Nordkap: Where insights and finances connect

Introducing Nordkap: a Swedish company that offers solutions for the treasury function of capital intense companies. The solution is a completely web-based, installation-free SaaS platform. In a short timeframe, Nordkap has established themselves as the leading web-based treasury system in Sweden and Norway. Now, their focus is to continue to improve and develop the system in order to expand – both in the Nordic region and Europe.

Expansion requires trust, security and reliability

As Nordkap grew and started acquiring bigger customers, the requirements on their data security levels increased. Nordkap also wanted to develop an internal strategy to be able to capitalize on customer data stored in the platform, which also contributed to the need for higher data security levels.

Before Nordkap found their way to Basefarm, they had hired another supplier for operational solutions. In their decision-making process at the time, keeping costs down received the highest priority, as the company was still in a start-up phase. However, one of the problems Nordkap was experiencing was that the solution wasn’t stable enough and, in some cases, the service would completely shut down. On top of the service being unreliable, the communication from the supplier was also inadequate – no information was provided when the problems arose nor was it communicated how long it would take before the problems were resolved. This level of operational insecurity jeopardized the trust Nordkap’s customers’ had in them.

A partnership that goes above and beyond

The partnership began in the spring of 2017 and has since then outgrown its start-up phase and moved into a fully operational solution. Malin Sundberg, Head of Customer Relations at Nordkap, puts emphasis on Basefarm’s internal expertise, as well as the well-developed processes within the organization.

Malin says: “Nothing is left to chance. It’s a well-established organization that doesn’t have to develop new processes from scratch during the implementation procedure. Due to their broad range of skills, they also have an advisory role in our organization. We don’t really have the ability to keep that knowledge in-house, since that would mean involving all of Nordkap’s employees. In other words, they don’t only have a role as a supplier but also as a knowledge partner.”

In the initial phase of the partnership, Malin wants to work out all the details of the relationship, to ensure that both parties are satisfied. “As the customer, we have to figure out what kind of support we need and what is important for Basefarm to know about us. All the processes take a little time before they’re fully implemented and we’ve gotten used to them. Our experience so far is that they’re responsive to our needs. They even offer their own recommendations on areas that could use improvement, for example, strengthening some security measures.”

A Swedish success story

Treasury is an umbrella term for the management of debt tools. It refers to different ways of financing a business. Nordkap chose to focus on the real estate sector. Nordkap created a standardized product to help them with their largest expense item, payment of their financing. The solution would also assist with managing, reporting and analyzing their projects. In short, the platform helps real estate companies become better buyers when they are in need of financing. The service launched in 2014 and has already had an impressive journey. Today, over 50% of the largest real estate companies in Sweden and Norway are among their customers.

A service solution that never fails

In order to gain customers’ trust, long-term reliability and stability of the operations are crucial. Simply put, Nordkap has to offer a service solution that never fails, in order to be constantly available to its customers. When Nordkap had outgrown its start-up phase, efforts were made to find the best possible operating solution.

The decision was to partner up with Basefarm. It started with a recommendation by Nordkap’s investor, Collector Bank. “They were already in business with Basefarm and were satisfied with their choice, which of course awakened our curiosity. Furthermore, several of our customers had positive experiences of Basefarm,” says Rikard Hjelm, CEO at Nordkap.

Taking on the rest of the world is easier with a good partner

“The choice of Basefarm as an operational supplier is largely based on trust”, says Rikard Hjelm. He continues, “Other providers can offer comparable solutions, but it was important for us to know that the supplier had experience from similar projects. On top of that, Basefarm had previously worked with customers that are similar to us. The big difference now, compared to our previous operating supplier, is that we are very confident that we are in capable hands. In addition, we also feel like we have partnered with a supplier that we will be able to expand our business with, starting with Europe and eventually taking on the rest of the world.”

Malin Sundberg wraps it up by summarizing the most important lessons from the project so far. “The biggest insight is how important it is to think long-term. To not only think about the here and now, but to remember to keep looking forward. In an expansion phase, things move quickly and you have to be able to build the right foundation for continued growth. Another important aspect is the value of a well-functioning and communicative relationship with your supplier. Even though we face some challenges, we have kept an open and good dialogue. That feeling of security is definitely a must for us as a customer.”

Basefarm’s PCI DSS platform

Learning a lot from this customer specific design, Basefarm has designed and built a PCI DSS platform that allows customers to plug into the platform and secure their transactions and let Basefarm make sure, and take responsibility for that everything works. The Basefarm PCI DSS platform is Level 1 compliant and undergoes an annual on-site security audit, quarterly network scans and validation by a qualified security assessor (QSA) and approved scanning vendor. The Platform of course adheres to all requirements in the compliance framework. This basically means that customers, for a monthly fee, may use the platform for the parts of their solution that falls within compliance requirements. Basefarm is the only hosting provider in Norway and Sweden and one of few in Europe listed as a Visa Merchant Agent in this category.

Experts in PCI DSS compliance operations

Basefarm in an expert in PCI DSS compliance operations on Level 1 and the leading managed service provider with efficient and reliable systems for managing infrastructure platforms and applications. The company has a proven track record in running mission critical systems.

The secure datacenters are built and maintained according to ASHRAE Environmental Guidelines for Datacom Equipment and Basefarm are standardized in ”Telecommunications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers” (TIA-942).

Basefarm completed the ISO 27001 certification and ISO 14001 certification in 2013. Since 2013, Basefarm are also a member of the global security organization FIRST.org.