Reshaping Haglöfs' Integration Landscape

Haglöfs launched back in 1914 with a vision to develop durable outdoor gear. At a time when backpacks were simple and uncomfortable, Wiktor Haglöfs invented a backpack that was practical - and comfortable. Fast forward 100 years, and Haglöfs has become a global outdoor brand. Still, with the vision to set a new standard in outdoor exploration. With sales in 28 countries and a vast network of suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors - achievements far beyond Wiktor Haglöfs expectations back in 1914. 

Being global comes with challenges - it creates a complex digital landscape with an extensive integration network. A network that quickly becomes a tangled web of integrations that are hard to manage and keep track of. If that wasn't enough, the demand for new and updated integrations is constantly growing. This is where Haglöfs IT department comes in.

Meet Per-Ola Axelsson, senior IT manager at Haglöfs and responsible for managing the IT landscape. Together with his team, they make the solid foundation of the IT department. Their job is to manage the connections to the suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, and, of course - the internal IT systems.

To keep up, Haglöfs uses a variety of IT solutions and third parties to manage integrations, data, and information. Even if outsourcing some parts might make daily life easier, it adds to the complexity of the digital landscape - and someone needs to document and update it. On top of that, the master data becomes increasingly essential to the business and the connections with all of Haglöfs’ retailers and various E-commerce partners.

"We lacked a solution for managing our technical documentation. Maintaining what you have and understanding what you need is hard work, especially if you have an extensive integration network.", Per-Ola explains.

Haglöfs started its journey to modernize the IT landscape in 2020 to catch up with the accelerated demand for integrations - a key for every part of the business to continue its growth. Per-Ola and the team had to know the landscape's current state but lacked the tool. 

Finding and documenting all of their integrations would take a lot of work. Haglöfs needed a solution where the IT department could greatly simplify and monitor the distributed connections from third-party IT solutions and, by doing so, save valuable time and money on their projects and forward initiatives. 

"There was a buzz in the industry about this service called Starlify. My initial thought was that Starlify offered a solution I hadn't seen before. And it was a golden opportunity for us to test it out", says Per-Ola. 

The team started to map their integrations in Starlify. First, on a high level, to quickly get an overview of the integration landscape. With little effort, the result immediately gave them valuable insights into how everything was connected. And that counts not only for IT but for other departments as well. One example is how Starlify gave Human Resources and Legal a way to follow how personal information flows through their digital landscape. With Starlify, they can see and understand which system or application uses the information in compliance with GDPR. 

Another benefit of Starlify is the ability to collaborate to keep the information updated. It’s not down to one person's spreadsheet or memory anymore. Starlify gives you a more intuitive way to collect, see, and follow the information from partners. All in all, it allows Haglöfs to be more agile, get a shared updated view,  and have the ability to work proactively with its integrations and IT landscape. 

“We've been on a long journey, and Starlify makes us more effective. We've already documented all of our connections in Starlify and have created a foundation for the integration landscape. There's still a lot of work to be done, but we can already see its benefits. The significant pay-off will be the ability to add new systems and applications and see how it’s connected and interact with each other.”, he continues. 

"The implementation of Starlify helps to get a shared view of where we are and what we need to do, not only within our IT department but also for the rest of our departments. Now that we can both visualize and pinpoint our initiatives - it's easier to get a hold of what we all need to do to reach our goals.", says Per-Ola. “Starlify has reshaped how we think about our integration landscape”