How Aggreko ditched their data headaches

Aggreko is a global player in delivering power. But in the face of data maintenance, their own IT department felt quite powerless. Until they discovered this tool.

The time thief

But while they were busy delivering energy solutions, their internal data processes were far from efficient. Managing bulk data in their ERP system, Infor M3, was turning into a full-time frustration.

Darren Duthart, Operations & Mobility Manager at Aggreko, lays it out:

– Our IT team was spending way too much time fixing bulk data changes. It was an endless back-and-forth with users, slowing everything down and consuming IT's time.

They had tried building something themselves with Infor’s bulk APIs and Excel, to speed up the process.

– It sort of worked… but not really. It was clunky and never felt like a real solution, Darren admits. But we knew the concept was solid, we just needed the right tool. So we started looking for a commercial product.

End users back in charge

Vince's Excel add-in turned out to be the missing piece. It allows end users to maintain their own bulk data directly in Excel without looping in IT for every little thing, while at the same time reducing the risk of errors dramatically. The impact was significant, according to Duthart.

– We have really been able to put end users back into the driving seat, freeing IT from a massive time sink and allowing them to focus on more strategic tasks.

– If you took Vince away from us tomorrow, there would be instant complaints. We’d be stuck raising IT tickets again or, maybe even try to resurrect our old half-built workaround, says the Aggreko manager.

With Vince, Aggreko has not just fixed a problem – they’ve put the right people in control, making data management faster and less error-prone.