“We decided to do an audit with Tietokeskus because we wanted a fresh perspective and a new vision”
When you use an IT environment long enough, technical shortcomings are inevitable.
“We knew that our IT environment is outdated, both in terms of scope and software. A development and upgrade plan had not been followed, meaning that some software was already dangerously old,” says Sami Kauppi, IT Manager at Honkarakenne.
“It was obvious that we needed to modernize the environment, but we wanted a better picture of how to go about it. We decided to do an IT infra audit with Tietokeskus because we wanted a fresh perspective and a new vision,” he continues.
The audit was carried out in early summer 2019, and it focused on Honkarakenne’s Microsoft environment, servers and Active Directory. “The audit included a comprehensive review of the current IT infrastructure as a whole. The extensive report also resulted in a preliminary development plan proposing the next steps for Honkarakenne,” states Kai Pesu, Key Account Manager at Honkarakenne.
The audit claimed Honkarakenne’s trust
Once the audit was complete, Honkarakenne began to consider Tietokeskus as a more permanent IT partner.
“The audit was carried out well and with expertise. This gave us the idea that perhaps we could develop and maintain our entire environment with Tietokeskus,” Kauppi reveals.
However, the division to switch their IT partner was not an easy one. “Deciding to get a new IT partner is not a light decision and must be reviewed with care. When you have built your entire IT environment with one partner, taking a new direction is hard work,” Kaupppinen continues.
Tietokeskus does not bind its clients with long contracts, and the client is always free to end the collaboration if they are not satisfied with the service. “I know that the transition does not happen overnight. When someone has decided to trust us, we do our best to always be worthy of that trust, so that they do not need to make further changes,” Pesu says.
Fix the basics, dive into development projects
The year started mostly with launch projects, since the first steps are transferring user support, workstation services, server management and maintenance work to Tietokeskus. “Still, we have already carried out small development projects, such as the introduction of Teams. Next, we will continue to develop the IT environment,” Kauppi states. For example, workstation management will be improved, along with information security.
Honkarakenne needs technology to support all operations. Timber house production has been largely automated, and for example, troubleshooting production machines takes place mostly through IT means. The worldwide partner network also requires connections, and this is largely enabled by IT. Exceptional circumstances, like the pandemic, also highlight the role of IT.
“This was just the right time to carry out a development project aimed at improving services for remote employees. Once we tie workstation management more closely to the home environment, employees will no longer be as dependent on a fixed workstation. This will be carried out in the coming months as smoothly as possible from the end user’s perspective,” Kauppi notes.
The next development projects will be discussed and planned together. “Together with Tietokeskus’ experts, we are discussing the areas we should address next. I’m sure we can find new development areas in the future as well,” Kauppi concludes.
