Tietoevry alumni
The challenge
Brønnøy is currently leasing servers housed in a data center at an off-site location. But with two years left on the agreement, the Norwegian municipality wanted an assessment of whether modern cloud solutions could be a realistic next step to meet its IT needs. Any future solution would need to support an ambitious digitalization strategy, while offering the potential for reduced costs and increased flexibility.
The solution
A Cloud Readiness Assessment (CRA) was carried out in the beginning of 2020 to provide a thorough assessment of whether cloud solutions would be a suitable alternative for Brønnøy. TietoEVRY’s CRA is a qualitative and tailored analysis framework developed by TietoEVRY experts in business and cloud technology. It provides insight into the costs and benefits involved in transforming IT systems or infrastructure into a private, public or hybrid cloud model.
Explore our cloud & infrastructure services Learn more about the different stages of cloud transformationAbout the customer
Brønnøy is a municipality located in central Norway, serving as a key juncture between north and south, east and west. The municipality promotes the wellbeing for its citizens and visitors, while contributing to community building and managing the community's resources. Democracy, dialogue and participation are at the heart of life in Brønnøy, in accordance with the rights and duties of its citizens. The municipality has around 8,000 residents in an area of 2,000 km2 with land and sea.
Read more about Brønnøy on their website
Capability evaluation
The CRA helped Brønnøy map its IT environment and provided an overview of what they had in place, and what they needed in order to support their digital agenda.
Supporting strategy
The assessment provided a comprehensive set of recommendations based on strategic goals as well as technical ambitions which could be used as a basis for considering a cloud service transaction.
Cloud opportunities
According to the CRA a more technical and economically favorable IT environment and operating platform could be achieved. The analysis has helped Brønnøy taking a step forward in their cloud journey.
The need for flexibility
Jens-Erik Hermansen, Brønnøy’s IT manager, wanted to look at the opportunities, implications and benefits of a shift to cloud solutions.
If we were to move our solutions into the cloud, what’s most important to us is understanding the flexibility we could get. Furthermore, we wanted to look at how digitalizing ourselves could provide greater efficiency. We have to make sure the applications we want to move into the cloud could work there, and if the costs could be reduced.
Jens-Erik Hermansen
IT manager at Brønnøy
Brønnøy was already using different services from TietoEVRY so it was an easy decision for Jens-Erik and his colleagues when they were choosing a supplier for the CRA.
“The CRA was carried out at the beginning of 2020. We wanted a thorough assessment of whether cloud solutions would be a good alternative for us,” Jan-Erik explains. “It was only natural to choose a supplier who already operated several of our IT services and who knew our systems, needs and challenges well.”
TietoEVRY’s CRA provides insight into the costs and benefits involved in transforming IT systems or infrastructure into a private, public or hybrid cloud model. The assessment also includes training to help familiarize IT professionals and managers with the ins and outs of how it all works. In some cases, cloud technology may not the most optimal solution, and therefore the framework is designed to focus on the service instead of the technology.
The analysis considers an organization’s vision, its strategic and business-oriented goals, and its technology and technical ambitions in formulating a comprehensive set of recommendations. The CRA framework is designed to be a complete cloud provider and agnostic technology unless the business situation suggests otherwise.
Hilde Rafaelsen, earlier IT manager and Jens-Erik Hermansen, Brønnøy’s IT manager with some of their colleagues on Teams.
For Brønnøy, the CRA drove a comprehensive examination of its IT portfolio. The municipality was pleased with the process.
“The process was good for mapping our IT environment. At the same time, it gave us an overview of what we really had and what we needed. The team at TietoEVRY were organized, knowledgeable and insightful and we are pleased to use this process as a basis for considering a transaction for cloud services,” explains earlier IT Manager Hilde Rafaelsen.”
For TietoEVRY’s Christopher Wiborg, Squad Leader for Discovery Assessment Migration in Public Cloud, it is critical that the technology must support the strategy. “This is the main principle that governs our processes, and for Brønnøy it was important to focus on both the financial aspect, but also open the door to technical opportunities that cloud technology has to offer,” he says.
Brønnøy considered how it could use cloud technology and who could help in mapping out their journey. After the CRA process, this was made visible, and the result was a strategic and technical report which indicated that a more technical and somewhat more economically favorable IT environment and operating platform could be achieved with Azure and EVRY Cloud Direct.
Experiences
The CRA analysis has helped Brønnøy to take a step forward in its cloud journey. However, in hindsight the municipality believes that it could have gotten clearer and faster results with a few more resources. Jens-Erik recommends that any organization running a CRA would do well to appoint a dedicated team that works full-time with the supplier.
Cloud solutions will be the right path for a lot of organizations. There are many benefits, not least the ability to switch suppliers easily and more quickly in the future. When no longer relying on local servers, nothing has to be moved physically. However, the attainable benefits and savings may not always live up executives’ expectations. It is therefore imperative to go through an impact assessment so that you have a realistic understanding of what can achieved.
"Even though the Norwegian Government has activated a ‘Cloud First’ strategy, many municipalities have still not progressed sufficiently in their cloud transformation journey! There are many reasons behind this, but one challenge we see many struggle with, is creating a strategy to base the transition on and having the insight into the consequences of the transformation. Our Assessment , The Cloud Readiness Assessment, is developed to help clarify this stage in the transformation and is a great way to regain control", says Stine Kristiansen, Head of Customer Segment Municipality at TietoEVRY.
“By using cloud solutions,” Jan-Erik says, “we can activate new services that provide value for the residents".
An impact assessment is a typical service that residents primarily do not notice. But it provides reassurance that the municipality has thought through and assessed the consequences and pitfalls as well as the positive aspects, of using cloud solutions. This makes it easier for us to avoid the pitfalls that can affect the services the municipality will provide its residents.
Jens-Erik Hermansen
IT manager at Brønnøy
The way forward
Following the CRA, Jens-Erik envisages that cloud solutions will probably be part of the future operating platform.
“We have developed a strategy and it will be an exciting and interesting journey ahead. And hopefully with a closer collaboration with our neighboring municipalities, it is also expected that the cloud will contribute to a more efficient operation.”
