Nordisk Film creates Data Storytelling with TimeXtender

Nordisk Film creates Data Storytelling with TimeXtender

Nordisk Film is a Nordic entertainment powerhouse known for its award-winning films and series. The company also manages cinema chains spanning Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, as well as game studios, PlayStation distribution across the Nordic and Baltic countries, and global digital gifting solutions. They've experienced significant growth over the past five years.

Data is the lifeblood of a company like Nordisk Film. In an industry driven by creativity and consumer preferences, data plays a central role in shaping strategies and decisions. It allows Nordisk Film to gain a deep understanding of market trends, customer behaviour and operational efficiency. Data-driven insights enable them to tailor their content creation, marketing, and distribution, ultimately enhancing the ability to bring captivating stories to life. It's not just about numbers; it's the key to remaining competitive, meeting growing demands and staying at the forefront of the ever-evolving entertainment landscape.

Before TimeXtender, Nordisk Film struggled with an SQL data warehouse that was limited to financial data. Recognising the changing landscape and the growing importance of data-driven decision making, they knew it was time for a change. 

"We realised that at Nordisk Film data would become a strategic asset. With this came the understanding we needed to change the way we manage data in order to enable data-driven decision-making beyond financial data. We are only a small team of 4 people, serving each of the business areas within Nordisk Film, and our SQL data warehouse wouldn't be scalable for us to handle future demands."

Mikkel Hansen, Head of BI at Nordisk Film

Hello, drag & drop, farewell SQL programming

When looking for a data management tool to replace the SQL data warehouse, the team at Nordisk Film quickly came across TimeXtender. Mikkel Hansen: "We had information that TimeXtender was deployed successfully at one of our sister companies, Egmont's magazine division. We evaluated the tool and quickly recognized the value. We saw that we could quickly create and deploy new data models using simple drag-and-drop, avoiding extensive SQL programming. This would give us greater flexibility to respond to changing business needs. We also noticed the ease of use. This would ensure that different team members, including those on the business side, could work with the tool, democratising data access and use. All these factors together led us to choose TimeXtender to manage our data".

A remarkable 3-month transition

Nordisk Film was able to migrate from the old to the new data warehouse in a remarkable three months, thanks to the support of TimeXtender consultants. Data sources such as the central ERP system, Navision, and a variety of other sources from the cinema chain's booking systems, sales data, public websites and various social media data were ingested and transformed into business-ready data. All of these data sources can be combined for multiple reports in a variety of areas, including sales, procurement, operations, marketing, social media and finance.

From idea to data model in a matter of hours

Today, the team has over 200 data sources ready for reporting, of which the most important data source is the financial data.

“TimeXtender has a pre-built adapter that fits nicely into Navision and extends to different data models. For example, using TimeXtender, the team can now import almost 50 legal entities for financial reporting in one go, all managed by one person.”

Mikkel Hansen, Head of BI at Nordisk Film

Nordisk Film mostly values the time-to-delivery of new data models and reports with TimeXtender. Mikkel Hansen: “It is only a matter of hours from an idea to a new data model. To illustrate time-to-value with an example, we used TimeXtender and Qlik Sense to create a report on our energy consumption. We use an API solution within TimeXtender to connect to a public website in Denmark and collect energy consumption data at a meta level, which is then seamlessly integrated into our business reports. It took us less than a day to create this, and this report is now being expanded into a comprehensive environmental report, including travel information and more.”

A cloud-based future

As a step towards the future, Nordisk Film is considering moving TimeXtender to the cloud. Mikkel Hansen: “A fully cloud-based system means scalability. We will gain the ability to grow limitlessly, whilst removing our current storage and computing power limits. This will improve our data management environment. This is important because as our company grows, the business constantly needs more data and new reports.” All in all, the team at Nordisk Film is extremely satisfied with TimeXtender. 

"TimeXtender helps our small team to work quickly and efficiently, bringing data to life in attractive reports. It is fantastic to see that we're still capable of delivering quickly without having to add more people to our team, even though the business demands for data and insight are growing. That's a great achievement!"

Mikkel Hansen, Head of BI at Nordisk Film

Solution overview

Company name: Nordisk Film

Industry: Entertainment

Challenges

• Limited data access: Data access was mainly limited to financial data
• Scalability: The company needed a solution that could scale to meet the growing demand for data and insights

Solution benefits:

• Data democratisation: TimeXtender democratised data access, enabling different departments to use data effectively.
• Comprehensive integration: TimeXtender consolidated data from disparate sources, enabling Nordisk Film to efficiently report on data and make informed decisions.
• Rapid time to value: TimeXtender enabled Nordisk Film to create new data models within hours, significantly reducing time to market.
• Automation: Tedious tasks are now automated, simplifying data management.
• Robust documentation: TimeXtender's documentation capabilities allow Nordisk Film to maintain comprehensive data model records.

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