Editor’s note: Today’s post is by Christian Ahlin, CIO and Group Head of IT for Nordward, a Stockholm-based group of four seafood suppliers and wholesalers across Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, to restaurants and food purveyors. Nordward has adopted ChromeOS devices for its 300 employees, including sales teams that work with prospective and current customers.
Selling seafood is an age-old business, and one that’s viewed as relying on manual processes rather than the latest technology. ChromeOS devices have created a competitive advantage for Nordward in the challenging B2B seafood sales market, and has helped our four companies work together without barriers.
The collaboration we’ve achieved with ChromeOS is positioning Nordward very well for the future. We’re a 1-billion-kroner company, and we plan to double this number through acquisitions and organic growth. With ChromeOS, we can bring a newly acquired company online in hours instead of weeks or months. Our vision is to roll out a new company in 24 hours and distribute ChromeOS devices, hand scanners, and automatic scales to employees. Then we are ready to sell seafood.
All ChromeOS, all the time at Nordward
When I joined Nordward, my first task was to find a single platform to unify the four combined companies — and to do so with a small IT team. To meet this goal, we needed to move all data and applications to the cloud, and remove costly and hard-to-manage Windows software.
Our entire company — including sales people working in-office or remote plus delivery and warehouse teams — uses ChromeOS devices. We chose ChromeOS because it was very easy for the teams to adopt and the IT team to manage. We’ve reduced the time needed for IT management by 75% and we only need one IT person for about 300 employees.
ChromeOS Flex reduced costs
ChromeOS Flex helped us make the most of our existing hardware, which reduced our device replacement costs and allowed us to manage devices together all through the Google Admin console, making it easier for our IT Team.
The very minimal maintenance needed for ChromeOS devices saves time for everyone. We have backup ChromeOS devices so there’s no downtime if there’s a problem with one device. Since we’re a cloud-first company, anyone can log in to any computer and resume work exactly where they left off.
The warehouse employees use ChromeOS devices that need little to no maintenance. The employees start their production planning from home, instead of traveling to the office several hours before the regular workforce arrives.
ChromeOS becomes part of every workday
We standardized on Chrome, which allows us to access applications from the cloud without having to install them on each device. Chrome is our default browser, creating a frictionless experience across devices for password management and secure settings.
Our buyers can access Visma, our ERP solution, through our virtual app delivery solution, Cameyo. Buyers can view inventory, standing orders, and special requests.
Our sales team exclusively uses ChromeOS tools. As purchases and deliveries are made, the sales team is reaching out to prospective and current customers, using Google Workspace tools like Google Drive and Google Meet. Drivers have Android devices, which we manage with Android Enterprise.
When salespeople used Microsoft Office and SharePoint, sales files were everywhere and no one could keep track of them. Today, Google Drive is the sales team’s secret sauce. Salespeople can easily collaborate, even with people who work remotely.
Securing business data with automatic updates
ChromeOS is unique from a security perspective, and ChromeOS devices have had zero reported ransomware attacks. When you have a secure device and OS, there are so many threat vectors that are removed, like viruses and ransomware. ChromeOS updates in the background automatically, so we never need to worry about whether security holes are patched or if antivirus software has been updated.
ChromeOS is part of every Nordward workday, starting at 4 AM, when our buyers go directly to fish sellers and markets to purchase everything we need for customers. If all goes according to plan, our inventory should be nearly empty every night. These days that’s happening consistently, thanks to the technical improvements we’ve made. ChromeOS devices help foster collaboration in our company, at every level. We’re building and defining the Nordward culture — something we just couldn’t do without ChromeOS.
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