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Ukrainian energy company KNESS offers a comprehensive range of services in renewable energy, both in the domestic market and internationally. Currently, the company has offices in Poland and Latvia. Over several years, its international business units have built almost 150 MW of solar power plants, with another 100 MW currently under construction.

When scaling any business, an ERP system for managing resources and processes plays a key role. To drive this change, KNESS chose the Ukrainian product IT company IT-Enterprise as its digital partner. Since then, KNESS has been using IT-Enterprise solutions for more than five years, including in its international offices.

“Being KNESS’s digital partner in its international expansion is both a great responsibility and recognition of our expertise. We see how systemic digital transformation enables Ukrainian businesses to scale confidently and compete in global markets,” says Oleg Shcherbatenko, founder and CEO of IT-Enterprise.

Digital transformation with IT-Enterprise and KNESS’s international expansion

The company’s first steps toward international growth began in 2021, when it opened a new office in Poland. Unfortunately, the full-scale invasion in Ukraine imposed limitations, particularly reducing access to qualified candidates to fill vacancies or financial instruments. However, thanks to its expertise and technical competence, KNESS managed to secure a position in Poland’s renewable energy market.

“A new country is like starting a business from scratch. Even if you are a strong player in Ukraine, you have to run as fast as you can to gain a foothold,” says Serhii Shakalov, co-owner and CEO of KNESS Group.

This experience proved essential for further growth. In 2023, KNESS opened an office in Latvia and now plans to expand to other European countries as the next step in its transformation journey.

“Transformation is an inseparable part of any business lifecycle. Without internal changes, any scaling or development would be out of question,” adds Mr. Shakalov.

Nearly ten years ago, when KNESS experienced a period of rapid growth, it launched an internal digital transformation project and partnered with IT-Enterprise to bring all key processes together in a single information space.

“IT-Enterprise has become a true driver of change for us. It helped us understand how to transform and what we ultimately want,” says Mr. Shakalov.

Today, KNESS integrates IT-Enterprise modules not only in Ukraine but also internationally. Despite potential differences in legislation and accounting approaches, a unified system helps to consolidate all major processes: logistics, financial control, project management, etc.

Chaos-free scalability: KNESS business unified with IT-Enterprise ERP

Scaling is not just about opening new offices abroad. One has to ensure that the company can grow sustainably and avoid internal chaos. For KNESS, this stability has been provided by the IT-Enterprise ERP system, implemented back in 2019.

Previously, many processes at KNESS were scattered across Excel spreadsheets, 1C, and other software. Each department used its own tools, which is why managers lacked real-time visibility of company performance and felt the need for a unified information platform.

Today, IT-Enterprise ERP has become the digital backbone of KNESS, integrating accounting, logistics, management reporting, analytics, and parts of its international units into a single digital ecosystem with smooth, transparent processes.

“ERP makes everything visible — from expenses to team efficiency. I get real-time data and can make decisions immediately. And so can the entire management team,” says Serhii Shakalov, co-owner and CEO of KNESS Group.

• 10 companies in Ukraine operate with end-to-end business processes in one ERP system
  
• 2 companies in the EU (Poland and Latvia) scaled best practices thanks to ERP implementation

Accounting: a journey from 1C to IT-Enterprise ERP

In 2014, KNESS abandoned 1C, the accounting system of Russian origin, and launched the implementation of IT-Enterprise, developed by a Ukrainian team. This marked the starting point of a large-scale digital transformation, covering finance, production, managing documents and business processes.

“The transition was challenging because we had to change established workflows and migrate large volumes of data. For the first years, we worked in two systems in parallel, which put significant pressure on the accounting department. But our team managed. Now everything runs smoothly — we control processes in real time and scale confidently,” says Ivan Vekirchyk, co-founder and Financial Advisor to the CEO of KNESS.

One of the keys to the ERP’s success was its user-friendliness. IT-Enterprise continuously improves the platform’s interface and functionality, integrating AI tools to automate routine tasks and boost overall productivity.

Business in your pocket: managing KNESS via a mobile app

As KNESS grew, the number of processes, people, and tasks also multiplied. The company needed a solution that would provide a full real-time overview, accessible even from a smartphone.

“One of the simplest yet most important ideas for us as owners was to have an app that allows us to manage the company from our phones. Of course, if we want this to work, processes must be fast, coordinated, and most importantly, integrated within one platform. They should not be scattered across Excel or whatever other systems. We’ll benefit only from a single platform that can cover finance, warehouse logistics and production,” explains Ivan Vekirchyk, co-founder and Financial Advisor to the CEO of KNESS.

Together with IT-Enterprise, KNESS went on to implement this idea and integrated ERP processes with the mobile management app. It has become an automated space for submitting requests, approving expenses, or budget checks by the legal and accounting departments, so that key decisions can be made much faster than before.

“Digital transparency lets us see what’s happening in the company and react instantly. This became one of our advantages during crises and rapid growth,” adds Mr. Vekirchyk.

As a result, KNESS received not just an automation solution but a handy tool for managers, who can now interact with key processes with just a few clicks.

Financial transparency: a single digital system on the watch

To maintain financial control during a period of rapid growth, KNESS introduced a unified digital environment for managing all financial operations from initiating a payment request to its completion.

“You face a major challenge when your company is growing fast. There’s always the risk of a financial gap, with more projects than funds to cover them. That’s why it’s critical to see the company’s financial status online and in real time,” says Ivan Vekirchyk, co-founder and Financial Advisor to the CEO of KNESS. “We successfully went through several stages of growth because we could see the big picture at the right moment. This allows us to make quick decisions: should we launch some projects, put others on hold, or look for new partners and investors?”

In this case, all financial transactions run through a single system. It tracks responsible persons, which budget the payment refers to, its date, time, payer, recipient, and purpose. Payment requests are automatically reviewed by the finance and legal departments, cross-checked against budgets and plans, and only then processed for execution.

“Any payment starts with a request where you enter its key details. The system then runs through every stage: adds the required information, checks for budget compliance, and finally, generates a payment register. Human involvement is minimal because everything is automated,” explains Mr. Vekirchyk.

With this digital system, the team no longer spends time on routine checks, approvals, emails, or Excel spreadsheets. They can shift their focus to actual business development.

“In fact, it freed up our employees’ time and let them concentrate on growing the company,” adds Mr. Vekirchyk.

Efficiency through centralized digital management and document workflow

The KNESS Group has built a comprehensive digital ecosystem covering all core areas of activity, from document management and HR to project monitoring and financial control.

Head of KNESS’s Digital Transformation Department Vladyslav Fomin notes that almost 90% of company employees interact with the IT-Enterprise platform in one way or another. They can upload documents, record labor costs on sites, and access real-time analytics.

“All this is done either through the main IT-Enterprise interface or via our in-house corporate bots, along with other services. We’ve been using IT-Enterprise for over five years and are constantly expanding its functionality,” says Mr. Fomin.

With the centralized IT-Enterprise ERP system, KNESS can scale its business quickly, make operational management decisions, and adapt to today’s challenges, as it did during the pandemic and the shift to remote work.

Two system modules play a particularly important role: invoice approval and project management. The first ensures transparency of financial flows, while the second enables full control over all stages of constructing energy facilities, such as solar power plants in Ukraine and abroad.

• 90% of employees work with standardized processes and interact with the ERP
  
• 500+ projects delivered through ERP-based project management

Ukrainian product IT company IT-Enterprise has been driving digital transformation for over 35 years, supporting the largest players in Ukraine’s real economy, including Interpipe, Ferrexpo, Nibulon, Ukrposhta, Ukrnafta, and Ukrzaliznytsia. Since the first days of the full-scale war, IT-Enterprise has partnered with government agencies on critical national projects, including humanitarian aid tracking, procurement recovery, and business relocation.

Its founder and CEO, Oleg Shcherbatenko, is a staunch advocate of Industry 4.0 and 5.0 technologies in Ukraine.