibility to experiment until we find the optimal solution.” Helping customers find their place in the circular economy and making materials that are 100 percent recyclable and renewable is key in making daily life more sustainable for our planet.
Walki in a nutshell: We are a leading producer of sustainable packaging solutions. Our mission is to contribute to the global resource efficiency efforts by developing energy and material efficient solutions to our customers. Over 60 % of Walki’s products are currently mad out of plant based renewables. The plan is to reach 100 % by year 2030.
THINK ABOUT ALL THE PACKAGING
“Today, about 60 percent of our packaging solutions are both bio-based and recyclable. But we believe in a future where that figure can be 100 percent.”
Just think about the espressos you consume on a daily basis. “Millions of espresso pods are sold daily. In the near future, we can make a pod that is 100 percent bio-based.”
Leif Frilund, Walki’s CEO
www.walki.com
VIRIA OFFERS
comprehensive security for the IoT The Internet of Things exists in both the physical and digital worlds, and both need to be protected.
Mika Vihervuori, CEO of Viria
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ny company involved in the IoT is concerned about security, but typically they approach the matter as two issues: physical security and cyber security. Separating the two can be inefficient or even dangerous. “We believe security is one concept, both physical and cyber,” explains Mika Vihervuori, CEO of Viria. “We are the only service provider in the market capable of delivering solutions that manage security as a single concept. We are able to combine the two worlds together.” Viria has 135-year-old roots in the telecom business, and today concentrate on security technology. Safely collecting, forwarding, utilising and even refining information is their expertise. ONE SECURITY
“Often a threat or attack happens in both the digital and physical worlds,” Vihervuori continues. “For example, information leaks often occur through a physical breach. Social hacking is also common.
We provide complete security for the IoT for our customers.” By approaching security as one concept, Viria is able to give their clients a comprehensive security package. This could involve access control, alarm systems, door automation and secure connectivity. “A company manager can easily see threats in one view,” Vihervuori says. “You can combine information from both physical and digital systems and see threat anomalies. If these were separate systems some threat patterns might go undetected.” Viria has taken their concept to a variety of customers, ranging from retail stores to hospitals, from financial firms to homes for the elderly. INTELLIGENT ANALYTICS
Viria is unique in that they also add value to security systems through analytics. Through Aureolis, their business intelligence company, they are able to combine intelligence and security. “In the future security systems will provide even more information for busi-
ness purposes,” says Vihervuori. “For example, a security camera in a retail store could provide details on how people flow through the store, and even automatically categorise shoppers so you know their demographics.”
Security is one concept, both physical and cyber. The company has been growing rapidly and has a strong financial base, allowing them to develop new services and to expand operations. “When you look at our idea you wonder ‘why in the world hasn’t this been done earlier?’” Vihervuori laughs. “Our clients have really bought into our concept of one security enhanced with analytics. The response has been very positive and I’m excited about our future.” DAVID J. CORD www.viria.fi April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 25
More digital clout, more human centric healthcare
Glen Koskela, CTO and Head of New Business Development at Fujitsu Nordic, explains how digitalisation can bring about healthcare with humans at the centre.
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ealthcare is at an extremely exciting point today. Digital innovations have moved our imagination and minds beyond practical issues and problem solving focusing merely on efficiencies. They have raised our expectations towards literally every aspect of care provisioning. Digital is not the sole agent of real change. In order to fulfil the potential digital promises, we need to concentrate more on what factors – throughout care processes, policies, providers, and data available for them – can be enabled by digital to drive a better life for all of us. Digital enables transformation, but keeping our focus at those it impacts – us, as human beings – and the benefits we get is critical. OUR DIGITAL HEALTHCARE JOURNEY
All Nordic countries have comprehensive public responsibility for basic healthcare. Attention has been given to backend processes with nearly universal usage of nation-wide health record systems – which undoubtedly have offered medical personnel plenty of advantages. It has also made healthcare processes IT-heavy as doctors’ care efforts go to processes, records, systems and archives. We treat quality of processes, not quality of life. Today the relationship between a patient and a doctor is at the core. Yet it is reactive to patient demand [read: you are already ill] and the system is not structured to facilitate lasting one-on-one relationships. Knowledge of us is no longer held by a single doctor and no single provider has total responsibility for our wellbeing. We are witnessing a breakdown of patterns that have so far 26 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
defined the boundaries of our healthcare systems. We need to become more involved in our own care. We need to understand what our options are. Our journey already is largely a digital one, inside and outside clinic walls. We can get far more health information on ourselves than what can be gathered by a doctor during a 15-minute visit. Where we want to be is a near future where technology helps in understanding our condition. We want the data from us to lead to better care outcomes. We need affirmation that we receive a person-centred treatment. DIGITAL SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE
We need better predictions about our health. We deserve to be provided with evidence on how our life choices impact us on an everyday basis. We can reach out and prompt patients to get services that the system infers that they might need. We want to remain independent. This knowledge can be captured by putting the fabric of our digital lives in the healthcare loop. In other words: get us involved. Always-on resources like fitness
wearables, personal connected health devices, smartphones and their apps, and ubiquitous IoT devices can collectively contribute to more intelligent diagnosis and follow-up. The options are virtually endless, but crucial to our success is to bring all this information together in a useful manner. Knowledge could further come from better understanding of DNA and genealogy, medicine, data on geographical differences, age, sex, habits, lifestyle and so on, to digitally render the reality to address the areas of uncertainty in clinical decisions. New insights gained by analytics will prove invaluable to medical personnel, spanning all the way from the diagnosis stage to treatment and aftercare. DIGITAL REIMAGINATION
Digital offers a huge enabling and transformative power. Shareable digital content enables us to improve our outcomes. We can achieve great results through digitalising the actual care process. This is perhaps the most powerful practical application and can take the form of digital care practices – enabling governments to
improve care efficiency, free up limited resources, and improve both agility and speed. We can improve the treatment phase, using data insights and digital tools to drastically improve our knowledge of what happens after the diagnosis and how treatment is working. That is, has the patient been healed and how has the process leading up to and following treatment impacted the patient’s life quality. Digital presents a rare opportunity to reimagine what is possible. The more we commit to digital health clout, the more likely we are to see its benefits. We desire providers that create new ways to deliver care to us, and we desire providers that use analytics to offer better preventive care. With this comes a new level of awareness that influencing behaviour and treatment on an individual level and helping further diagnoses on a collective level brings us positive change. The journey towards human centric intelligent healthcare is incredibly rewarding: it is about us. www.fujitsu.com/fi
Your partner for a healthier tomorrow
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 27
© GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
INNOKAS MEDICAL defines the future of medtech Changing demographics, digitalisation and disruption means great opportunities in the medtech field.
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hen you follow the economy and business world long enough you begin to notice patterns. “My background is in telecommunications, IT and the industrial internet,” says Jouni Toijala, CEO of Innokas Medical. “We see what digitalisation has done to phones, cars and even music, and now the same thing is happening in medtech.” Innokas Medical is a medical technology company founded in 1994. With over 200 employees and three factories, Innokas helps clients to design, develop and manufacture regulated medical devices. They have worked with everyone from major corporations like GE Healthcare and Elekta to ambitious startups such as Monidor and RSP Systems. 28 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
“We believe medtech is changing,” says Toijala. “Technical complexity and regulatory requirements are increasing. Our job is to help businesses lower their costs, improve their quality and get to market faster.”
These young people are about to enter the medical field as our doctors, nurses and administrators. “Medtech players need to take this into account,” Toijala continues. “These Millennials understand the digital world and
DIGITAL NATIVES DEMAND QUALITY
A major change currently happening in the world is sometimes called the D-Curve, referring to disruption, digitalisation and demographics. Everyone knows these terms, but what is happening is quite complex. “When people think of how demographics affect medtech they often think of an aging population,” Toijala explains. “This is true, but we also need to think about the young generation who are digital natives.”
Jouni Toijala, CEO of Innokas Medical
our products and services will be used by them. We have to give them the best solutions so they can give the best care to their patients.” A UNIQUE INDUSTRY REQUIRES UNIQUE SKILLS
Medical technology is a unique industry, thanks to increasingly complicated regulations. As an example, when Innokas developed CARESCAPE VC150 Vital Signs Patient Monitor in cooperation with GE Healthcare, they had to get it approved as a medical device and as a radio device because of its wireless connectivity. Additionally, medtech is unique because of an emphasis on hardware with long life cycles. “In the past hardware was prioritised while software was rarely updated, but this won’t work today,” Toijala says. “The software and hardware platforms have to work together to optimise the user experience, like what Apple and Tesla are doing. Medtech players needs to combine hardware and software platforms to improve the clinical workflow and the user experience.” Disruption is coming to medtech, despite its regulated environment and established ways of working. Toijala points to new players who focus on the best patient experiences. When disruptive business change is coupled with rapid technology shifts in a highly regulated environment, it calls for a new way of working and a co-creation mindset.
CO-CREATION IN A REGULATED WORLD
“Innokas is unique because we can deliver the whole package of services,” says Toijala. “Our comprehensive service solution covers the whole path from idea to high-quality design and product development, regulatory approvals and even manufacturing of medical devices. This whole package is superior to companies that need long-term co-creation partnerships for the product's whole lifecycle – while it’s extremely important with the ‘consumerisation’ of medtech.” By ‘consumerisation’, Toijala does not just mean a focus on user experience. He is also referring to the way medtech products and services will be created in the future. It is becoming similar to the lean startup or agile development methods. Solutions evolve through collaboration and co-creation as development cycles shorten. However, the medical field will still face its unique challenges, like regulations.
“Our new Medtech Design Studio is for this environment,” Toijala explains. “It brings agility and design thinking into development while emphasising regulations and quality management. Medtech companies need a partner like us who have these design, development and manufacturing capabilities, which is unique in the Nordic region.” DAVID J. CORD www.innokasmedical.fi
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 29
Pagero keeps
your business healthy Electronic communication of business documents is not only more efficient – increasingly it is legally required.
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ounded in 2000, Pagero has developed a cloud-based network platform for communicating business documents within the purchase-to-pay, order-to-cash and logistics-to-pay processes. While businesses around the world are moving to electronic documentation, the market is far from uniform.
“The current state of electronic invoicing differs quite drastically between different countries,” says Toni Pihamaa, country manager of Pagero Finland. “Here in Finland probably more than 80 per cent of invoices are e-invoices. In Norway and Denmark it is between 50 and 60 per cent, and in Sweden it is about 40 per cent.”
Other processes, such as procurement, also differ, but some industries are leading the way. “One industry where we see great demand is healthcare,” says Pihamaa. “They need to be efficient, control costs, and carefully manage their supplies. If you have an artificial hip replacement scheduled, that hip has to be at the hospital on time.” INNOVATIVE UK SYSTEM
Anna Micklewright, Pagero’s global head of sales – healthcare
30 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
Pagero’s expertise led to their involvement in the radical eProcurement strategy in the UK. Six NHS hospitals have been chosen as pathfinder sites and tasked with implementing GS1 and Pan-European Public Procurement Online (PEPPOL) standards to demonstrate significant efficiencies, cost savings, reduced errors and better patient outcomes. “Pagero has been involved from the early inception of the DH e-procurement strategy,” says Anna Micklewright, Pagero’s global head of sales – healthcare. “E-commerce has the ability to drastically improve healthcare and ultimately the patient experience. The UK strategy goes further than many other EU countries whom have usually focused on invoices and have not set a national strategy for coding standards.” It is clear that the Department of Health believes creating such an infrastructure
will improve efficiencies for both hospitals and suppliers and this will ultimately impact the patient experience. “The drive for standards will help drive the strategic goals of the NHS,” Micklewright says. “Clinicians and management accounts will now be able to take equal benefits from supply chain data. Finance will be able to understand the cost of the patient pathway and clinicians will ultimately start to be able to link a specific product to patient outcome. Accurate supply chain data is the key to allowing these strategic initiatives to crystalise’.
less of ERP system, sector or transaction volume. With e-order companies can send and receive their entire order flow through one channel. Pagero’s e-payment services helps clients handle their payment files more efficiently. Primelog TMS can handle supply chains, including both procurement and shipping.
“We have a cloud-based global platform which connects businesses with their partners and is fully automated,” says Pihamaa. “Health care is digitalising very quickly, but we are open to any industry. You can find our clients in every sector. We are very proud of the service we provide to them.” www.pagero.com
Toni Pihamaa, country manager of Pagero Finland
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFICIENT E-COMMERCE
Much of the move to electronic documentation is being driven by governments. They are under pressure to deliver more services to the public at a lower cost. “Many people might not realise that to manually approve a paper invoice could cost €20 through the whole process, or even more,” explains Pihamaa. “A fully automated system is much quicker, more secure, has fewer mistakes, can be tracked in real time, and to approve a purchase invoice might cost only €1.”
A fully automated system is much quicker & more secure. Demanding such efficiency, the EU has agreed to the PEPPOL standard. This can be implemented through existing systems. As an access point, Pagero can connect any participant to all others on the network in a “connect once, connect to all” solution. Although health systems are early adopters, many more public agencies are also using the standard. “No more paper invoices are allowed in France, Spain and Italy,” says Pihamaa. “The public sector in Germany, Portugal and Sweden are also following suit. Here in Finland already 96 per cent of the public sector has adopted it.” IMPROVED EFFICIENCY AND LOWER COSTS
Pagero has a variety of solutions so their customers can take advantage of the improved efficiency and lower costs of e-commerce. The e-invoice service through the Pagero Online network connects companies to all their business partners, regardApril – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 31
FIRSTBEAT
– Personalised insights on fitness, stress and recovery Listen to your heart, as the proverb goes, but you also need to understand its language.
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irstbeat are the leading provider of physiological analytics for sports, fitness and wellbeing. They are heart experts: transforming heartbeat data into personalised, useful information. “Firstbeat examines the heart’s data to create feedback that helps people reach higher performance goals and improve personal wellbeing,” explains Juho Tuppurainen, vice president at Firstbeat. “The data is turned into valuable and understandable feedback to help you perform better, make the correct training and coaching decisions, and to improve wellbeing and health.” Based in Jyväskylä, Firstbeat solutions have been sold to more than 40 countries. They have partners around the world and are currently seeking coaches whose clients are struggling with work-related stress and stress, overall. “Over 22,000 athletes and 800 teams rely on Firstbeat to optimise training and recovery,” Tuppurainen continues. “We power over 70 devices from top brands such as Garmin, Huawei and Suunto. In corporate wellness programs, our technology has helped over 250,000 employees manage their stress and to become more energetic and focused.” 32 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
UNIQUE DIGITAL MODEL
Tuppurainen explains that converting physiological data into actionable information requires a unique digital model. This model utilises heart rate variability (HRV) data in real-life, dynamic and complex situations. “Firstbeat uses HRV data combined with advanced mathematical and signal processing methods to document an individual’s autonomic nervous system regulation,” he says. “Starting from heartbeat data, our analytic engine computes and creates a digital model of the human body. This describes key processes such as oxygen consumption, energy expenditure, excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, and stress and recovery reactions.” The end result is feedback on training effectiveness, recovery status, fitness level, and even lifestyle-related aspects such as stress, recovery and physical activity. “All this is something only Firstbeat can offer: Deliver science based advice to help everyone – athletes, consumers and employees – to learn how to improve their own health and performance,” says Tuppurainen.” PERSONALISATION AND PREVENTION
The company sees wellness, particularly
personalised wellness, as a growing trend. They see their role as making biological information visible to help people live better lives by providing personalised insights. “Preventive healthcare is an area that we are very much focusing on, as we provide preventative solutions,” Tuppurainen says. “In addition, as our technology brings the whole picture to the table, our solutions will remain prevalent and valuable now and in the future, providing deeper insights and individualised data about the human body.” DAVID J. CORD www.firstbeat.com
Juho Tuppurainen, VP at Firstbeat
Philips leads
healthcare digitalisation To navigate profound transformation, it is a good idea to partner with someone who has done it before.
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hilips has seen quite a few fundamental shifts in the world since they were founded in 1891. “Digital health represents the latest such shift,” explains Mikko Vasama, Philips’ Managing Director in Finland. “Relatively new solutions such as the cloud and enhanced computing power are allowing the transfer, processing and analysis of healthcare data safer and cheaper than ever.” Yet the change isn’t simply technology. Our society is also evolving. “Health systems need to increase access and improve results, while simultaneously reducing costs,” Vasama says. “Also, our population is aging and we have more chronic conditions, which means we need to look at innovative ideas, such as taking healthcare services into the home.” He also points to a great opportunity: people are more engaged with their health and can take advantage of new methods of prevention. “Philips’ philosophy is that healthcare needs to be transformed in order to meet the needs of future generations,” says Vasama. “The world needs sustainable healthcare systems.” HOLISTIC APPROACH
“We can achieve sustainable systems with integrated healthcare solutions driven by digital technology,” Vasama continues. “We take a holistic approach.” Philips believes they can address many of the challenges the healthcare sector is facing by transforming healthcare from its current focus on diagnosis and treatment to an integrated approach across the entirety of health and wellbeing. “This covers the range of patient needs from living healthily, to being diagnosed and treated for an illness, to recovery,” Vasama explains. “It is at the meeting of personal wellness and professional healthcare.”
The world needs sustainable healthcare systems.
CREATING A NEW ECOSYSTEM
Vasama says Philips is uniquely positioned to be a leader in digital health: vast amounts of data from Philips devices are used to help healthcare providers connect with their patients, manage their conditions and give patients control. “Philips has developed secure cloud solutions, such as the HealthSuite Digital Platform,” he says. “With proper consent, we can use the existing data from our devices and greatly increase the benefit to patients, caregivers and health authorities. We do this by allowing developers and manufacturers to collect and analyse data as well as connect with patients. “Empowering patients in their own care is a critical part of the next generation of healthcare. At Philips we encourage the development of an ecosystem with open applications that span all of health and wellbeing, and which focus on patient-caregiver relationships to help enhance clinical decision-making.” DAVID J. CORD philips.com/nobounds April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 33
Peace of mind
with Vivago
V
ivago was founded in 1994 when Matti Myllymäki tried to find a security device for his elderly mother,” says Maria Lavonen, Vivago’s CEO. “Unsatisfied with the market offering, he decided to make one himself. He wanted it to have three key features: an automatic alarm function, a feeling of safety for the person and peace of mind for relatives. These functionalities are still the backbone of Vivago today.” Vivago develops smart safety and wellbeing solutions for preventive care, serving home care, assisted living, rehabilitation centres and hospitals. Over 80,000 people use Vivago’s Finnish-made devices.
Innovative safety and wellbeing solutions from Vivago serve an aging population and people with health issues.
REAL-TIME ANALYSIS
A Vivago connected watch monitors a person’s movement, sleep and circadian rhythm. A key feature of the solution is how that data is analysed and, if necessary, alarms sent. “Real-time notifications inform about changes in the person’s wellbeing and it enables care providers to react proactively and focus on individual care,” Lavonen explains. “Wellbeing information can also be shared with relatives.” This is particularly important as our population ages and it becomes necessary to improve care. Health issues like diabetes, sleeping disorders and stress, as well as many chronic illnesses, increase problems both globally and individually. “An ageing population and people with health issues increases the need and demand for high-quality health services,” says Lavonen. “This requires a more specific allocation of resources in the care sector. Vivago is an innovative solution which offers new means of supporting rehabilitation, independent living at home and developing home care services for the future.”
of people, but the high speed of technological development is opening even more opportunities. “For example, Vivago has the opportunity to apply big data and AI to bring new ground-breaking possibilities to healthcare in the near future,” Lavonen says. The solution helps people stay at home longer and reduces the need for acute care thanks to prevention made possible by the data. It also allows for faster rehabilitation from hospitals when patient monitoring and support continues at home, Lavonen points out. “We now launch a new product which expands our offering to global markets,” she says. “The Vivago MoveTM solution monitors sleep and health from the user’s wrist and provides health status information to medical professionals to help rehabilitation and treatment of chronic illnesses. This unique solution is targeted as a service for insurance companies, health care providers and the private segment. We are very excited about the launch and starting to enter global markets.” DAVID J. CORD
NEW VIVAGO MOVETM SOLUTION
Vivago is already helping tens of thousands 34 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
www.vivago.com
VTT builds
a good life for Finland Finland has unique strengths in healthcare and technology which makes it the perfect place to build the next generation healthcare ecosystem.
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inland is a pioneer in digital health. It has a massive collection of health data – some stretching back to when Finland was a Grand Duchy – which has been completely digitalised. When this is combined with strong technology expertise and a thriving startup scene it provides excellent opportunities. “Finland is a fantastic testbed for new solutions,” says Tua Huomo, executive vice president of knowledge intensive products and services business area at VTT. “Regulations, public servants and the government allow and even encourage trials and exploiting new opportunities. Collaboration between different players is fluent and the Finnish people are very positive towards new ideas and innovations.” This makes Finland the best place in the world to use artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. VTT’s mission is to help their customers and society to grow and renew through applied research. They believe they can have a major impact on health and wellness through helping to develop next-generation solutions. “One of the areas VTT is now especially interested in is to research how to improve citizens’ health and wellbeing in collaboration with occupational health actors,” Huomo continues. “We are now building an ecosystem around this topic which we call Good Life for Finland.” VTT has already proven the viability of the concept with focused pilots. Now they are building large-scale pilots focused on tech scalability, and building interfaces to both health care data systems and to commercial products and services such as wearables.
The partners they are seeking include occupational healthcare players, organisations interested in the wellbeing of their workers, working space design and manufacturing companies, AI firms, wearable device and service companies, insurance companies and others in the field of digital health and wellbeing.
We are now building an ecosystem around this topic which we call Good Life for Finland. Huomo says that AI has a huge potential to disrupt the healthcare field. Personally, she hopes to see major transformation in occupational health which could predict coming challenges, help and support us more effectively. “Imagine if everyone can use such a system, and know, for example, which ‘mental recovery’ methods work best or how to improve the working environment,” she says. “Organisations could immediately see which work-wellbeing campaigns succeed in their community, such as which type of working spaces are best for different people. “AI is a group of powerful technologies – however, technology itself is not ‘important’. It is more important to understand how, when and why to apply it, not forgetting security, privacy and ethical questions. Sometimes even small and simple solutions may have the greatest impact for individuals. That is, I think, most important.”
Tua Huomo, executive vice president of knowledge intensive products and services business area at VTT
DAVID J. CORD
www.vttresearch.com April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 35
Smart City 2017 The future is urban, and the future of cities is smart.
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he idea of autonomous vehicles and intelligent buildings used to be monopolised by science fiction writers, but those things are now becoming reality. Our smart urban life gives us great opportunities, from increasing standards of living to increasing companies’ bottom lines. In the autumn of 2017 about 400 business executives, academics, politicians and thought leaders gathered at the Smart City 2017 conference in Helsinki to make those possibilities a reality. The two-day event was moderated by one of Finland’s most famous television and radio personalities, Jone Nikula. BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS
The event kicked off with Christian Clauss of IBM, who handles partnerships related to the company’s Watson Internet of Things. He spoke of the rise of cognitive cities and how operation centres can improve everyday lives. Yet for this cities need intelligent infrastructures, where IBM comes in. “Events like these are very important,” Clauss says. “It is a great way to meet the representatives of cities and hear what they need, as well as explain what we can do.” A key point is that smart cities can neither be built nor their benefits realised in isolation; they require a network of partnerships. Lauri Oksanen, Nokia’s VP of Research and Technology, pointed out the tech company does a lot more than wireless communications, but they can’t do it alone. “Yes, we build the communications infrastructure, network and clouds, but we also provide services and build solutions for clients,” he says. “You have to integrate 36 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
everything in these solutions and for that you need partners.” Oksanen says coming to events like Smart City 2017 are important even for world-famous companies like Nokia. “I will meet some partners here, as well as see what kind of needs and problems cities and different industries have,” he says. TRANSLATING EVENTS INTO BUSINESS
Several huge multinationals were in attendance, but so were many smaller companies. Wapice’s innovation director Mathias Grädler was at the event to talk about how his 330-person firm develops IoT applications. “This event is very important, not just to gain knowledge about what is happening but also to get noticed as a player and get new customers,” he says. “They see us here and approach us. It’s good when these events translate into business.” Another company which got noticed at the event was Fortum. Fortum might be best known as one of the Nordic region’s largest energy companies, but they have been expanding into smart technologies. SmartLiving is their service platform which allows residents to monitor their energy consumption, program home appliances, adjust indoor climate and even receive alerts about water leaks. “After my presentation people came to talk to me and I set up a couple of meetings,” says SmartLiving’s sales director Timo Kivi. “And when I went online I found new Twitter followers and LinkedIn invitations. This event was really useful to spread the knowledge of what we can offer.” RESEARCH AND APPLICATION
Much of the technologies and concepts behind smart cities remain theoretical, or at
least untried, so academics and researchers were on hand to explain what they have discovered. “I am here to meet new people and explain what we are doing up in the frozen north,” says Matti Latva-Aho, professor of technology at the University of Oulu. “I wanted to shock the audience a bit with my speech and make them remember me. I think I succeeded!” An event about smart cities wouldn’t be complete without municipal representatives, who need to help coordinate and encourage the application of research. A number of public servants were in attendance, including the mayor of Helsinki Jan Vapaavuori.
“Many people have talked about Helsinki becoming a smart city, but so far not much has happened,” Vapaavuori says. “I see my role as encouraging everyone to move forward and finding different potential partners. Compared to other cities we are doing quite well.” DAVID J. CORD www.smartcitynordic.com www.bignordic.com
Tiivi Connect
– innovative smart technology for home windows Many people think that a window simply keeps the cold out and the heat in. The Tiivi Connect product family provides a new generation of windows with passive antennae, remote-control smart blinds, sensors, and a mobile application.
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inna Keränen, Marketing Director at market leader Inwido Finland, says that the Tiivi Connect product family has been created in order to meet the customers’ present and future needs. “Based on our trend barometer, customers are interested in smart technology, but they also value residential comfort, simplicity, and safety. This has been the guiding principle behind the Tiivi Connect product family: using new smart technology, we aim to offer consumers sustainable and innovative solutions that add comfort to living conditions.” TIIVI CONNECT ANTENNA SOLVES RECEPTION PROBLEMS AT HOME
The Tiivi Connect Antenna is a patented window solution that improves reception and data transmission of mobile phones indoors. “On the one hand, people are buying more electronic devices for their homes, which will in the future call for more and faster data communication. On the other hand, data traffic indoors has become an even bigger challenge than before, because of solid, energy-efficient structures. The Tiivi Connect Antenna is a new window solution that uses a passive antenna which has been integrated into the window to direct the signal efficiently into the interior of the residence, meaning that signal penetration can be increased up to a hundredfold. And best of all, instead of a single old window, you can also install a Tiivi Connect Antenna window, thus solving reception problems in hard-to-reach places, like a workroom.
Marketing Director Minna Keränen intends to improve the quality of Finnish housing by bringing up the new opportunities offered by windows and doors. Managing Director Johan Berg holds tablet in his hands which manages the intelligent functions of Tiivi windows and doors.
By constantly interacting with consumers we can offer smart solutions that improve people’s life at home. Inwido Finland’s brand portfolio includes the brands Pihla, Tiivi, Klas 1 and Lämpölux.
The Tiivi Connect Antenna has also other details that make everyday life easier: the passive antenna is integrated into the window and does not need any maintenance or replacement. It is also not visible from the outside, nor does it restrict basic window functions.
the sun is scorching, so that your home is comfortably cool at the end of the workday. By using the remote control for the blinds, you can keep your home looking lived-in during vacations to prevent burglaries.”
CONTROL SMART BLINDS VIA YOUR MOBILE PHONE!
The Tiivi Connect product family also extends smart solutions to high-quality blinds that, alongside the traditional wall switch, can now also be controlled via the Tiivi Connect mobile application. “In practice, this means that you can set the blinds, even in the middle of your working day when
DID YOU LEAVE THE WINDOW OPEN?
The Tiivi Connect window and door sensors also improve home security. “When there are sensors in the windows and doors in your home, you can check whether you left a window or door open when you left home via an application. The application cannot yet close them, but that may also be a possibility in the future,” Keränen notes. MIA HEISKANEN
www.tiivi.fi April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 37
Espoo: ICON Suurpelto Bond (Real Estate Fund III)
Real estate developing with heart and wits
I
Gaining profit for the investors through tailored real estate portfolios? Yes! Doing it with sustainable development? Also yes!
t is not rocket science to set clear goals and choose a streamlined mode of operation in your chosen realm of business. The biggest challenge often seems to be, however, is to act consistently according to these guidelines, especially in view of rapid economic fluctuation.
ICON Real Estate Funds founder, partner and CEO Markus Havulehto has overcome this challenge right from the start: ”Our mission aims to be the most profitable real estate fund in Finland. As well as aiming to generate profit, we strive to continuously build eco and energy efficient properties that are architecturally
beautiful, comfortable and economical to live in, and easy to maintain through digital property management." Adding value to these properties is the main goal for a development process. ”We always choose investment properties with great potential, to change their use and refurbish them thoroughly. Our projects also includes properties which we tear down and replace with new ones, as well as plots on which we build new buildings," Havulehto explains. SOLID CORNERSTONES
All renovating and building work is being done according to the company cornerstones: ecology, intelligence and modern building technics.
New! Riihimäki (9 ecological, smart buildings made of 300 wood module condos, which will be built in a factory; living in these condos will be exceptionally economical)
38 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
Tallinn Rannaparki
”The life cycle thinking, smart and efficient building and consistent quality are close to our hearts. This means that modular house building in factories is becoming more and more important. In the future, we plan to build totally energy self-sufficient houses”, Havulehto elaborates. ICON Real Estate Funds invests particularly in the Helsinki metropolitan area and various other major growth centres in Finland and Tallinn. ”At the moment, we are looking for potential properties in Stockholm and Gothenburg,” Markus Havulehto says. TAILORED REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIOS
ICON has customers in both private and institutional investors. ”We have tailored real estate portfolios especially for foundations, corporations and institutional investors. We offer both target funds and end products, such as lots or finished properties like hotels or condos. In the future, we are going to offer also healthcare properties like senior homes.” Investing in a real estate fund helps to keep the risks modest and in control. PÄIVI REMES
Founded in 2010, ICON Real Estate Funds Ltd is one of the most lucrative funds for investments in real estate in Finland. Employees are also shareholders. The funds managed are valued at approximately MEUR 30 (GAV) ; the projects are valued at over MEUR 250. Supervised by Financial Supervisory Authority. iconfund.fi/en
New Underlying Portfolio! ICON Crown Bond, Helsinki Kruununhaka (historically significant valuable property, a turn key project: Mariankatu 23 & Maneesikatu 7: future luxury boutique hotel and Liisankatu 8 A & 8 G: high-end condos with shared luxury spa & gym facilities )
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 39
Sami Heino, CEO of Aveso
Aveso ensures
DATA QUALITY IN IOT
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Data is an asset, so its quality needs to be properly managed.
e live in an era of data, but not all data is equal. Systems can return bad data, which is a waste of time and effort. Aveso is a specialist in data quality as a process, making sure their clients’ critical data is useful and of the highest quality.
You need quality data in order to make decisions, so you have to have an ongoing process to monitor and correct data. “The amount of data is increasing, and so data quality becomes more important,” says Sami Heino, CEO of Aveso. “Companies have to manage their data. You need quality data in order to make decisions, so you have to have an ongoing process to monitor and correct data.” Aveso has decades of experience in implementing data management solutions. Their expertise in the Internet of Things, data management and business intelli40 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
gence has led them to develop the Aveso Data Quality Tool, helping their partners to ensure data quality in their IoT and business applications. QUALITY DECISIONS BASED ON QUALITY DATA
“Running a modern business is based on having correct data,” Heino continues. “You use this data to make decisions, so you have to make sure you are basing your decisions on real data. The data has to be good enough to use.” Aveso believes data quality is a process, not a state. They stress making sure the data is correct from the beginning, because correcting data takes time and money. They unify the data management processes, standardise terms and concepts, and stress timing and accuracy. “You can define different rules for your data,” says Heino. “The process is automated after definition. If you receive errors based upon your rules, you can decide what to do next. Do you correct the data? Do you monitor the situation?” The Aveso Data Quality Tool is built upon a foundation of versatility and flex-
ibility, in order to give their clients exactly what they need. CENTRALISED VIEW AND CONTROL
“A large factory might have several different IoT vendors, several ways to gather data and several ways to store it. They typically receive reports from each individual system,” says Heino. “With our solution they are able to centralise data quality monitoring and control.” With the Aveso solution a customer is able to see the big picture of the overall data quality in their systems. They can more clearly see trends of data quality and the centralised system is able to make clear reporting up to the top levels of management. “We only recently introduced the Aveso Data Quality Tool but have already provided solutions to some major companies in a variety of industries, such as telecom and transportation,” says Heino. “We haven’t seen this in other software, even among the most popular global leaders in data management.” DAVID J. CORD www.aveso.fi
JUHO KUVA
Sami Niininen, Head of Digital Services at PostNord Strålfors in Finland
PostNord Strålfors keeps the channels open Turning customers into friends – that’s the promise of communication solutions company PostNord Strålfors, part of the PostNord Group operating across the Nordic region.
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e are active all over the Nordic market in Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and offering administration and marketing communication solutions to companies which are industrial leaders in their own areas,” says Sami Niininen, Head of Digital Services at PostNord Strålfors Oy in Finland. “These are usually companies with very large numbers of consumers, and we are the market leader in administrative communication solutions in the countries where we are active.” The company offers all sorts of different solutions, including basic invoicing solutions, the dispatch of invoices through multiple channels, and marketing campaigns using all available formats, digital and ‘physical’. This multifaceted approach is known in the trade as omnichannel communication. “In practice, omnichannel communication means that we can offer our customers the possibility to communicate with their customers through all avail-
able channels or a combination of them,” says Niininen. “What we always try to do is to think of communication in terms of the customer getting personalized communication through a great user experience, with all devices and where he or she wants to use them, using laptops or mobile phones, for example. “We can also combine administrative communications with marketing communications, so that the invoice might include a banner for a new phone campaign, for example. We are then able to strengthen that message through social media, targeted to specific individuals.” RISING DEMAND
The number and variety of channels available for communications are increasing all the time, so PostNord Strålfors’ solutions are meeting a significant demand. “If you are a company serving many consumer customers you are expected to offer your services through all those channels. Not all companies can connect through all these channels themselves, and that’s why we offer our packages as a one-stop shop.
Large quantities of variable data are provided to us which we distribute quickly, on time, and using the appropriate channels according to the customer’s wishes.” One-way communication from organisation to end-consumer has tended to be a dominant trend in the last decade or so. PostNord Strålfors anticipates more twoway traffic in the future, from receiver to sender as well as from sender to receiver. As market leader, the company is in the best position to respond to this growing pattern. “We have lots of tools for segmentation that customers can use themselves,” says Niininen. “We can offer marketing automation, email and push messages, and social media, but we can also offer ‘traditional’ physical solutions, using letters or postcards. We can handle the physical response as well as the online reply. We can offer convenient ways to move from traditional to new channels.” TIM BIRD
www.stralfors.fi April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 41
The importance of customer service in a regulated environment
Bisnode turns compliance into an opportunity to provide better customer service.
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he word “compliance” brings shudders to anyone in the financial industry: if you don’t follow these rules and regulations, you are not complying with the law. While this is true, there is another way to look at it. “Regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Know Your Customer (KYC) rules are growing all the time. Your obligations will not be less in the future,” says Lauri Mähönen, Director of Sales at Bisnode Finland. “These are mandatory, but they can also be ways to create more value-added service to your customers for less cost.” Based in Stockholm, Bisnode are experts in smart data, focusing on high-quality business, credit and market information. They have 2,400 employees and operate in 18 European countries, offering local, regional, European and global solutions. TURN COMPLIANCE MEETINGS INTO CUSTOMER ADVISORY MEETINGS
It’s tough for a financial services firm to stay compliant in today’s environment. They have to follow strict and complicated anti-money laundering, anti-corruption and sanctions rules, as well as new data protection regulations. “A bank needs to interview an entrepreneur applying for a loan, find out who the beneficial owners are, verify they aren’t on any sanctions lists, make sure it is a legitimate company, and follow many other compliance procedures,” Mähönen says. “Much of this is still done by hand. This is an unproductive use of time and resources and doesn’t create any value to the customer.” 42 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
Bisnode can digitise and automate these processes through the use of their solutions and high-quality data platforms. Now what had hitherto been a long and frustrating experience for the customer becomes something completely different. “Now the interview becomes more advisory,” Mähönen says. “Your bank officer can now give better care and service to the customer, improving their experience and loyalty.” NEED FOR RELIABLE INFORMATION
Bisnode automates much of the compliance process through its advanced solutions and by partnering with various expert organisations, such as Dun & Bradstreet and Regulatory Data Corp. A potential customer can be checked in relevant databases, such as UN sanctions lists, Politically Exposed Persons lists and even adverse media. The new GDPR rules add even more obligations in collecting, processing and storing personal data. “We provide what is relevant for each company,” says Mähönen. “They might need only regional solutions, or they might require something on a global scale.” Noncompliance can be extremely costly. It seems like every day the news reports another bank or finance company being fined for not fulfilling their KYC obligations or doing business with someone on a sanctions list. “It’s extremely important to use information you can trust,” Mähönen says. “By having an automated solution with reliable information you can quickly check and verify the data. Now you can spend your time giving the best experience to your customer.”
VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER
Bisnode is a specialist in smart data, but see it as a means to an end for better customer service. They provide their digital compliance screening as a way to improve the customer experience, and even have special customer experience management and analytics solutions: Voice of the Customer. Bisnode awards the best customer service on a yearly basis. In 2017 among the top five were companies such as Varma LähiTapiola, Osuuspankki, S-Pankki and Intrum Justititia. The next big thing in Voice of the Customer is the ability to fetch information to operative processes, in order to improve things such as employee satisfaction, new customer acquisition and return on marketing. HAPPY CUSTOMERS MEAN HAPPY P&LS
“The industry is changing, and I believe that in the long run agile companies and agile methods will take over,” says Mähönen. “Established companies have a key asset in their existing customers, and therefore in a rapidly changing world customer service becomes even more important.” Bisnode solutions provide reliable information quicker, while their automation frees employees to help the customer. The end result is better information, increased efficiency, lower costs and more satisfied customers. “Through digital automation with reliable information we help our clients do what they do best: giving the best customer experience,” Mähönen says. “They are able to focus on their service, not regulations.” DAVID J. CORD www.bisnode.com
Lauri Mähönen, Director of Sales at Bisnode Finland
Through digital automation with reliable information we help our clients do what they do best: giving the best customer experience.
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 43
ANTTI KALLIO
A BRAVE NEW MUNICIPALITY 15 minutes from Helsinki Airport, set amongst industrial history and lush recreational areas. Here Tuusula is creating its new era.
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ur strength lies in size: large enough to have credibility, but able to retain our agility. True agility isn’t easy at a municipal level. We’re re-inventing the rules about what a municipality should be”, says Marko Kauppinen, Business development manager of Tuusula.
FOCUS ON THE FUTURE
JUHO KUVA
Lake Tuusula is where the founding fa-
Mobility instead of an office – Kauppinen encourages others to do the same.
thers of Finnish identity all spent vast amounts of time. Kauppinen is proud of the history. “Jean Sibelius, Aleksis Kivi, you name it. We’re the incubator of the Finnish spirit that still lingers 100 years later.” One hundred hectares and a million square meters – Focus is a business park of epic proportions. Once finished, it’ll be a smart ecosystem. “Its sheer size enables large facilities for companies, according to their needs. The proximity to the airport means it’s practically integrated with it. It’s all about shared resources. For example, there’s a large data center near Focus. It generates excess heat running its servers, which can be redirected to beneficial use. The spaces are planned with synergy in mind. Think of the savings over time, when logistically everything you need is under the same roof or nearby,” Kauppinen says. A NEW MINDSET
Monio is a new type of municipal building: a multifunctional school that has other uses as well. Let Kauppinen share his vision. “Monio is a multi-million project. It makes no sense to build a school that’s used six hours daily. The key is modular spaces: walls are mobile, different spaces can be created according to the users’ needs. A hackathon held in September gave us plenty of ideas we wouldn’t have had otherwise. In addition to the physical building itself, we must consider the digital dimension. Smart space means access control, booking times for a specific space 44 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
and social elements. People shape the usage in ways we can’t predict and we need to listen. Why build a football court, if a basketball court is needed.”
We want to create a seamless user experience for residents. According to him, the times of a single municipal building are gone. Functionality is based on where services are needed. There are the traditional elements we all know: schools, libraries etc. Besides that, Tuusula has ambitious plans. One of the main challenges facing a municipality revolves around the services it provides. Kauppinen wants to put together an entity that’s cohesive and smart. “It’s not our aim to turn everything upside down, but to plan better. We should have an invisible role as an entity. If everything’s running smoothly, only the things we provide are seen. Our ultimate goal is for people to have a seamless user experience. Typically digital systems are separate: different systems for library cards and so on. We’re streamlining the whole experience. On a municipal level it’s no easy feat. Ambition is essential and the level of commitment is needed, in everything we do. That’s the Tuusula spirit.” KATI KETURI
www.tuusula.fi
WIRELESS IoT AT ELGOOD
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lgood Oy is Your best partner for wireless Internet of Thing solutions consisting all standard communication protocols including RF modules to LoRa, Sigfox, NB-IoT. Big part of good design is combination of antenna and wireless communication module. Having both in our portfolio gives reliable and cost-efficient package to any application. You are most welcome to contact our new well experienced Product Manager Mr. Mikko Karvinen for any assistance on Your design. Mikko has over 10years experience in challenging RF-communication designs. Elgood Oy – A Part of Addtech Group has founded in 1997. Elgood is importing and marketing components for electronic manufacturing companies to make their products best in the class for the market.
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LEVI SPIRIT VILLAS - ARCTIC LUXURY
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 45
“AureliaTM A400 is extremely energy-efficient (≈40% efficiency) and the modular design allows for the use of various fuels”, says CEO Matti Malkamäki.
Built-in innovation yields success The origin of Aurelia Turbines lies in the technology developed over 30 years by the Lappeenranta University of Technology. Combining the technology with innovative ideas, Aurelia Turbines produces a high efficiency, 400 kW rated gas turbine that can utilise not only gaseous, but also liquid and renewable fuels.
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ur main market is the use of electricity and steam in small and medium-sized industries. We want to be recognised as the world’s best-selling gas turbine manufacturer," says Matti Malkamäki, CEO of Aurelia Turbines. Due to better operation capabilities and higher efficiency on partial loads, possibilities are vast. The company has built its ownership model so that it’s possible to accommodate new and additional small investors. “Industrial cogeneration is an almost completely untapped market possibility. Our turbine is especially designed to enable these applications. Start-up companies are traditionally owned by a small circle: we
Example of Aurelia’s core technology – high pressure turbine unit.
46 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
want to do things differently. Early this year, we got investors on board from Kenya. They originally wanted to buy turbines but were so enthusiastic with the opportunity that they became investors, as well. Partnering is also vital. We want to focus on our core competencies, allowing others to utilise the technology for their own end projects.” THE ROAD AHEAD
The market for decentralised energy for the traditional technologies, such as engines and turbines is approx. 30 billion euros annually in new investments. Engines have majority, covering more than 95% of all installations. “Maintenance amounts to even more. Conventual engines are good equipment when using standard fuel (such as natural gas) and when it comes to producing not only electricity, but also warm water preferably steadily, i.e. full power at all times. The market is however re-inventing itself with renewable fuels. People want to use a variety of renewable fuels. Instead of hot water they wish to produce steam, hot or even cold air for their own processes. All this is changing with the increasing demands and focus on energy efficiency. For instance, electric cars require new DC charging stations and their own small power plants. Furthermore, the
Matti Malkamäki, CEO of Aurelia Turbines
emissions of these plants are emerging as a major topic of discussion. The emissions of about 300 ppm NOx of engines are too high for many market areas. All this contributes to the emergence of turbine technology – and we are on the front line," Malkamäki comments. The company is currently focused on the first serial production. It begun last year and first deliveries will be this summer. “We’ve also started developing the socalled integrator model, where our partners acquire the main components of our turbine and they’re responsible for the final turbine configuration. We’ve already announced some of these partnerships in Europe and in Mexico. The following releases will take place in countries such as Russia and USA. We are pleased to have a global presence," he concludes. KATI KETURI aureliaturbines.com
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April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 47
Sharing views on
CYBER SECURITY The Cyber Security Executive event in Helsinki took an unusually intimate approach to discussing its theme.
2017
48 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
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he Internet infiltrates every aspect of human activity. The opportunities are countless – but so are the potential threats. The importance of sharing information and expertise about Cyber Security will only increase. No wonder, then, that the Cyber Security Executive event in Helsinki in November 2017 was sold out. The event focussed on ‘cyber security in modern business competitiveness’ with a line-up of 20 speakers and over 400 professionals. Converging on Helsinki’s compact and centrally-located Korjaamo Café and Tram Museum, participants represented industry, academia and associations, appreciating a rare chance to network in an intimate venue. “On my way here I passed some fantastic architecture, such as the Finlandia Hall and the Music Centre,” said Andrew Rogoyski, VP of Security Services at software company CGI in the UK and a keynote speaker. “Any of these would have made a great conference venue, but in these premises it feels busy and enlivened. It’s neither sparse nor too crowded. In some big exhibition venues you can feel a bit lost!” The event was concentrated into a single day of presentations, discussion sessions and networking, and Rogoyski felt that this tight timetable had advantages. “People didn’t drift away following lunch and networking, as is sometimes the case. Usually in this field, there area lot of technical guys, but here everyone wants to hear different views. It feels engaged and interesting.” “It’s much more intimate than what we are used to, at events like the RSA Conference in the US, for example, the world’s biggest security event,” said James Caplan, a partner at McKinsey & Company in New York and
another keynote speaker. “But there is a genuine business community here which drives the dynamic, and people are very connected. Finland has an interesting opportunity for collective action, where different kinds of institutions can cooperate. The intimacy of the local business community can make that collaboration easier than in bigger countries.” Jarno Limnéll, is Doctor in War Sciences and Cyber Security Professor in Helsinki’s Aalto University, thought the conference was a useful adjunct to other larger Cyber Security events. “The discussion can be very technical, and perhaps we should have more events like this that appeal more to decision makers. I have noticed in Finland that private companies are concentrating on a more comprehensive approach to Cyber Security, embracing digital, physical, community, communications social and psychological aspects.” The word from the floor was equally positive. “Our company provides recruiting services and we have worked a lot in Cyber Security and making plans for the future in this field,” said Kirsi Havu of Saranen Consulting. “It’s important for us to find out what is new on the market and how competence should be developed. I was very impressed by the speakers. I like the venue too: the atmosphere is nice with lounges in the middle of the venue, not with stands in the hallways. There is a growing need in the sector for this kind of event.” Harri Avokas of the Finnish composers’ copyright association, Teosto, was also appreciative. “It has been great to hear the proposals for what you should tell top management to get their interest in Cyber Security. It should be regarded as a higher priority.” TIM BIRD www.cybersecurityexe.com April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 49
50 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
Benny Öhman, Director of Payment Solutions at Svea Ekonomi Finland
Paying it forward Svea Ekonomi is a leading Nordic payment solutions provider.
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he Nordic region is leading the world in payment solutions. Yet this is a tricky area, with high technological, regulatory and customer demands. Svea Ekonomi develops innovative payment solutions to help their clients in this environment. “Svea Ekonomi was established in 1981 – and is still owned by the same founding entrepreneur,” says Benny Öhman, Director of Payment Solutions at Svea Ekonomi Finland. “Through the years we have widened our financing services from collection and business-to-business financing towards consumer services – such as our payment solutions, which is one of our key focus areas.” A DIVERSE OFFERING
Since 1981 Svea Ekonomi has grown from a small Swedish business to an international European group, employing approximately 1,000 people in eight countries with about 209 million euros in sales in 2016. Svea Ekonomi offers a wide product portfolio, such as car financing, consumer loans, factoring, leasing, company loans, collection services and invoicing services. They have many small companies as clients, but are now getting larger businesses interested in their services. “Our background is in business-to-business financing, which is growing,” Öhman continues. “In the last ten years we have put a lot of effort in business-to-consumer financing, meaning car loans, consumer loans and payment solutions. Here the growth rate is slightly faster. All in all, business is very good and Svea Ekonomi is growing steadily.”
COMPREHENSIVE PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
Svea Ekonomi offers two types of innovative payment solutions in Finland. The web solution gives online stores the ability to offer their customers to pay for their purchase per bill or in instalments. This flexibility can increase the conversion of people browsing the web shop into actual customers. “In payment solutions we strive to be unique by enabling custom part payment campaigns,” Öhman says. “We also add value to invoices through commercials, special offers to repeat customers and other promotions. It is a smooth checkout experience for the end customers and the best customer service the market has ever seen.” The store solution is fundamentally the same concept, but it allows consumers to pay for their purchases in instalments in physical stores. It is easy to integrate in most common cash registers systems, making it a popular solution. “Our core products are bank payments, card payments, business-to-consumer and business-to-business invoicing, partial payments and account credit,” says Öhman. “You can choose the bits and pieces separately if you like, but with Svea Ekonomi’s Checkout you can get all the popular payment methods with one simple integration.” VANGUARD SWEDEN
In the Nordic countries payment solutions can differ, but Svea Ekonomi is lucky to be based in the country leading the way: Sweden. “I think Sweden is a few years ahead of the rest of us. It is no surprise that the
majority of the companies offering payment solutions in the Nordics are Swedish companies,” Öhman says. “If you want to know what’s coming next, you can take a look at Swedish web shops and see the future!” Currently, Swedish consumer use invoices almost twice as often as Finnish or Norwegian consumers. Sweden has trusted systems to check identity and enable quick and secure credit checks. “It seems like Swedes are early adopters of new payment methods,” says Öhman. “Most products are launched in Sweden first and then later in the rest of the Nordics.” GOING MOBILE
There are a few major trends that Svea Ekonomi is working hard on. One is omnichannel solutions, allowing a company’s web and physical stores to work seamlessly together, including for payments and returns. Strong electronic authentication is also a major trend in the Nordics. Sweden has heavily promoted it, even offering faster tax refunds with the Mobile BankID. In fact, mobile solutions are one of the great megatrends of the industry. “Mobile payment is the next big thing when it comes to payments,” says Öhman. “All the major players like Apple and Google have their own mobile wallets. At the moment they are basically credit card payments with your mobile or smart watch, but there will certainly be other options in the future.” DAVID J. CORD
www.svea.fi April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 51
INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION from Attido Aico handles routine financial tasks so your staff can focus on what they do best.
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ttido’s philosophy is that humans are not machines. People should be freed from routine, repetitive tasks to perform more valuable work. The routine tasks should be completed by smart process automation, such as Aico. Aico stands for artificial intelligence co-worker, which is a great way to describe Attido’s solution. “Aico is there to help,” explains Marko Maunula, Attido’s director of international business. “It is cooperation between people and machine. Aico can perform tasks, but it also has brains. It can detect anomalies and propose solutions. Aico can do plenty of things for you.”
tasks such as account reconciliation, closing activities, journals, maser data requests and many others.
tackle complexity is a great benefit for organisations with intricate businesses or multinational operations.
LOWER COSTS, INCREASED QUALITY
PARTNERS WANTED
“One of the main benefits is the decreased time necessary to complete tasks,” Maunula continues. “Depending upon the process, our customers can save up to 40 or 90 per cent.” Besides the dramatic reduction in costs, automation also increases quality because it eliminates mistakes common with the manual entering of data. “One other benefit of Aico is harmony and control,” explains Attido’s CEO Marko Voutilainen. “Our clients can structuralise their processes which gives them complete control. This is quite important.”
“There is a major shift to automation, and demand has grown substantially the past eighteen months,” says Maunula. “We have a flexible pricing model to best fit how a customer operates: based on the number of transactions or the number of companies.” The Espoo-based company has been working on automation for many years, and they see Aico as just one step in an ongoing process. In fact, they prefer not to even use the typical industry term Robotic Process Automation (RPA). “We call it intelligent automation. Our solution does much more than RPA,” explains Voutilainen. “It also encompasses business process modelling, AI, workflow and person-to-machine interactions. The AI learns from you and this enables a new interactive layer.” Much of their future-oriented work takes place in the Aico research lab, where they want to partner with universities, customers and other corporate partners. “The idea is to get a grip on real corporate life, to understand exactly what the customer faces,” Maunula explains. “We want to develop, test and try out technology with the customers. We are also actively looking for process technology partners so we can work together in creating the best solutions for our clients.” DAVID J. CORD
AUTOMATION AND AI
Attido was founded in 2001 and developed enterprise resource planning and financial systems for corporate and government clients. By 2008 they were creating financial automation solutions as well as AI components to learn what their customers needed. Aico is a modular platform that allows organisations to automate their processes. The first major deployment is in finance. “We free financial departments from email and Excel,” Maunula jokes. Financial departments are often inundated with simple, repetitive tasks particularly during month end closing. Aico supports the Finance team by automating 52 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
ADDED VALUE: FLEXIBLE INTEGRATION
Typically a finance department has a heavy workload at the end of accounting periods, but automating processes evens out the work flow. Continuous, automatic monitoring can handle routine checks and notify you right away if something is not right. “Also, we can’t forget a by-product, which is the analytics base you get with Aico,” puts in Maunula. “With this data you can make proper analyses and build APIs.” A unique added value of Aico is how it can act as a flexible integration layer. Multiple enterprise resource planning (ERP) processes and accounting systems can be handled on one platform. This ability to
Aico’s savings compared to manual processing: • Account reconciliation: up to 90% • Closing and continuous accounting: up to 90% • Journals: up to 50% • Requests for invoicing, payments and changes: up to 60% • Internal invoicing: up to 80% • Investment proposals: up to 60% • Invoice accrual: up to 40% • Manual payments: up to 60% aico.attido.com
Marko Voutilainen, CEO (left) and Marko Maunula, Director of International Business, Attido
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 53
ALL PASSWORDS
must die Nixu doesn’t see their role as simply cybersecurity; they enhance customer experience.
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he bane of the digital world is passwords. You need them for security purposes, but it is a headache to always remember your login and your 8-20 character password with multiple special characters. “Service designers view cyber security as a necessary evil, but we believe it can help you to build better services,” says Joonatan Henriksson, Head of Digital Business at Nixu. “Our thinking in killing off passwords is a great example of this. It can improve your customer experience, making customers happier and boosting your bottom line.” Nixu is a European cybersecurity services company on a mission to keep the digital society running. With Nordic roots, but based in four continents, Nixu’s over 300 top-notch experts serve organizations and enterprise clients worldwide by specializing in cybersecurity and digital identity management – not simply making you secure, but making the user experience more positive.
Joonatan Henriksson, Head of Digital Business at Nixu
EASIER AND SAFER AUTHENTICATION
It’s happened to all of us. You go back to a web store you had visited in the past for a new purchase, but you can’t remember your password and the method to reset it is time-consuming and unpleasant. You decide it isn’t worth your time and move on. “We help the customer get onboard as effortlessly as possible,” Henriksson continues. “We use various methods to authenticate a returning customer so they don’t have to remember their password. The goal is to improve their user experience and get a good conversion rate.” This doesn’t just apply to online stores, either. Everyone has heard the story of going to a post office to pick up a package but being refused because they don’t accept digital authentication as a physical world identifier. “Nixu works to use the authentication methods in all channels: physical stores, mobiles, PCs and even smart TVs,” Henriksson says. “We can build easier solutions to be more secure than passwords.” COMPLIANCE LEADS TO INCREASED CUSTOMER TRUST
“Customers are becoming privacy-aware, but on the other hand you need to collect personal data about them to improve your services,” Henriksson continues. “To be able to provide personalised and relevant services to your customers, you need to be able to identify them in all channels and connect them to your data. For example, to really improve your analytics accuracy, you can’t rely on cookies, because several people may use the same computer. Is it you, your husband, or your child on the computer? We can help.” Nixu is an expert in cyber defence, digital identity management, consent management and consumer data protection – key points of the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect on 25 May 2018. “Companies are required to be compliant with regulations like GDPR and PSD2,” says Henriksson. “But our goal is not just compliance: we will help you build better business while at the same time keeping the data safe.” DAVID J. CORD
www.nixu.com 54 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
#passwordsmustdie
Jyrki Hyyrönmäki, Development Manager, Cinia
Value chains are
The next big thing in IoT Incompatibility of information systems is one of the biggest challenges in creating value chains today.
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alue chains are pieces of information from different systems that authenticate a particular chain of events. This makes it possible to monitor phases of processes in multistakeholder environments. The API economy has already demonstrated that sharing information is the key to success. “A common challenge as companies undergo digitalisation is isolation. Users need many different systems which might not communicate and work together,” says Jyrki Hyyrönmäki, Development Manager at Cinia. “We need many different service providers. The cure is getting information flow linked between systems and businesses.” Cinia provides intelligent network, cloud and software services. Their mission is to improve the customer experience, automate and modernise processes, eliminate geographical distances and ensure the reliability of critical operations in the most secure fashion.
VALUE CHAIN THINKING IS THE FUTURE
An example of this silo problem exists
in agriculture. Farmers use GPS, the logistics system is world-class, industrial machinery is reserved online, and the virtual marketplace is as efficient as any on the planet. Yet these are separate systems, built ad-hoc to meet a specific need without the whole industry in mind. “Agricultural systems are high-tech, but they are not compatible with each other,” says Hyyrönmäki. “Cinia has fought in the front line to get a solution to the problem. We see Cinia as the enabler for both a technical and business ecosystem. We act like a conduit, where everyone can send their data quickly, efficiently and safely.” Cinia has a strong experience of integrating IoT systems. Cinia Service Platform is a facilitator between all the different technical and business systems in IoT and agriculture. “There is a low barrier to use and it is easy to integrate into existing businesses and systems. There is no need to make changes to the existing solutions,” Hyyrönmäki continues. “The customers control their data and Cinia simply enables a secure way of creating value chains and linking data without creating new data storage.”
VALUE FOR THE CUSTOMER
A farmer can see the exact inputs in seed, fertiliser and fuel into each plot, as well as the output. He can reserve time at a grain dryer and plan for storage and transportation. He can follow how his business is developing and what he must do to reach his goals. “Currently a farmer can see their sum total, but not the details of their business,” Hyyrönmäki says. “Now they can see why one plot did better than another and make decisions based on firm data. And all of this is from one view instead of signing in to multiple systems.” “Agriculture is a good example of what we can do also in other industries,” Hyyrönmäki says. “Data sharing and making the systems compatible with each other improves the value chains. The customer is at the centre of our efforts, and they get the benefits of lower costs, greater efficiency and improved profitability.” DAVID J. CORD
www.cinia.fi/IoT April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 55
JUHO KUVA
Kesko’s Development Manager Hanna Kortström and Tommi Laitila, Nitor’s Chief Technology Officer
Hymy brings a smile to Kesko’s customers
Hymy means ‘smile’ in Finnish. Appropriately, it’s also the name of a highly successful customer feedback platform developed by Digital Engineering company Nitor and implemented by Finnish retail group Kesko.
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imo from Helsinki has just visited England. He was especially impressed with a particular brand of IPA beer and he hasn’t seen it on sale anywhere in Finland, not even in his local K-Market store. He decides to write a request using the Kesko Group’s online feedback service, specifying the store location. He gets an almost instant reply from the local K-food retailer saying he will look into it. Within a couple of weeks, Timo is enjoying a bottle of that special beer with his dinner. It’s this kind of swift reaction to customer feedback that is guaranteed by Hymy, provided to Kesko, one of Finland’s leading retail groups, by Helsinki-based Nitor. “We have used Hymy in our all K-food stores, nowadays more than 1,200, all over Finland since the launch in August 2016,” says Kesko’s Development Manager Hanna Kortström. “It’s a platform for efficient customer dialogue. The customer gives us feedback using, for example, a feedback form on our website or K-Ruoka mobile app, Hymy gathers it and delivers it to the right person at the right store, unit or web shop. That person will deliver an individual answer.” 56 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
“Previously a K-food retailer would have to go back to his or her work desk to check feedback,” explains Tommi Laitila, Nitor’s Chief Technology Officer. “Now they can respond to feedback anywhere and any time. The system is being improved continuously. Nitor uses agile and lean methodologies instead of big design work up front. We design and develop incrementally and use client input from user testing, involving them in designing the solution.” KEEPING IT SIMPLE
Kortström confirms that Kesko’s K-food retailers have been involved in the process from the start and keenly involved in planning sessions. “At first we looked at more complex solutions, but the store personnel said, ‘No, keep it simple’,” she says. “Our previous system wasn’t capable of use on mobile phones, for example, and the reporting wasn’t good enough. Hymy can be used wherever the users want to use it.” In 2015 Kesko’s CEO, Mikko Helander, initiated a revision of company strategy. As part of this, Kesko was to build a new system for customer feedback, and this feedback would guide all actions. “That was a crucial moment that led to choosing
Nitor to develop Hymy,” says Kortström. “It’s a uniquely customer-centric solution and it helps us gain customer insight much more easily than before.” Nitor developed the platform exclusively for its client. “Kesko owns the IPR for Hymy but we work with them continuously to improve and fine-tune it,” says Laitila. “We normally implement systems for our clients and they own the solution. Clients have an idea of what they need and we provide a minimum viable product and develop it during implementation.” Kortström praises Nitor for its cooperative approach and is happy with the results. “In a short time, customer feedback has multiplied by about 50 times. Previously it took three times longer for our customer to get his or her answer. Responses are more personalised and waiting times have been cut.” Laitila comments Kesko’s willingness to think ‘out of the box’ in choosing Hymy. “The cooperation with end-users means we have a system that is undeniably better than if we had arrived with a ready made solution.” TIM BIRD
www.nitor.com
Pengon passes
the Business Intelligence test Welcome to the world of Business Intelligence, in which companies are wising up to the potential of data analytics to achieve a competitive edge. Finnish company Pengon Oy is taking a lead in offering intelligent reporting technologies to arrange of satisfied customers.
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ccording to Pengon’s CEO Aki Autere, traditional reporting is already history. “Business Intelligence (BI) and new intelligent reporting technologies have already arrived as pioneering tools,” he says. “Data Discovery is now one of the biggest trends in analytics. It’s the term used to describe the process of processing and analyzing information and making new kinds of insights with available data. In general, Data Discovery is combined with Business Intelligence tools, but in itself it is not a tool but a new kind of behaviour and thinking.” Pengon has established itself as a reliable partner to companies aiming to harness this new approach to analyzing business data. “We help our customers to create profit and to be more productive by combining essential information and allowing the user to analyze it visually,” says Pengon’s co-founder, Chairman and Development Manager Joni Borgström. “We offer strong business intelligence know-how using the best available technologies.” Pengon Oy was founded in January 2008 when BI reporting consisted mainly of lists and printouts. Since then, says Borgström, software has developed and user needs have changed. “Today users have all data immediately available and make their analyses and visualizations, sharing them with others. “In a decade we have grown to a company with 20 employees and over 100 customers. Some years ago our goal was to make
sure that, when a potential customer is considering a BI partner, Pengon cannot be ignored. To help our customers to use Business Intelligence, we use Qlik and Microsoft PowerBI software. Pengon has a successful relationship with Qlik as being nominated Qlik Partner of the year two years in a row. We also help our customers to enter data – for example, budgeting, planning and forecasts - using K4 Analytics.” SPECIFIC DEMANDS
BI needs are more relevant than ever, because the amount of data is only going to increase and companies that are able to benefit from this increase are going to make headway. There is a great deal of competition in this field, says Borgström, but Pengon’s high level of customer satisfaction has led to an expanding customer base. “Business Intelligence needs are often quite specific, so our international competitors are often unable to help Finnish companies.” Data Discovery combines carefully processed and plain-text data processing, visualization of data, and advanced analytics. “Data is no longer just for the management of an organization, but also gives other employees the opportunity to find insight into the development of their own work and operations,” says Autere. “At the same time, self-service in reporting and information management also raises its head more and more. Self-service has clear benefits: you do not have to wait for the reports to be prepared, you do not need work queues, data is
obtained exactly when you need it and your staff can use more time for important tasks. The business environment is changing all the time and spontaneous, unplanned needs for reporting are constantly increasing. Tools should enable flexible, real-time and informational reporting to meet business needs – anywhere and at any time.” Big Data and ‘information bubbles’ are also becoming commonplace for companies. “Nowadays, it is no longer only a question of whether information is collected or whether it’s sufficiently available, but concerns are more focused on the correct use of data,” says Autere. “The problem with the tremendous quantity of information available lies in the effort required to handle it and identifying the most relevant information. This often requires multiple systems, databases, data cleanup and filtering, and ultimately even a stand-alone interface where all this information is managed. It sounds cumbersome, but intelligent BI solutions have brought a completely new perspective and technology to the processing of data.” Future information management will increasingly emphasize data-reading directly from data sources – leaving out the middleman. In other words: “Leave data where it is!” According to this scenario, data is read directly from where it originates, but in an easily understandable and internalized form. TIM BIRD
pengon.fi April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 57
Tuomas Lokki, Senior Vice President of Planmeca Group
it takes real effort to turn innovations into added value for businesses. “What makes us unique is our constant investment in R&D and close collaboration with healthcare professionals, hospitals and leading universities,” Lokki continues. “Our in-house R&D department employs more than 140 people, a mixed group of experts including software, mechanical, and electronics engineers together with usability and industrial designers.” Planmeca works closely with startups and young innovators, and participates in innovation ecosystems such as the CleverHealth Network, coordinated by the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. INVENTIONS WITH REAL BENEFITS
INNOVATION AND COLLABORATION
In a modern dental clinic, all imaging and care units are connected devices, which allows for remote maintenance and services, optimisation of resources, and data for quality assurance and traceability. “Planmeca PlanID is an example of our RFID technology. It’s a sign-in system that allows users to conveniently access their personal settings on any dental unit with a flash contactless card,” says Lokki. “Our LM Dental Tracking System allows you to track and monitor instruments and materials. This means automated traceability, logistics and infection control documentation as well as more efficiency for the staff. This technology also enables truly data-based decision-making.” A few of the advancements Lokki is particularly excited about are algorithm development and new imaging technology. The Planmeca CALM algorithm cancels the effects of patient movement during imaging. The Planmeca Ultra Low Dose imaging protocol enables CBCT imaging with an even lower effective patient dose than standard 2D panoramic imaging. “Only time will tell what other innovations Planmeca’s cooperation with dental and medical professionals around the world will give birth to,” Lokki says. “The possibilities are endless!”
Ongoing digitalisation is providing many opportunities to improve dental care, but
www.planmeca.com
Intelligent
dental care
Planmeca are using new innovations to help their customers and believe this is only the beginning.
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e are living in an exciting era,” says Tuomas Lokki, Senior Vice President of Planmeca Group. “The future will not only be digital but also mobile.” The health care industry is undergoing a shift towards data-based care. Planmeca’s solutions already provide data that improves quality assurance, traceability, optimisation of resources and remote services. “When equipment data is combined with patient-specific data even further 58 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
in the future, then we reach a new era of health care and the focus changes to preventive care, early indication and intelligent recalls,” Lokki says. Planmeca is a Finnish company who specialise in dental equipment, instruments, software, services, education and medical 2D and 3D imaging solutions. Their goal is to help customers reduce costs, boost revenue and provide better services to their patients.
Did you wash your hands? Clean office for a healthier workplace
You may have not considered that office cleaning methods have a direct link to employee’s health and sick leave rates. In Finland, five per cent of total wage costs are used to pay for sick leave*. Being able to reduce that amount by even five per cent by investing in better hygiene can generate remarkable savings for the employer.
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he general standards and knowledge of hygiene have improved steadily, and technology has also taken incremental steps forward in the cleaning industry. As such, cleaning must be even more comprehensive and take into account the spreading of viruses and other situations that require special attention. In Finland, employees take an average of 16.7 million sick-leave days annually, which means approximately three days per working-age resident.* Improved levels of hygiene during influenza outbreaks have a measurable effect on the amount of people infected. ”Poor cleaning, at its worse, can even spread around the germs in the office and public spaces. For instance, norovirus and influenza can be transmitted from, say, door handles,” says CEO Mia Jaaranen from MTB-Siivouspalvelu Oy. Jaaranen recommends intensified cleaning both at home and in the office during seasonal virus periods. How do you know when it has been cleaned properly? Particularly in places where a lot of people move around, cleanliness-verify-
ing technology should be used in addition to visual inspection. After all, germs are invisible to the naked eye. ”For example, we use UV light and other hygiene monitoring systems in our operations to make sure that the surface in question is really clean of germs and other bacteria. A wipe with a cloth is not enough, but rather, places with most manual contacts must be disinfected, preferably as frequently as possible. Intensified frequency in cleaning during the influenza period is a choice made by many of our customers,” Jaaranen explains. Jaaranen also notes the street dust that plagues persons suffering from asthma. “The spring is an especially challenging time for asthmatics working in downtown offices. It is our task to act on the customer’s pulse and react quickly – regardless of whether it is about using hypoallergenic detergents or raising the basic level of the service temporarily or permanently.”
Mia Jaaranen, CEO, MTB-Siivouspalvelu Oy
* Eurofound statistics
www.mtb.fi April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 59
JUHO KUVA
JUHO KUVA
Mika Lindqvist, Chief Underwriter and Petri Vuorinen, Chief Digital Officer at LähiTapiola
LähiTapiola sees a new era of risk management Digitalisation and the IoT can revolutionise how companies manage risk.
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he world is undergoing an intense period of change. Digitalisation is changing how we live and work, as well as how we imagine risk. “Look at autonomous cars,” says Petri Vuorinen, LähiTapiola’s Chief Digital Officer. “In twenty years self-driving cars might be so safe that an accident is almost unheard-of. It also means that the entire business of car insurance which we know of today won’t exist.” LähiTapiola specialises in lifelong security, focusing on insurance, wealth management and health. Risks will still exist in the future, but they might be different risks which are managed differently. “Many fires start in distribution boards, and you know there is a problem if the connections loosen and therefore get too hot,” says Mika Lindqvist, Chief Underwriter. “These are checked annually with a heat-sensing camera, but if you had a sensor there you would know immediately if there was a problem.” This is just one example of how our future risks can be mitigated with the help of digitalisation. LähiTapiola is curious and open-minded on how they can do their jobs better.
able to go live immediately. If an idea develops in our ecosystem, we don’t want to wait six months. Our goal is to start on day zero.” Healthcare is another sector where the company’s expertise can make an impact. They are working on virtual hospitals and care with a unified end-to-end customer experience. Lindqvist himself wears one of the most sought-after wearables in healthtech today. “We want partners,” Lindqvist says. “We have the strength and background to collect a wide set of operators and form an ecosystem. We have a unique ability to take data and make it useful for our clients and provide needed services, and for that we need partners to help add value.” FINNISH STRENGTHS
IMMEDIATELY GO LIVE
LähiTapiola traces its roots back to 1857 in Finland, and has special strengths in the market. This is particularly visible in the digitalisation of wealth management, where many customers prefer face-to-face interactions. “We are a well-rooted Finnish company,” says Vuorinen. “We have over 20 locations that offer complete lifelong security services. We are neighbours, understand the Finnish market, and have local physical and digital capabilities no one else has.” DAVID J. CORD
“We are constantly experimenting and running pilots with our partners,” Vuorinen continues. “We want to be
www.lahitapiola.fi
60 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
Welcome to Finland, PSD2!
JULIUS KONTTINEN
The Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) was implemented in Finland on 13 January 2018 by amending two laws, the Payment Services Act and the Payment Institutions Act. While the majority of the provisions of PSD2 apply already, certain provisions will take effect and shake up the payments market at a later stage.
KEY CHANGES
PSD2 changes the European payments market radically for all market participants. One key change is that PSD2 creates two new categories of payment service providers (PSPs): Payment Initiation Service Providers (PISPs) and Account Information Service Providers (AISPs) also referred as Third Party Providers. Banks must provide Third Party Providers access to their customers’ accounts with consent of their customers. “As an outcome, PISPs are able to initiate payments on behalf of their customers and AISPs can for example combine their customers’ account information from several banks into one overview. By this way, open banking is made possible,” explains Hanna-Mari Manninen, Partner at Dittmar & Indrenius. CURRENT STATUS
Finland was among the first Member States to implement PSD2. However, customers will have to wait for the new services also in Finland, as PISPs will first need to apply for authorisation and AISPs register with the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA). Also existing PSPs have to demonstrate to the FIN-FSA that they comply with the PSD2 requirements before offering new services. Most importantly, some of the security-related provisions of PSD2 are not yet applicable. These provisions, as specified in the Technical Standards on Strong Customer Authentication and Common and Secure Communication (SCA-RTS), will take effect only after a transitional period in September 2019. “During this time, banks are not yet required to provide dedicated interfaces to allow Third Party Providers to access customer accounts. Consequently, the ground has not yet shaken because of PSD2 and interim solutions for the account access are discussed also in Finland,” says Manninen. FURTHER GUIDANCE
Both the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the FINFSA issue further guidance and encourage market participants to comply with the SCA-RTS already before the end of the transitional period. The FIN-FSA has also established a PSD2 Monitoring Group which aims to discuss interpretation issues in Finland during the transitional period. Although open questions remain, most of the changes introduced by PSD2 apply. Such changes include e.g. limits on costs for card payments, better consumer protection against fraud and new reporting requirements for PSPs. Manninen concludes: “These provisions reflect the fact that PSD2 is relevant for anyone active in the payments market already now.” TUOMAS HAAVIKKO & HANNA-MARI MANNINEN
Hanna-Mari Manninen advises market participants on a full range of PSD2 related matters at Dittmar & Indrenius. She also heads the firm's Corporate Advisory, Compliance & CSR practice.
We at Dittmar & Indrenius are happy to assist with any questions regarding PSD2 and its national implementation including regulatory compliance and necessary authorisations in Finland.
www.dittmar.fi
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 61
PASI HAKALA, STUDIO VARJO
Protacon makes digitalisation practical A Finnish company has proven how digitalisation can revolutionise supply chain management.
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ounded in 1990, Protacon have more than 300 technology experts serving technology adaptation for business customers globally through their offices in Finland and China. One of Protacon areas of expertise is working with different kinds of huge material supply chains. “Our main industrial customers are pulp and paper companies, energy companies and marine and shipping firms,” explains Protacon Group Ltd. CEO Timo Akselin. “We help local and international firms to digitise their supply chain in power plants, waste-to-energy projects and similar ventures. Digitalisation plays major role with our customer business.” DITCH THE SPREADSHEETS
Traditionally, the way to handle supply chains is to use phone, fax and emails for order-delivery functions. It is all tracked and calculated with spreadsheets, and is prone to normal human errors. “It is a huge amount of work when you do it the old school way,” Akselin says. “It is not unusual to see a spreadsheet pro62 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
gram with 20 or 30 pages, trying to handle stocks, incoming and outgoing loads, timing of trucks unloaded at the site, emission reports and the management of payments between parties.” Protacon puts digitalisation into practical use, putting innovative solutions to work in helping their customers improve their supply chain solutions and their bottom line. Their Protacon Once service is a complete fuel supply chain administration system for energy production. “In energy production we provide fuel logistics handling with an ecosystem platform,” Akselin continues. “The platform also enables the production and emissions reporting of energy plants or entities, as well as transaction reports between members of the whole ecosystem. Services are mainly provided as a SaaS service.” BENEFITS OF THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Protacon’s solution provides a steady material flow to the plant, asset management, fuel origin and traceability, payments for deliveries and calculation
and reporting for taxes, subsidies and emissions.
“It is an easier way to control the whole supply chain with lower total costs and higher efficiency,” says Akselin. They help global pulp & paper customers who need production automation and sectional drive renewal projects, or need solutions in roll handling automation or production intelligence. In the maritime sector Protacon delivers automation renewals and propulsion drive renewals by digitising old drives and generators. They even supply hybrid drive solutions for vessels. “We lead the way into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, putting digitalisation into practical use and playing an active role in the creation of the new world of services,” Akselin says. DAVID J. CORD www.protacon.com
Improving the use of capital WITH COMMON SENSE Ikano Bank brings more financing options to businesses with their finance leasing offer, as it is now possible to lease from office furniture to transport vehicles.
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kano Group, which has its origins in the IKEA Group, and Ikano Bank have a similar speed and convenience principle as the furniture business: a convenient solution can be found fast to various needs. In the rest of the world, the use of finance lease has been a daily custom. ”A few years ago we started noticing similar tendencies in Finland, and now as we are experiencing rapid economic growth, I’m happy to say that we receive a lot of inquiries about our services," says Ikano Bank’s Finnish subsidiary B2B Sales Director, Toni Halme.
nancing sector we have offered B2B leasing since 2014," Halme elaborates. It is possible to get finance lease from Ikano Bank from movable to fixed assets, from office furniture to heavy equipment. ”Furniture in your company’s meeting room doesn’t produce anything. You can even buy the office’s coffee machine with finance lease. Theme restaurant Fiftari acquired a bowling alley with our financing. We understood the entrepreneur’s vision and business potential straight away, and wanted to be a part of their future success story.“ PÄIVI REMES
WITH COMMON SENSE, FAST AND AGILE
ikanobank.fi
The Finnish financing market, viewed especially from the entrepreneurial point-of-view, has been very stable for a long time. ”We emphasize using common sense and we always strive to make things as simply and transparently as possible. Our customer doesn’t need to be a professional of the financing sector. It is something that our customers should leave to us, with utmost confidence.” At last, the forecast for financial growth is good in Finland. ”Now is the time to invest and make full use of the economic growth. This growth is visible in our bank, as the leasing market usually correlates with the growth of the GDP.” A CLEAR MESSAGE
Halme has a clear message to entrepreneurs: ”Typically, when the economy experiences growth, businesses have a crucial window of opportunity – a lot of orders come in, but the equipment isn’t always up to date and there is a lack of capital. It might not be sensible to tie your capital into machines and equipment, so that your company can deliver increased orders on hand. Instead of using your cash liquidity in investments, perhaps you could hire a new employee.” The culture of ownership, which has been so predominant in Finland, is now beginning to crumple. ”Equipment doesn’t need to be in a company’s balance sheet anymore, but it’s prudent to use money in those areas, where it benefits the most," Halme underlines. Ikano Bank is not a newcomer in the financing sector. ”Our bank celebrates its 30th anniversary, and besides Nordics we operate in the Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Poland and Russia. In Finland, we have been active in the consumer financing sector since 2004. In the business fiApril – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 63
More creative thinking is needed in Customer selection
We can use payment data to predict customers’ future behaviour, but we could also use the data to develop business models that stand out and attract customers.
SOME 70 PER CENT OF CONSUMERS ARE WILLING TO PROVIDE THEIR PAYMENT INFORMATION
In Finland, credit decisions are mainly based on public credit reports, in addi64 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
tion to information from the applicant. This data only indicates payment defaults, which are usually registered after a long period, as a result of a legal collection process. Many customers are left without the product or service that they would like as positive credit decision requires clean record – that is: no payment default entries. The process does not consider all the data that could tell more about them as payers and their recent payment ability. “In our experience, Finnish consumers are willing to allow their information to be used more extensively if this is done transparently and ensures fairer and more reliable decisions,” says Ylinen. In a six-month service pilot by Lindorff, 70 per cent of credit applicants were willing to have their payment history disclosed to the credit provider as part of the application process when this option was actively offered to the applicants. Many of them consented even if previous delays in payments had been recorded in their information. “Instead of immediately rejecting customers or credit applicants with payment default entry, it’s possible to predict their future behaviour in more sophisticated way.” More versatile use of payment data also enables consumers to provide service and credit providers with current information about how they act as paying customers.
“Modern consumers appreciate the opportunity to influence decisions that affect them and to ensure fairness,” Juho Ylinen says. SILJA SARKAMO
VESA-MATTI VÄÄRÄ
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redit decisions are still made based on insufficient information that reacts slowly to changes. This concerns retail, services and the financial sector alike,” says commercial director Juho Ylinen from Lindorff. At the same time, more real-time data is available on customers’ payment behaviour than ever before. Also customers are willing to allow creditors and service providers to access this data, especially if they will get benefits from it. The models for selecting customers and making credit decisions are still based primarily on risk management, while they should be seen more comprehensively in terms of sustainable business and competitiveness factors. “The more competition there is in the sector, the more important it is to examine this aspect more creatively than before, as this allows companies and creditors to identify good customer groups that are overlooked by others. This calls for innovative thinking, but also for data that responds rapidly to changes,” says Juho Ylinen.
Payment data offer an opportunity to stand out from the competition: to provide various consumer groups with services and benefits that others are not offering, says Juho Ylinen from Lindorff.
THE FUTURE OF US
In his 1776 book, Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith recognized that in order to succeed, specialization and concentration of human capital is one key component. Individuals are still, nearly 300 years later, in the center of any successful organizations. But in his world, these jobs and roles were thought in line organization manner, lot has changed.
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hen I look at the world now, and where it is headed, I see a path for change from traditional way people conceive work. As information is de-centralized, it allows equal access to obtain it. At the same time automation is elevating people from doing menial jobs, to doing meaningful jobs. If everything is automated and robotized to the maximum, it will allow people to pursue their self-actualization – the very tip of the pyramid in Maslow’s hierarchy.
If there was only way to fund your dreams and find right people… In the past decades, wealth and opportunities for individual success has been greatly unbalanced (note: not unfair). Major reason for this has been contribut-
ed to legislation that favors corporations and to the change from traditional manufacturing to more scalable immaterial (digital) domain. In the mean time allowing capital to move more freely from one place to another, when traditional workforce and manufacturing aren’t able to move easily - but are locked in geographical terms. In here, I see technology once again being the obstreperous factor, this will change the markets and the way wealth can be distributed. In the recent years different kind of peer-to-peer (p2p) platforms and networks have risen. These have given people access to getting loans, insurances, services and products from individuals, removing the middle-man (e.g. financial institutes). Also, circular economy allows people to earn from products they own, for instance your car, home or special skill set that individual has – as long as there is access to this information flow anyone can be a freelancer.
As these platforms and mechanics in-crease in the future, in a world where people are more sensitive from ecological and economical perspective, these kinds of new routes to distribute and gather wealth will disrupt the societies where we live in. The future world will be more balanced and allow people to take more control of their lives instead of giving the control to outside entities and organizations. Only clear constants growing even bigger, are being the ones who move the bits and control the data flow.
____________________________________ Teemu Uotila CEO, Futurist, Creative Strategist Contact: teemu.uotila@vincit.com +358 40 482 1965 www.linkedin.com/in/tuotila April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 65
SERVUS
– THE BEST SOFTWARE for managing and improving organizations's daily security activities
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asy-to-read reports and statistics of Servus give top management an overview of the security situation of the entire organization. By using this information management defines policies on how to develop security. To the head of security, Servus highlights performance of security activities and points out development needs. The collected data is generated directly from operational level. Servus makes security activities consistent and improves performance. Servus-users will automatically receive reminders on important events. Information is available from one database, making daily security routines easier and faster.
PROPENTUS
leads the way in identity management How and why do people, devices, things and information connect in your organisation?
A • Visitor visa and access management for high security sites and rooms • Managing Personal Security Clearances and Facility Security Clearances • Managing keys, locks and valuable assets • Key inventorying • High quality electronic cabinets and boxes • Device register • Organize maintenance and resources • Helpdesk and SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) • Discover and report security risks www.servus.fi
66 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
company must properly manage identity and access to their systems. Propentus has specialised in access right management since 2003 and now, as part of Telia, they have even more resources to offer turnkey services. “We have built an Enterprise Resource Authorisation system which manages all the resources and their lifecycles in one vault, as well as connecting this information to smart access rights management,” says Sami Laaksonen, Director of Marketing and Partner Management at Propentus. Propentus United Identity helps you connect people, things, information, devices, applications and business processes – securing access to the right resources regardless of time, place or device. It allows for enterprise resource management, stakeholder management, authorisations management, key and access control, and governance and reporting. “The benefits are improved security, increased efficiencies and compliance,” Laaksonen continues. “The GDPR comes into force on 25 May 2018. This is the most important change in privacy regulations in decades, and everyone has to protect their end users. As unbelievable as it may sound, while we help organisations to be compliant we generate huge savings.” DAVID J. CORD www.propentus.com
BAMSE FORSTÉN
Sebastian Boman, Ingmar Söderblom ja Mikael Sarpaneva get prepared for a gig like it was a hockey game; a team pushing one another to achieve a best possible result.
An Ancient Area of Business,
a New Way of Doing it With companies searching for new business models, innovations and market areas, some see opportunities in more traditional fields. Originally, Grabbarna Flytt was just a hobby of three 20-year-old guys – a way for a group of friends to hang out, exercise and lift heavy stuff and earn some pocket money while studying.
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hat started out as a sport in 2015 has grown to a highly profitable moving and logistics business. In three years, with a turnover of half a million and a team of 50 guys, the company has expanded from Helsinki to Turku and Stockholm. “Basically, what we’re doing is as old as water; we move stuff out of the house and we carry them back in. The moving business isn’t considered to be a particularly arousing and fun field of work. We are breaking the perception of how people see the movers. We value customer service and we always start by tailoring the moves with a pledge that everything can be solved,” Ingmar Söderblom, the Regional Manager of Helsinki at Grabbarna Flytt, explains. In addition to the brisk branding and marketing, Grabbarna Flytt stands out of other moving agencies because of its multilingual skills of competence. “The idea of hiring a stranger to wrap up and move your personal belongings can make you feel a bit uncomfortable. It
can be surprisingly decisive to get friendly and respectful moving aid in your native tongue. We offer our service in Finnish, Swedish and English. Also, if you want to move as effectively as possible, it’s crucial to have a team that consists of local guys who know the streets and traffic zones thoroughly,” Söderblom remarks. LIKE A HOCKEY TEAM
In general, if you think about moving, the image isn’t exactly spellbinding. It’s hardcore and often frustrating load of work. How does Grabbarna Flytt make it seem so much fun? “It’s like getting ready for a hockey game; a team pushes each other to accomplish a best possible performance. We have a low hierarchy in our company and every one of us has done at least 100 hours of moving, no matter your job description. I can totally relate to those guys who just went out from that door to make a gig in a freezing cold weather,” Söderblom describes. But in the end, according to Söderbolm, the most memorable gigs are the ones where you have to carry that 250-ki-
logram piano up a narrow spiral staircase all the way to the eight floor. “Personally, the number one moving experience was a gig from Stockholm to Monaco with Mikael and Oskar. Those were the early days in 2015, we were young and enthusiastic, and I guess that’s what made us through the 2 500-kilometre drive there and back. We even slept in the moving van – one of the sacrifices we needed to make to get some hype around our market entry,” Söderbolm grins. The future looks as bright as the past for Grabbarna Flytt. The two new market areas are thriving both inland and overseas. People are moving from one place to another – as they were back in the days and as they are in the days to come. “The core work of moving business won’t fade away with automatization and this is a growing trade. The main issue is to grow within the limits allowed by our capacity. For starters, let’s just raise the sales to one million per each three market areas,” Söderbolm smiles. PAULIINA TOIVANEN
www.grabbarnaflytt.fi
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 67
JUHO KUVA
KAIROS
– BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER Kasvutoimisto Kairos helps managers and leaders to develop the functionality and structures of their organizations to resonate better with the realities of work, now and in the future. The company aims to redesign and coach organizations for engagement, success and growth.
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igitalization is having a huge impact on businesses and organizations but it is not possible to act in the ever-changing business environment without new ways of managing and leading people. Kairos offers the digital tools that can help the renewal process in many ways. Kasvutoimisto Kairos is a company within the Finnish Institute of Marketing group and founded in 2017. The Kairos concept is firmly based on the latest digital learning tools. But this is neither a conventional tech outfit nor a traditional e-learning company, but rather one that is fascinated in how to utilize new digital learning opportunities across an organizational environment in need of holistic change. “In these turbulent and complex times, changing structure and design has become a topical challenge for many organizations,” says Marjo Silvo, CEO of Kairos. “Many recognize the increased need to refresh the way they do things, but often fail to address problems that need addressing in order to operate smoothly. Redesign and learning efforts might only identify isolated issues that do not fix the overall system.” The very first step on this journey is to recognize the need for change and find an appropriate and open attitude for change. 68 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
The tools for organizational design create a holistic picture of a company’s current situation, asking the crucial question: What are the key tensions as well as the bright spots? “Companies might seek the solutions for challenges through different organizational paradigms, like transparency, reduced hierarchy and network-based work, while at the same time enhancing the skills needed in these new settings,” Silvo explains. “That’s where Kairos Vision and Digital Learning Sprints step in, with the guidance of a Kairos Mobile Coach to form a comprehensive set of tools that support a company through the process of recognizing the initial need for change and putting it into practice.” POOLING POINTS OF VIEW
Kairos Vision sheds daylight on how a company operates at different levels. The approach pays extra attention to hidden structures and organizational culture. People are brought together to offer their points of view. Using this information and insights, organizations are supported in their quest to find the right direction and the next steps that they need to take. Digital Learning Sprints are a unique new approach to learning. The concept draws on the world of agile development
in the software industry. Learning sprints make it possible to tackle those challenges that have emerged previously. Learning proceeds over two to three week periods, gradually, and taking one topic at a time. The Learning Sprint is a digital resource, so it is easy to implement in daily work. In each case, a valid set of sprints is chosen together with the client. Learners collaborate in small groups, sharing ideas and building a common understanding together as well as solving real life problems by using the digital platform. Sprint contents are targeted to people in leadership and expert positions. Kairos also works on the prediction that chatbots will have a significant and positive impact on the field of education. The Kairos Leadership mobile coach is an easy-to-use chatbot-powered app for smart phones that offers insightful coaching sessions through a rule-based chat user interface. Users are able to utilize available micro moments of their busy lives, deciding a development rate that’s appropriate. They are also given tasks that they can apply in real life. This solution works as a standalone product and can accompany a larger learning process too. TIM BIRD www.kasvukairos.fi
Knowledge holds the key to change Most successful and forward-looking companies have one thing in common: they cannot afford to sit still or rest on their laurels. Finnish IT company Arcusys offers support in monitoring and analysing the frequent and far-reaching changes that organizations undergo.
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he competence and knowledge of any workforce dictate how quickly and efficiently a company can adapt to processes of digitalization and frequent acquisitions, for example. According to its CEO Jussi Hurskainen, the mission of Finnish digital learning leader Arcusys is to bring those assets to the fore. “If a retail company, for example, can increase the product knowledge of its retailer network, it can expect to see some increase in sales,” says Hurskainen. KNOWLEDGE INFLUENCES OUTCOME
Arcusys provides its learning support by means of the Valamis – Learning Experience Platform, a cost-effective solution that manages and monitors the learning and development of any given organization and provides the tools for analysing learning outcomes. Valamis can be adapted to the specific needs of different companies and organizations that are experiencing various, often very sudden changes in their business environment, from digital transformation to changing regulations and shifts in company structure due to acquisition. “People need to adapt to new ways of working,” says Hurskainen. “They need to be trained or retrained. We need to measure how well people know what’s going on in any transformation. For example, after an acquisition it’s necessary to get the whole organization informed about what’s going on. You need to train the existing staff so that they have the knowledge about the acquired company, and you need to inform the acquired staff about their new ‘parent’.” The analysis that follows can help to identify problems or obstacles to the learning process sooner rather than later.
He refers to the Finnish Abloy security company, a household name for locks and keys in Finland and globally, as a good customer example of how Valamis is put into practice. “Abloy has a big international network of reseller partners authorized as Abloy locksmiths. Previously, the company called in the locksmiths for week-long classroom training and certification sessions at their headquarters in Joensuu, Finland. This training consists of code of conduct training and compliance training for example, all of which can be done electronically. By using Valamis, the company is able to cut this period to just two days, which is obviously much more cost-efficient.” Hurskainen also mentions the Amadeus travel reservation company as a significant Valamis customer. Amadeus provides training and e-Learning for airport ground handlers, for example, as well as other users of its services. Arcusys claims a wide portfolio of customers who have gained benefits from its digital communications solutions, including but not only Valamis. These range from an online conscript training service for the Finnish Defence Forces and a competence and qualifications management model for healthcare product company Phillips-Medisize to a web portal design for the Parks & Wildlife Finland’s site. “Top management know that skills and competencies bring results,” says Hurskainen. “We can help them to monitor and measure those assets and help them to improve in a fast-changing business environment.” TIM BIRD www.arcusys.com
JUHO KUVA
COST-EFFICIENCY
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 69
JUHO KUVA
Ari Matula, Sales Director at Provad and Tomi Korpaeus, Senior Business Designer
Hi!
I’m ready to help you Provad uses innovative technology and best practices to turn customer service into a competitive advantage.
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our customer service organisation is the most important part of your company,” says Tomi Korpaeus, Senior Business Designer at Provad. “It is here that you meet your customers and represent yourself. If you want to know how business is going: ask your customer service agents.”
We work with any organisation that has a lot of customer contacts from multiple channels. Formed in 2003, Provad provides technology and best practices for the new era of customer service. Their philosophy is that the best customer experience comes when an empathetic human touch is unified with advanced customer service systems, boosted with robotic, natural language-processing and -understanding with machine learning. 70 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
FINLAND’S FIRST VIRTUAL
CREATING HAPPY SUPERAGENTS
CUSTOMER SERVICE AGENT
LOTTA was rolled out in 2016 and is being continually refined, including with machine learning and natural language processing. Over 3,000 agents have used Provad’s solutions in about 100 million interactions per year. “We work with any organisation that has a lot of customer contacts from multiple channels,” Matula explains. “Today they need 24/7 support, because that is what the consumer expects.” Provad likes to say they turn agents into superagents, saving them time and effort so they are able to use empathy and intuitiveness to really satisfy the customer. “We help our clients change their customer service processes from reactive to proactive,” Korpaeus says. “Not only do we want our clients to have happy customers, we want them to have happy customer service agents. We want to make their jobs better, more productive and more rewarding.” DAVID J. CORD
One of Provad’s key solutions is LOTTA, a virtual customer service platform. LOTTA automates routine tasks, freeing your workers for more value-added work. LOTTA also works like an assistant, providing your agents with all the information they need to know, no matter where it came from. “Your customers are still picking up the phone to call you like they did years ago,” points out Ari Matula, Provad Sales Director. “What is changing is they are also sending chat, SMSs, emails, Tweets, posting on your Facebook page… they are contacting you in many new channels.” Provad can provide a multi-channel customer service solution. Your customer service agent can handle customer contacts from any channel with the right information, accurately creating an effortless experience for your end customer. “This will reduce costs, increase efficiency, give better customer service, improve customer loyalty and allow you to sell more,” Korpaeus says. “After implementing our tech efficiency can improve 40 per cent.”
www.provad.fi
THE BIGGER THE CONTRACT, THE BIGGER THE RISK
Sami Rintala gives some tips to avoid the pitfalls in large system renewal plans.
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enewing a major system like an ERP is a huge project. When it goes wrong, it can go really wrong. Sami Rintala, partner at the Lexia law firm, gives his philosophy on how to avoid problems and make sure your new system renewal project is a success.
GET STARTED RIGHT
“You need to be careful right from the initial planning stages,” Rintala says. “You need to properly define your vision, strategy and concrete objectives for the project.” He stresses the importance of stakeholder alignment. All the key persons in management need to understand the project and be engaged in it. Rintala counsels his clients to make precise definitions of what they want and what they are about to buy. Use as many out-ofthe-box functionalities as you can, and only customise when there is a clear business benefit. “Large projects easily become too extensive, so consider using Agile or SAFe-project methodology for developing and rolling out the system in increments,” he points out. QUALITY > PRICE
“Test carefully and for as long as necessary,” says Rintala. “Testing costs, but so do delivery problems and delays. When it is time for the roll-out, do it in stages, starting with part of the system that has the smallest adverse impact on your business should the roll-out not be a success.” He recommends his clients make their choices based on quality, technical and
functional fit, not solely the price. They should clarify unclear issues in the contract and spend the time necessary to get it right. In Rintala’s view contractual terms and conditions must be adapted to the needs and requirements of business enterprises – not the other way around. “Also, remember there is a time after delivery as well,” Rintala continues. “Errors should be fixed under warranty and the systems need to be maintained and supported as well.” TOO IMPORTANT TO DELEGATE
One of Rintala’s clients is the insurance company LähiTapiola, who he has consulted in regards to major agreements. “Large projects are difficult not only to run, but also to buy and make an agreement,” says Mikko Vastela, CIO of LähiTapiola Group. “Although our vision and goal are clear, the sheer size of a project makes it impossible to agree on every detail. That leads to an agile and incremental approach where decisions and definitions are made in short cycles. That, in turn, makes it difficult to construct an agreement that is clear and transparent to all parties. There are always many different paths to the goal, and it is essential to build a trust between partners on how to work together and how different challenges are to be overcome.” “Those involved need to understand what is at stake – your company and your job – so it is too important to delegate,” Rintala concludes. “A new ERP is like open heart surgery, and the company is the patient.” DAVID J. CORD www.lexia.fi
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 71
TIIA TAMMINEN
How to combine international growth, responsibility and fun?
Camaleonte has the recipe Forget “compliance”, “GRI Standards”, “CSR”, and “SDGs”. Instead, bake the purpose within your company´s value proposal, and don´t be afraid to tackle tough problems with real people. And for the fun part, contact Camaleonte.
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amaleonte is a pioneering company in the Nordics by providing solutions for sustainable and inclusive business. Since 2014, Camaleonte has helped companies to grow their business by making purpose profitable, and by identifying new clients and markets in Europe and Latin America. Two of the most fascinating projects Camaleonte currently works on combine international growth, meaningful business, and sustainability. In Peru, Camaleonte is preparing the market entry of two international companies working in high-quality, renewable and clean energy solutions. The Peruvian market has no appetite for conventional energy technology. Instead the country, as many others in the region, craves for novel approaches able to solve tricky problems in some of the most remote places in a cost-efficient, environmentally and culturally appropriate way. Whether in an industry camp at 5,000 meters above sea level in the Andean mountains, or in an indigenous communi72 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
ty deep in the Amazon rainforest, business and technology have to meet real needs, be reliable, socially and environmentally sound – and profitable. Another exciting project is in its research phase: In Italy, Camaleonte examines the new frontiers of sustainable tourism. Since the mid-1980s, when Carlo Petrini founded the Slow Food movement, Piedmont Region has spearheaded locally-driven, sustainable practices in food production and consumption. But what can tourism and the hospitality industry, in particular, learn from the millions of people in 160 countries who advocate for good, clean and fair food? With disruptive business models based on sharing economy, modern-day tourism is in crossroads. How will the mounting number of Asian and senior tourists reshape global travel, and who will be the next to break through with responsible innovation? The research on new trends and challenges in sustainable travel is carried out jointly with Master´s students from Hanken School of Economics, one of the best business schools in the Nordics.
Far from fancy meeting rooms, glossy strategy papers and complicated business jargon, sustainable and inclusive business is being turned into reality every day. Camaleonte brings these opportunities to you and has your back. www.camaleonte.fi
CAMALEONTE´S B2B SERVICES INCLUDE E.G. • Internationalization: Identification of responsible partners, clients and distribution channels; In-country studies and services; Training in cross-cultural business • Project leadership • Stakeholder and community relations management; Consultations • Co-creation of shared value proposals from business perspective • Technical assistance in measuring and reporting about short-term effects and long-term social and environmental impact
MARKO NILONI
KalPa Invest Oy owners Satu & Sami Kapanen, Kuopio
Character & Creativity KalPa Invest Oy and KalPa Hockey Oy have been coexisting side-by-side for a decade. Two years ago, a unified strategic network was created on the basis of the two companies’ objectives. This can be seen both in the results and day-to-day interactions.
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alPa Invest has re-built itself over the past two years. Still keeping the primary stress in investments, now also financial management services are provided, as well as Sami Kapanen’s experience-based know-how on constructive management/coaching. KalPa Invest guarantees clear elements in operating environments, where functioning is often more challenging due to erratic surroundings. Over the years we have learned the importance of firm building blocks and innovative mindset. Learning from past experiences has been crucial for providing the courage to change the company structurally. These changes have allowed the development of the company’s operations, as well as formed the basis for successful years. The need to develop the company’s operations usually come from spontaneous and sudden adaptation needs. Innovative functioning doesn’t exclude considered actions
either, as long as it’s based on situationally required know-how. The importance of performance management shouldn’t be underestimated. An environment that secures development can be guaranteed with it, and at its finest, the toughest critique is the performer him/herself. Openness and excitement are the building blocks of work motivation for us. Operating environment creates its own demands, and optimal performances are pursued even without intent, but everything shouldn’t be based just on execution alone. Behind humanly factors there are always more questions than answers, as there should be. When work meets its maker, the situation is naturally favorable. No-one can externally ignite the flame that people have light up inside themselves. Because of this, we vouch for personal and natural resources, but also in the acts that support them. Whether it’s about leading people or numbers, in the end, the tangible operating and values are measured.
The ones who find happiness are the ones who don’t make excuses. If it’s broken, they fix it. If it’s wrong, they make it right.
Financial Management Services Satu Kapanen Management & Coaching Education Sami Kapanen. Inquiries and lecture bookings: kalpa.invest@gmail.com.
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 73
NOKKELAA PELIÄ KOLOLTA KOLOLLE.
GOLFKURSSI JA KAHDEN VIIKON PELIT
99€
JÄSENYYS JA PELIOIKEUS
448€ ALLE 29 V.
JÄSENYYS JA PELIOIKEUS
898€ AIKUISILLE
Nevas Golfissa on kolme 9-reikäistä kenttää: Kettu, Karppi ja Rapu. Pelaa kerralla vain puolikas tai vaikkapa puolitoista kenttää – ihan oman aikasi puitteissa. Kenttämme soveltuu niin huippupelaajille kuin vastaalkajillekin. Meillä saat golfata luonnonrauhassa, vaikka sijaitsemmekin vain 30 minuutin ajomatkan päässä Helsingistä.
NEVAS GOLF – Luonnollinen lajivalinta. Sprängmanintie 79, 01150 Söderkulla 010 400 6400 ng@nevasgolf.fi
74 BUSINESS CLASS April – June 2018
NEVASGOLF.FI
Southern Finland’s Finest Business Resorts
ROYAL RESORTS Billnäs Ruukki is a unique meeting venue located on a beautiful riverbank. The historical ironworks buildings have been converted into lodging, meeting, and event facilities. • • • •
BILLNÄS
Meeting facilities for 10–100 persons Lodging for 48 persons (22 rooms) Luxurious venue. Banquet facilities for up to 300 people Corporate events, festivities/weddings
BILLNÄS RUUKKI, Ruukintie 8, 10330 Billnäs (80km from Helsinki) www.billnas.fi • Sales: +358 400 666 654, myyntipalvelu@billnas.fi
Kieloranta is a stylish meeting venue near Hämeenlinna. Kieloranta was selected a finalist at Evento Magazine’s ”Best event venue of 2017” competition. • Meeting facilities for 10-100 persons • Lodging for 35 persons (16 rooms) • Four saunas including spa, two Jacuzzis, private beach, lakefront sauna, covered barbeque area, giant teepee • Corporate events, festivities/weddings
KIELORANTA
KIELORANTA, Järviöistentie 265, 13500 Hämeenlinna (108km from Helsinki)
www.kieloranta.fi • Sales: +358 400 666 654, info@kieloranta.fi
Boistö is a unique island, previously a home to a sea pilot station. The island and its buildings have been converted into a high quality meeting venue. • • • •
BOISTÖ
Meeting facilities for 10–35 persons, Lodging for 30 persons (15 rooms) Luxurious sauna and a seaside hot tub Unique Baltic island venue for exclusive private use Overnight stay for corporate meetings and get-togethers
BOISTÖ PILOT ISLAND outside Loviisa (105km from Helsinki +15 minute boat trip)
www.boisto.fi • Sales: +358 400 666 654, boisto@boisto.fi
April – June 2018 BUSINESS CLASS 75
OPEN
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LOUNGES, MEETING, WORK & OFFICE SPACES VIDEOCONFERENCING, CATERING BUSINESS CENTER SERVICES SECURE & CONFIDENTIAL 24/7
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+358 10 5011 501
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