Bengt,how did you first get into IT, and when did you join Consulting4IT?
My first encounter with IT was quite a while ago—I’m actually a mechanical engineer. Even while I was in college, sometime in the last millennium, I started developing programs to streamline complex calculations for engineers. Back then, I learned how important it is to turn data into actionable insights that make decision-making easier. In 2000, I was a founding member of a startup where we developed a very comprehensive service management tool. In 2009, we merged with Matrix42; the tool was further developed there and is now known as Matrix42 Enterprise Service Management. I joined Consulting4IT 10 years ago. After a total of 14 years at the software company, I felt it was important to change my perspective—to get closer to my clients again and support them in optimizing their processes and, of course, deriving added value from the tools they use.
What sets you apart from people who entered the IT field directly early in their careers?
Perhaps it would have been easier to acquire that expertise directly through an IT degree program? Students today learn right away what matters in the modern world, but they also face a huge degree of complexity. That simply didn’t exist back then. Most of these things were invented only later. In return, I was able to participate in the entire development process and build up knowledge and experience over the decades—not only on IT topics, but also regarding concrete use cases through many years of project work. I was able to gain insight into a wide range of perspectives and figure out what is truly needed and what is merely the proverbial frills on a nightgown.
What do you find most exciting about your work in the field of data and data analysis?
In data maintenance, it’s often the case that you can’t see the forest for the trees—whether you’re editing ticket data, maintaining contract information, or diligently entering license details. You usually focus on the details. But then, at some point, someone comes along and wants an overview or a statement regarding budgets—for example, what costs to expect for a specific contract item in two years’ time. You know that this information is somewhere in the application. But you can’t quite get your hands on it. That’s where we step in. We extract the relevant data from the system and prepare it so that the customer has the information they need to make decisions. It’s really rewarding to create this transparency and see how excited customers are when they suddenly realize: “Wow, all of this is in our data!”
Based on this, you have made a significant contribution to the development of our Matrix42 add-on, "Analyse Depot," among other things. What exactly is "Analyse Depot," and how does it work?
In short: TheAnalyse Depotanswers questions you’ve always wondered about but couldn’t easily find answers to in the Matrix42 interface. It’s based on Microsoft Power BI and offers interactive dashboards that are intuitive to use. To achieve this, we developed a data model and created algorithms that enrich the data, making it meaningful and easily accessible. Best of all: Customers can already use the Analysis Depot with the free version of Power BI Desktop, keeping the barrier to entry low and avoiding huge licensing costs.
The Analyse Depot thus provides answers to questions that cannot be easily answered within Matrix42. What are these questions, and in what specific areas does it provide support?
The Analyse Depot offers significant added value across all areas of Enterprise Service Management. For example, in license and contract management.In license management, it supports data maintenance and provides concise overviews of relevant data. After all, many settings that affect the license balance are scattered across various areas within Enterprise Service Management. With the Analyse Depot, we consolidate this information and show at a glance: Are all products configured correctly? Which licenses are about to expire? Which products have I licensed for specific versions? Which ones have I licensed on a time-based basis? Which subscriptions expire in which quarter? From this, I can determine whether I need to arrange for new purchases or renewals. If licenses expire unnoticed, the respective software may suddenly become unusable. Naturally, this is something you want to avoid at all costs.
Contract management places a strong emphasis on cost analysis. The Analyse Depot helps forecast financial requirements arising from contracts, whether for the current fiscal year or the one after next. It provides a breakdown by cost type, cost center, and so on. When customers import actual costs into contract management, they can use the Analyse Depot to see whether actual spending aligns with the plan or if there are any variances. This allows them to plan more effectively, monitor processes, and identify potential bottlenecks early on.The Analyse Depot thus assists the individuals responsible for data maintenance, as it enables them to more easily verify the completeness and accuracy of their data. And it empowers IT managers, as they no longer need to wait for reports from Controlling but can take proactive action.
So it really adds value in terms of transparency and efficiency. How did the idea to develop such an add-on for Matrix42 come about?
The idea came from real-world experience. As consultants, we were frequently asked questions that couldn’t be answered directly through the Matrix42 user interface, even though the answers were right there in the data. Over time, we realized that our clients were often asking the same questions. For example: “What costs will my contracts generate over the next few years?” or the crucial question: “Is the quality of my master data good enough?” This led to the idea of developing an add-on that retrieves the relevant answers from the database at the click of a button. So we built the necessary database queries, the appropriate data model, and the required algorithms to quickly and clearly visualize the answers to many common questions.
Can the Analyse Depot also be customized to meet individual customer requirements?
If customers have specific questions that are not covered by the standard scope of the Analyse Depot, we sit down with them to discuss a customized solution. Sometimes there are several ways to find the answers, including within the tool itself. In doing so, we assess whether the request is a specific, one-off case, whether similar requests have been made by other customers, or whether the topic would be relevant to other customers as well. In that case, we assess whether the topic can be incorporated into the product standard. The Analyse Depot is thus continuously being developed. However, we ensure that only topics relevant to many customers are included. After all, the application should remain clear and performant.
What sets the Analyse Depot apart from other tools?
Many tools can create simple data visualizations. Even the latest version of Matrix42 Enterprise Service Management offers improved capabilities for displaying data in bar charts, for example. However, if you want to gain new insights and find concrete answers to specific questions, that doesn’t necessarily help. To do this, you need to understand the meaning of the data in the database, relate it to other data, and evaluate it in context. And to do that, you need very in-depth expertise in Matrix42, combined with a solid understanding of mathematics. Many of our customers simply cannot delve that deeply into the data. We have been familiar with the data model in Enterprise Service Management for decades and know how the data relates to one another. We use this knowledge in the Analyse Depot to make complex relationships transparent and deliver meaningful insights.
Will customers even need advisors anymore?
At Consulting4IT, we share our expertise with our clients at every level. Whether we’re providing tools like the Analyse Depot, working on projects, or—of course—conducting training sessions at our Academy. We also offer practical, in-house training courses on all topics related to Enterprise Service Management—and for some topics, we offer multiple courses. For example, if our clients want to learn how license management with Matrix42 works in detail or how to build workflows, we teach them. And yet—or perhaps precisely because of this—we are in high demand as consultants. Much of the information in the Analyse Depot is self-explanatory to our clients, who are, after all, experts in their fields. We are called upon when it comes to exploring new areas of Enterprise Service Management or developing process optimizations. We bring a wealth of experience to the table and, of course, can also work very efficiently during implementation. So it seems our customers still definitely need consultants and are happy to take advantage of our services. It would be a shame if that weren’t the case, wouldn’t it?
Conclusion: Analyse Depot is more than just a tool
The Analyse Depot is a comprehensive analysis tool that provides data analytics for all areas of Matrix42 Enterprise Service Management. From data maintenance to decision-making support for IT managers, it reveals complex relationships and provides insights that are often difficult to obtain using conventional methods. However, Bengt’s story also demonstrates the passion and project experience that went into developing our add-on. A wealth of experience that is not only embedded in the tool itself but also continuously benefits our customers through our consulting services and training offerings.