FRID IKS is Norway's largest intermunicipal company within the ICT area. Frid is the strategic digitalization partner for the county municipalities of Akershus, Buskerud, and Østfold. Around 300 IT employees ensure that upper secondary schools and county municipal agencies receive the IT services they need quickly and cost-effectively. FRID manages and operates hundreds of applications and IT systems for over 65,000 users – everything from school students to dentists and government administrators.

Following the split of Viken County Municipality into Akershus, Buskerud, and Østfold, FRID needed an IT partner to help consolidate and modernize its IT infrastructure and platforms. Some requirements included solid expertise in NetScaler, DevOps, Azure, and modern security practices, as well as the ability to complete tasks quickly. The choice fell on Sicra.

Dissolution of Viken County required IT modernization

The merger of the counties into Viken in 2020 and the dissolution of the larger county in 2024 led to the implementation of several new IT systems, in addition to legacy systems. FRID had a partially doubled number of systems and a challenging mix of legacy systems and modern cloud applications.

– The legacy systems had to be secured, modernized, and operated more efficiently than before. It was not possible to continue as before, says Marte Hovdar Husby, Manager Identity and System Management at FRID IKS.

Previously, setup, operation, development, and patching were done using “ClickOps.” This meant manual processes, inadequate documentation and logging, dependency on people, and time-consuming establishment and configuration of new services.

Sicra deployed a team with heavy expertise in DevOps, NetScaler, architecture, and security. In collaboration with experienced Sicra consultants and consultants from other partners, FRID has implemented DevOps, templateization of IT services, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and automation. In addition, security has been significantly strengthened.

Modernized infrastructure and way of work

– We have modernized both the infrastructure and the way we work. Such a technology upgrade typically takes several years, says Husby.

ClickOps means manually managing infrastructure and services through graphical user interfaces – by “clicking” to make changes. It provides limited traceability, is challenging to replicate, and makes operating multiple environments time-consuming and error-prone. Changes can vary from person to person, which increases the risk of errors. Therefore, ClickOps is being replaced in modern organizations with Infrastructure-as-Code and automation.

Microsoft Azure Key Vault is a secure, centralized cloud service for storing passwords, API keys, certificates, and other secret data, keeping them out of code and off local storage. The security keys are stored as encrypted “secrets” and can be protected by an HSM (Hardware Security Module) for extra-high security. Key Vault provides access control, logging, and traceability. The result is lower risk, simpler operations, and more secure handling of your business’s key data.

From ClickOps to DevOps

FRID had a complex infrastructure with both new and legacy platforms, many manual processes, and critical services that needed to be modernized and secured. Of particular importance was the modernization of the NetScaler environments and the transition from manual configuration to Infrastructure-as-Code.

– Sicra has helped us move away from manual and person-dependent processes. The result is a much faster, more secure service development, says Marte Hovdar Husby.

In the fall of 2025, the following projects were initiated in close collaboration between FRID IKS and Sicra among other partners.

1. New NetScaler Platform:

• Establishment of a dozen new NetScaler environments, established with Infrastructure as Code and Configuration as Code.

2. Transition from ClickOps to modern DevOps workflow:

• Templated pipelines and centralized DevOps and private runners.

• Introduction of pull requests, peer review, and structured collaboration.

• Automated building and patching of runner images for secure operation.

3. Better and more secure management of security certificates and keys:

• Centralized Microsoft Azure Key Vault architecture for certificates and passwords.

• Automated renewal and more secure use of security keys and certificates between firewall, NetScaler, and applications.

Faster service deployment, better control, and higher security

– With DevOps, Key Vault, and other collaborative structures, we can now deliver new services to the county government agencies and schools faster and more cost-effectively. We get more and better IT out of every tax dollar, says Marte Hovdar Husby.

With DevOps and modern IT infrastructure, FRID now has:

• Shortening the setup of IT environments and the deployment of IT services from days to minutes.

• Full traceability of changes.

• Better disaster recovery capability with rebuild-in-minutes using IaC and templates.

• Increased security level through Azure Key Vault, automation, and removal of manual processes.

• Established a DevOps practice that scales with the organization.

FRID uses Sicra as advisors, expertise partners, and extra capacity – especially in the most complex areas. This gives FRID employees time to focus on developing new services and supporting user growth.

– Our goal is to stand on our own two feet. Sicra has given us both the expertise and methods that make it possible, says Marte Hovdar Husby.