Vestergaard
«Entrusting our IT to Swisscom facilitates our operations in the four corners of the planet.»
Nicolas Schornoz, Chief Financial and Operating Officer Vestergaard
The story in brief:
«Entrusting our IT to Swisscom, in order to facilitate our operations in the four corners of the planet, seemed to us to be the best solution to enable us to remain the leader in a very competitive environment», Nicolas Schornoz, CFOO of Vestergaard is delighted to report.
IT services fully guaranteed by Swisscom
Vestergaard, an international company, whose foundations are based upon humanitarian entrepreneurship, needs technology in order to access new markets and to respond to the needs of populations that are difficult to reach, or that have limited resources. The company, created in 1957, specialises in measures against malaria through the sale of impregnated mosquito nets (PermaNet®), water filters (LifeStraw®) and impregnated storage bags, reducing post-harvest losses (ZeroFly®). Vestergaard is present in Switzerland, but also in India, Vietnam, Ghana, and Kenya, where the company has branches.
“When we reviewed our IT strategy in 2017, we realised that we no longer had the critical mass to respond favourably to future needs of our associates, whether in terms of Big Data, IoT, or blockchain. We therefore sought a global partner who would provide us with access to cutting edge competencies in each of the IT domains, while retaining an internal strategic component,” declares Nicolas Schornoz. So Swisscom initiated an outsourcing project, with a constant view to the development of Vestergaard’s IT.
The Azure cloud, and the centralisation of precious data
The setting up of Azure in particular was a strategic move for the company. The cloud solution now means that Vestergaard can let Swisscom take care of the ICT infrastructure ICT, the operation and applications, in their entirety. “Previously, we had dedicated servers in Switzerland, but now, everything is on Azure, which means that we have access to our data everywhere, and at all times, especially from our laboratory located in Ghana, and where connectivity is not optimal”, Nicolas Schornoz is pleased to be able to say, also emphasising the time saved and efficiency levels achieved with Office365, which enables Vestergaard associates, wherever they might be on the planet, to have rapid access to the company’s data.
Swisscom has thus become the client’s exclusive IT supplier. “We moved from a team of 5 people, who constantly had to juggle different roles, to a global partner with a very wide spectrum of competencies.” This outsourcing enabled Vestergaard to benefit from a proactive IT service, that enables the enhancement and optimisation of solutions that match the activities for which the use of big data will permit a new level of operational stability and security, as well as the overall taking control of the sales process, at the same time incorporating all their partners in the process. “Although we work mainly with major NGOs, we attach major importance to the end-user of our products. We do not yet have direct feedback on their use. Big data may be considered as synonymous with a real advance in the understanding of the needs of our end users, and the development of our future products.”
Facilitated growth
The continuation of Vestergaard’s growth is therefore announced under the best possible auspices due to the collaboration with Swisscom. The stability of daily operations, technological support and monitoring, and strategic support, in Vestergaard’s interactions with its branches in Ghana, India, or Vietnam, will thus be characterised by the speed of development of new technologies. “We will thus remain ahead of our competitors”, comments Nicolas Schornoz, confident in the capabilities of Swisscom for the continuation of Vestergaard projects, whose new associates can also count on enhanced workplace implementation. “This now only takes about fifteen minutes. As for technical support, this is no longer a task Vestergaard has to carry out either.”