The City of Imatra's IT administration strengthens its services and expertise with the support of Above IT.
Located on the shores of Lake Saimaa and known for its rapids, Imatra is a vibrant traditional tourism and industrial city near the southeastern border. The task of the city’s IT administration is to ensure a smooth ICT and digital environment for the city, serving employees and meeting the needs of residents. The IT administration takes care of information security and service compliance and maintains over 150 systems with a team of ten experts.
Collaboration with Above IT has played a central role in supporting this overall framework, as Petri Kejonen, Imatra’s Head of Information and Digital Services, explains.
Petri is responsible for identifying and bringing necessary items to the IT administration’s development list, supporting procurement and development, and acting as a link between IT suppliers and the city. He also has personal experience on the IT supplier side and a deep understanding of what successful collaboration requires.
Security and reliability in communication
The collaboration with Above IT began with improving the information security of the City of Imatra’s communications. Previously, the city did not have a clear overall picture of the email security situation, which exposed it to CEO fraud, among other things. With the help of Above IT, the City of Imatra implemented DMARC protection, enabling reliable and secure email transmission.
Organizations use email for various purposes, such as communication with different stakeholders, marketing, and even operations management. However, the challenge with email is verifying the sender’s identity. “Without email security measures, anyone could send a message from the imatra.fi address, for example, in the name of the city manager to the financial manager,” Petri emphasizes, highlighting the importance of information security.
These risks are mitigated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protection mechanisms, with DMARC acting as a “confirming lock.” Without DMARC, other protections are easily circumvented, so its use is increasingly required, as seen with major players like Google and Yahoo.
The City of Imatra wanted to be at the forefront of this development. In addition to a higher level of protection, the city monitors its email traffic to prevent misuse, which is particularly important in the municipal sector, where information security risks are high. At the same time, it ensures that communication from different systems functions smoothly and important messages do not end up in spam.
Managed cloud and IT administration coaching
Above IT also provides the City of Imatra with expert assistance in managing and securing the Microsoft environment. Information security and data protection are vital for the city, as the IT environment covers critical services.
PilviCapo Microsoft 365 service ensures that the City of Imatra always has support readily available and an architect-level expert supporting the dissemination of expertise. Above IT’s Mika Hakkarainen acts as the City of Imatra’s own consigliere for IT administration.
“Information security and data protection require continuous updating of expertise to stay informed about how the technical side, risk situation, and cybersecurity phenomena are evolving. With years of experience, we know that busy IT administrations do not have the opportunity to follow everything, so we offer help in these matters and are here,” Mika explains.
According to Petri, collaboration with Above IT has brought peace of mind: “It feels better to work knowing that deep expertise and expert help are easily accessible.”
The collaboration is close and ongoing. The City of Imatra’s IT administration and Mika regularly review progress and monitor actions. Mika carries out the necessary work, and a jointly planned long-term view keeps all the City of Imatra’s IT administration experts up to date. “Our unit’s operating model is proactive, and it fits well with Above IT’s approach,” Petri describes.
Continuity and support for development
In Imatra, attention is also being directed towards artificial intelligence. The concept phase is underway, exploring how AI tools can enhance the city’s operations. The adoption of new technology also requires careful consideration of information security, and Above IT is there to support this journey.
With the strengthening of the city’s communication security and the enhancement of IT functions through continuous expert support, the City of Imatra has created a safer and more functional digital environment. This also ensures that the adoption of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, proceeds in a controlled manner.
The collaboration has provided the City of Imatra’s IT administration with confidence and continuity, as well as support for development that serves the city’s needs well into the future. Petri summarizes the mutual benefits of the partnership: “Collaboration is genuine teamwork. This way, we both develop, and Above IT can deepen its expertise in the municipal sector. Understanding the specific characteristics of the client’s operations makes collaboration smoother. We representatives of municipal IT administration are often generalists, so it is necessary to get reinforcement in areas where we need deep expertise and the adoption of new things.”