“Implementing a BI solution from Microsoft has transformed DFDS from a medium performer into a top performer. It has helped us improve profits and enabled us to drive our acquisitions strategy.”

Gert Møller, Chief Information Officer, DFDS Group

DFDS Group, a leading shipping firm, has transformed its company with a business intelligence (BI) solution from Microsoft. It has improved performance and profits, and it can act faster and more effectively with better access to data. DFDS has also strengthened its competitive advantage. In addition, both users and IT find the BI solution easy to work with.

Business NeedsDFDS Group is a leading shipping and logistics company in northern Europe and one of the world’s largest passenger ferry operators. The company wanted to support its continued expansion with better business BI tools. “We do a turnover of approximately €1.6 billion (U.S.$2.11 billion) per year,” says Gert Møller, Chief Information Officer at DFDS Group. “We’re also one of the biggest consolidators in the industry, so we’re on a growth path. We wanted a BI package that would give us the support we need to improve daily operations and ease acquisitions.”

DFDS wanted to implement a best-practices approach at all levels of the company. But to meet that goal it needed to improve employees’ access to performance data and to give everyone a simplified, standard set of BI tools.

The company worked with BI products and databases from multiple vendors, and extracting and presenting information could be complicated and time-consuming. As a result, employees waited a month for IT specialists to generate periodic reports. “We needed to become better than the competition to be in this game,” says Møller. “We wanted employees to have access to BI tools on the floor so that they could evaluate performance and head off potential problems immediately, rather than respond a month too late.”

DFDS sought a BI solution that would offer more flexibility, such as the ability to create ad hoc or custom reports, or to publish graphical reports with current key performance indicators (KPIs). Equally important, the company required a solution that all employees could work with easily.

SolutionDFDS decided to standardize its BI infrastructure with a Microsoft solution, including Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise data management software and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. The solution runs on the Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise operating system. “We get more value for our money with a Microsoft platform,” says Møller. “And what has driven us further along this road is the interoperability among the database, the analysis tools, and the presentation layer.”

The company replaced its other products with a data warehouse based on SQL Server 2008 R2 and built-in features such as SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services. It plans an upgrade to SQL Server 2012 to take advantage of performance gains and enhancements such as Power View, a self-service BI tool.

The data warehouse is separated into different business areas, some with particularly high volumes of data. For example, the ferry division, which handles

Customer: DFDS GroupWebsite: www.dfds.comCustomer Size: 5,000 employeesCountry or Region: DenmarkIndustry: Transportation and logistics—Water transportation services

Customer ProfileDFDS Group, a leading shipping company, provides passenger ferry, freight, and logistics services throughout Europe. One of the largest ferry operators in the world, DFDS has operations in 20 countries.

Solution Spotlight Supports 50 percent growth through

acquisition. Increases competitive edge with faster

access to data. Improves efficiency with BI tools in

familiar office applications. Simplifies IT management with

standardized BI platform.

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Microsoft SQL ServerCustomer Solution Case Study

Leading Shipping Company Transforms Operations and Increases Competitive Edge

nearly 2 million bookings annually, produces approximately 80 million table rows each year.

To reduce the workload in its production environment, DFDS replicates data to secondary servers that employees use for BI purposes. Employees can review and share reports with SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft Excel 2010 spreadsheet software. The company also creates multidimensional cubes with SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis Services, and employees can produce custom reports with the data in Excel 2010.

In addition, DFDS publishes graphical reports that can be viewed in terminals installed on restaurant and shop floors. As a result, all employees have easy access to KPIs and other BI information, and they use the data to improve business processes. For example, to increase revenue on its ferry routes, the company forecasts hourly sales targets for its onboard restaurants. Then, restaurant employees monitor KPIs and increase their selling activities to meet hourly goals. Similarly, ships’ officers also track their own KPIs such as fuel consumption and time in port, and they compete against other vessels for best performance.

BenefitsDFDS is improving performance and expanding with a BI solution from Microsoft. The company is more competitive with better access to BI tools and data, and it has also enhanced IT efficiency with the streamlined solution.

Expanded Company by 50 PercentDFDS has increased profits and accelerated the adoption of best practices with tangible results. For example, the company used the BI solution to change its previously struggling passenger ferry division into a moneymaker. “Employees working in call centers or on ships can use the Microsoft BI tools to monitor their performance online,” says Møller. “This has led to quite a difference in their selling attitude. Now, the passenger ferry business is one of our best-performing units.”

The company is meeting its goals to improve companywide operations. By taking advantage of BI tools, DFDS has stayed profitable despite a global economic turndown that hurt the shipping industry.

And in 2010, the company grew by approximately 50 percent through a major acquisition. “Implementing a BI solution from Microsoft has transformed DFDS from a medium performer into a top performer,” says Møller. “It has helped us improve profits and enabled us to drive our acquisitions strategy.”

Strengthened Competitive AdvantageThe company has improved business agility and strengthened its competitive advantage. “Microsoft BI tools, including SQL Server 2008 R2, help us respond faster than the competition,” says Møller. “We’re sharper in our analysis of costs and revenues, and we have the figures available so that we can act now.”

Improved Access to BI InformationEmployees now have better access to BI tools throughout the organization. Instead of waiting for specialists to generate reports, employees can work with BI data in familiar applications. “Using SQL Server 2008 R2 with Microsoft office programs creates quite a powerful platform,” says Møller. “You can’t find a user who isn’t familiar with Excel, so this solution gives everyone easy access to BI capabilities.”

Enhanced IT EfficiencyDFDS has also cut costs and improved operations for its IT group. “Before, managing multiple database platforms and making diverse presentation layers work together were quite complex and costly.” says Møller. “But since we’ve built a standardized BI solution on the Microsoft platform, we can reduce costs and deliver BI capabilities faster.”

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published March 2012

Software and Services Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise− Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010− Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Enterprise

Microsoft Office− Microsoft Excel 2010

Technologies− Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Analysis

Services− Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

Reporting Services