About us / History

The farm that became a server farm
Green IT has, for a long time, been a main focus of Braathe Gruppen, and to drive energy efficiently, we have dug 15 kilometers of cooling loops under the ground on the property. The "farm", though with fields still being farmed traditionally, has evolved into a high-tech "server farm".

The old barn on the farm is completely rebuilt into a state-of-the-art technology barn where about fifty of our employees are seated, and more than 10.000 users and 3.000 servers are provided for and hosted. The head office remains here at Nærum farm, but we have also expanded with offices in Oslo, Kongsberg, Skien, Mo i Rana, Harstad, Bodø and Tromsø and are now more than 175 dedicated employees.

Every day, we focus on how our services can be improved and how to make the users IT platform as worry-free as possible. In 2020, we have one goal of taking on an even stronger position as one of the leaders in providing cloud services to Norwegian businesses.

Background
Our start-up back in 1989 was based on an early recognition that there was a great need for assistance to make computer systems work as smoothly as possible. The interest in information technology and our basic expertise came through experiences made after investing and using our own equipment as early as the 80s.

Started as a hobby
Braathe Gruppen was first established as a hobby while in school, but with very few players and little competition in a growing market, we saw an opportunity. We wanted to assist companies in using advanced technology in an efficient, stable and secure way. Today it has become our vision, and we call it "Worry-Free IT".

Several family members eventually became involved on both the business side and the owner side and in 1998 Randi and Willy Braathe transferred the Nærum family farm, which has followed the family since the mid-1700s, to the company. The settlement was made in shares that they still own. Today, Tron and Ole Braathe are the 9th generation owners of the family farm through the companies.