Customer Story

Link Medical

Discover how Link Medical partnered with Kokai to implement Aimplan - seamlessly integrating with their existing Power BI setup. The result? Stronger financial control, improved collaboration, and smarter, data-driven decisions across the organisation.

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ABOUT LINK

Founded in 1995 and based in Oslo, Link Medical Research AS is a full-service Contract Research Organization (CRO) supporting pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies throughout clinical development. Operating across six Northern European countries, Link Medical is recognised for regulatory expertise, operational agility, and broad therapeutic knowledge.

With 150+ employees and over 590 completed trials in 20+ therapeutic areas, they offer the personalised service of a smaller CRO with the capability to manage large international studies. Services include clinical operations, regulatory strategy, medical monitoring, data management, and lifecycle support.

What used to take days of Excel wrangling, we now do in minutes. Our leadership team finally has the insight needed to steer with confidence.

Jan Helge Golmen, CFO Link Medical

THE CHALLENGE

Low Capacity, Poor Visibility, and Risky Decision-Making

As Link Medical expanded, they encountered significant bottlenecks in their financial planning and forecasting processes. Key issues included:

DATA

Fragmented data across multiple systems

MANUAL INPUT

Heavy reliance on manual Excel models for budgeting and tracking

DECENTRALISED

Lack of centralised, real-time insights for revenue, pipeline, backlog, and consultant utilisation

COMPETENCE

Limited internal capacity and competence within the finance function

REALIBILITY

No reliable mechanism for scenario analysis or adjusting forecasts on the fly

These problems weren’t just operational—they posed strategic risks. With more clinical trials being managed across borders, the lack of reliable steering data made it harder to plan staffing, allocate costs, or proactively manage profitability.

THE TURNING POINT

Choosing Aimplan for Planning and Forecasting

In early 2024, Link Medical began searching for a solution that could bring clarity, control, and integration to their budgeting process.

Criteria for Selection

Their top requirement? Seamless compatibility with Power BI, which was already widely used across the company for reporting.

After evaluating several vendors, they selected Aimplan - a modern planning solution purpose-built for FP&A and tightly integrated with Power BI. This would allow them to:

  • Centralise budgets, forecasts, and simulations

  • Leverage existing Power BI data models

  • Scale across departments without reinventing reporting infrastructure

  • Enable real-time decision-making and continuous forecasting

“Aimplan stood out because it didn’t require us to throw away what was working. Instead, it made what we already had more powerful.”

IMPLEMANTATION WITH KOKAI

Complex, Collaborative, and Transformative

Key Challenges

KOKAI, a certified Aimplan partner, was selected to lead the implementation. The process, however, wasn’t plug-and-play.

  • Poor historical data quality and structure

  • Need to rebuild and validate Excel-based logic in a new system

  • Limited initial experience internally with FP&A best practices

  • Balancing project rollout with daily operations in a lean organisation

What Made The Difference

KOKAI brought a flexible, hands-on team of consultants who were able to translate business needs into technical solutions. Their approach combined:

  • Domain knowledge in FP&A and clinical services

  • Proactive collaboration and check-ins

  • Iterative model-building sessions to ensure adoption

  • Support for both technical implementation and organisational change

While Link Medical did note areas for future improvement — especially in bringing in more consultants with deep operational background — they described the KOKAI collaboration as professional, responsive, and deeply engaged.

THE RESULT

From Reactive to Predictive

Business Impact

Since launching Aimplan with KOKAI’s support, Link Medical has experienced a step change in operational and financial control.

  • Full visibility into key metrics: consultant utilisation, backlog, pipeline, and revenue planning

  • Faster forecasting cycles with increased accuracy

  • Integrated sales and project planning workflows

  • Scenario simulation for evaluating resource and cost trade-offs

  • Executive-ready dashboards in Power BI, powered by real-time Aimplan data

  • Broader internal adoption due to intuitive user interface and role-based access

Broader Adoption

Initially planned for finance, Aimplan’s use has expanded rapidly into other areas:

Sales: Forecasting future project wins and timing

Project Management: Tracking burn rates, milestones, and budgets

Executive Reporting: Simplifying board-level metrics using Power BI integration

“This project changed how we manage our business. We went from limited visibility and reactive planning to a future-ready way of working — with KOKAI and Aimplan at the center of it.”

FUTURE LOOK

Scaling With Confidence

Looking ahead, Link Medical sees opportunities to:

  • Expand use of Aimplan to resource planning and HR forecasting

  • Enhance cost allocation models across regions and functions

  • Use the solution as a single source of financial truth for strategic decision-making

Link’s collaboration with KOKAI is expected to evolve toward longer-term partnership and advisory support as Link Medical continues to grow and digitize its core processes.

“It wasn’t just about switching tools. We had to rethink how we steer the business. That takes time—and trust.”

WANT TO ACHIEVE

THE SAME?

KOKAI helps FP&A teams modernise planning with solutions like Aimplan, Microsoft Power BI, and Microsoft Fabric. Whether you’re stuck in Excel chaos or want to enable continuous forecasting, we’re here to help.

KOKAI Team members Working with Link Medical.

Geir Anders Bø

Fredrick Halvorsen

Emilia Petersson

Ben Halvorsen

  Aimplan FAQs

  • Aimplan is a SaaS solution that extends Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Fabric with advanced planning, forecasting, reporting, and data management. It helps organizations plan, forecast, and report smarter — all inside Power BI.

  • Aimplan is used by Finance (CFOs, Controllers), Sales leaders (CROs, Sales Ops), Supply Chain & Operations teams, and Project Management Offices. It serves mid-market to small enterprises and departmental teams in larger companies.

  • Aimplan runs inside Power BI as custom visuals. Data entry, planning, and reporting happen in the same Power BI environment, connected to 200+ data sources. Planning data is stored securely in Azure SQL or Microsoft Fabric and reflected back into Power BI in real time.

  • Aimplan eliminates spreadsheet-heavy processes and disconnected tools. It enables integrated planning, fast forecasting, structured financial reporting, and collaborative workflows across finance, sales, supply chain, and project teams.

  • A simple budgeting or forecasting setup can be done in 2–3 weeks. Reporting-only setups can be completed in minutes if the Power BI model is ready. Larger, more complex cases may take a few months, but still much faster than standalone FP&A systems.

  • Planning data is stored in Azure SQL or Microsoft Fabric SQL, depending on customer setup. Actuals remain in the customer’s existing Power BI model. Data is transmitted securely over HTTPS.

  • No. Aimplan is a SaaS service. Business logic runs in the Azure cloud for scalability and automatic updates. However, customers can choose to store planning data in their own Azure SQL database if desired.

  • Aimplan follows Power BI’s security framework, including workspaces, row-level security, and permissions. Users only see the data relevant to their role.

  • Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) – Integrated forecasting, budgeting, workforce planning, OPEX, CAPEX, and reporting.

    • Sales Performance Management – Sales & revenue budgets, quotas, forecasting, territory assignments, price optimization.

    • Integrated Business Planning – Demand planning, S&OP, procurement, inventory, capacity optimization.

    • Project Reporting & Forecasting – Project budgets, resource allocation, profitability forecasting, risk management.m description

  • Aimplan is cloud-native, easier to implement, and built for scalability inside Power BI and Fabric. Unlike competitors, Aimplan balances ease of use with deep planning features while keeping costs lower and reducing reliance on external consultants.

  • Yes. Aimplan allows multiple planning scenarios and versions, with audit trails. Teams can run driver-based planning, predictive forecasting, and scenario simulations directly in Power BI.

  • Customers report faster forecasting cycles, improved data quality, time savings, better collaboration, and higher forecast accuracy. For example, Fellowmind Denmark cut time spent on revenue forecasting and empowered 30 managers to forecast directly in Power BI.cription

  • No. While many CFOs and Controllers use it, Aimplan also serves sales leaders, supply chain planners, and project managers. Any department needing planning and forecasting within Power BI can use Aimplan.

  • It includes commentary and approval visuals so managers can input narrative explanations, approve budgets, and track changes — all inside Power BI with proper access controls.

  • Most customers begin with a discovery call or demo. From there, Aimplan typically starts with one use case (e.g., financial forecasting) and expands step by step into sales, supply chain, or project reporting.

KOKAI

KOKAI will elevate your business with tailored solutions in strategic planning, organisational design, process improvement, technology deployment, and change management. Our seasoned consultants deliver top-notch results for long-term success. Reach out today!

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