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About ISS
Industry: Facility Management
Customer since: 2011
Revenue: EUR 440 million
Operations: ISS Palvelut is part of the global ISS Group. Revenue in 2020 EUR 9.36 billion, across Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and the Pacific.
ISS Palvelut Oy, Finland’s leading facility services provider, undertook a transformative journey to modernize its operations and IT, driven by clear business goals. Achieving this required tackling integration complexity, improving operational efficiency, and enabling scalable automation.
As a subsidiary of the global ISS Group, operating in over 30 countries with 350,000 employees and providing services like cleaning, security, catering, and property management, ISS needed to align with global standards while addressing local market challenges. The stakes were high: seamless integration and automation were crucial for delivering consistent, high-quality services.
This is the story of how ISS, under the visionary leadership of its Head of Automation Technologies, Sami Öfverberg, embraced a value-driven approach to business automation and data integration, using the Frends iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) to set a new standard in the facility management industry.
The Starting Point
Building the Foundation with Frends & BizTalk Migration (2011–2013)
The ISS and Frends partnership began in 2011 during an ERP upgrade project. At that time, ISS relied on multiple legacy systems that struggled to communicate effectively. Initially, ISS used Microsoft BizTalk for integration but soon recognized the need for a more agile and consolidated platform.
The transition from BizTalk to the Frends platform turned out to be not only just a technical migration, as Frends laid the foundation for ISS's future automation and data initiatives. It was smooth, required minimal effort from ISS, and laid the foundation for ISS’s future automation and data initiatives. Notably, there were no service breaks during this process.
By 2013, the team had consolidated disparate systems into a unified Frends environment, paving the way for building and managing streamlined processes and data flow. This foundational work solved immediate challenges and set the stage for long-term success.
- Objective: Consolidate fragmented systems and replace outdated tools like Microsoft BizTalk with Frends iPaaS.
- Outcome: Within two years, ISS successfully migrated to the Frends platform, creating a unified integration framework that streamlined data flow across systems and reduced maintenance complexity. This foundation provided the agility needed for future initiatives.
Bold Choices: The Custom ERP Journey
Developing a Custom ERP (2020–2023)
Fast-forward to 2020, ISS launched an ambitious project to develop a custom ERP system—an all-encompassing platform designed to handle everything from customer interactions to payroll preprocessing. This was no small undertaking—previous attempts at adopting off-the-shelf solutions had failed, but the team was undeterred. The journey was marked by failures and lessons learned:
2011: Began with an off-the-shelf ERP solution to replace legacy systems.
2014: After achieving only partial success, the project was halted.
2017: A feasibility study on ISS Group's global ERP solution revealed it wasn't the right fit for Finland's unique needs.
2020: The decision was made to develop a custom ERP solution from scratch.
2023: ISS developed and deployed a new ERP system, utilizing Frends for integrations.
The result?
After 3.5 years of development, ISS introduced a tailored ERP system that seamlessly integrates with any system via the Frends platform as a robust backbone for automation, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. The architecture now ensures that everything is connected, and building new integrations is fast and straightforward.
Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is stop, reassess, and pivot. This decision was critical to our success.
shares Sami
- Objective: Create an ERP system tailored to ISS Finland's unique needs, capable of handling everything from customer interactions to payroll, fully integrated with the surrounding IT landscape via Frends.
- Challenges:
- Off-the-shelf ERP solutions couldn't meet local requirements.
- A history of incomplete ERP projects required a rethink of strategy. - Outcome: After 3.5 years, ISS developed a custom ERP system, with Frends ensuring smooth integration across all processes. The system enabled better automation, decision-making, and streamlined processes from customer interactions to payroll.
Becoming a Leader in Automation and Data Capabilities
Automation and AI Integration (Ongoing)
The dual success of the custom ERP system and the upgraded Frends environment propelled ISS Palvelut to the leading positions of ISS Group's global operations in terms of automation and data capabilities. This is no small feat for a company operating on such a massive scale.
Before implementing Frends, ISS faced a fragmented landscape of BizTalk solutions, point-to-point integrations, custom RPA solutions, and custom-coded systems paired with task schedulers. These systems had poor monitoring and error handling, resulting in reactive work and reverse engineering when integrations failed. The shift to Frends eliminated these challenges, replacing complexity with clarity.
Through this integrated ecosystem, ISS now harnesses a combination of RPA (Robotic Process Automation), generative AI, and intelligent integrations to enhance both employee and customer experiences:
- Routine, mundane tasks have been automated, freeing employees to focus on value-adding activities.
- Generative AI has been implemented to improve workflows, such as automating invoice descriptions with human oversight. The AI corrects typos, sequences tasks, and removes inappropriate language.
- Reliable data flow between internal systems and external partners ensures efficiency across all services.
At the heart of this transformation is Sami's guiding principle: technology should enhance human potential, not overshadow it. His passion lies in simplifying complex IT systems and making them accessible for everyone within the organization.
“The ease of use is, in my experience, the strength of Frends. We’ve had trainees with very short experience in programming, and they’ve been able to pick up Frends in a month or two and start developing with it.”
- Objective: Leverage automation and AI to enhance efficiency and user experience.
- Key Achievements:
- Automating repetitive tasks reduced manual effort and improved accuracy.
- Tasks like invoice description writing were optimized, improving precision and reducing errors with human oversight.
- Enhanced integration across systems enabled faster decision-making and improved service delivery.
Tips and Learnings from Sami to other IT Leaders
The ISS story is a roadmap for other IT leaders aiming to drive meaningful change within their organisations.
“I’d recommend Frends to all companies who wish to put their integrations in order and have an easy-to-use tool for monitoring and further developing integrations. Especially if they wish to develop their integrations in-house.”
Here are the key takeaways:
- A strong integration environment is essential for any digital transformation initiative. Consolidating systems with Frends was pivotal for ISS.
- ISS's decision to halt its initial ERP project and pivot to a custom solution was a turning point.
- Collaboration with Frends provided ISS with the expertise and agility needed to tackle complex challenges.
- Technology is a tool to empower employees and improve customer satisfaction, not just a cost-cutting measure.
Looking Ahead
With its iPaaS-driven integration environment and custom ERP system, ISS Palvelut has set a new benchmark for automation and data capabilities in the facility management industry. The journey wasn't without its challenges, but the results speak for themselves: a more agile, efficient, and innovative organisation ready to meet the demands of a rapidly changing market.
Looking ahead, ISS is gearing up to helping employees navigate the "information tsunami" by balancing workloads through traditional process automation, AI-enhanced decision-making, conversational interfaces, and innovative ways of working. By eliminating mundane tasks and reducing information overload, ISS aims to create a more fulfilling work environment.
Sami sums it up:
Technology should simplify complexity and empower people to do their best work to deliver better experiences for customers. That’s the real value of digital transformation.
For IT leaders, this journey highlights the importance of clear objectives, the right tools, and the courage to rethink strategies when necessary. Let this story inspire you to take bold steps, embrace challenges, drive meaningful change, and lead your organization into the future of digital transformation.
Watch the Keynote presentation by Sami
to learn more about ISS journey with Frends and Integrations
Sami is the Head of Automation Technologies at ISS Palvelut Oy, the Finnish subsidiary of the global ISS Group. He is passionate about creating an environment where technology supports and enhances human potential. Sami's mission is to simplify the interaction between people and technology, removing complexity from IT and making IT and business concepts accessible and understandable for everyone.
Connect with Sami:
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