Implementing Power BI for financial transactions and decision-making process within the Nordic energy industry : the case of eSett Oy

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore how Power BI for financial transactions can be implemented successfully within the Nordic energy industry and, particularly, eSett Oy company. eSett Oy is a company performing imbalance settlement in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and doesn’t have the profit-making goal of a traditional company. Power BI is a Business Intelligence platform made by Microsoft. Business Intelligence is a concept that has been known since the late 1950’s and has since evolved into a complex entirety that can be defined as processes, technologies and tools that turn data into information. This thesis goes through the concept of Business Intelligence, corporate performance management, key performance indicators and big data and digitalization, and how they are connected. A significant part of the thesis is to explore how Business Intelligence can support decision-making for financial operations at a company. The case company information was collected with semi-structured interviews with five key personnel at eSett. The interviewees gave their insights, stated their needs and concerns for the implementation of Power BI at eSett. Based on the interview results, some recommendations were made regarding the implementation plan and actions before implementing Power BI for financial transactions at eSett Oy. Some of the conclusions can be applied generally to the whole energy sector.