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.

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

    • The very smallest customers are not the target but as soon as the customer runs BI and has many dimensions (locations, companies, sellers etc), it is ok​

    • All industries

    • After Aimplan has created a new instance in their Aimplan portal and you have gained access to it, you download their visuals into Power BI​

    • Get online training course

  • Yes, you can allow end-users of Power BI to have the opportunity to enter data within Power BI that is immediately stored in your warehouse. Or maybe not direct to your warehouse but to staging databases close by.

  • Aimplan is specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with PowerBI, and it supports a wide range of data sources, including popular ERP systems. You can easily pull data from Business Central, NAV, or other systems via standard APIs or OData services, ensuring all your financial and operational data is connected within a single platform. The integration process is straightforward, allowing you to maintain your existing workflows without major disruption.

  • Yes, Aimplan enhances forecasting accuracy by consolidating data from multiple sources and ensuring real-time updates. You can use historical data, set up scenarios, and create dynamic forecasts, all within Power BI. The ability to adjust plans in real-time, combined with advanced features like writeback and detailed reporting, provides more precise insights into financial performance.

  • Absolutely. Aimplan is designed with ease of use and self-service in mind. It allows non-technical users to manage tasks like planning, budgeting, forecasting, and reporting within the familiar Power BI interface. Intuitive features like commenting, scenario planning, and data management are built for business users, minimising the need for IT involvement in day-to-day operations.

  • Aimplan ensures high data quality by centralising data from trusted sources and using Power BI's robust data modelling capabilities. Since it’s integrated with your existing systems, you don’t need to manually reconcile data or spend time verifying accuracy. This automated approach reduces errors and ensures that you’re always working with reliable, up-to-date information, allowing you to focus on analysis rather than data validation.

  • With Aimplan, you can create a wide range of reports, including detailed financial statements like P&L and actuals vs. plan comparisons. Reports are fully customisable, allowing you to drill down into underlying transactions and tailor insights to your specific needs. You can also build scenario-based reports and integrate KPIs, giving you a comprehensive view of your business’s financial health.

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!