Strawberry has Iver as a digitization partner

Strawberry is growing strongly and is one of the Nordics' largest hotel groups with over 200 hotels and close to 17,000 employees in the Nordics and the Baltics. The hotel industry is developing rapidly, and the hotel group is constantly challenged by guests who expect an efficient and problem-free service. At the same time, the business model is vulnerable as market conditions can change overnight. High demands are therefore placed on infrastructure, scalability, and cost control.

Iver has been Strawberry's IT partner since 2019 and is responsible for the operation of the hotel group's core platform, on-call service 24/7/365, security, consulting services and management of the Azure platform.

– Iver has become an important strategic partner for Strawberry. The collaboration has developed over time where Iver has shown the ability to develop the delivery with our changing needs and strategic direction, says Eirik Bogsnes, EVP, Hotel Services at Strawberry.

Going forward, we will work together to develop Strawberry's digital capabilities, where an increasingly large part is moving to the cloud.

When we change our name to Strawberry this year, we have great ambitions for the development of better customer experiences and a more cost-effective business model using digital solutions. Having a professional and competent IT partner behind us who understands our business and our business needs is crucial on this journey, says Bogsnes.

Iver’s delivery

In 2020, Iver carried out an extensive migration project of over 600 servers. The project was completed in 4 months and ran efficiently and without downtime. Over 45 employees from Iver in Norway and Sweden participated in the project.

The hotel group is during a major digital transformation where both core systems and systems that the hotel employees use in their daily work are to be replaced. The key is the use of modern, scalable and sustainable services as well as flexible working methods. A future-oriented delivery model also means an increased use of software as a service (SaaS), while more operational tasks must be solved from the cloud. The goal for Strawberry is to be at the forefront of technology and Iver acts as a proactive partner that ensures safe operation and high performance.

Iver is responsible for the following services:

• Operation of the basic platform and more than 600 servers
• Support for operation and management of applications
• Database operation
• Management of the Azure platform
• Customer management
• Operation of central firewall and VPN services
• Operation of Citrix platform
• Service desk 2nd and 3rd line
• Service Desk 1st line in collaboration with Strawberry SOS where Iver assists 19-07 weekdays and 24/7 weekends.
• Security Operations Center (SOC) and Incident Response Team (IRT)
• Ongoing consulting and advisory services for the above services and security

In addition, Iver assists Strawberry with their strategic work around digitalization, guidance and proactivity, development of IT strategy and assistance when opening new hotels or closing down hotels.

Security Operations Center (SOC)

Iver is also responsible for IT security at Strawberry and provides SOC services to be able to detect abnormal events, threats, or ongoing attacks in the Nordic Choice Hotels' IT environment at an early stage. Ivers SOC monitors and processes security threats 24/7. In addition, Strawberry receives analyzes and reports as well as advice and support to end users on security issues. In the event of serious security incidents, the hotel group has full access to immediate security expertise through Iver's Incident Response Team.