First step towards Microsoft Expert Managed Service Provider certification

With the just acquired “Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Azure” certification from Microsoft, NNIT is one step away from achieving Azure Expert Managed Service Providers certification – as the first Nordics based IT company.

“We are extremely happy to announce that we have just achieved “Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Azure” certification, which is the first step towards achieving the coveted status as Azure Expert Managed Service Providers. We’re excited to be well on our way to achieving this goal, which will bring us even closer to Microsoft to the benefit of our customers. It’s something we’ve worked very hard to achieve and I’m very proud of our dedicated specialists in our Cloud organization and across NNIT.” – says Søren Svarrer Nielsen, Corporate Vice President, NNIT Hybrid Cloud, Data & AI

The Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Azure certification will be valid for a year and renewed pending a new audit.

The plan is to call for an independent audit to become Azure Expert Managed Service Providers (MSPs) before the end of the year. NNIT will then join an exclusive club of 80 other certified MSPs worldwide.

Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Azure

To achieve “Windows Server and SQL Server Migration to Azure” certification, NNIT was audited and scored across the following parameters while being held to the highest technical standards:

• Migration delivery – documented processes and demonstrated abilities to build for and migrate customers to Azure and support customers during the migration process.

• Tooling – having the right tools in place to build for and migrate customers to Azure and support customers during the migration process.

• Migration practice promotion – demonstrated active promotion of Azure migration practice to customers.

Following a thorough and strict audit, NNIT was awarded the score “passed” by independent auditor ISSI, who highlighted the following strengths:

• An outstanding approach in developing a Cloud Transformation model for customers following Azure Cloud Adoption Framework.
• Cybersecurity consulting as a stand-alone service.
• A well-developed and applied continuous process for migration risk assessment.
• An excellent strategy for standardization around project templates and tooling.
• Leveraging of Azure-native migration tools.

“We have prepared for these certifications for months. The requirements in this first migration certification is part of the NNIT Cloud Transformation Model, a structured phase-based model guiding the customer – and NNIT – through the Cloud project. Over the past months, we have built the processes, tools, assessments, design manuals and other products needed. We have worked in an agile setup to ensure sustainable products. Many Cloud experts, specialists and colleagues across the company have been involved, either in the sprint teams or as part of agile building teams. It has truly been a team effort,” - says Hanne Skovgaard Duve, Cloud Project Director – Hybrid Cloud Data & AI, NNIT and adds:

“The ability to do high quality Cloud migrations for our customers is pivotal for our relevance in the Cloud market. This certification confirms that we meet the highest standards: that we migrate for our customers in a structured and controlled manner, ensuring their continued business performance.”

Azure expertise at NNIT

The Azure team at NNIT consists of many experts who now have an even closer partnership with Microsoft. NNIT employs a total of 50+ trained Microsoft experts, including the following certified specialists: Azure Administrator Associate (15), Azure Data Engineer Associate (2), Azure DevOps Engineer Expert (6), Azure Solutions Architect Expert (13) and Azure Security Engineer Associate (8).