Norconsult AB’s CFO explains how moving to Deltek ERP has helped create value for their customers

 Tweet it: 'Norconsult AB’s CFO Explains How Moving To Deltek ERP Has Helped Create Value For Their Customers'

Norconsult is one of the leading multidisciplinary consultancy firms in the Nordics. With over 4,400 people delivering community planning and design projects, the company has become a leading player both nationally and internationally with 96 offices across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Poland.

In order to maintain its high standards of project execution and continue to evolve in an agile and scalable environment, Norconsult collaborated with Deltek to transform its internal business infrastructure with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

In this interview, Katarina Strivall, Chief Financial Officer of Norconsult AB in Sweden, explains how the firm has embarked  on a digital transformation journey and how  that has helped power client value creation.

Can you tell us who Norconsult is and your role within the firm?

Katarina Strivall: Norconsult is an employee-owned company headquartered in Norway. We have around 840 employees across 30 offices in Sweden and we focus on bringing sustainability into everything that we do. Our business concept is to sell qualified architectural, environmental and technical consulting services in the architecture, construction, real estate, energy, IT infrastructure and environmental industries.

I joined the company in 2012 as Chief Financial Officer for the Swedish branch. I lead the strategic technology decision to ensure our employees are equipped with the best tools to perform and I focus my time on improving operations and profits, strategic planning and business transformation.

What problem(s) were you trying to solve that prompted you to look for a new solution?

Katarina Strivall: Norconsult AB and Deltek Maconomy have a long-standing relationship that started over ten years ago,  before I joined the company. Before this new collaboration, the firm realised they had outgrown the system in place. They were sitting on an old version that was simply not possible to develop further.

As a consequence, we had a lack of visibility, an increase in reporting lead time with no real insight into project planning or delivery. This became a real risk for the company, so we needed a modern and scalable platform that was able to support our innovation initiatives and growth.

Have you seen measurable benefits from using Deltek Maconomy?

Katarina Strivall: The company aims to leverage digital solutions to get a better understanding of its clients, increase collaboration and solve clients’ challenges faster and better. Customers are at the center of our business so it is critical for us to drive digitalisation far into our organisation, to the end user, for a better customer experience.

One of the key benefits we have seen is around project management. Deltek Maconomy allows us to manage our projects more precisely, providing the teams with full visibility and control of the project life-cycle, from creation through to closure. We ensure better service for our customers with on-time and on-budget project delivery and we are proud to see strong customer satisfaction.

From a financial perspective, we now have access to real time and accurate enterprise-wide reporting and KPIs that enable us to make proactive decisions. Automation has reduced the number of manual tasks, streamlined our internal processes and, as a result, freed up our people’s time.

How has Norconsult’s Digital Transformation helped you create further value for your customers?

Katarina Strivall: Norconsult has established an internal innovation program fund to promote the development and knowledge of creative proccesses and innovation management. This is actively communicated to customers and the program runs across the entire  international organisation.

Collaboration, digitalisation and sustainability stand out as the most important development trends affecting our ability to create value for our customers and are three important focus areas for Norconsult. We, as a company, are putting a lot of effort to work more collaboratively and Deltek Maconomy plays an important role at every stage of the process.

Architecture & Engineering Industry Report

Trends and Benchmarks in EMEA and APAC

Download Your FREE Copy Now

What are the key benefits of your relationship with Deltek?

Katarina Strivall: Funnily enough, I am very familiar with the system as I used the Deltek Maconomy solution in my previous position, before joining Norconsult.

It was important for us to work with an innovative and trusted partner. Maconomy is a project-based ERP solution built specifically for professional service firms, based on years of industry expertise and knowledge. The platform is scalable and enables us to adapt and develop the system to improve our internal processes, ultimately powering the growth of our business. 

What are you focusing on as a company?

Katarina Strivall: The company is now in its 2019-2021 strategy period and the focus is on creating even more value for clients and society. Norconsult aims to play an important role in developing a sustainable society,  which requires a strong commitment from every member of the staff, a holistic approach, and the ability to bring individual expertise together. Every year, our workforce is growing and our growth journey should take us to 1,000 people by 2021. As multi-disciplinary consultants, focusing on digitalisation, collaboration and sustainability will ensure that our clients receive what they need.

About the Author

Katarina Strivall is the Chief Financial Officer for Norconsult AB. With the company since 2012, she is responsible for the planning, implementation, managing and running of all the finance activities. In addition to Accounting and Controlling her organisation also includes the IT department. Norconsult AB is a multidisciplinary engineering and design consultancy, providing services to clients in the public and private sectors worldwide.

The company is a leading Swedish consultancy, a considerable European player, and has a substantial international presence and experience from projects on all continents. The company employs engineers, economists, social scientists, architects, landscape architects, environmental, information and communication technology professionals as well as experts in a broad range of specialty fields.