University College Nordjylland
University College of Northern Denmark – UCN – is a large, Danish institution of higher education and knowledge in the fields of health care, education, business and technology. UCN is proud to deliver real-life education, because in real life, theory and practice are closely intertwined.
11,000 users ensured daily access to the internet by a massive NaaS solution
University College Nordjylland, which is one of the largest networks in the country with nearly 11,000 daily users. The entire network is operated as a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) by Lytzen IT, which manages both daily operations and IT security, ensuring high user satisfaction.
When six educational institutions spread across North Jutland need to be connected, daily operations managed, and very high user satisfaction ensured, the requirements are enormous.
University College Nordjylland, UCN, realized seven years ago that they did not have the internal resources or competencies to operate a network of this size.
Since 2016, the operations have been in the hands of a third-party provider, and this year it was up for tender again. Lytzen IT won the tender, and René Storgaard Madsen, IT and digitalization manager, is very satisfied with their new provider of the massive NaaS solution.
Their ability to act as project managers was impressive. They were really skilled at taking over our installation 1:1, and they were exceptionally good at ensuring that it continued. They are truly professional people we are dealing with, both in execution and collaboration.
University College Nordjylland – Professionalism was a must!
Professionalism has been an important parameter for UCN in taking over and operating a NaaS solution that covers six different campuses, with four in Aalborg, one in Thisted, and one in Hjørring, serving around 11,000 daily users, is not for just anyone.
“We noted that Lytzen IT was already providing infrastructure to other large companies that required high uptime and quality. So if they could deliver good networks to them, we were convinced they could deliver to us as well,” explains René Storgaard Madsen, adding: “They also won the tender based on a mix of good technology performance, a good track record, and a good price.”
The network is the heart
Christian Foghsgaard, CEO and partner at Lytzen IT, states that this solution is an exciting and very interesting one. “This solution is special because it is a NaaS solution that covers many different physical locations that are far apart, with all equipment operated and owned by us. They have no hardware themselves,” explains Christian Foghsgaard, continuing: “This makes it a pure rental solution, where everything is tied together in an SLA agreement and covered by us 24/7.”
The constant monitoring of the network is very important for UCN. René Storgaard Madsen shares that there is significant pressure on the network and its availability. “We are completely dependent on technology. It supports our teaching. The students have high expectations, and finally, the network must support exams, which are completely digitized. Today, everything is submitted digitally.” “When it comes to critical operations, a good network is truly necessary,” emphasizes René Storgaard Madsen.
"We operate with satisfaction and not with whether something is down. It can quickly turn into a blame game – what went down, why, and who was to blame. We have removed that from the equation"
Special billing model
It’s not just the large NaaS solution that is special; the billing model is also something entirely unique. “Here, the billing model is based on user satisfaction. Therefore, we have probes that measure how accessible the network is in different locations. Additionally, user surveys are conducted by UCN to check how happy the users are,” says Christian Foghsgaard.
René Storgaard Madsen explains that they wanted a model where they worked to promote good collaboration instead of having penalty contracts. “So we measure the students’ satisfaction with the network, and if it is high, there is a bonus for NetNordic. What matters is not whether the network goes down, but whether the users are satisfied,” says René Storgaard Madsen.
This way, the provider also gets an idea of what is important, and a positive spirit is brought into the collaboration.
Dedicated fiber connection
Lytzen IT took over operations around Easter and has spent the first four months building up the infrastructure. The biggest challenge has been laying out the dedicated fiber connections to the six campuses.
The advantage of having dedicated fibers is that Lytzen IT can bring exactly as much speed to the endpoint equipment as it allows. “It has been difficult to find people who could dig the fibers, and we have also faced some challenges with component deliveries. But everything has come together in a higher unity,” shares Christian Foghsgaard.
The advantage of having dedicated fibers is that Lytzen IT can thus deliver exactly as much speed to the endpoint equipment as it allows.
“It has been difficult to find people who could dig the fibers, and we have also faced some challenges with component deliveries. But everything has come together in a higher unity,”<br />