Say goodbye to traditional development discussions!

Your manager invites you to the annual development discussion. Again, another useless chitchat. Forced by both of you. You’ll have a stiff dialogue and fill out the compulsory information on the form that is irrelevant for both you and your employer. After the session, the form is forgotten to wait for next year’s round. Sounds familiar?

Etlia decided to do things differently and focus on the employee’s wishes and plans. That’s how Etlia Career Radar – a new generation career coaching concept was born.

Etlia’s values include the appreciation of people, empowering others, trust, and continuous improvement of operations. Our ultimate purpose is to provide top experts with an environment and community with the best opportunities for professional development.

A unique career coaching concept

Etlia’s Career Radar is definitely not a boring development discussion. It is also not intended only for the few and chosen ones but for every Etlians, based on the voluntariness of course. It offers a concrete process and reference framework, which helps the coachee to get support and tools to pursue their career dreams, whatever they may be.

Whether you want to reach the top of your career at Etlia or set up a diving shop in Thailand in a few years, the purpose of Career Radar is to clear a path in the direction you want on your terms, without forgetting the support offered by the community and the company. We encourage all Etlians to move forward on their paths because we believe that freedom is the best way to care.

Etlia Career Radar is a career coaching program where an external career coach helps the coachee reflect on themselves, and examine their values, skills, weaknesses, and their career prospects. After this, with the support of the coach, the coachee builds their career plan with schedules.

We will tell more about our journey with Career Radar in the upcoming blogs!

Interested in Career Radar? We will be happy to tell you more! Feel free to contact juuso.maijala@etlia.fi

Working at Etlia

We at Etlia want to provide our employees with the best premises for working and we find it important that our employees always feel welcome at work. Investing in job satisfaction is not only empty words since we do concrete actions to ensure that working at Etlia is meaningful and it is possible to adjust the work to different life situations and circumstances. For example, we make sure that at Etlia it is possible to work flexibly, and we take care of well-being at work in various ways. Appreciating each other is also an essential part of Etlia’s values.

Working flexibly

At the latest during the Covid-pandemic, it become clear that different ways to work regardless of time and place are becoming more common, and many people want to arrange their work flexibly. At Etlia it is possible to work from our office at Keilalahti Espoo and at home. In addition, it is also possible to work from abroad since our employees come from different countries all over the globe. We also want to consider different cultural backgrounds, and our employees can switch the Finnish holidays to their cultural bank holidays.

Shubham Keshri is working at Etlia as Principal Data Engineer. He has appreciated the opportunity to work flexibly from India, where his parents live. Keshri says the company has taken this well, and the permission to work from abroad hasn’t required any extra hassle.

“I have been working in different service-based companies here in Finland. Apart from a few non-Finnish-origin companies, the work culture has been excellent. Still, one thing that has been bothering me most was my parents living back in India. I always wanted my employer to be understanding in this area. More than anything, I just needed that flexibility to be able to work from India whenever I needed it (not the whole year). And without the need to take approval from some “HR” (Even when the end customer is totally fine with me working from India). Unfortunately, most of the companies didn’t give me that freedom because they just wanted to skip the hassle of getting into tax calculation.”

Keshri believes that at Etlia, people truly care about the well-being of the employees and trust their ability to arrange and do their work independently.

“I chose to join Etlia because they not only support you in your career development but also your family’s wellbeing. I have been able to work from India without hassle. I didn’t have to sign a clause or take approval from any HR. It is just like working from your summer home (why can’t I have a summer house in India?). There hasn’t been any micromanagement and Etlia has not only been trusting but also been supporting my decisions. I do my work with honesty and that only matters for the company and that’s how we build the culture here.”

For Keshri, the attitude and atmosphere at work also make difference:

“Simply the approach to any request here is different. We have no bureaucracy in taking any decision whether it is buying your favorite working equipment or if you feel like taking a trip to Spain. Etlia is ready to help you!”

Well-being at work is important

Good settings for working are an essential part of job satisfaction. Due to our growth, we could move to bigger workspaces with an amazing view, located at Keilalahti Espoo. Our co-working spaces enable the formation of good community spirit and the free spreading of ideas and thoughts between colleagues.

To maintain a good atmosphere, we also find it important to meet up with colleagues outside of work. This involves team days and Christmas parties. The picture on the left is from our team day organized in August at the water sports center Laguuni. At least there was no lack of speed. The picture on the right is from Etlia’s previous Christmas trip to Kakolanmäki, Turku. We didn’t get stuck in the funicular.

Taking care of your well-being is important to cope at work. We want to encourage our employees to be active at work and in their free time and we offer the chance to have a company bicycle, with which one can go to work and get a workout all at once. Every Tuesday, we also have a tasty breakfast at work.

Appreciating people is part of Etlia’s values

How we treat one another naturally impacts the work atmosphere. Appreciating people is part of Etlia’s values that have been constructed together with all our employees. Valuing each other means that we commit to treating everyone equally regardless of ethnicity, gender, or background. In our work culture, work and free time are also in balance.

Values guide Etlia’s daily work

Etlia exists for its employees and customers. Our goal is to provide the most talented data professionals with the best environment to develop professionally and help our customers create business value with data. This is the foundation of our culture, which guides our work. Our values show in everything we do, and they have been compiled together with all our colleagues, so it is easy for everyone to adapt to them. Our values are based on four factors that are empowering others, continuous improvement, trustworthiness, and appreciating people.

We empower others

Supporting the members of our community to reach their potential gives us joy. We always strive to be transparent and objective with our clients and colleagues. We foster respect for each other and accountability for our actions. We are proactive and practical when interacting with other people.

We keep improving

Continuous development is the foundation of our work, and we want to be better every day. We are not advocates of any pre-decided agenda, like technology, but strive to come up with the most suitable solution. While not reinventing the wheel, we don’t get stuck in doing things like we always have.

We can be trusted

We are a reliable and trustworthy partner. We commit to the highest standards of expertise and honesty. We create value and superior quality in a professional matter. We say things how they are.

We appreciate people

In the end, people matter – not technology. We treat everyone equally regardless of race, sex, or background. We take care of the work-life balance. We do the right thing.

How to get started with Power BI Project Team & Version Control

By Jaime Mabini, Data Engineer

Think about the story that you want to tell with data and make it happen with the help of Power BI

Would you like to know how to get the best knowledge out of your data? And also make it easily interpreted? With the help of following instructions, you will learn how to improve Power BI and versioning collaborate – without any extra costs. We will teach you step by step with the help of pictures, to how get started. 

Version control allows us to track and apply changes with ease. It presents us the capabilities to roll back with any changes implemented, provisions developers the benefits of having a backup without creating excessive copies of the file. Version control is essential for any developer regardless of level.

Most often, firms’ projects are handled by various specialists who are part of one team. Version control setup enables multiple users to have access to the same file. It applies changes depending on the permission given and provides collaboration work with specialists having to make changes.

If you need any help with Power BI or other data-related matters don’t hesitate to contact us! Our professionals are more than happy to help your company towards success.

PART 1. Let’s get started 

For using Power BI all you need is Office 365Proceed to SharePoint and create a new Team site as shown in picture. 

  1. Give a site name. In this example its named as Etlia’s PBI Projects & Version Control.
  2. Add users to the site. User group can also be added to the site and user changes can be made later if needed. 

Note that this will create a new group in Azure Active Directory and no further action is needed.

Configuring SharePoint site with OneDrive

3. Create a folder inside the new SharePoint site as shown below.
4. Under Documents -> New -> Folder
5. Name the Folder accordingly. In this example I named the folder Etlia’s PBI Projects.

OneDrive Synchronization

6. Next is you need to sync this folder with your OneDrive. Do this by clicking Sync on the top Ribbon as shown in the image below

This will automatically create you a link between your SharePoint file and OneDrive.

7. Open and check File Explorer to see if the sync is successful

7.1 Promptly you can add a File to this OneDrive folder that will automatically sync with the folder you created in the SharePoint site.

SharePoint view
File Explorer / OneDrive view

Now you have tested sync successfully! 

PBI Services: (https://app.powerbi.com/home)

Important: Note that all changes that will be applied to the report should be done in the file located in OneDrive folder and NOT the file located in SharePoint. ALWAYS Open and edit the report from OneDrive.

PART 2. Configuring PBI services 

1. First locate the Workspace that we want to published/link the file. 
1.1 For this example, we will use PBI Version Control Space workspace.

2. Next, we need to link the workspace to the OneDrive version that we created which is link to our SharePoint site.
2.1 Do this by Clicking Workspace -> locate workspace -> ellipses next to the workspace name
  -> Workspace settings

3. In the Workspace Settings click Advanced -> Locate Workspace OneDrive -> Add the OneDrive/SharePointsite that we created -> Click Save

4. After connecting the workspace to our OneDrive, go inside the Workspace, in the Bottom left corner -> click Get Data

5. Inside Get Data page -> Click Files to bring the report that is located in OneDrive.

6. Now you will see that our OneDrive version is available – great! 

7. Choose OneDrive – Etlia’s PBI Projects & Version Control. It will send us to the folders that are created inside the SharePoint site.

8. Access the folder and select the file that you wish to upload. In this case, we currently have one report VersionControl_Test.pbix -> Click Connect

8.1 This will be uploaded to the chosen workspace

Now we have our integration fully set up and functional. We can immediately start testing if the functionality completely and accurately works.

9. We can begin testing by opening the pbix. file from OneDrive. This will open the file on PBI desktop. Apply changes to the report for testing and save the report.
Note that we don’t need to re-publish the report from PBI desktop to PBI services. After saving the new changes applied to the report (in PBI desktop), this will automatically sync and update the current report published in PBI services.

10. After saving the changes, wait for a few minutes while the file is syncing, after the file successfully synced. The changes will now be updated and available in PBI services.

11. We can check the version history of the changes made in SharePoint site:

12. We can use this to roll-back the changes we applied.

Notice: In this example, we made changes to the report 4x. If I Restore this report using the first modification, it will restore the report to the state when it was firstly created and overwrite all changes made. This allows us to track and apply changes with ease. Presents us the capabilities to roll back with any changes implemented, provisions us the benefits of having a backup without creating any excessive copies of the file.

Important notes: 

  • After creating the Folder inside the SharePoint site, synchronize this folder to your OneDrive. 
  • Link the Workspace to the OneDrive file created. 
  • Always open and apply changes on the file located in the OneDrive folder. 
  • No need to re-publish the report after making changes. Save the report, and the changes will sync with report that is published.
    • If the report was accidentally re-published from PBI desktop to PBI services. Don’t worry, this will only create another copy of the report in the services. This can be deleted if needed.

Let us introduce our team

We are a group of experienced data analytics consultants, working towards one goal: helping our clients to fully benefit from data and analytics technologies and digitally transform their businesses. Our team is made of solid expertise, but none of us is as good as all of us together! Get to know our team members one by one.

Raaju – better known as the Master of Automation

Raaju describes himself as a man of few words, and thus, the right fit for the Finnish society. He moved to Finland seven years ago and was joined by his wife two years ago, who was having time of her life in sunny Australia.

Raaju is enthusiastic about non-automated solutions: give him one and he will return it to you automated. Developing smart solutions around Microsoft Azure is one of his specialties. Raaju has over 10 years’ experience in Data Analytics, and he is a certified Data Engineer, Solution Architect, Product Owner and Business Intelligence Architect.

Raaju is a deep thinker and likes to analyze metaphors and draw narratives out of movies, though he agrees that simply watching the movie without further analysis is also all right. He has travelled quite much around Europe, but has then moved to other activities, such as being a full-time chef at home.

Janne is the father of anything non-SAP

Janne is originally from Helsinki and after migrating around the metropolitan area, he has settled in Kirkkonummi with his wife and two sons.

With 15 years of experience in data analytics, Janne helps clients with all kinds of Data Management challenges ranging from hands-on development to architectural planning. Looking for someone with a specific certificate? Janne probably has it. In fact, he has so many certificates IKEA ran out of frames for them.

In his free time, Janne enjoys hiking, paddling, and cycling. Janne handles Finnish, English, Swedish, and also German on a basic level.

Timo is our SAP Business Intelligence wizard 

It has been over 30 years since Timo migrated to Espoo from Savo, but you might still notice his origins in his way of expressing himself: easy-going and humorous, combined with social indirectness. 

Timo is specialized in SAP Business Intelligence and has worked in various Business Intelligence projects during his 16 years of experience in the area. Timo aims to fully understand the client’s business to deliver the best possible solution to fit the client’s needs.

In addition to Finnish, Timo speaks fluent English. Playing ice-hockey, downhill skiing, cycling, and reading are some of his favorite activities off-work. He also enjoys doing snow work, and even though you can never be completely sure of the Finnish summer weather, he does it only in the wintertime.

Juuso is the founder of this Analytics Club

Juuso would probably like to say he is from Helsinki, but we think he is not really from anywhere as he has lived in so many cities in Finland and abroad. We would say Juuso is pretty adventurous – once in his teens he flew to Oregon to live with a family that nobody knew beforehand. Luckily everything went well and there was actually someone to pick him up at the airport. Currently Juuso lives in Kauniainen.

Juuso has over 17 years of experience in SAP Business Intelligence and Analytics. Juuso is fascinated by the better decision making that utilizing analytics enables. He believes that combining the latest analytics technologies with business understanding leads to the best result. 

Playing ice-hockey and floorball, reading, and spending time in nature are some activities Juuso enjoys in his free time. In addition to speaking Finnish, English and Swedish, he also might greet you with a ‘bonjour’.

Adwin has wide-ranging expertise in SAP

Adwin was born in Manila, Philippines, and moved to Finland over 10 years ago. He lives in Helsinki with his wife and daughter and will be welcoming a baby boy to the world this July.

With over 15 years in the industry, Adwin has become a SAP certified expert in Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse. Despite his solid and wide-ranging experience, Adwin still actively seeks to expand his knowledge in data analytics.

Adwin is a gaming geek and enjoys competitive online gaming, but he also lists basketball, guitars, and cars as his interests. A while ago he would also have listed playing golf with Angelos, but Adwin decided to quit it due to him always beating Angelos. Adwin is always smiley and fun to be around, and he really enjoys spending quality time with his co-workers. Likes to sing Despacito in karaoke.

Did you lose our SAP HANA specialist Angelos? Just search where the sun is shining

The prize of the most internationally exposed consultant of Etlia goes to Angelos! He is from Greece, and has lived in Germany, Spain, Malaysia, USA, Switzerland and of course, Finland, where he lives currently with his Japanese wife. When he is not in Finland, or Greece, he is somewhere on Earth, or at least inside the atmosphere. He also owns a car in Spain, a house in Greece and a camper that is probably in Finland at the moment. Can you get more international than that? We are not going to even mention the languages he speaks.

After working for over 20 years in SAP Business Intelligence and earning a PhD in data mining, we can say Angelos is a total expert in the field. His expertise includes especially SAP HANA, but also SAP ABAP, Integrated Planning, BPS and Python.

Angelos enjoys camping, nature, water, and sun. He used to play golf with Adwin, until Angelos decided to quit after beating Adwin time after time. Angelos is devoted to fighting against global warming and is currently taking a blueprint longevity master course to maximize his chances to witness the moment of stopping climate change.

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