160 years of presence for Norwegians abroad

Client: Sjømannskirken – Norwegian Church Abroad

Project: Cloud Assessment

Date: October 2024

More than 160 years ago, ten men sat around a table in Øvregaten in Bergen. This evening, 31/08/1864, they founded what we all know today as Sjømannskirken – Norwegian Church abroad. The fascinating history of Sjømannskirken is long, and many people have received help and support in everyday life and crisis situations.

Sjømannskirken’s journey to the present day, has not been without adversities. Major changes in society, and modern days demand for efficiency and digitalization, have led to new challenges and requirements. Sjømannskirken has shown an impressive ability to face the changes with creativity and adaptability.

What started as an organization for Norwegian sailors abroad, is today an offer to all Norwegians outside our borders. Through the challenges of everyday life, in wars and crises, this voluntary organization has assisted, and still assists, an incredible number of Norwegians with its presence and support around the world.

Today, we find Sjømannskirken on all continents and still with the head office in Bergen.

The project

As IT Manager and Sustainability Advisor, Nils Kristian Søfteland, is responsible for optimizing Sjømannskirken’s IT operations, balancing cost-efficiency with environmental sustainability. Together with IT advisor Rune Bjørndal, he ensures that PCs, telephones and applications deliver a secure and seamless user experience for all employees, both home and abroad. A significant task as their responsibility includes 28 locations abroad, in addition to ambulatory teams that travel wherever they are needed.

Sjømannskirken holds a special place in the heart of one of our founders, Endre Markussen, as his daughter, Victoria, was baptized in Sjømannskirken in Singapore 26 years ago. He was more than happy to assist when Nils Kristian Søfteland chose our Cloud Assessment service.

The project was conducted in October 2024, combining both local and virtual meetings. Two workshops were held at Sjømannskirken in Strandgaten, Bergen, while two additional meetings were conducted digitally. It is important for us to use as little as possible of the client’s time, while at the same time ensuring sufficient access to information. Therefore, the customer gets access to our work management system during the project, and can follow the process closely.

At the end of the month the project was completed, and the report was reviewed and handed over to Nils and Rune.

In the words of the client

A few weeks after project completion, we followed up with Nils and Rune to ask how they experienced the project execution and the results:

– What are your thoughts on the project execution?

– The project was carried out in a professional and efficient manner, requiring minimal time investment from our end.

– What answers did you get from the survey?

– We received a useful review that revealed a potential, significant opportunity for license cost savings. We need to investigate this further, as it is uncertain whether we can meet the requirements for this licensing by cleaning up and structuring our systems, but it is worth exploring further.

In addition, we received useful feedback in relation to systematizing and formalizing our strategy work.

– Are you satisfied with the result, if so, why?

– Definitely a useful review that gives us good contributions to our continuous optimization of IT operations.

For a newly started company like Finalyze, it has been extra motivating to be allowed to assist a client that has existed for 160 years, and still up and going. We are impressed by Sjømannskirken’s ability to adapt to societal changes and adopt new technologies and mindsets.