The Client
Headquartered in Copenhagen, Aller Media is the leading publisher of magazines and newspapers in the
Nordic region with a weekly circulation of approximately 3.2 million copies. They publish many women’s
titles, but also have children and general adult titles. Aller Media, continuing their move from traditional
print to new media platforms, were the first to put all their magazines and weeklies on the iPad and the
iPhone. The company traces its beginning back to 1873, but Aller is anything but stuck in the past.
The Unfulfilled Need
With the company’s commitment to innovation and ideas, they needed a system that would be flexible
and agile enough to handle their growth. Their aging system was not up to the task. They also had
decided to merge the Denmark, Sweden and Finland operations onto one system, so it had to work for
all three groups as well.
The Partnership
After an extensive search, they unanimously chose AdvantageCS, and the long-term project began. The
three countries had many different practices and procedures, and consensus had to be reached before
implementing. In addition, there were 50+ integrations that had to be developed. Denmark was the first
to go live, followed by Sweden and then Finland.
The Result
The 18-month project was officially completed when Finland went live. At the 2016 European Advantage
User Group meeting, held at Aller headquarters in Copenhagen, Svend Erik Hansen, IT Director, Business
Solutions, had this to say: “We are extremely pleased to now have Advantage running in three
countries---Denmark, Sweden and Finland. Having Advantage as the single subscription system provides
the efficiencies, cost reductions, and superior capabilities we need to move forward. This is like a dream
for me. The people at AdvantageCS are real professionals.”
Since the initial go-live, Aller has upgraded to a current update of Advantage and joined the continuous
update track. However, it was not an ordinary upgrade. With operations in three different countries,
involving more than sixty people, the Aller upgrade project was a bit more complex than most. The
upgrade included 60 integrations and 2,029 test cases, and yet still was completed on time and within
budget and with minimal impact to daily business operations. The project also further cemented ACS as
a trusted partner for Aller.
