A boat in Soderhammns

Risky, unsecure file sharing inspired this government. Here’s why.

Johanna Winqvist

Johanna Winqvist

Microsoft, Modern Workplace

Read Time, 2 min.

“This file is too large to send.”

We’ve all done it. When time is of the essence, and a large file won’t go where we want it to go, risky public file-transfer methods are suddenly a very appealing option. Security goes out the door in place of convenience. For local governments this creates a systemic problem, and huge security risks. Söderhamn’s local government, overseeing a coastal region in Sweden, decided not to rush to ban this behaviour but take lessons from why it was occurring. Then, turning to modern cloud technology, they sought to close the productivity gap causing the unsecured practices in the first place.

Söderhamn is made up of around 500 small Swedish islands, dotted along its coastal mainland. Famed for its historic ‘blue hills’, another historic asset garnered much less fame―an ageing on-premises infrastructure causing a slew of productivity issues. With new GDPR laws looming over all government practices like an overzealous watchdog, the status quo could no longer be maintained and a new way of working had become vital.

The benefits

With 2,500 full-time employees, overseeing everything from education to healthcare, sensitive documents were being regularly shared with file-sharing tools, email and, shockingly, written down. Acknowledging that these practices were occurring due to a gap in the available infrastructure and software to do their jobs safely, Söderhamns Kommun turned to the built-in security and productivity tools found in Microsoft 365 to give employees a secure environment to communicate and innovate.

“We saw the benefits of what they were doing. We didn’t want to ban people from using data in ways they shouldn’t, because it was much more convenient. We had to provide a solution and an environment where people didn’t have to come up with their own ways of doing things.”

Read the full customer story here.

Free eBook: A crash course in upgrading to Windows 10

Learn how easy it is to upgrade to Windows 10

Discover more related articles per industry:

Education

  • a person sitting at a table using a laptop computer

    Reimagining education: From remote to hybrid learning

    The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a torrent of individual and small-group responses as to how education could be transformed. We have found a groundswell of interest in the question, “How best to take advantage of the new opportunities arising from the disruption?” What people desperately need are opportunities to team up and find pathways of […]

  • a woman using a laptop

    Make remote learning work better for everyone. Find out how.

    Since the COVID-19 outbreak first hit China, our education customers in the country have done amazing things to keep students engaged while they transition to remote learning. From eLearning innovations, to keeping students’ spirits high with photo and cooking challenges – teachers and students have shown extraordinary resilience during this difficult time. Now, as the […]

Government

Healthcare

  • A smiling man wearing glasses looking at the camera

    HUS: sharing data securely to make life-saving decisions

    Illnesses and diseases don’t often play fair – an unfortunate truth that was proved by the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, heavily hitting healthcare organizations with challenges the world hadn’t seen in a century. Hospitals needed a rapid response to reduce spreading the virus without affecting patient care. A high-pressure situation for any institution, but […]

  • a woman sitting at a table

    Empowering care teams with new tools in Microsoft 365

    Discover the new Microsoft 365 collaboration and communication capabilities – improving the efficiency of clinicians and administrators.

Manufacturing

  • a woman smiling for the camera

    Etex Group: Future-proofing employees to work anywhere across the world

    When COVID-19 spread across Europe in early 2020, businesses entered a new digitally-dependent age. Social distancing measures had asked offices of all shapes and sizes to close their doors, sparking organizations to quickly find other virtual ways for colleagues to meet and collaborate remotely. But for Belgium building material specialist Etex, this was a step they were ready for – having already implemented a cloud-based infrastructure and collaboration tools […]

  • a person sitting at a desk with a laptop on a table

    My people leadership compass in times of gloom

    Microsoft’s Max Tchapeyou offers a very personal viewpoint, citing the six ways he’s found to work more effectively – and positively – with his team.

Retail

  • HeadBrands is ready for the future with Microsoft 365 Business

    HeadBrands is ready for the future with Microsoft 365 Business

    Since its creation in 2010, HeadBrands has continued to grow, rapidly becoming the leading retailer of hairdressing products in Scandinavia. HeadBrands needed a modern IT solution to increase its business productivity and improve collaboration, both within the company and externally. Its response to this challenge was to replace most of its previous services with Microsoft […]

  • GDPR and Retail: Four GDPR requirements and how Microsoft can help

    GDPR and Retail: Four GDPR requirements and how Microsoft can help

    Learn how we can help you meet GDPR requirements with solutions available today: Assessing your current risk profile “How do I understand where I am already compliant and where I need to focus next?” This is one of the most common questions from retailers in regard to the GDPR. It’s also one of the hardest to […]

Discover more related articles per dossier:

Customer Stories

  • a person sitting in front of a laptop computer

    The ‘Big Bang’ approach to digital transformation – and how to make it work

    These days there’s no such thing as ‘business as usual’. Change and disruption are the new normal. Just think of the changes affecting your organization right now, with new technology and techniques driving new attitudes and expectations from employees and customers alike. Everything is changing. And the one thing all those changes have in common […]

Digital Transformation

  • a group of people sitting at a table in front of a building

    Perspectives on the new culture of work

    We’re living through a period of extraordinary cultural and technological change. As new generations enter the job market, the culture of work is shifting to accommodate new ideas and new ways of working. Meanwhile, technology is redefining the very notion of a workplace – the 9-5 feels increasingly outdated, as collaboration technologies free us to […]

Security & Privacy

  • a close up of a logo

    The power of trust: thoughts on security in the digital age

    When you’ve been working in digital security for a quarter of a century, as I have, people often ask what my number 1 piece of advice is to help businesses and organizations build trust with their customers and partners. My answer is always the same: “Don’t be creepy!” I know it’s a cliché to use […]

Tips

  • A woman holding a white mug

    Working from home. What I’ve learned as an early adopter.

    I guess you could call me an ‘early adopter’ of remote work. About 15 years ago, I was responsible for mobility and convergence at a large telecoms company when those concepts were in their infancy. So, I decided I’d try to practice what I’d be preaching all day, and insisted on working remotely as often […]