Senior competence as a service

Verdipapirsentralen (VPS) provides services for the settlement and registration of shares, bonds, equity certificates, certificates, and fund units. As the market’s only provider, system downtime is not an option. Server architect Skullerud explains that they have a robust contingency plan, and in case of downtime, the best experts must be quickly available. Therefore, Skullerud conveyed a clear request to the general manager at Sicra.

– Those with senior competence are usually sold out. Therefore, I wanted a guarantee that we could quickly get the right competence, says Skullerud.

Guaranteed capacity as a service

The challenge was taken on by Sicra’s general manager with open arms.

– It is a privilege to have customers who challenge us. We love finding new ways to meet customers’ needs, and nothing is better than developing services together with them, says Stig Valderhaug.

Sicra was already in as the preferred supplier of tasks on a project basis, particularly related to Citrix and Microsoft. The extended service would essentially mean that VPS pays for Sicra to always be able to deliver a senior consultant at short notice. And of the caliber that immediately has the prerequisites to quickly find and solve the problems.

– Sicra only employs seniors. They solve problems faster, and it is reassuring to know that they always have capacity available, he says.

Can “bench” skilled people

Although it sounds like a very “sweet deal” for Sicra, it is expensive not to have the consultants out on assignments.

– We have high demand and could have sold out all the consultants’ time. With the response agreement, we put skilled people on the bench so they can quickly respond when needed. We therefore do not make any extra profit on these agreements, says Valderhaug, happy to have such trust from customers that they choose to invest in such a service.

Perfect for holidays

– The agreement is not particularly expensive. It is cheaper than having to go through the many support lines with other providers, and we save valuable time. We can go straight to the seniors, emphasizes Skullerud and says that the service has delivered as expected so far.

VPS has also used the on-call arrangement during holidays because it is cheaper to hire the necessary competence than to employ more resources internally.

– If the consultant is not an expert in one field, they have many skilled colleagues backing them up. We therefore get access to broad best practices in many specialist areas, says Skullerud.

Sicra has many customers on the response agreement, and Valderhaug sees this as a collective effort together with the customers.

– We have had to turn down lucrative assignments several times because we have committed to having capacity available. Our customers always come first, says Valderhaug.