MI Pro has a long track record.

Our software platform has a long and exciting history. The system has been under continuous development since 1989, and with nearly 40 years of experience, we can now offer a quality solution tailored for market research.

The data model that was developed from the very beginning is still more or less the same. The solution has been continuously enhanced and has undergone quality assurance by many professional users in several countries over the years.

1989

It all started as an internal production system at the Markeds- og Mediainstituttet (MMI), which is now part of Ipsos. With the initiative and strong commitment of CEO Per Jacobsen, the system, originally named Mark-IT, was developed on an IBM mainframe by two individuals—Pål Opstad and Bjørn Grønli (the latter still serves as the technical 'guru' at MI Pro). At the time, Mark-IT was one of the world's first fully integrated systems for market research, meaning that everything from design, data collection, data processing, and analysis was integrated into one system. There was no need to extract data from the system before exporting it for other analyses (e.g., SPSS). This is still the case today—our platform is fully integrated.

Mark-IT was primarily developed to conduct surveys using 'pen and paper' (scanning), and from the beginning, projects such as the Norwegian Monitor were carried out with automatic scanner setup. Later, CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) was also introduced."

2000

Eventually, it was decided to transition Mark-IT to a modern PC-based platform. MI Pro AS was established as an independent company in 2000, and the system was renamed Research Studio.

The system was migrated to a modern platform, allowing for scanning, CATI, and eventually web-based data collection, giving respondents the freedom to respond at their convenience. CAPI (Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing) was also part of the platform. It was important to be able to export results in the format that remains dominant—MS Office. This enabled the use of the same questionnaire—available in multiple languages—with logic and multimodal capabilities across all platforms, all within a fully integrated system. Several large institutes adopted the system, both in Scandinavia, the UK, and the USA.

2005

Through participation in several international trade shows and congresses, including ESOMAR, interest from foreign companies in acquiring the company was sparked. This culminated at the end of 2005 when MI Pro was sold to the American company Global Market Insite (GMI). The goal was to further develop Research Studio into a technical platform for GMI’s production. Bjørn Grønli moved to the headquarters in Seattle, and for several years, all of Microsoft’s own customer surveys were conducted on our platform. Development continued with unwavering momentum, with development departments in Ukraine and Russia (when collaboration was still possible), Sri Lanka, Vancouver, and Malmö.

The analysis component of the platform was also launched as a standalone product called 'Research Analyzer.'

2008

GMI, which owned MI Pro, was primarily a panel company. Over time, the company faced financial difficulties, and as part of the 'cleanup' process, the management of MI Pro was offered the opportunity to buy the company back through a management buyout (MBO) in 2008. This was successfully executed, and the company continued on its own with its headquarters in Drøbak and a development department in Malmö.

2012

Since its inception in 2000, Research Studio had been implemented as local installations at individual customer sites. However, in 2012, we launched Research Studio 5 on an MS Silverlight platform, which was a very good alternative to the then-dominant technology, Flash. At the same time, we transitioned to a SaaS delivery model, where the entire platform was managed by MI Pro. With Silverlight, we introduced online presentations, mobile data collection, and the baseline concept (allowing changes to the questionnaire during data collection). We also added features like animations, click ranking, buttons, drag-and-drop, etc., making data collection both easier and more enjoyable. SuperDig was launched as a standalone analysis tool, which included a unique 'Import Wizard' for importing other file formats, such as SPSS .sav format.

With SaaS, it became much easier to add new customers (no installation required), and several Norwegian and other Nordic clients adopted the system. Many of these are still active users. MI Pro's headquarters were also relocated to Oslo, where it remains today.

2016

To establish a stronger foothold in the British market, MI Pro partnered with the English technology company MARSC to form the holding company QuenchTec. MARSC was a provider of a sampling/panel system, which helped attract several international clients. All elements of the platform were now marketed under the QuenchTec brand, and the data collection and panel systems were integrated with one another.

Development began to migrate from Silverlight to a 100% web-based platform.

2021

Once again, MI Pro and QuenchTec became an attractive acquisition target, and in 2021, the company was acquired by a British firm—Walr. At that time, Walr was a small company focused on leveraging the QuenchTec platform to expand globally. Investments were made in additional development resources in Malmö, and efforts were accelerated to enhance the user interface of a modern web platform to be used as the company’s own infrastructure.

MI Pro AS remains, and has always been, a Norwegian company, but in 2022 it changed its name to Walr AS.

2024

Walr continues its expansion with a focus on panel sales and surveys. The main markets for this initiative are the UK, Australia, and the USA. In this process, Walr AS has once again been transferred to the current Norwegian management, and the company is moving forward by reclaiming the name MI Pro AS.

Extensive experience that benefits you.