Advania assists nine municipalities into a common standardized platform
The mergers of Norwegian municipalities leads to major changes in state - and municipal IT systems. Even without formal merging, many municipalities have a lot to gain on cooperation and migration into a common platform and domain consolidation.
The inter-municipal ICT partnership Det Digitale Vestre Agder (DDV) has coordinated its ICT resources since 2015. The purpose is to be at the forefront of developing digital services as well as contributing to good public service and efficient service production in owner municipalities.
With assistance from Advania Norway, DDV has delivered a domain consolidation project to its nine participating municipalities. All applications, both from open and safe zones, have been moved from local domains and centralized on a common platform. 7000 users have got an upgraded PC with Windows 10, Office 2016, standardized document storage with extensive use of OneDrive and access to relevant applications through a shared portal.
Photo: Odd-Lasse Worum, General Manager DDV
"This project has been a success and we have received lots of positive feedback. It is amazing to have an ICT project that people are happy with!" says general manager at DDV, Odd-Lasse Worum. He emphasizes that as the foundation is now in place, further focus is digitization to develop a more efficient everyday life for municipal users and self-service solutions for the residents.
Photo: Ingrid Omland Olsen and Leif Rune Evje, Project Managers DDV
-Standardization of setup and a common wireless network makes it easier for users to work across the municipalities. With a cloud-based solution the users becomes less dependent on their own computers and it has become easier for Support as we have a common setup, says Ingrid Omland Olsen. Along with Leif Rune Evje, she is Project Manager for the implementation. They both claim that the solid platform gives them opportunity to spend more time on strategic digitization, to provide the municipalities with good digital services and benefits for them and residents.
Domain mergers are also an important step ahead of any municipal mergers. - By 2020, we shall have a joint archive system and start working on the acquisition and introduction of a new common Care System. The common platform gives us a good starting point for the many processes that will come, says Ingrid Omland Olsen.
Better interaction and increased flexibility
OneDrive facilitates sharing and collaborating in documents, and many users have welcomed the solution with enthusiasm. - A CFO stated that the recent budget process was the easiest ever because they now interacted in a shared spreadsheet instead of sending copies of the document to each other, says Leif Rune Evje. All department managers always had the latest version. No one needed to wonder if they had updated numbers.
Security with Windows 10 and AppLocker
Municipalities have experienced several virus outbreaks in recent years. - In accordance with recommendations from the National Security Authority, we have implemented removal of local administrator privileges and blocked unauthorized applications, Leif Rune Evje explains. In addition, the municipalities now have common routines for antivirus updates.
Furthermore, AppLocker has been introduced and all applications running are scanned and whitelisted. - In practice, we have blacklist everything else. This gives us control over what actually runs on the PCs. For users who need administrator privileges, we have introduced a temporary administrator password.
Cooperation with Advania
-Without being exaggerated, the cooperation has been amazing. Advania has always been there for us and have given us the necessary confidence to complete the project. External consultants often disappear as things get difficult in a project. With Advania this has not been the case! Leif Rune Evje emphasize how DDV has greatly appreciated the sharing of expertise by the Advania consultants. - Many consultants hold their cards close because they want to do the job themselves. With Advania we have experienced genuine cooperation. Ingrid Omland Olsen says Advania has been particularly important in the development of prototype for the new desktop and System Center. The introduction of LAPS and AppLocker is security functionality that Advania has been entirely responsible for.
For more information please contact:
Espen Hartz, CEO, Advania Norway
Tel: +47 930 29 688
E-mail: espen.hartz@advania.no
About DDV
Det Digital Vestre Agder (DDV) is an inter-municipal ICT collaboration with 40 emplyees owned by nine municipalities in Vestre Agder; Flekkefjord, Farsund, Kvinesdal, Hægebostad, Mandal, Lindesnes, Marnardal, Audnedal and Åseral. Through the coordination of their ICT resources, the municipalities at DDV want to be in front to meet demands for the development of new digital services. DDV was created in January 2015. For further information, please visit www.ddv.no
About Advania
Advania is a Nordic IT corporation, operating in 22 locations in Sweden, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark. The company focuses on helping customers to improve their performance with innovative use of best available IT platforms and services. Advania serves thousands of corporate customers, multinational enterprises, governments and public institutions, big, small and medium-sized companies in all aspects of society.
Advania traces its roots to 1939 when an Icelandic entrepreneur founded an office equipment repair workshop in Reykjavik. In the following decades, three separate branches of IT-companies evolved in three Nordic countries, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. In 2012 they were braided into one and Advania was formed.
For further information, please visit www.advania.com.
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