SCALES – An NNIT Group Company

NNIT has evolved quite dramatically over the years, from a small independent IT consultancy born out of Novo Nordisk to a publicly listed company and now an international group of companies in its own right. This article is the first in a series looking at the individual NNIT Group Companies – what they do and how they add value to NNIT’s purpose and aspiration of making a mark in business and society; bringing digital transformation to life.

SCALES was named Microsoft ERP partner of the year for the fourth time in 2021

”Microsoft ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning] is all we’ve ever done,” says Jesper Outze who met his managing partner Hasse Bergman in high school back in 1986. Approximately ten years later, they started working together for the first time; since then, they have successfully started and sold two Microsoft ERP consultancies. Their latest and present collaboration, SCALES, which employs more than 150 people, was sold to NNIT in 2017.

SCALES is Jesper’s and Hasse’s life’s work and the result of equal parts experience, learning and focus on working with Microsoft ERP solutions. We met them earlier this year to talk about their mission and vision – as well as their cooperation with NNIT.

”There is a straight line to the company we run and the product we offer today,” Hasse Bergman explains and elaborates: ”After our first ERP consultancy firm, which offered a good product, but was challenged in terms of growing with the market, we rethought the whole concept with SCALES. Even though we started out small, we thought of ourselves as a big company from the get-go – this time, we built scalability into our organization and mindset to enable the company to grow.”

Even the logo with the steppingstones was designed with scalability in mind. And the breakthrough came as soon as 2012 and 2013 when SCALES succeeded in landing LM Wind Power and Alfa Laval as their first big customers. ”That really made a difference,” Jesper Outze recalls.

Ever since, SCALES has gone from success to success, which is also a testament to the fact that the Microsoft Dynamics market is so hot at the moment that demand has now overtaken supply.

A rock-solid company with a giant potential for growth

SCALES has made a mark as leading Microsoft ERP partner in Denmark. ”We have a great position in the market,” Jesper Outze says: ”We are close to a 100% level of awareness among both potential customers and employees, and we’ve been nominated for Microsoft ERP partner of the year every year since 2013”.

The numbers for the last five years are also clear, showing a growth of 187 and 437 % on top and bottom line, respectively, putting SCALES in a league of their own.

”We like to say that SCALES is a ’safe bet’ if you’re looking at implementing Dynamics. We’ve been doing this for many years for a lot of different customers, so we know what we’re talking about. We are the safe and solid choice, and we can deliver on time and on budget. We know that it’s business critical for a company to change ERP platforms, and we have a great deal of respect for that,” he elaborates.

SCALES has clearly found their niche in the Danish market as experts in Microsoft ERP solutions.

”We have no plans to expand to other countries, and we don’t want to expand our portfolio of products either. For us, it’s important to keep the focus. We have chosen to play a small field that we know and play well. We understand the needs of our customers and how to match them with the right ERP solutions. Microsoft is all we have ever worked with, from XAL over Axapta and to Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations. We’ve been on that journey always, so we have history, experience and a giant network. That, among other things, is the expertise we’re selling to our customers,” says Hasse Bergman.

NNIT and SCALES make each other stronger

The Dynamics 365 market is so hot it makes sense to find partners with whom to form an alliance. And that is how the relationship between NNIT and SCALES came about.

”The marriage with NNIT came about via a gradual engagement, which began back in 2013. Through a series of collaborations, we were able to get to know each other and test the relationship before signing the contract in 2017, and we have no regrets,” Hasse Bergman tells.

”There are more enterprise customers in the market now compared to just five years ago, so it works out very well to be able to go to market with more muscle. NNIT has an international setup, which extends to us. So, together we have the size and guise to deliver 24/7 support once the solutions have been implemented – and that’s a great advantage,” Hasse Bergman elaborates.

”We have long since found each other, and we have a continuous and very close dialogue about our common projects and deliveries – about who delivers what in the ERP value chain, and how we present the strongest front in the market. When we bid on a project together, SCALES usually handles the advisory and build parts while NNIT – depending on the setup – handles the operation and support parts. It’s very close to a perfect business match,” Jesper Outze finishes.

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From fun to success

Jesper Outze and Hasse Bergman met each other in high school in 1986 where, among other things, they played volleyball together. That was the beginning of a business adventure that is still growing today.

• 1997: Jesper was employed at Delfin Software where Hasse is also employed.
• 1998: Hasse and Jesper start the company HOB Business Solutions together with a third partner.
• 2007: HOB is sold to Avanade.
• 2011: Hasse and Jesper leave HOB/Avanade and take a six month hiatus before starting SCALES together with two other partners.
• 2017: SCALES is sold to NNIT.