At a glance

• Challenge: Finance and Operational data spread across systems and files, with manual steps and limited transparency.

• Solution: A centralized data foundation in Microsoft Dataverse, with a Power App for structured capture and Power BI for reporting, complemented by integrations.

• Impact: More reliable, up-to-date reporting, streamlined finance processes, and a scalable platform.

Swiss Innovation Forces AG grew rapidly and dynamically in its first years following its founding (2023). This rapid expansion led to a decentralized system landscape with various data sources and manual process steps. A typical development for innovative organizations that focus on agility and fast solutions.

However, as the innovation agency of the Swiss Army, Swiss Innovation Forces recognized: To continue growing innovatively and efficiently, it was time to systematically modernize its data landscape, processes, and technological setup. The goal was to create a foundation for financial data that enables transparency, automation, and scalability without slowing down innovation.

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Starting Situation

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The finance team at Swiss Innovation Forces was operating across a decentralized system landscape, distributed over multiple tools and files. Processes were manual, time-consuming, and often tied to specific individuals. As a result, an up-to-date view of business performance was difficult to achieve, and management requests frequently led to ad-hoc checks and manual report creation.

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How kumai was able to help

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kumai partnered with key stakeholders across the organization and followed a pragmatic, MVP-driven approach:

• Discover: Facilitated focused workshops on data structures, data products, and business processes to define the right foundation for development.

• Build: Implemented a central database in Microsoft Dataverse, designed an intuitive Power App for project managers, and delivered multiple Power BI reports on top of the new data foundation.

• Scale: Extended the solution with integrations (ERP and time-tracking) and continued iterating to match evolving requirements.

In less than 6 months the first MVP was live and progressively enhanced to align with Swiss Innovation Forces’ evolving requirements, streamlining processes and improving data quality and accessibility.

With a strong framework in place by 2026, additional efficiency gains became attainable. Integrations with an external time-tracking system and close connectivity to the ERP system have already been achieved. kumai and Swiss Innovation Forces continue to collaborate on further improvements.

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Technologies Deployed

• Microsoft Dataverse – Central data foundation that consolidates key data assets and enables automation.

• Power BI – Semantic modeling and dashboards that provide consistent, decision-ready reporting.

• Power App (Project Hub) – Structured capture of projects and implementation data, improving data quality at the source.

• Abacus integration – Automated data flows from the ERP system to reduce manual re-entry and errors.

• Web API via Power Automate – Two-way integration with the time-tracking system for automated data exchange.

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Efficiency Gains & Resource Optimization

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A key outcome of the modernization: by automating financial processes and establishing a structured data architecture, operations became significantly more efficient. The collaboration with kumai enabled targeted implementation of process improvements and technological solutions, resulting in sustained resource optimization over the long term.

“As an innovation organization, we need systems that move as fast as we do. With kumai, we established a modern data platform that brings transparency, automates key processes, and allows us to scale efficiently.”
Flavio Frei - Head of Finance & Legal

Future-Proof Architecture

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The implemented solution is not just an operational optimization, but a strategic foundation for future growth:

• Cloud-Native Foundation – Dataverse and Power Platform enable seamless integration of additional Microsoft services

• Expandability –Integration of additional data sources (e.g., HR systems, project management tools)

• AI & Innovation Ready – Semantic data model prepared for future AI-driven analytics and intelligent automation

• Governance & Documentation – Technical documentation and user manuals as the basis for sustainable knowledge management

• Agile Scalability – Architecture supports rapid growth without process disruptions

Outlook: The new architecture positions Swiss Innovation Forces for future growth. With a solid, scalable data foundation, AI initiatives are now more accessible, enabling innovation and operational excellence. Kumai is proud to continue supporting Swiss Innovation Forces.

Interested in building a scalable, automation-ready finance data foundation with Microsoft Power Platform? kumai can help you define the right MVP and scale it sustainably.

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