Acquisition of Competitor to Strengthen Focus on Cloud-Based Data Warehouses 

The Norwegian Google specialist, Computas, established itself in Denmark two years ago and has since experienced growth and strong results despite the pandemic. With the recent acquisition of the Danish company, SharkCell, Computas doubles its size in Denmark, but the ambitions behind the merger go beyond growth in the Danish market.

“Our overall goal is to help companies in the Nordic region create value through data-driven decisions and processes, as well as insights based on data,” says Jon-Gunnar Aasen, CEO of Computas Denmark.

For companies aiming to be data-driven, having a solid foundation is crucial. Therefore, more and more companies see the value in modernizing the traditional data warehouse and moving it to a cloud platform such as Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform. This process is a primary focus area for Computas.

“If a customer wants to switch to a cloud solution, it is crucial to have control over their data and ensure reliable access to high-quality data. Throwing data into the cloud without a clear plan for how it should be used does not create value,” says Frederik Brøns, CEO of SharkCell, celebrating the merger with Computas alongside Jon-Gunnar Aasen.

With the acquisition of SharkCell, the number of employees at Computas Denmark increases from 15 to 25, and the strengthened presence in Denmark not only raises local ambitions but also provides a better foundation for further growth throughout the Nordic region.

The acquisition is also a strategically important step for Computas, establishing a more prominent position in business intelligence and data warehouse modernization, both in Denmark and Norway. These are areas where SharkCell had strong references in the Danish market, and this expertise now continues with Computas.

“SharkCell had two of Denmark’s largest pension companies, Velliv and AP Pension, among its customers, and this can serve as a springboard to offer data warehouses to pension companies throughout the Nordic region,” Jon-Gunnar Aasen explains.

Relevance, Quality Assurance, and User-Friendliness

Computas already has extensive experience in the public sector, energy companies, retail, and healthcare. However, Jon-Gunnar Aasen emphasizes that the needs of companies are often the same regardless of the sector or industry.

“Data is at the heart of most companies, and our experience shows that there is a great need to make that data accessible and ensure its quality,” he says.

The challenge for companies aiming to become more data-driven is often that their solutions are neither flexible enough nor future-oriented. Traditional data warehouses are simply not designed to handle the enormous amounts of data and the variety of new data formats that characterize today’s reality.

Therefore, it’s crucial to be able to navigate through the data and distinguish between what is important and what is not. There are many opportunities in choosing a data warehouse in the cloud, but one must be able to build it correctly, access relevant information without friction, and ensure data quality. The art is in creating simple solutions to complex problems.

“First and foremost, the foundation must be in place before building a solution. Regardless of the platform, it is important to extract the right data and develop user-friendly software solutions tailored to different types of users,” Frederik Brøns explains.

Two Strong Google-Communities

SharkCell has developed solutions for clients using the Google Cloud Platform and BigQuery. Computas also represents strong expertise in Google Cloud, and both are among the leading Google partners in the Nordic region. This position is now further strengthened with combined competencies.

“There are still relatively few providers of consulting and development expertise within Google Cloud, and with the merger, we strengthen our joint position as one of the sharpest in the Nordic region on the platform,” says Frederik Brøns.

Tailored Solutions

A data warehouse structures data to be ready for analytical processing, predicting business processes, automating workflows, or contributing to artificial intelligence. However, to yield results, it’s necessary to ensure a close and trusting collaboration with customers.

“The value lies in both the platforms you develop and how they can be used to tailor solutions to specific needs. We work closely with our customers so that together we can create solutions that provide lasting value. We can’t build good solutions without good customers and a close collaboration,” says Frederik Brøns.

Over the years, SharkCell has developed a range of reusable elements, meaning that many solutions can be developed in half the time and at a much lower cost than usual.

And if data needs to be transferred from a server solution, the benefits of moving to the cloud outweigh the challenges:

• The process can be done step by step while ensuring data quality.
• You get a more flexible system that is easier to scale as the volume of data increases.
• The need for investments is less than with server-bound solutions.
• With the technical framework in place, focus can quickly shift towards functionality.
• A properly configured data warehouse in the cloud provides instant answers and saves time when there is a need for updated figures and insights.

Double Impact

Jon-Gunnar Aasen believes that a good data warehouse in the cloud provides a double impact. When employees can easily access data through user-friendly solutions, they will also make more use of the database, gain increased insights, and be able to decide and act more efficiently. They will simply have a better workday. Both Aasen and Brøns emphasize the importance of the learning process.

“It is both a technical and a human journey,” says Frederik Brøns.

A journey that can open up entirely new possibilities along the way.

“It is a choice to move from a traditional solution to something that is more long-term and flexible. We build products together with our customers. Instead of serving a finished system that they have to adapt to, we form a picture of the challenges they face and what we can do to solve them,” Jon-Gunnar Aasen concludes.

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