Enfo on the cutting edge of service development: listening to customers and the market for IT services .

Enfo is constantly developing its services as the market changes and technology advances. Above all, Enfo wants to provide customers with services that meet their needs. We interviewed Jussi Piipponen, Lead Consultant, Offering Development, responsible for service development at Enfo, who explains how service development is done and what is currently on the surface in IT services.

Could you tell us what is the importance of service development for Enfo? Why is it done?

"Service development at Enfo is primarily done to develop and update the customer value of our service portfolio, so that it is relevant to customers both today and in the future. Of course, our services must be appropriate to the market, i.e. they must bring value to our customers, without forgetting the profitability of our own operations. Technological and service developments have not slowed down, quite the contrary - that is why we must be ready to transform, and to develop at a fast pace.

We closely monitor market and technology trends, along with the feedback we receive from our customers, and align these insight to customer needs. As a result, our service development roadmap includes many development themes based on the needs expressed by our customers. Through process-driven service development, we have a standardized way of managing the design work and the release of services to our customers.”

How does Enfo implement IT service development in practice?

"Our services are divided into technology groups: IT Management, End-user, Cloud, Platform, Network and Security services. Within each group, each service has its own service owner who is responsible for the development of the individual services. We gather signals from the technology market and customers through our own idea management process: ideas are centrally collected and evaluated to determine which ones to take forward. Ideas that go forward are added to the service roadmap, which allows us to communicate what we are working on to existing customers. Our account managers go through the roadmaps with our customers and also take new ideas for development from them. We take this feedback into account in our service development, both for new developments and for existing products."

What would you highlight about Enfo's service development for 2024?

"Last year was strongly security-focused, but of course, AI was also present in service development. For example, a security awareness service was released from our service design, allowing us to train our customers to identify phishing attacks via email. As part of such an implementation, we can also investigate how employees react to simulated phishing attempts. The results are analyzed, and further training needs can be adjusted accordingly. For example in the field of AI, we launched a service in 2024, that includes Microsoft Copilot, with a strong focus on security. While AI brings a lot of potential, it must be possible to use it in a secure way." 

With the year already well underway, what's on the surface in Enfo's service development right now?

"The use of artificial intelligence and information security will play a significant role in our service development also now in 2025. As one example, the European Union is increasingly publishing regulations that must be taken into account when planning the offering. For example, the new NIS2 – European Union Cybersecurity Directive aims to strengthen both the common EU and the national level of cybersecurity in certain critical sectors. In other words, information security-related issues will be regulated more precisely. With this in mind, we have developed an information security survey, which will be published soon, as the national legislation will be completed, which examines customers' readiness to take the requirements of the directive into account in their own operations."

What does the future look like, i.e. where are IT service developments and trends heading?

“In technology and service development, the biggest impact is from IT hyperscalers such as Microsoft, Google and AWS. These players have invested billions in product development, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence. Our expertise in deploying, leveraging and managing these technological platforms in the context of our customers' business requirements is a key part of our own service development. At the same time, the role of security services is becoming more important as AI brings new types of threats that need to be effectively addressed.

Alongside these, we are also increasing our focus on basic IT services, such as end-user services and hybrid cloud solutions. Managing these environments remains an important area of development for us and there is a clear market demand for these services.”

What about the customer needs - what are they interested in right now?

"Technological trends such as AI, increased security and digital modelling are causing disruption among IT providers, and at the same time impacting customers' digital business environment. Enterprises' business relies extensively and pervasively on IT and digitalization. As a result, there can be uncertainty in the air and a need for clear and easy-to-deploy IT solutions. The deep expertise of the service provider is key here. AI is also becoming more and more a part of the everyday life of the ordinary employee and its adoption requires careful planning in both the operational and technical context of the organization. For this reason, Enfo has developed technical and functional deployment support, for a products such as Copilot.

Customers are also constantly looking for cost efficiency, especially for basic IT services. Many organizations have sought to migrate workloads and digital services to the cloud services of large players, only to find that the end result has not been as cost-effective in all respects as originally expected. As a result, cost optimization of cloud environments has become increasingly important. Enfo offers capacity services both in the public cloud and in its own data centers, and the combination of these can be used to build a cost-effective package that best suits the customer's needs. In addition, Enfo offers comprehensive cloud governance models and tools that enable cloud cost optimization.”

How would you summarize the interface between Enfo and customers in terms of service options?

“For our customers, ensuring business continuity and profitability in a constantly evolving environment is essential. This requires the use of appropriately selected, well-priced services, along with effective risk management tailored to their specific needs. It’s not a bad thing either that cooperation with the service provider is smooth and constantly evolving. Our customers want to succeed in their own market. Ultimately, it is these needs from our customers that we strive to meet in the best possible way."