tech, design, and business. mjølner update 4th, 2013

”MJØLNER LETS US SCALE TO DEMAND WHILE UPHOLDING THE QUALITY THAT SETS US APART”Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen, CIO of Danske Commodities

4th Quarter 2013

EDITORIAL

CHANGING FOCUS WHILE UPHOLDING CULTURE

The role of innovation and technology is constantly

changing. As a result, our roles as consultants, software

developers, and designers are changing as well.

Previously, the software industry has played a supporting

and cost-minimizing role in business. Today, the services we

offer clients span a much wider area. These are services that

generate profit by helping our customers create innovative

and strategic, business-oriented solutions.

In the spring, we reorganized ourselves in order to

better support our new role. This formal change was a

manifestation of a long and still ongoing process. Looking

back at 2013, it is evident that it has already had a great

impact.

All in all, 2013 has been a good year for Mjølner. We have

managed to shift course, while maintaining our unique

corporate culture. The final 2013 issue of Mjølner UPDATE

underlines this journey.

In this issue, you can learn how our software consul-

tants help the rapidly growing energy trader Danske

Commodities maximize profit through customized software.

Read about our new TouchGFX demo board that enables

quick prototyping of high-end embedded graphical user

interfaces on low-performance hardware. And get your tech-

nology update by learning which Android KitKat features

you should know before starting your next app project.

Furthermore, we are proud to share our ranking in this year’s

Great Place to Work survey. Lastly, we tell the story of one of

the great annual traditions that captures the unique Mjølner

culture.

Best Regards,

Jørgen Lindskov Knudsen, CEO

UPDATECover photo: Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen (CIO of Danske Commodities);

Michel Thrysøe, Rasmus Vestergaard, Dennis Madsen, René Schade,

Stephan Henningsen & Henrik Jørgensen (Mjølner).

EDITORIAL

CHANGING FOCUS WHILE UPHOLDING CULTURE

The role of innovation and technology is constantly

changing. As a result, our roles as consultants, software

developers, and designers are changing as well.

Previously, the software industry has played a supporting

and cost-minimizing role in business. Today, the services we

offer clients span a much wider area. These are services that

generate profit by helping our customers create innovative

and strategic, business-oriented solutions.

In the spring, we reorganized ourselves in order to

better support our new role. This formal change was a

manifestation of a long and still ongoing process. Looking

back at 2013, it is evident that it has already had a great

impact.

All in all, 2013 has been a good year for Mjølner. We have

managed to shift course, while maintaining our unique

corporate culture. The final 2013 issue of Mjølner UPDATE

underlines this journey.

In this issue, you can learn how our software consul-

tants help the rapidly growing energy trader Danske

Commodities maximize profit through customized software.

Read about our new TouchGFX demo board that enables

quick prototyping of high-end embedded graphical user

interfaces on low-performance hardware. And get your tech-

nology update by learning which Android KitKat features

you should know before starting your next app project.

Furthermore, we are proud to share our ranking in this year’s

Great Place to Work survey. Lastly, we tell the story of one of

the great annual traditions that captures the unique Mjølner

culture.

Best Regards,

Jørgen Lindskov Knudsen, CEO

UPDATECover photo: Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen (CIO of Danske Commodities);

Michel Thrysøe, Rasmus Vestergaard, Dennis Madsen, René Schade,

Stephan Henningsen & Henrik Jørgensen (Mjølner).

Agility is Essential

The energy market is big business - conducted at a breath-

taking pace. It changes every minute, as does the demand for

customized software.

Working in this rapidly changing environment calls all your

skills into action, and applying them in the right way, at the

right time, is essential.

I’ve been at Danske Commodities for four months now,

and have already worked on five projects using about ten

different technologies. I make use of a wide range of my

competencies, and when I fall short, I have a back-up team of

IT professionals at Mjølner.

- Christian Stenz, Senior Software Architect, Mjølner

Mjølner’s consultants ensure flexibility and consistency for

Danske Commodities. Add to that Mjølner’s experience and

competencies and you have a promising setup.

Learn more about Mjølner’s software consultants:

Ellen Agerbo

+45 41 95 36 38

[email protected]

MJØLNER PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN DANSKE COMMODITIES’ GROWTH RACE. WE HELP THE INTER- NATIONAL ENERGY TRADER DEVELOP SOFTWARE THAT DELIVERS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.

Danske Commodities is an independent, international

energy trader founded in 2004. Today, the company employs

more than 400 people and trades in more than 30 countries.

IT as a Differentiator

IT and software play a vital role in Danske Commodities’

value creation. Danske Commodities uses IT to optimize

management and processes. And most importantly: to give

their trading activities a competitive advantage.

The combination of trading know-how and intelligent IT

systems is the key to their success:

We optimize and quantify our trading know-how

through software. Customized software enables us to

make crucial decisions in a fraction of a second and sets us

apart from our competitors.

- Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen, CIO of Danske Commodities

Scaling to Demand

Recruiting the right people at the right time is one of the

biggest challenges for Danske Commodities as they have

doubled in size every 11 months since their founding. One

way they deal with this challenge is by using Mjølner’s

consultants.

We do not compromise on quality to ensure quantity.

Mjølner shares our core belief in professional and agile

software development. This makes Mjølner our preferred

supplier. Their consultants give us the freedom to scale to

demand while upholding the quality that sets us apart.

-Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen, CIO of Danske Commodities

The first Mjølner software consultant at Danske

Commodities started in April this year. Today, nine

consultants work on-site at Danske Commodities’

headquarter.

DANSKE COMMODITIES & MJØLNER: IT AT THE TIPPING POINT

MJØLNER SHARES OUR CORE BELIEF IN PROFESSIONAL AND AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT. THIS MAKES MJØLNER

OUR PREFERRED SUPPLIER.Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen, CIO of Danske Commodities

Dennis Madsen & René Schade,

Mjølner consultants

Rasmus Lundgaard Pedseren,

CIO of Danske Commodities

Danske Commodities

Agility is Essential

The energy market is big business - conducted at a breath-

taking pace. It changes every minute, as does the demand for

customized software.

Working in this rapidly changing environment calls all your

skills into action, and applying them in the right way, at the

right time, is essential.

I’ve been at Danske Commodities for four months now,

and have already worked on five projects using about ten

different technologies. I make use of a wide range of my

competencies, and when I fall short, I have a back-up team of

IT professionals at Mjølner.

- Christian Stenz, Senior Software Architect, Mjølner

Mjølner’s consultants ensure flexibility and consistency for

Danske Commodities. Add to that Mjølner’s experience and

competencies and you have a promising setup.

Learn more about Mjølner’s software consultants:

Ellen Agerbo

+45 41 95 36 38

[email protected]

MJØLNER PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN DANSKE COMMODITIES’ GROWTH RACE. WE HELP THE INTER- NATIONAL ENERGY TRADER DEVELOP SOFTWARE THAT DELIVERS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.

Danske Commodities is an independent, international

energy trader founded in 2004. Today, the company employs

more than 400 people and trades in more than 30 countries.

IT as a Differentiator

IT and software play a vital role in Danske Commodities’

value creation. Danske Commodities uses IT to optimize

management and processes. And most importantly: to give

their trading activities a competitive advantage.

The combination of trading know-how and intelligent IT

systems is the key to their success:

We optimize and quantify our trading know-how

through software. Customized software enables us to

make crucial decisions in a fraction of a second and sets us

apart from our competitors.

- Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen, CIO of Danske Commodities

Scaling to Demand

Recruiting the right people at the right time is one of the

biggest challenges for Danske Commodities as they have

doubled in size every 11 months since their founding. One

way they deal with this challenge is by using Mjølner’s

consultants.

We do not compromise on quality to ensure quantity.

Mjølner shares our core belief in professional and agile

software development. This makes Mjølner our preferred

supplier. Their consultants give us the freedom to scale to

demand while upholding the quality that sets us apart.

-Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen, CIO of Danske Commodities

The first Mjølner software consultant at Danske

Commodities started in April this year. Today, nine

consultants work on-site at Danske Commodities’

headquarter.

MJØLNER SHARES OUR CORE BELIEF IN PROFESSIONAL AND AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT. THIS MAKES MJØLNER

OUR PREFERRED SUPPLIER.Rasmus Lundgaard Pedersen, CIO of Danske Commodities

Dennis Madsen & René Schade,

Mjølner consultants

Rasmus Lundgaard Pedseren,

CIO of Danske Commodities

Danske Commodities

OUR NEW DEMO BOARD GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE AND FEEL HOW HIGH-END GRAPHICS CAN BE ACHIEVED ON LOW-POWER HARDWARE.

In the last year, our graphical framework TouchGFX has

received a lot of attention from interested clients around the

globe. We’ve gotten lots of feedback and have acquired new

insights, which leads to new ideas for ways in which the

product can evolve. To create a platform that showcases some

of the new possibilities, we have partnered with EKTOS and

created a new TouchGFX demo board. This board offers a

great way for our customers to create a fast and effective proof

of concept.

During our many demonstrations of TouchGFX we have

discovered a high demand for capacitive touch. So far, there

exists no other commercial demo board on the market with

capacitive touch. However, in order to achieve an effortless

experience that lives up to people’s expectations heightened by

the proliferation of smartphones, capacitive touch is essential.

Still, resistive screens are better suited for certain use

contexts, just as the price of capacitive touch is too high for

certain products. Because of this, we offer demo boards

supporting both technologies.

Instant Proof of Concept

The most valuable benefit of the demo

board is the possibility of moving very quicly from

idea to proof of concept. Using only the board

itself and the free TouchGFX trial framework,

you can develop your own high-end

embedded graphical user interface (GUI)

on low-performance harware in a

matter of days.

Because the TouchGFX demo

board comes in multiple

display sizes and resolu-

tions, you can choose

a board that matches your final

hardware platform of choice making it much

easier to arrive at a proof of concept.

GET AN INSTANT PROOF OF CONCEPT WITH THE NEW TouchGFX DEMO BOARD

PRODUCT

TouchGFX demo board specifications:

MCU’s for TouchGFX: - NXP LPC4350 / LPC4353 / LPC4357

Displays for TouchGFX:- U.R.T. 3.5” / 4.3” / 5.7” / 7.0” TFT display

Touch functionality:- Capacitive / Resistive

Typical Application:- Home Appliances / Health Care / Industrial Devices

Interested in getting your own

proof of concept with TouchGFX?

Jørgen Mygind, Account Manager

+45 30 98 41 15

[email protected]

www.touchgfx.com

OUR NEW DEMO BOARD GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE AND FEEL HOW HIGH-END GRAPHICS CAN BE ACHIEVED ON LOW-POWER HARDWARE.

In the last year, our graphical framework TouchGFX has

received a lot of attention from interested clients around the

globe. We’ve gotten lots of feedback and have acquired new

insights, which leads to new ideas for ways in which the

product can evolve. To create a platform that showcases some

of the new possibilities, we have partnered with EKTOS and

created a new TouchGFX demo board. This board offers a

great way for our customers to create a fast and effective proof

of concept.

During our many demonstrations of TouchGFX we have

discovered a high demand for capacitive touch. So far, there

exists no other commercial demo board on the market with

capacitive touch. However, in order to achieve an effortless

experience that lives up to people’s expectations heightened by

the proliferation of smartphones, capacitive touch is essential.

Still, resistive screens are better suited for certain use

contexts, just as the price of capacitive touch is too high for

certain products. Because of this, we offer demo boards

supporting both technologies.

Instant Proof of Concept

The most valuable benefit of the demo

board is the possibility of moving very quicly from

idea to proof of concept. Using only the board

itself and the free TouchGFX trial framework,

you can develop your own high-end

embedded graphical user interface (GUI)

on low-performance harware in a

matter of days.

Because the TouchGFX demo

board comes in multiple

display sizes and resolu-

tions, you can choose

a board that matches your final

hardware platform of choice making it much

easier to arrive at a proof of concept.

GET AN INSTANT PROOF OF CONCEPT WITH THE NEW TouchGFX DEMO BOARD

PRODUCT

TouchGFX demo board specifications:

MCU’s for TouchGFX: - NXP LPC4350 / LPC4353 / LPC4357

Displays for TouchGFX:- U.R.T. 3.5” / 4.3” / 5.7” / 7.0” TFT display

Touch functionality:- Capacitive / Resistive

Typical Application:- Home Appliances / Health Care / Industrial Devices

Interested in getting your own

proof of concept with TouchGFX?

Jørgen Mygind, Account Manager

+45 30 98 41 15

[email protected]

www.touchgfx.com

PRODUCT

Screen dumps from the preinstalled GUI application on our new demo board.

TouchGFX enables high-end graphics with full screen transitions; alpha-blending; transparency; and anti-aliased fonts and kerning.

Furthermore, it includes gestures like scroll, drag and drop, and swipe.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This Calls for a Celebration

Great Place to Work announced their lists at a reception on

November 14th. The following Friday, we celebrated our best

combined ranking yet by upgrading our weekly morning

meeting to a brunch with all the trimmings.

With lots of great new insight from the survey, we’ll work for

an even better ranking next year!

Interested to joining our great workplace?

Ellen Agerbo

+45 95 36 38

[email protected]

www.mjolner.dk/career

MJØLNER IS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK

THE GREAT PLACE TO WORK INSTITUTE JUST ANNOUNCED DENMARK’S BEST WORKPLACES. MJØLNER WAS AWARDED 3RD PLACE IN THE IT CATEGORY AND 7TH PLACE IN THE MEDIUM- SIZED WORKPLACE CATEGORY. Great Place to Work is an international research, consulting,

and training firm dedicated to creating and sustaining great

workplaces all over the world.

By running an annual survey, they pinpoint strengths and

areas of improvement for workplaces. As an extra feature,

the survey is used to rank the greatest workplaces in each

country.

In Denmark, Great Place to Work uses five different top-ten

lists. Mjølner ranks high in both categories that we qualify

for: Best Medium-sized Workplace and Best IT Workplace.

We’re proud!

Trust, Pride and Community

The survey is based on three core values: trust, pride, and

community.

93% of Mjølner’s employees participated in this year’s

survey. Overall, Mjølner moves forward on credibility, justice,

community, respect, pride and trust.

Here are some of the comments from the survey we are

most proud of:

Mjølner is a great place to grow your competencies.

At Mjølner, we have mutual respect for one another.

Mjølner’s management is open and responsive.

This Calls for a Celebration

Great Place to Work announced their lists at a reception on

November 14th. The following Friday, we celebrated our best

combined ranking yet by upgrading our weekly morning

meeting to a brunch with all the trimmings.

With lots of great new insight from the survey, we’ll work for

an even better ranking next year!

Interested to joining our great workplace?

Ellen Agerbo

+45 95 36 38

[email protected]

www.mjolner.dk/career

THE GREAT PLACE TO WORK INSTITUTE JUST ANNOUNCED DENMARK’S BEST WORKPLACES. MJØLNER WAS AWARDED 3RD PLACE IN THE IT CATEGORY AND 7TH PLACE IN THE MEDIUM- SIZED WORKPLACE CATEGORY. Great Place to Work is an international research, consulting,

and training firm dedicated to creating and sustaining great

workplaces all over the world.

By running an annual survey, they pinpoint strengths and

areas of improvement for workplaces. As an extra feature,

the survey is used to rank the greatest workplaces in each

country.

In Denmark, Great Place to Work uses five different top-ten

lists. Mjølner ranks high in both categories that we qualify

for: Best Medium-sized Workplace and Best IT Workplace.

We’re proud!

Trust, Pride and Community

The survey is based on three core values: trust, pride, and

community.

93% of Mjølner’s employees participated in this year’s

survey. Overall, Mjølner moves forward on credibility, justice,

community, respect, pride and trust.

Here are some of the comments from the survey we are

most proud of:

Mjølner is a great place to grow your competencies.

At Mjølner, we have mutual respect for one another.

Mjølner’s management is open and responsive.

GOOGLE RELEASED ANDROID 4.4 KITKAT ON OCTOBER 31ST. WITH A LONG LIST OF NEW FEATURES, THE OS ENABLES BETTER AND MORE COHESIVE ANDROID APPS.

The latest version of Google’s dessert-named Android

software, KitKat, includes a range of new features, three of

which are especially promising. Here are the features you

should familiarize yourself with before starting your next

Android project.

A Redesign that Lets Your Apps Shine

This first change may seem small, but holds great potential.

Since Android 4.0, the interface has been dominated by a

light blue color used e.g. for text in the top bar. With KitKat,

this is now a greyscale.

The change to a more subtle color reduces the aesthetic clash

between the operating system and the visual style of different

apps. Also, it lets the design of your company’s app stand out

more clearly, emphasizing your corporate brand.

- Bjarne Knudsen, Software Developer, Mjølner

A More Immersive Experience

Immersive mode is another interesting new

feature. Immersive mode lets you hide the top

bar and Android system buttons and dedicate the

entire screen to your app.

This is probably most relevant for games and e-book

reader apps, but it’s also possible to make the top and

bottom areas transparent and thereby offer a more

immersive user experience.

More Cohesion and Less Hassel

A last improvement worth mentioning here is the

performance optimizations that let budget devices and

older models run KitKat. In time, this should reduce

the number Android versions your app needs to support.

Furthermore, it means that Google delivers on their

promise to offer a more cohesive Android experience

across all devices.

KitKat definitely seems promising, and we are looking

forward to using its new features in our app development.

NEW POSSIBILITIES FORANDROID APP DEVELOPMENT

GOOGLE RELEASED ANDROID 4.4 KITKAT ON OCTOBER 31ST. WITH A LONG LIST OF NEW FEATURES, THE OS ENABLES BETTER AND MORE COHESIVE ANDROID APPS.

The latest version of Google’s dessert-named Android

software, KitKat, includes a range of new features, three of

which are especially promising. Here are the features you

should familiarize yourself with before starting your next

Android project.

A Redesign that Lets Your Apps Shine

This first change may seem small, but holds great potential.

Since Android 4.0, the interface has been dominated by a

light blue color used e.g. for text in the top bar. With KitKat,

this is now a greyscale.

The change to a more subtle color reduces the aesthetic clash

between the operating system and the visual style of different

apps. Also, it lets the design of your company’s app stand out

more clearly, emphasizing your corporate brand.

- Bjarne Knudsen, Software Developer, Mjølner

A More Immersive Experience

Immersive mode is another interesting new

feature. Immersive mode lets you hide the top

bar and Android system buttons and dedicate the

entire screen to your app.

This is probably most relevant for games and e-book

reader apps, but it’s also possible to make the top and

bottom areas transparent and thereby offer a more

immersive user experience.

More Cohesion and Less Hassel

A last improvement worth mentioning here is the

performance optimizations that let budget devices and

older models run KitKat. In time, this should reduce

the number Android versions your app needs to support.

Furthermore, it means that Google delivers on their

promise to offer a more cohesive Android experience

across all devices.

KitKat definitely seems promising, and we are looking

forward to using its new features in our app development.

NEW POSSIBILITIES FORANDROID APP DEVELOPMENT

WHAT DO THE SUBJECTS ABOVE HAVE IN COMMON? THEY WERE ALL DISCUSSED AT MJØLNER’S ANNUAL OPEN FORUM DISCUSSION FOR THE ENTIRE STAFF. HERE’S WHY WE FIND THE TRADITION SO IMPORTANT.

Every year on the last Friday of November, the entire Mjølner

staff gathers for a joint meeting. We devote the morning to

going through the year that has gone by and looking in the

crystal ball for the year to come.

After this, we dedicate a few hours to a specific topic. This

year, we focused on our new organizational structure having

all the departments present their new role and strategic

goals.

The Floor is Open!

Honoring a grand tradition, the structured morning was

followed by the open forum discussion in the afternoon.

As always, everyone was encouraged to share the

issues they found important. Every year, the only rule of this

session is that no issue is too big or too small and that all

opinions are welcome and equally important.

80 Minds are Better than one

The aim of the open forum, which usually lasts for three

hours, is to engage in an open and honest discussion where

everyone can voice their opinion on the issues that matter

to them.

Having all employees engage in the discussion creates great

synergy and forms a common ground for everyone to share. In

a consultancy where we spend all of our time helping clients

improve their business, it’s important to create a space for

strengthening the social and professional aspects of our own.

-Jørgen Lindskov Knudsen, CEO of Mjølner

It all Ends with a BANG!

After three hours of discussion, we end the day with a bang

with our annual Christmas party.

This celebration is also full of traditions, one of which is

the legendary foosball tournament. This year’s winner was

Troels Lund Rasmussen.

Mjølner congratulates thee!

BUSINESS STRATEGY, BOTTLED WATER & BEING A CONSULTANT

WHAT DO THE SUBJECTS ABOVE HAVE IN COMMON? THEY WERE ALL DISCUSSED AT MJØLNER’S ANNUAL OPEN FORUM DISCUSSION FOR THE ENTIRE STAFF. HERE’S WHY WE FIND THE TRADITION SO IMPORTANT.

Every year on the last Friday of November, the entire Mjølner

staff gathers for a joint meeting. We devote the morning to

going through the year that has gone by and looking in the

crystal ball for the year to come.

After this, we dedicate a few hours to a specific topic. This

year, we focused on our new organizational structure having

all the departments present their new role and strategic

goals.

The Floor is Open!

Honoring a grand tradition, the structured morning was

followed by the open forum discussion in the afternoon.

As always, everyone was encouraged to share the

issues they found important. Every year, the only rule of this

session is that no issue is too big or too small and that all

opinions are welcome and equally important.

80 Minds are Better than one

The aim of the open forum, which usually lasts for three

hours, is to engage in an open and honest discussion where

everyone can voice their opinion on the issues that matter

to them.

Having all employees engage in the discussion creates great

synergy and forms a common ground for everyone to share. In

a consultancy where we spend all of our time helping clients

improve their business, it’s important to create a space for

strengthening the social and professional aspects of our own.

-Jørgen Lindskov Knudsen, CEO of Mjølner

It all Ends with a BANG!

After three hours of discussion, we end the day with a bang

with our annual Christmas party.

This celebration is also full of traditions, one of which is

the legendary foosball tournament. This year’s winner was

Troels Lund Rasmussen.

Mjølner congratulates thee!

Mjølner Informatics A/S Finlandsgade 10, DK-8200 Aarhus N +45 70 27 43 43 www.mjolner.dk [email protected]

GET INSTANT PROOF OF CONCEPT WITH THE NEW TouchGFX DEMO BOARD

NEW POSSIBILITIES IN ANDROID APP DEVELOPMENT

tech, design, and business. mjølner update 4th, 2013

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