Project Scope
- Scope: group-wide rollout across approx. 13 entities
- User base: approx. 25 active users from Finance, Management, Operations and adjacent business functions
- Initial structure: fragmented reporting and data landscape with limited use of existing Qlik structures, manual reporting processes and no central data warehouse
- Target structure: central reporting, data and integration architecture based on Power BI, Microsoft Fabric and MuleSoft
- Focus: business intelligence, data warehouse, KPI architecture, data integration, process automation, reporting governance and data-driven management steering
Initial Situation
The existing reporting and data landscape had grown historically and was only partially scalable. Some Qlik reports existed, but they were used only to a limited extent, were partly no longer actively maintained and did not sufficiently meet the requirements of a growing group structure.
There was no central data warehouse. Data was distributed across different systems, entities and business functions. As a result, reporting was often manual, time-consuming and only partially comparable.
At the same time, the need for group-wide reporting, reliable KPI structures, better data availability and automated data flows increased significantly. The objective was to connect finance, operations, sales and PSP-related data more effectively and make it usable for management, controlling and operational steering.
Complexity
The core challenge was to solve several topics at the same time: replacing existing BI structures, introducing a new reporting platform, establishing a data warehouse approach and standardizing data flows across multiple entities.
Particularly complex were:
- migration of existing Qlik reports into a new Power BI structure
- development of new reports, data models and KPI logic
- introduction of Microsoft Fabric as a new data and analytics platform
- creation of a more centralized data foundation for group-wide reporting
- integration of data from different entities, systems and business functions
- consolidation of individual automation approaches and stronger integration of central data flows through MuleSoft
- standardization of data models, access logic and reporting structures
- connection of finance data with operational information from Sales, Operations and PSP structures
- ensuring data quality, timeliness, governance and practical usability
Implementation
The project was implemented as a group-wide systems, data and process initiative. The focus was not the implementation of individual tools, but the development of a scalable architecture for reporting, data integration and automated steering processes.
Existing Qlik reports were first analyzed, functionally assessed and either migrated into a new Power BI structure or rebuilt from scratch. This included not only migrating existing reports, but also creating new analytical logic, KPI structures and management views.
In parallel, Microsoft Fabric was introduced as the foundation for a more centralized data architecture. The objective was to make data from different systems, entities and business functions structurally available and usable for reporting, BI, analytics and further automation.
Another key focus was the integration and automation of data flows. Existing automation approaches were consolidated and increasingly transferred into MuleSoft to set up interfaces, data flows and process logic in a more robust, scalable and controllable way.
Role & Contribution
My focus was on the functional, commercial and structural steering of the transformation, as well as connecting business requirements, finance steering and technical implementation.
This included:
- conceptual design of the target structure for group-wide reporting, data provisioning and BI
- steering the migration from existing Qlik structures to Power BI
- definition of functional requirements for reports, KPI structures and management views
- introduction and functional embedding of Microsoft Fabric as the new data foundation
- structuring data flows between entities, systems and business functions
- decision to consolidate automation approaches and increase the use of MuleSoft
- alignment between Finance, Operations, Sales, PSP functions, IT and external partners
- ensuring that the new system landscape did not only work technically, but actively supported operational steering and management decisions
Result & Impact
The project created the foundation for a significantly more modern, scalable and data-driven management steering model.
Key effects included the replacement of fragmented reporting structures, the introduction of a central Power BI-based reporting environment and the development of a new data foundation through Microsoft Fabric.
By integrating data flows more strongly through MuleSoft, manual interfaces could be reduced, data processes standardized and reporting made available faster. At the same time, the project created a much stronger basis for group-wide reports, management dashboards, KPI steering and operational transparency.
The new architecture improved the connection between finance data and operational information from Sales, Operations and PSP structures. This made it possible to better analyze relationships between revenue, costs, productivity, payment flows and operational performance and use them for management decisions.