Welcome to majestic Nordland
Several of us got a very special relationship with Nordland county when the pandemic closed the borders and the planes stood still. The majestic mountains took us by storm when we finally discovered Norway as a holiday destination. Now there were no longer German motorhomes driving up, down, back and forth. We also went out for a walk. Then there were mountain trips in Lofoten, sea eagle safaris in Bodø and war history in Narvik.
From Brønnøysund in the south to Andenes in the north, the county measures over 500 kilometres. In winter, large parts of the county are darkened, while in summer you can experience the wonderful midnight sun. With a population of over 240 people, they also depend on a good internet connection.
We will therefore take you to Nordland county council's headquarters. We find that in Bodø, which with its over 53.000 inhabitants is Northern Norway's second largest city and municipal center in the district of Salten. From the city centre, which has been voted European Capital of Culture 2024, it is walking distance to the airport, train station, Hurtigruten and ferry quay. Our Senior Customer Advisor, Roger Bertnes Leite, who sits in our brand new premises in the center of Bodø, introduces us to his closest customer contact at the county council's IT department. Roger has worked with the county council as far back as 2001. He has contributed to both tender processes, the customer's digitization journey, and ensured that the services have been delivered as agreed.
Andreas Kogstad Nygaard on the left and Roger Bertnes Leite on the right.
For over 22 years, Roger has followed up the IT department in Nordland county municipality, and in the last 8 years he and Andreas have worked closely as a team. It is important that Nordland is at the forefront of digital development. Andreas is one of those who work diligently to ensure a fast and robust network, which connects all the locations together and protects them against external threats.
The county must keep up with the changes
Andreas Kogstad Nygaard is a consultant at the professional team network in Nordland county municipality and has worked there since 2011. On a daily basis, he works with running the entire network for the county. He ensures that everything is in top condition, that the capacity is good, the network is secured and that everyone gets online.
Why are the data lines so important for the county?
- Our society today is set up so that we work digitally from anywhere. Therefore, we must have a safe and robust network to do our job. Not only must there be internet lines, but it must be fast and of high quality. Therefore, it is important that we ensure a good network for all the services we provide, as well as that we have an operating supplier that delivers reliable services, is close to us and has a good support system that follows us up in the event of any error situations, says the network specialist.
With high quality, Andreas believes that the broadband network is stable, predictable and can withstand a lot of traffic. An example he mentions is the Polar circle high school, which has over 1000 pupils and 300 employees. As in many other places, it is important that the network is fast, reliable and has a high uptime.
Nordland County Council supplies IT services to much more than just the upper secondary schools. We also find the public dental health service, cultural department, public transport and the road service on the list.
So you provide online access to all these services, no matter where in the county they are located?
- Yes, it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone is logged in and has the opportunity to carry out their tasks. Regardless of whether it is the dentist in Sortland or the trainer in Mosjøen. That is why we have our own IT people who work with the entire network for the county council.
We also provide broadband access to the county councils, which are held 4-6 times a year at various hotels scattered around the county from north to south. Then Andreas goes out in front, looks after and makes sure that everything is in order with the internet access while this is going on. During the county councils, they use a cloud-based software called Digital Reconciliation, which is provided and developed by Braathe to give politicians a user-friendly and tailor-made solution for digital voting and a good case overview.
What is a network and why is it important to keep it secure?
A network can in many ways be compared to a spider's web. The spider is the main seat that controls the network, security settings, speed and access. And all the cobwebs show where the web is available.
Reason that the network must be secure is because many people can use an unsecured network as a way in. If you have an unsecured network, hackers or other cunning people can steal your passwords, access, your data and much more.
It is therefore important to close all doors to your systems. Everyone should make sure that the data files are inaccessible to possible intruders.
Good communication is key
Our customer advisor, Roger Bertnes Leite, who has worked closely with the county council all these years, says with enthusiasm that when the last location got fiber in 2021, it was cake together with subcontractor Altibox and the customer in the office. –It was a milestone in the broadband delivery to Nordland County Municipality, he concludes.
Nordland County Council switched from old leased lines in 2001 to copper and now fiber at all locations. Again, you can imagine buried or high-voltage and spun fiber cables all over Nordland county. Just like a spider web. The spider that handles all the threads is the professional team at the network in Nordland County Municipality.
Communication during the collaboration has been important, and in order to be able to deliver high-quality broadband services, the county council has depended on close follow-up with the operating supplier, i.e. us in Braathe, and our subcontractor Altibox, which supplies the fiber lines themselves. Good capacity and redundancy in the broadband network have been key factors here.
How do you ensure redundancy and security in your network?
- The county has via Braathe have been delivered redundant and separate routing paths to central locations, monitoring services that warn of any downtime at the locations, and that we have the option of backup connections where this is appropriate, via e.g. mobile 4G/5G solutions where this is available.
What is redundancy?
Redundancy is when you duplicate components you consider critical and important. To compare, we can take e.g. power lines to a neighborhood. If a tree falls and the power line is destroyed, the whole neighborhood can lose power, but if you can supply the neighborhood via two power lines, the neighborhood is safe in the event of an accident!
Redundancy on the network lines increases both stability, reliability and operational security in the system of Nordland county municipality.
Flexible capacity
What is the capacity at the largest locations?
- We have settled on 1 Gbps speed there, but have the option of expansion. Especially where the number of users can quickly change from year to year, says Andreas.
It is our job to follow consumption closely so that the county council can give the green light when an extension is necessary. We are an experienced operating provider and have been providing services like this for decades. Our people have a high level of competence in communication and network services, and we are also ISO 9001 quality and ISO 27001 safety certified. It is part of the county's requirements for its IT supplier.
Through sent reports and monthly status meetings, in which our subcontractor, Altibox, is involved, the county receives a good quality check from A to Z on how the broadband network is connected to you at all times.
- Being up to date with good digital tools is important in the customer-supplier relationship, and is an essential part of the collaborative organisation, says Senior Customer Advisor Roger Bertnes Leite.
The self-service portal that makes it easy to get an overview
In order for the dialogue between customer and supplier to be seamless and quality assured, and for online documentation to be up to date, we have developed a separate self-service portal for the county council.
Here, they always get an up-to-date overview of all connection lines and all changes to the network are continuously documented in the portal from both parties. Here it registers, for example, continuous meeting minutes, orders when they are to establish a new location, speed changes, TV services, etc. The nice thing is that the recipients receive an automatic e-mail when various changes are registered, so that it can be responded to quickly if necessary.
Safety is in the driver's seat
For a county with well over 10 daily users, the risk that something could go wrong is high. We must ensure that the network does not fail. That is why Nordland County Council has also included security in the order every time they have announced tenders for data communication services.
- We will get through Braathe delivered monitoring of all the lines to the county council and measures such as threat protection against overloading of the network from outside have been implemented.
Andreas Krogstad believes that high security against external threats in the large online cloud is absolutely essential in their network. As a network specialist and one of the "people on the floor", he has experienced how things can go if things are not adequately secured.
- We work carefully with security in our computer network in the county, this is a continuous process, he says.
We thank you for the good cooperation that has lasted for over 22 years, and we look forward to more! Our customer advisor, Roger, must also be singled out as a tenacious and meticulous guy who we are very proud to have in our team.
Would you like to get to know other customers who use us? Read more of our success stories here.
