Outsourcing restored peaceful nights for Pelagia

"We were many who were always on call. I always slept with the phone next to my pillow, and if it rang twice, you would always reach me the second time. Around the clock, all year round. Now, automation has taken over, and I can sleep soundly again," says Frode Vatne, CIO of Pelagia.

The daily routine has changed significantly for Frode Vatne and Pelagia, a market-leading producer of fish products headquartered in Bergen. Previously, he had to constantly address sudden problems and keep an aging system running, leaving little time for development. This made Pelagia vulnerable and dependent on individual employees. There was never a weekend or a holiday where I did not need to boot up my computer to solve problems, says Frode Vatne.

On the old platform, more and more time was spent on daily operations of the aging systems. This took away time from development and strategy. Now, that challenge is largely gone:

"We have more or less removed operations from our daily life, and we now focus on new things and establishing new capabilities for the business," says Pelagia's CIO.

It was an IT solution from Cepheo that ensured that Frode Vatne could once again get a good night's sleep. The solution consisted of a Cepheo Managed Services agreement, transferring the operation and maintenance of systems and apps to Cepheo. Pelagia also implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365, supplemented with Cepheo Process Industries Solution, addressing various industry-specific needs with a focus on traceability, quality, security and documentation to meet the requirements of customers and authorities in the food industry.

According to Frode Vatne, Pelagia prioritized finding a partner who understood both technical and commercial industry-specific needs:

"The total Norwegian salmon production is less than the amount of fish we process at Pelagia. We simply needed someone who could deliver big solutions to big companies in an efficient and straightforward way. After a few rounds, we chose Cepheo," he explains.

Reinvestment of efficiency gains

As part of the Managed Services agreement, Cepheo assists in mapping upcoming updates from Microsoft, outlines the implementation requirements for Pelagia, and supports the final implementation. According to Frode Vatne, the Managed Services agreement has freed up a significant amount of resources for reinvestment, supporting Pelagia's desire to maintain its position as a market leader by staying ahead in technological developments.

The resources liberated by the Managed Services agreement have been reinvested in automating manual tasks and implementing additional features from Dynamics 365 to address business tasks previously handled on paper or in Excel spreadsheets.

The use of automation and data processing has led to a continuous streamlining of Pelagia’s production lines:

“We could do more in May than we could in January. Now in November, we can do more than we could in May. We want to continually become more automated and efficient, and the collaboration with Cepheo consultants and the implemented solutions have resulted in a noticeable reduction in manual handling of tasks."

Having Cepheo as a proactive consulting partner has been invaluable for Frode Vatne and Pelagia, providing not only new ideas but also critical assessments and the ability to say no:

"If we are to remain a market-leading company, our partner must deliver what we need, not just what we ask for, and that's a task Cepheo is capable of fulfilling," says Frode Vatne.

Long term secured partnership

In the quest for a new IT partner, Frode Vatne realized that not just anyone could meet Pelagia's expectations.

"We decided that it's not important where the consultants are located, but what skills they possess and what solutions and features they have worked with previously. The knowledge and workflows we gain from Cepheo are so structured and robust that it is independent of individuals," says Frode Vatne.

He explains that the collaboration between Pelagia and Cepheo has been structured that it is also independent of time and place.

"We primarily collaborate through Microsoft DevOps, and here everyone has equal access to our consultants from Cepheo. Whether the consultants are based in Denmark, Poland or Sweden is completely irrelevant, as we have transitioned all our processes to English, making everything more accessible. At the same time, we have banned communication via email, and if someone violates this rule, they should not expect a quick response," says Frode Vatne.

The collaborative approach ensures that knowledge is accessible and not stored in someone's mind or email inbox:

"It makes the transition smoother when employees or consultants are replaced, which is inevitable at some point. We cannot expect everyone to be involved from start to finish over several years. It should also be a set-up that can outlive me," concludes Pelagia's CIO, Frode Vatne, who can now enjoy his free-time with peace of mind.