ABN AMRO boosts risk identification by 70% with Nova Silva’s visuals for Power BI

ABN AMRO provides a wide range financial products and services—from business loans and mortgages to savings, investment products, and payment services—to millions of individuals and businesses across the Netherlands and Northwest Europe. With the goal of creating sustainable, long-term value for all, the bank supports clients in their financial decisions, whether they are buying a house, expanding their business, or making investments.

ABN AMRO faced several challenges as the rapid expansion of Power BI usage across the bank created a growing demand for more innovative and enhanced visuals. Users were utilizing a mix of paid and unpaid certified custom visuals, which became difficult to maintain, especially as employees switched roles within or outside the company. The bank also struggled with complicated cost management, the need to maintain multiple vendor relationships for custom visuals, and the risk of purchasing the same visual multiple times. Additionally, some users were employing visuals that did not align with ABN AMRO’s vision for effective data visualization, leading to inconsistency and a lack of standardization.

The bank needed to decide whether to centralize purchasing, develop visuals in-house, or allow users autonomy, all while ensuring the best availability of visuals, cost-effectiveness, security, and alignment with its data strategy. With 20,000 unique Power BI users each month, it became clear the bank needed a solution to manage the increasing complexity. ABN AMRO sought a comprehensive library of Power BI visuals to help users leverage their data and access a wide range of visualization options for deeper insights.

Nova Silva helps ABN AMRO tackle Power BI custom visual complexity and standardization

Nova Silva is dedicated to enhancing data visualization and analytics for organizations using Power BI. The Microsoft partner creates high-quality custom visuals that expand the core capabilities of Power BI, enabling users to gain deeper insights and make data-driven decisions with greater clarity. As a boutique consulting firm, Nova Silva also works closely with corporate clients to help them leverage their data effectively, providing tailored guidance and solutions that maximize the impact of their analytics.

ABN AMRO evaluated multiple visual libraries based on configuration, support, ease of use, intuitiveness, costs, and alignment with their data visualization standards. Nova Silva’s visuals were found to be suitable and well-designed, with ABN AMRO’s central BI team managing installation and updates and Nova Silva providing responsive support and implementing new requirements.

Available in Microsoft AppSource, Nova Silva’s visuals for Power BI effectively addressed ABN AMRO’s pain points through a combination of tailored support, collaboration, and custom development. Nova Silva provided prompt and knowledgeable responses to ABN AMRO’s questions, ensuring clarity and confidence throughout the process. Nova Silva worked closely with the bank to enhance the visuals based on ABN AMRO’s preferences, aligning the visuals with the organization’s data visualization vision.

"Thanks to the custom visuals from Nova Silva, we successfully created the CHARTS assistant in Power BI," said Bernard Beeftink, Lead Product Owner BI Enabling, ABN AMRO. "This tool aids all of our Power BI developers in selecting the most appropriate visualization to best support their data stories."

Ben de Jong, ABN AMRO Data Analyst and Data Visualization Expert, said, “The SMART KPI List is a great combination of multiple data points, providing me with a clear understanding of the progress and status of my KPIs.”

ABN AMRO realizes key benefits with Nova Silva custom visuals for Power BI

ABN AMRO achieved significant improvements in efficiency, risk management, and data-driven decision-making, including the following:

More than 50% reduced lead time for Gantt chart reporting 

ABN AMRO relies heavily on Gantt charts for program and project management. Prior to implementing the PowerGantt Chart, producing Power BI reports was a time-intensive process that required significant manual effort and customization. By leveraging the advanced capabilities of the PowerGantt Chart, the bank reduced the lead time for generating Gantt chart reports by more than 50%, allowing teams to allocate time more effectively and focus on strategic tasks.

70% faster risk and delay identification in portfolio management

Managing a diverse portfolio requires promptly identifying risks and delays. Using the Milestone Trend Analysis Chart, ABN AMRO gained unparalleled visibility into potential issues with projects. This visual enabled the portfolio management team to identify risks and delays 70% faster than before, allowing them to proactively mitigate problems and ensure smoother project execution.

20% faster access to critical data signals 

Analyzing operational data often involves sifting through noise to identify meaningful trends. The Control Chart XmR empowered ABN AMRO to distinguish between noise and actionable signals in data. This capability reduced the time required to access critical data signals by 20%, enabling faster and more accurate decision-making in key operational areas.

Nova Silva's custom visuals for Power BI helped ABN AMRO reduce cost inefficiencies, simplify maintenance, and ensure alignment with strategic goals, leading to improved data visualization and reporting consistency across the bank.