VIG Re
VIG Re is a licensed reinsurer in the Czech Republic and is also part of the multinational Vienna Insurance Group. The company’s core business is providing risk and capital management solutions for insurance companies. VIG Re is growing steadily and is successful not only in the European region, but also in Asia. In total, VIG Re has 588 clients in 53 countries.

Customer request
Due to the growth of the company and the related need to optimize the work with the Power BI tool, VIG Re asked for help with several areas related to this technology. Specifically, it was a request to design the overall Power BI governance, create a company Power BI template, develop regulatory reports in Power BI and help with the configuration of the Power BI tenant. VIG Re began to significantly address the issue of data governance only a few months before the start of mutual cooperation. Therefore, the governance related to Power BI had not been processed in any way at the time of the request and had to be addressed from the ground up. The corporate template was to be created on the basis of a processed internal corporate PowerPoint template using an appropriate color palette, logo, text and other visual elements. Of course, best practices for developing reports and dashboards were also taken into account. The requirement for regulatory reports consisted mainly in the exact fulfillment of the assignment resulting from the given regulations with an emphasis on speed of delivery.
Solution
When processing Power BI governance, it was based on best practice in the field and the experience of dolphin consulting in compiling Power BI governance for other clients. Thanks to this, it was possible to immediately define the areas relevant to the particular situation of VIG Re. In addition, the key topics that every company that wants to use the Power BI tool to solve its reporting should have been defined at the beginning. This ensured that time was invested only in relevant areas and at the same time none of the really pivotal areas were neglected. Examples of processed areas are roles and their settings, security, support, documentation and knowledge base, development and deployment process, licenses, life cycle, education or the Power BI community. Each topic was elaborated in detail and factually described, including the real impact on both daily and strategic reporting. Part of this process included discussions on individual areas, from which a number of recommendations emerged, which were gradually incorporated. The result is not only a detailed document covering everything essential regarding reporting and the Power BI platform, but above all the establishment of a clear order and rules that everyone in the company can follow. The Power BI template was delivered in the form of the so-called Power BI Toolkit. It contains a report with settings that correspond to best practices in terms of information design. Specifically, the Toolkit can be thought of as an elaborate template containing different theme versions with defined canvas usage rules and many sample report pages. Also included are filter layout concepts, many pre-made formatted visuals, and calendars calculated in both DAX and M. The Toolkit came with detailed instructions for use. The specific modifications of the Toolkit consisted in the application of color palettes, various color elements and the logo. The regulatory report was created based on the identified need to introduce quarterly/annual data reporting in order to be able to analyze and report financial results to various users in accordance with the IFRS 17 reporting standard. the visuals correspond to the specification given in the assignment. The report includes visuals related to the balance sheet, profit and loss statement, KPI and other required indicators. By default, the report displays the results for the last closed quarter, however, the user has the option to change the monitored time period and at the same time can choose from a number of filters in the editable filter panel. The report was created in accordance with the VIG Re Power BI template.
Benefits
The greatest benefits of the implemented Power BI governance will be manifested above all in a longer time horizon, when you can expect a significantly higher quality of reports (dashboards), an overview of the entire reporting process, a more useful allocation of resources or easier management of both the platform and individual reports if the set rules are followed. At the same time, better adoption of the tool and greater confidence in the reporting solution as a whole can be expected. The immediate benefits are answering questions related to Power BI governance and solving the resulting tasks that lead to greater security. The benefit of the Power BI template and Toolkit is primarily in saving time when creating reports, where the goal is to follow the principles of proper design and at the same time maintain a unified concept. This standardization subsequently leads to better clarity of reports and easier orientation. The benefit of the regulatory report is in particular enabling detailed data analysis and facilitating the reporting of financial results.
Technologies used
Reports are developed in the Microsoft Power BI environment.