Sievo: from spreadsheets to unified resource planning

Integrations with NetSuite and HiBob

A key to Operating’s success at Sievo was its ability to integrate with existing systems. Sievo connected Operating to their CRM/ERP and HR systems to automate data flow:

• NetSuite (ERP): Operating is synchronized with Sievo’s NetSuite, so client and project data flows in automatically. This integration eliminated double-entry and kept project info consistent across tools.
• HiBob (HRIS): Operating is also integrated with HiBob, Sievo’s HR information system. Employee information, such as roles and skills, and time-off/leave data from HiBob are reflected in Operating. Approved vacations and holidays automatically populate as allocations, ensuring resource plans always account for people’s availability.

These integrations tie Operating into Sievo’s broader tech stack. The CRM integration means the resource planners see upcoming projects from the pipeline, and the HR integration means availability is always up-to-date. Everyone looks at the same data, breaking down the silos between sales, staffing, and HR.

Retiring Spreadsheets and Legacy Tools

By implementing Operating, Sievo was able to sunset several fragmented tools. The cumbersome Excel workbooks used for capacity planning, vacation tracking, and skill matrices were gradually retired. Likewise, the old standalone time tracking software was decommissioned once Operating’s timesheets went live. Instead of juggling multiple files and systems, Sievo’s team now plans and tracks everything in one place. This consolidation has not only simplified the toolkit but also reduced errors and manual reconciliation.

Results and Outcomes

Moving from spreadsheets to Operating has yielded tangible improvements for Sievo’s professional services operation:

• Hours Saved on Planning: Resource planning that once took hours of manual work each week is now streamlined. Creating staffing plans is much faster – tasks that “used to use several hours to do” are largely automated. This translates to a time savings of several hours per week for the operations team, freeing them to focus on value-adding activities instead of updating Excel grids.
• Real-Time Visibility into Billable Work: With everyone using one system, Sievo has full transparency into utilization and billable hours. Managers can see, in real time, who is allocated where and which hours are billed vs. unbilled. This has improved billable utilization by ensuring work doesn’t “slip through the cracks.” In fact, the team now captures time that might have been missed before. “We always see up-to-date information on our resourcing, so we can balance out the work,” notes Perttu Paarma, Sievo’s VP of Professional Services, ensuring optimal workload distribution and preventing burnout across the team.
• Higher Utilization & Proactive Staffing: Armed with forward-looking data, Sievo can forecast capacity and adjust staffing proactively. Operating provides real-time projections of utilization based on pipeline and current projects. This has enabled Sievo to increase its consultant utilization rate – more of their consultants’ time is spent on billable client work. For example, if a consultant is rolling off a project, the team can see it coming and allocate that person to a new billable project immediately. The result is fewer bench hours and a higher percentage of time spent on revenue-generating work. Sievo’s leadership attributes part of their annual growth and project profitability improvements to this improved utilization and foresight in hiring needs.

Sievo’s leaders are enthusiastic about the transformation. “I’m really excited about Operating because it provides us a platform that ties everything together,” says Silvia Geier. By having resource planning, staffing, and time tracking in one system, Sievo has achieved a new level of operational clarity. The platform’s transparency ensures that the information that used to live in people’s heads or separate files is now visible to all – a shift that has strengthened decision-making and collaboration in a team that's spread over three continents.

Conclusion

Sievo’s journey from Excel-based planning to an integrated digital operations platform showcases the power of a unified approach. In a phased rollout, they replaced tedious manual processes with automated, data-driven workflows. The move to Operating has delivered concrete results: saved time, higher billable utilization, and improved team morale through better workload balance. Perhaps most importantly, Sievo now has real-time visibility into its operations, enabling truly proactive resource management. This case highlights how a consulting and software firm transformed its internal operations with the same data-driven ethos it delivers to clients – achieving a more efficient, transparent, and scalable way of working through digital operations excellence.