Ilmatar Energy: A data-driven transformation for a green energy company

Ilmatar, a forerunner in the energy industry and a Nordic company dedicated solely to renewable energy, wanted to transform into a data-driven enterprise.

Ilmatar's windmill installed in a wide land

Technologies used

Snowflake
DBT
MS Power BI/Fabric
React
MS Azure Data Factory
MS Power apps
SQL
js
MS Dataverse

The challenge

Recognizing that the energy business is fundamentally a data business, Ilmatar embarked on a transformation journey to leverage all available internal and external data, to enhance their operational efficiency and business results. The company’s rapid growth required a new approach to meet evolving requirements of both the organization and its stakeholders. As a cloud-native company with no on-premise digital infrastructure or burdensome legacy technology, Ilmatar was well-positioned for this transformation. Their openness to experimentation and new technologies – both culturally and in terms of infrastructure – made this an exciting journey to undertake with the client.

Impact and outcomes

Low-code master data management and data platform operational in three months.
Hundreds of internal and external data streams available for near real-time analysis.
Ilmatar Data Platform eliminates silos within company.
Positive transformation of employees’ ways of working.

What we did

We began transforming Ilmatar into a more data-driven organization by establishing a comprehensive understanding of the company's core operations. Together with the client, we addressed the following key questions:

What are the company’s primary business objectives?
What tasks do employees perform, and how are they executed?
What systems do they use, and what data do they process?

Answering these questions helped us create a unified understanding of the company’s objectives and a shared vocabulary to use in working towards the goals. This foundation also enabled us to adopt a more agile working methodology, allowing for the prioritization of critical initiatives..

Next, we mapped out and transformed Ilmatar’s complex business, people, process, data and systems landscape. A key focus was on clarifying where and how data is generated and determining its ownership. With these insights, we digitized Ilmatar's core processes in a user-friendly way, developing a flexible, scalable, and future-proof data model.

We then built a world-class suite of data and process automation tools, including a data platform, a master data application, and analytical solutions. These integrated tools form the Data-Driven Ilmatar platform, offering internal and external stakeholders reliable real-time data on all aspects of the company’s operations, from asset development to energy production and trading. The platform was built in close collaboration with Meltlake, a Futurice Family company.

From the very first briefing, the Futurice team came well-prepared, demonstrating a real commitment to solving our challenges. Throughout our data transformation journey, they have consistently gone above and beyond, scaling their expertise to meet our evolving needs. We’ve always had timely access to the right experts, ensuring seamless progress at every stage. Open and transparent communication has fostered a strong sense of trust between our companies, which has been critical for driving the holistic change in how we operate.

Vesa Lepola

Head of IT, Ilmatar

Why it matters

In Ilmatar’s operational environment, ensuring data accuracy to the nth degree is vital. Ilmatar now knows what data it has, understands its origins, and, most importantly, can trust it.

The seamless flow of data provides the company with a comprehensive internal and external view of its business. Insights from this data analysis enable more intelligent decision-making across all facets of Ilmatar’s operations. The new data infrastructure supports leading and operating the company in a positive, growth-oriented manner, grounded in accurate, real-time data and situational awareness.

The Ilmatar Data Platform also helps eliminate silos within the company, and the digitalization of processes has positively transformed employees' ways of working.

About Ilmatar

Ilmatar has been at the forefront of the clean transition since 2011. The company generates clean electricity sustainably and efficiently from natural sources, such as wind and sun, and enhances a more flexible energy ecosystem with energy storage. Every Ilmatar project is guided by the same principle – to produce sustainable energy that benefits landowners, local communities, municipalities, and customers and contributes to society’s greater good.