Caruna has selected the Frends integration platform supplied by HiQ

Caruna needed to replace its end-of-life integration platform with a new one. The company opened public procurement process for a modern integration platform and related consultancy and maintenance services. The objective of the acquisition was to replace Caruna's existing on-prem integration platform solution with an agile new hybrid integration platform.

The company then selected the economically most advantageous Integration platfrom and integration vendor, which were the Frends enterprise iPaaS supplied by HiQ Finland Oy.

Extensive requirements

Caruna's requirements for its integration platform were diverse. Particularly important were the transparency of the platform and ease of use, also for the company’s own staff. A key factor in the selection was the user-friendly interface of the Frends integration platform, for integrations running both in the in-house data centres and in the cloud.

Caruna was looking for an integration platform that would meet its needs for the next 10 years and was convinced by Frends' comprehensive features and ability to run in the cloud in parallel with its own data centres. Among the technical requirements, it is also worth highlighting the platform's ability to perform and scale in a container environment, which is not a given among iPaaS integration products. In addition to workflows, the list of technical requirements included API execution and API management, which are an integral part of the Frends integration platform. As part of the tender process, one of the quality criteria involved organising workshops where customer representatives implemented pre-defined use cases with the offered platform solutions under the guidance of the suppliers' teams. The HiQ team on the Frends platform did the best in the workshop.

What's next?

The next step will be the migration phase, which will involve moving around 200 integrations from the current platform to the Frends platform. The end result for Caruna will be a more cost-effective, transparent, and user-friendly platform that meets the specific requirements of the energy industry. Thanks to the hybrid integration platform, future needs will be met in an environment where there is simultaneously a shift to cloud technology while critical components need to operate entirely without a cloud platform if necessary.

"Now, we can do more ourselves and significantly improve our efficiency."

ICT Service Manager, Caruna

Lauri Vanhanen

Caruna

Caruna distributes electricity and maintains, repairs, and builds a weatherproof electricity network for its approximately 700,000 customers in Southern, Southwestern and Western Finland, as well as in the city of Joensuu, the sub-region of Koillismaa, and Satakunta. In order to guarantee a reliable electricity supply to its customers under all circumstances, Caruna supervises its network 24/7. A weatherproof, smart electricity network will also provide a well functioning energy system in the future when digital services increase, traffic is electrified, and the consumer becomes a producer of energy.

www.caruna.fi, Twitter @CarunaSuomi

For more information:

• Jukka Rautio (jukka.rautio@hiq.fi), Country Manager, HiQ Finland Oy

• Anne Ruuskanen (anne.ruuskanen@caruna.fi), Sourcing Manager, Caruna