Harnessing the power and potential of Azure services

Using Azure cloud services in a cost-effective and secure manner requires solid expertise. When Tampereen Sähkölaitos energy group decided that it wanted to better utilise its Azure environment, Sulava was the natural choice for the project.

Tampereen Sähkölaitos energy group, which is owned by the City of Tampere, is a modern energy company that has been producing energy primarily for its customers in the Pirkanmaa region for over 130 years. Its operations are guided by a focus on environmental friendliness, putting customers first, and rock-solid reliability. A well-functioning information management system is critical to ensuring the company’s reliability and customer-oriented service.

Tampereen Sähkölaitos has been utilising Microsoft’s Office 365 services for years. Some of its solutions had already been implemented using Microsoft Azure, and the company’s Azure development work started with a desire to understand the potential of its services and to map out the Azure capabilities of its current data centre services.

Sulava was the natural partnership choice for this Azure collaboration. We had previously carried out other Office 365 initiatives and smaller Azure projects such as audits with Sulava, and they all went well. Based on our past experiences, I knew that Sulava knows the ins and outs of the Microsoft ecosystem, explains Johannes Lindell, Chief Information Officer at Tampereen Sähkölaitos.

Tampereen Sähkölaitos wanted an agile partner that could think modernly and effectively refine the potential of Azure services for the benefit of customers business. An Azure pre-study was used to map and plan out the opportunities and goals of the project and to determine how Tampereen Sähkölaitos could best utilise Azure services in an industry that is critical to security of supply.

“Azure pre-study is a clear-cut and cost-effective way to understand the services offered by Azure, map out the Azure capabilities of the current data centre services, and create a preliminary Azure plan and cost estimate. It’s the best way to begin the development of your Azure environment,” notes Marko Johansson, Sulava’s account manager for Tampereen Sähkölaitos.

A strong governance model is a critical part of any sustainable Azure development process

Over the years, Tampereen Sähkölaitos had used several different partners in the construction of its Azure environment. A range of practices and implementations can, when put together, introduce information security risks and other issues. To make it easier to manage its Azure environment, instruct its partners, and deploy new services, the company decided to completely redesign its environment governance model. At the same time, Sulava and Tampereen Sähkölaitos created a joint operating model for their collaboration.

Our Azure situation felt vague and ambiguous, and we needed more structure, Johannes says.

“Together with the customer, we created an Azure governance model that enabled the cost-effective and secure use of services and proper maintenance of all documentation related to that environment,” says Arto Kumpulainen, Azure Consultant at Sulava.

State-of-the-art expertise with an eye on the future

As part of their collaboration, Tampereen Sähkölaitos chose to utilise Sulava’s advisor services, both for disruptions and as a Trusted Advisor expert service. Their joint monthly meetings serve as a forum for reviewing any upcoming and completed changes and prioritising future items on the to-do list. In these monthly walkthroughs, Sulava helps the company review its Azure cost structure and various other issues. The goal is to always consider how an organisation can reap the greatest reward for the money it has spent.

“Our regular monthly walkthroughs have brought clear added value. They provide us with valuable information on where the Microsoft ecosystem is headed and what it means for us. Sulava refines a huge amount of data on all future features and updates, making the information easily accessible and directly usable for our business needs,” Johannes explains.

From the very beginning, the documentation for the collaboration between Tampereen Sähkölaitos and Sulava was designed in such a way that it remains under the customer’s control, instead of forcing the company to depend on Sulava.

“We always think about what’s best for our customers. In this case, it’s concretely reflected in the fact that we don’t store the customer’s data in our own data centres, out of the customer’s reach,” Arto describes.

All in all, Sulava has been a great, professional, and reliable partner for us. Sulava provides us with the type of state-of-the-art expertise that we’ve always needed, Johannes sums up.

A partnership can be a green choice

Choosing Microsoft as its solution partner has allowed Tampereen Sähkölaitos to align its information management with its strategic goal for the environment, as Microsoft’s goal is to become a carbon-neutral supplier.

“Microsoft is a green partner for us – the environmental values of Tampereen Sähkölaitos are not limited to just the energy we produce. This is part of a larger whole, and it aligns perfectly with our environmental ambitions,” Johannes concludes.

Get to know Sulavas Azure-services

Azure projects can be anything from the migration of hundreds of virtual machines to the design of scalable architectures for modern applications. Sulava offers e.g. several ready-made packages for IaaS and PaaS services and wide range of Azure-trainings.

Published: april 2022

Writer: Harva Marketing