Aker Horizons develops green industrial projects and technology that accelerates the transition to a zero-emission society. The company operates within renewable energy and carbon capture, developing green industrial knowledge centers that combine cost-effective renewable energy with hydrogen production and downstream activities.

As part of Aker, which has 180 years of industrial experience, Aker Horizons builds on existing industrial, technological and capital market expertise to address climate challenges.

To do so, Aker Horizons needed a solution that could meet both technical and functional requirements while guaranteeing security. Additionally, having a scalable solution that could meet the company's growth ambitions and the associated increased functional requirements was important.

Against this backdrop, an extensive process began to find a suitable solution and a partner with relevant skills and a good understanding of the task. It was also important that the chosen partner had an agile method of implementation, as they were under time pressure, so the solution could go live as quickly as possible. They were, therefore, looking for a partner who could take on the challenge and participate in the attempt to set a "world record" in implementation.

Rapid ERP implementation with Cepheo Axelerator

Aker Horizons began with a thorough evaluation of a number of ERP solutions on the market and concluded that Microsoft Dynamics 365 was the solution that best met their needs.

The process then continued with mapping the competency levels and industry knowledge of various partners. Early in the process, Cepheo stood out as a partner with deep expertise and, importantly, a project methodology that would be the most effective implementation method to ensure progress and quality.

After Aker Horizons and Cepheo agreed to collaborate on October 26, 2020, the implementation process began immediately.

Thanks to a great readiness for change, good collaboration skills, a clear purpose from Aker Horizons, as well as a pre-configured set-up for Dynamics 365 with a well-established implementation method in Cepheo Axelerator and a lot of expertise at Cepheo, Aker Horizons' companies Aker Carbon Capture and Aker Offshore Wind went live with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance on December 1, 2020.

A textbook example of effective implementation

Just over two months after Aker Horizons initiated the project to acquire a new ERP solution, they were live. This is quite a textbook example of efficient ERP implementation.

"Whether it is a world record, we don't know, but it has been an incredibly intensive and effective process, there is no doubt about that. Aker Horizons had a clear goal with the project, and they always showed great commitment and willingness to trust our recommendations and that our expertise was in their best interest. There was very little friction in the project because the focus was on finding solutions, not problems," says project manager at Cepheo, Eivind Tengs.

Trond Johansson, Head of Strategy and PMO at Cepheo, also has nothing but praise for the process and both companies' ability to succeed with the project.

"Aker is a tremendously exciting conglomerate, and we are very proud to have had the opportunity to collaborate with them on their new venture in Aker Horizons. In addition to being able to participate in the journey Aker Horizons has started, we also believe that we have a lot to contribute when it comes to giving good advice on processes and technology along the way," says Trond Johansson, elaborating:

"Cepheo has made significant investments in Dynamics 365 for several years and today has preconfigured solutions for the industries we focus on. When you combine this with skilled employees at Cepheo and Aker, as well as Aker's attitude towards the project, we were confident that we would be able to deliver on Aker Horizons' ambitious goals."