Online Partner was hired in 2020-2021 as an IT architect and expert on Google Cloud Platform and other cloud-based services from Google to develop a new, modern and scalable IT environment for Nordward.
The challenge
The company's servers were spread across various local operations facilities and required on-site personnel who could manually restart servers upon request from the head office. Local internet connections and downtime in the IT environment were very costly. Nordward's management realized that they needed to invest in a modern scalable solution that could support the company's aggressive growth plans.
The solution
Online Partner helped design the solution, which was based on Google Cloud Platform with Google Cloud SQL as an alternative to locally installed databases, Compute Engine for virtual application servers and Google BigQuery for data storage and visualization in Looker. Nordward's operations facilities were connected to Google Cloud Platform via Google Cloud VPN.
The result
The result was a scalable IT environment for Nordward's most critical business and production systems. The solution is cost-effective, and easy to duplicate when acquiring other similar businesses. By using Google Cloud Platform, Nordward also receives a higher level of security and protection against intrusions, viruses and ransomware, as well as better opportunities to centrally manage and monitor the IT environment.
With the new platform, Nordward was able to reduce the time spent on IT administration by 75%. An IT environment for 300 people can now be managed by a single person.
Products used
Google Cloud Platform