About 200 people live year-round in the small municipality of Vormsi, and as an island community they are constantly prepared for situations where the connection to the mainland is disrupted. With only 10 officials, the municipal government has to handle the same paperwork and meet the same cybersecurity and information security requirements as much larger local governments.
Kaisa Valm, Communication and Crisis Preparedness Specialist for Vormsi Municipality, says that on the island you have to be ready for anything: “You can’t do just one narrowly defined thing — in reality, you’re doing the work of nine people in a larger municipality. As an island municipality, we also have to think much more about security and crisis capability.”
Small Municipality, Big Demands
About 450 people are officially registered in Vormsi Municipality, and around half of them live on the island permanently. Similarly, about half of the municipal government employees and officials live on Vormsi, while the rest work there flexibly for a few days a week.
“Since the local residents tend to be older people, communication with island residents has to be direct and very honest. They want to know everything, and as much as possible you have to accommodate everyone. On such a small island, for example, you can’t create any kind of generic mass-produced communication — you really have to consider all target groups,” Kaisa explains.
That is why very different needs have to be taken into account in work organisation, service delivery, and communication. Information must reach both the municipal resident living on the mainland and the most remote village on the island. At the same time, the municipality must meet increasingly demanding cybersecurity requirements.
Only One Provider Came On Site
At the beginning of the year, Elisa became Vormsi Municipality’s new network and IT partner. The previous small service provider no longer met the municipality’s needs or state requirements, so the municipality launched a procurement process to find a new partner.
“Elisa was the only service provider that came on site right away,” Kaisa recalls. “They carried out all the assessments and made recommendations themselves about what could and should be done. My task as the information security lead was simply to explain what I wanted, and they were able to put that whole IT world together. The other providers never came on site, and I don’t even know what they based their offers on,” says Kaisa.
Good communication has also made the cooperation very easy so far: “Everyone at Elisa has been very helpful, always available, and they call to ask how things are going. None of our questions has been too small, and help has come quickly and professionally. That is exactly what has created the feeling that Elisa is a true partner we can always rely on.”
When IT Just Works
According to Kaisa, the biggest change is that IT no longer demands attention: “When I started working there, I struggled a lot at first. In many situations, I felt like I was reinventing the wheel.”
Elisa helped create a comprehensive and well-thought-out system that you can simply trust. “Whereas before we communicated with a single service provider, now there is a whole team of specialists available when needed. Elisa also complies with the ISO 27001 standard, which is essentially equivalent to the Estonian information security standard that we have to comply with. That makes my work much easier,” Kaisa explains.
During the IT environment upgrade, the device fleet was replaced, the network solution was updated, and the municipality moved to the Microsoft 365 cloud solution. In addition to its main network, Vormsi Municipality also has a Starlink satellite connection, which Elisa integrated with the new network solution.
Although every change requires some adjustment, employee feedback has been positive. “Everyone is very happy — the computers are new and good, the programs are normal, and the internet is stable,” Kaisa sums up the result. “From the employees’ perspective, work is definitely more productive.”
A Team Working Toward a Shared Goal
Next, Vormsi Municipality plans to update the network solutions of its managed institutions and bring the device fleet of Vormsi School under the same solution. According to Kaisa, confidence for the next IT developments comes from knowing that the cooperation so far has made the municipality’s everyday work simpler and more secure.
“What I will remember most from this project is the feeling that we were not customers having yet another solution installed for us. We were partners working toward a shared goal. And that means we can focus on serving the community instead of solving technical problems,” Kaisa concludes.
Vormsi Municipality uses Elisa’s specialised solution, which includes a fixed connection, firewall, network devices, their management and backup, as well as mobile data, laptop rental, and the Microsoft 365 cloud service. Are you also looking for a modern and secure IT partner for your organisation? Get in touch, and we will find solutions that support your business.