We are soon leaving a special year behind us, and many would agree that it has been quite a rollercoaster. For sure, ...
We are soon leaving a special year behind us, and many would agree that it has been quite a rollercoaster. For sure, 2020 has been an eventful year, and I would like to highlight some events and provide some resources to empower you in 2021.
The year started in Hemsedal at our annual January kick-off, where we discussed and presented the 2020 strategy and plans. We also got to share our experience and vision at Microsoft’s inspiration event Fredagsløftet.
“A company and a team with deep Azure, Microsoft365, and Security skills - showing how deep competence on Microsoft’s stack and enormous agility can make you a new kind of partner for companies in Norway. Thanks for the insights and the inspiration!” – Kimberly Lein-Mathisen, CEO at Microsoft Norway
In February, we hosted the first Azure Crash Course of the year at Microsoft’s offices in Oslo. We have been running the course for over a year prior to this, gathering companies that want to learn more and get started with Microsoft Azure.
We were planning to host training sessions in both Oslo and Stockholm during the spring. Due to the increasing spread of COVID, we canceled the events. We had to rethink the format to continue providing knowledge to companies and customers, but now through digital channels.
The lockdown changed the way companies worked, and the demand for remote working solutions increased. Companies had to speed up the digital transformation. To make the process quicker and easier, we developed and launched a set of packaged solutions as special offerings and our contribution to help keep society running in safe environments.
In June, Microsoft officially made Office 365 available from the new cloud data center regions in Norway. As a partner, we talked about how the opening might affect the customers and the essential aspects of a Modern Workplace. Our Modern Workplace solution, Best Place to Work, launched back in 2017, has been continuously developing and new features added every month. If you are an existing customer, you have access to review all changes here (sign-in required). Not a customer yet? No worries, contact us for a demo.
As a managed solution provider, we have worked on exciting new developments and projects throughout the year to provide customers with solutions, services, and support that enables a shift of focus from repetitive and unnecessary tasks over to the core business and innovation.
We relaunched the Always On solution, where we combine different services, alerts, diagnostics logs, application insights, smart detection, and regional service health surveillance to help your company with staying "Always On".
To help companies become more proactive on the security front, both short- and long-term, we have developed a Security Report to support you with assessing and securing solutions that incorporate Azure Active Directory, Office 365, and Azure services. We have created a solution that provides a thorough analysis and useful insights into your set up. It identifies and assesses risk, as well as make recommendations for security enhancements. We have built the solution based on known frameworks, such as ISO27001, NIST, and CIS. Combining a solid foundation with best practices from Microsoft and our Cloud expertise. Read more about it here.
Acknowledging that some customers have applications that can’t easily be moved to the cloud or transformed for various reasons, and still wanting to provide a seamless experience, we created one of the first managed solutions in the Nordic market on Windows Virtual Desktop, Virtual Workspace.
We were awarded Microsoft Partner Award 2020 in the category Digitalization Partner for SMB. In the last couple of years, we’ve assisted several SMB-companies, including ISVs, with making the shift to Microsoft’s cloud services and solutions built on Azure.
"It’s a recognition from Microsoft saying we’re doing something right. We’re helping both big and small businesses digitalize and shift to modern solutions in a good and effective way." Harald Wiborg Karlsen, Sales & Relations Director.
Throughout the year, we have published content in our channels, both business value-focused and technical. Here are a few of the articles we believe would be a great read during these times:
Consent phishing - Why should you act now >
Reporting capabilities in Intune >
Migration framework - On-prem to Azure >
This autumn, we hosted the Azure Crash Course in Vika Kino and also ran the session as a digital course for the first time. The feedback was great, and we are planning to rerun the digital session on January 27. If you would like to join us, register here >
2020 would not have been the same without our great customers and partners! We are proud of everything you accomplish and the common mindset of innovating, optimizing, and finding new ways. During the year, we got to share stories from some of our customers. They have different starting points and operate in various industries, but have one thing in common; they are utilizing the power of the cloud to empower their business:
Thank you for sharing your story and our partnership! And thank you to all the rest of you. It’s a pleasure working with you. Furthermore, we will be hosting an event with our customers Bergans of Norway and Metier OEC. If you have not signed up yet, here’s a link. I can’t wait to learn more about their journey and experiences going from traditional to modern IT.
What a year this has been, filled with events, challenges, and great learning. I’m excited to see what 2021 will bring and would like to wish you all the best on behalf of the whole team!
Happy New Year! P.S. We will kick-start the new year with a brand new session to share our knowledge on how to transform your application in the best possible way. I highly recommend checking it out. More information here >
