Kuopion Energia

Governance Model Streamlines Azure environment Management and Development at Kuopion Energia

Sulava implemented an Azure governance model for energy company Kuopion Energia in early 2018. With the model and its specification document, the company is able to adopt cloud based datacenter services built on Azure in a controlled manner and manage these services in a sensible and secure way.

The governance model varies significantly depending on the company’s own needs and on which services are included in the scope. We hava created governance models for organizations in, among others, finance and insurance, wholesale and retail, public administration, industry, non profit operations, electricity, gas and heating services, cooling business, and the communications sector.

At Kuopion Energia, the governance model covers, among other things, security descriptions, naming conventions for components, and a very wide range of different services.

Kuopion Energia’s ICT Application Specialist Marko Kuosmanen served as the company’s project manager for the implementation of the governance model. He explains that the governance model primarily improves the manageability of the company’s environment. When there is a model to follow, the governance model can be included as guidance in new project procurement requests. This ensures that the proposal aligns with the company’s environment.

“The governance model has increased system vendors’ understanding of how our environments operate. They can see the implementation approach directly in the governance model,” Kuosmanen says.

The governance model defines, among other things, how services are deployed, naming conventions, monitoring, security, and access-level management. Based on the model, rules are defined for services and their deployment. Sulava produces the governance model documentation, which the company itself maintains. Why should a company adopt a governance model?

“Quite quickly, if there were no model for how to operate in the Azure environment, it would become messy and difficult to manage. Things would be done in random ways, and no one would know how they should actually be carried out. A governance model should definitely be created before starting to use Azure. Direct cost savings also arise when things don’t have to be done multiple times,” Kuosmanen comments.

The governance model also makes it easier for a partner to perform maintenance, such as Sulava’s Advisory services, which Kuopion Energia uses. At the same time as the governance model, we built an Azure environment for the company, and moving to it has brought flexibility—for example, in the management of servers and services.

“The governance model project went really well and smoothly. We held a few specification meetings together with your consultant, after which the consultant did most of the work, and finally we finalized the model together.”

Would you recommend us for similar projects and why?
“Absolutely. Your level of expertise in both Azure and overall architecture is very high. Expertise is by far the most important criterion in this type of project.”

What are the benefits for Kuopion Energia in using our Advisory services?
“We needed a partner who maintains and develops our environment. Microsoft develops the environment at such a tremendous pace that with our own resources we cannot keep up with that development. Sulava was a natural choice to continue the work. We have been very satisfied with how things have been handled. Sulava’s specialists have been very proactive and have suggested new features as Microsoft releases them. The continuous services have matched our needs very well.”

Kuopion Energia is a versatile and modern energy service company. The company produces electricity and district heating through combined heat and power at the Haapaniemi power plant and with biogas in Pitkälahti. Kuopion Energia’s subsidiary, Kuopion Sähköverkko Oy, is responsible for electricity distribution.

Kuopion Energia has approximately 57,000 electricity distribution customers and around 6,000 district heating customers. Electricity distribution amounts to 600 GWh and district heating sales to 900 GWh per year. The group employs about 160 people. Kuopion Energia Group is wholly owned by the City of Kuopio.

Published in February 2019, written by Hanna Valjakka.