Empowering Solcellespesialisten through innovative digital solutions that drive efficiency, optimize performance, and ensure seamless operations across all departments
IT Department Overview
The IT department at Solcellespesialisten began growing from a small team in mid-2022, consisting of just an IT Manager and two remote developers. Since then, we have rapidly expanded to a team of 14 members, working on several major B2C and Enterprise solutions
This growth was driven by the need to support the company’s increasing reliance on digital solutions to rectify operational vulnerabilities and to centralize operational control
Growth and Team Composition
Our team is primarily resourced through Upwork, a strategy that has allowed us to tap into a diverse range of world wide talent. This approach has given the company transparency to oversee each member’s progress, ensuring high levels of productivity, and enabling us to maintain a transparent, flexible work environment.
The remote nature of our team has proven to be both cost-effective and incredibly efficient, allowing us to operate 24/7 across multiple time zones within an adaptive SCRUM framework with a historically flat organizational structure This has also allowed us to learn-as-we-go, being very responsive to internal optimization feedback.
The global aspect of our team is one of our greatest strengths With members from various parts of the world, we bring together unique perspectives and problem-solving approaches, creating a well-rounded and innovative department
Each member, whether working on front-end, back-end, automation, or quality assurance, plays a crucial role in developing and maintaining the systems that drive our company forward This flexible pool of resources has in 2024 also been tapped into by the greater company, as many of our long-term projects start to enter production and thus some of our team increasingly cooperate directly with employees.
Their proactive approach and collaborative spirit have greatly enhanced our overall efficiency and cohesion. The synergy between IT and other departments is a testament to their exceptional teamwork and commitment to the company's success.
Anders Rør
Chief ESG Officer
IT Department Organization Chart
Key Summary of Current Products
Our flagship next generation project (Sunflow3) is operational and covers 80% of company IT interactions. Key features are launched, with less major enhancements underway, but data compliance remains an issue Of the 106 ongoing projects, only 44 have budget data, 23 have compliance checklists, 34 have warehouse data and 37 without division information. These represent critical gaps in data visibility for Management
SunQuote also joins the line of automated budgeting/quotation products, which includes our B2C Solkart 1 5 software
Legacy softwares (Sunflow & Solkart Classic) are still operational for redundancy. Automations continue to represent a major component in our product suite, and are critical to business operations
MAIN PRODUCTS
Our expertise covers everything from product requirements to design, development, and maintenance. Each project phase is managed meticulously, delivering solutions that help operations at Solcellespesialisten.
IT Department Responsibilities
The IT department manages end-to-end software solutions including SunQuote, Sunflow, and Solkart, ensuring seamless integration and maintenance
The IT team’s work impacts various crucial company operations We also ensure seamless coordination with onsite installers, project managers, and key stakeholders, elevating support across the organization
Responsibilities include :
Design Solutions
Maintenance of Software Systems
Quality Assurance Processes
Requirements Gathering
Training and Workshops
Automation Functions
Overview of Team Scope
Design Solutions
Once specifications are received, the feature development process begins with wireframes that outline the application's structure These evolve into high-fidelity mockups, which showcase detailed visuals and design elements. Stakeholder feedback is gathered throughout, allowing for revisions to ensure alignment with user needs This approach facilitates iterative improvement and accurate implementation by developers, resulting in a user-focused end product.
Tools used: Figma Adobe Creative Suite
Maintenance of Software Systems
Software maintenance is crucial to ensuring the long-term success and reliability of applications There are four primary types of software maintenance: Corrective | Adaptive | Preventative | Perfective.
Corrective Maintenance
This type of maintenance focuses on fixing bugs, errors, or defects found in the system after deployment
Example: If an application crashes when a user submits a form, developers will investigate the root cause and apply a patch or hotfix to resolve the issue
Tools used:
Gitlab: We use gitlab for bug tracking and issue management. It helps track defects and plan corrective actions. Also it helps the team control code versions by managing and documenting code changes that correct defects
UserSnap: UserSnap is a feedback and bug-tracking tool that helps teams collect visual feedback from users on websites It allows users to capture screenshots, annotate them, and report issues directly to the IT team, streamlining communication for faster issue resolution
Bug Finder: An error-tracking tool that monitors our app for bugs and reports them in real-time, helping the IT team to identify issues quickly
Adaptive Maintenance
This involves updating the software to ensure it remains compatible with changing environments, such as hardware, operating systems, or other software dependencies. Adaptive maintenance ensures that the system works smoothly when the underlying environment changes
Example: Upgrading web applications to work with a new version of web browsers or ensure the app remains functional to work with new versions of devices
Perfective Maintenance
Perfective maintenance focuses on improving the software’s performance or adding new features in response to evolving user needs or market conditions This can involve enhancements to existing functionality, performance optimization, or UI improvements
Example: Adding a new reporting feature to a business intelligence tool based on user feedback, or optimising an application’s database queries to improve speed
Preventive Maintenance
Preventive maintenance aims to anticipate and prevent potential future issues by optimizing code, removing unused features, updating software components, or replacing parts of the system that are prone to failure
Example: Regularly updating the software libraries to the latest versions to avoid security vulnerabilities or deprecating outdated code
Tools Used:
Azure:
BE Services: Manages database, API hosting, and identity authentication. Utilizes Azure Monitor and Application Insights to track system health and detect issues early
Automated Patching to keep systems Updated and improves performance.
AWS:
FE Hosting: Provides scalable hosting and static content delivery for seamless user experiences.
Continuous Security Monitoring with AWS Security Hub and AWS Config CI/CD for Fronten lopment, testing, and deplo
Quality Assurance Processes
The Product (QA) Team is essential in upholding the quality and reliability of our software systems Through diverse testing strategies, the team guarantees that our systems remain robust, secure, and aligned with user expectations.
QA team is crucial for preventing critical defects and ensuring that potential issues are identified and resolved before they impact users. By thoroughly testing software, the QA team helps mitigate risks, enhance system performance, and ensure compliance with standards This proactive approach prevents costly errors, improves user satisfaction, and supports the overall stability and efficiency of our applications
ACCEPTANCE TESTING
Confirm that the software meets business requirements and is ready for deployment
Ensures that the system aligns with user needs and expectations
USABILITY TESTING REGRESSION TESTING
Assess user experience and interface design
Ensure that recent changes have not adversely affected existing functionalities
Enhances user satisfaction and ease of use
Detecting new issues Maintain Quality
Reduce risk of regression issues
Establishing New Features
The process begins by gathering detailed criteria and expectations from key stakeholders Through collaborative workshops, the Product team identifies potential blockers, clarifies validations, and refines the scope of the project. Based on these insights and development complexity, an estimated timeline is created, and ticket specifications are formulated for development. These tickets are added to the development pipeline with a Target set every sprint.
Training and Workshops for Employees
In order to ensure on-site staff are fully prepared to utilize our system effectively, the Product team offers comprehensive training programs This includes video tutorials, detailed documentation, on-site workshops, and dedicated support channels.
Video Tutorials
Product team has developed a series of video materials that explain features and functionalities of our software.
Platform: Available on YouTube
Documentation
Product Team documents our feature outline, flows, user manuals, specs development and other comprehensive guides to ensure proper knowledge handover to others.
Our products and key features are designed to meet current operational needs while anticipating future enhancements that streamline and elevate efficiency across all departments
Our Products and Key Solutions
Our key flagship product is Sunflow 3 0, a next generation evolution of our legacy project management tool, Sunflow Classic. We also offer advanced Design Software for our industrial projects, and simpler leads generation software
Advanced custom automations also serve as a core service in our portfolio.
Products Include:
Sunflow 3.0
Solar Installer App Solkart
SunQuote
Sunflow 3.0
Sunflow 3.0 is a streamlined and optimized upgrade from the original Sunflow Classic ERP system, designed to enhance both functionality and user experience. The system seamlessly integrates core operations across various departments at Solcellespesialisten, including Sales, HR, Management, On-site Installers, and Warehouse.
Sunflow 3 0 has a user-friendly interface and improved efficiency help reduce manual data entry and eliminate the need for multiple Google Sheets, providing a unified platform to track and manage all business processes. Sunflow 3.0 is still evolving, with plans to introduce additional features that will further optimize operations and improve staff productivity
Key Features
Sunflow 3.0 Key Features
Dashboard
Dashboard provides users with an overview of Production KPIs, displayed on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis It also includes a summary of total orders (Kr), invoiced amounts (Kr), outstanding invoices (Kr), and the cumulative total (Kr).
Projects Details
This page presents a detailed listing of all projects, enabling users to view and manage comprehensive information including client details, sales data, budget, manpower and equipment lists, relevant files and links, as well as Gantt chart specifics
Inventory Manager
A list of all available goods in our partner warehouse Allows users to easily navigate the items list, disable products, view quantity. Also have controlled overview of how many goods are in request for each month
Assignments
Assignments are detailed tasks that can be scheduled for different installers, relating to issues, projects, or services. They provide a more flexible solution to manage ad-hoc tasks not directly related to a main project
Sunflow 3.0 Key features
Planning
Project managers have the capability to assign tasks to installers and update their calendars accordingly Additionally, they can create ad hoc tasks for installers as needed
Checklists
Monitoring project progress, manage various roles, review comprehensive data for ongoing projects and inventory, place orders with the warehouse, and oversee equipment quantities in alignment with project requirements
Activity Report
It records reports on working hours, site timer usage, and manpower The Sunflow Installer app is seamlessly integrated with Sunflow Web, ensuring that all related activity data is automatically synchronized and generated on the Sunflow Web platform.
Resource Managent
This section provides a comprehensive list of all employees across various teams, including essential information for each individual. Additionally, designated roles have the authority to manage leave approvals and reject leave requests.
Sunflow Installer App
Sunflow Installer App aims to streamline projects & task management between project Managers and Installers, track work hours, request leave, report issues and view calendar, finishing assigned tasks through Checklist & project details. Our app is fully capable to work in both android and iOS operating systems
Project Site Timer
Track and log time spent on projects and complete daily progress forms efficiently.
Project Details
Provides information about the selected project, including location, equipment, and key contacts, with and sharing comments.
Timesheet
View daily, weekly and monthly tracked hours Add hours for missed days or tasks.
Tutorials
YouTube Link to FAQ and user guides
Shows daily tasks, projects, holidays, and leave days for installers.
View ongoing projects and assignments to select and start site timer
Enables users to report any on-site problems related to the app, project, or incidents, ensuring prompt resolution.
Easy access to project related checklists and distribution of compliance checklists.
SunQuote is designed to automate your process for creating custom roof specifications and generating offers for enterprise customers. It helps to initiate projects and generate some estimated values for pricing, kWp, panel layout designs to have datadriven figures for our customers
Add project and customer details
Feature Includes:
Project Creation
Roof Selection and drawing tools
Budget and Specs Integration
Automated Panel layout
Generating Customer Offer
Adjust solar panel type and specifications
Solkart
Utilizing data from the PVGIS database, Solkart has the ability to map and create finish-calculated residential roof installations across Norway, using cost and generation predictions to serve as Norways pioneering premiere solar leads generator
Key Functions
Automation Processes
The Automation Team plays a pivotal role in optimizing business processes by integrating and automating tasks across various platforms like Tripletex, Sunflow, Pipedrive and sunflow classic Their focus is on reducing manual work, ensuring data consistency, and improving overall workflow efficiency.
Project and Workflow
Automation:
Creating and Syncing Projects: They ensure projects are created and updated automatically across systems.
Project Updates and Tracking: They automate updates like logging project hours and moving completed projects to the right systems.
Time and Resource Management:
Logging and syncing Project work hours from Sunflow to Tripletex and track project budgets and inventory to keep data accurate
Automatically move absence data from Sunflow to Tripletex for accurate time-off tracking and payroll
Sales and Offer Generation:
Automated Offer Generation in Tripletex using data from Pipedrive or Sunquote, speeding up responses and reducing manual data entry
Help prepare documents like Branrapport and Risk Assessments.
Data Synchronization and Reporting:
PowerBI Data Integration for real-time reporting on project performance, costs, and other key metrics
Automated Backups and Compliance
Operational Improvements:
Calendar Integration
System Alerts and Validation
Automated logout after 11 pm CET keeps the system secure
Flexi hours and holiday allowances are tracked for each employee.
Employee access is updated automatically based on employment status
Our IT team adapts its process flow to meet the evolving needs of Solcellespesialisten, ensuring flexibility, efficiency, and alignment with organizational goals
Standard Operating
Procedures
To maintain effective operations, our IT team follows a structured approach. We hold daily stand-ups to provide updates, identify blockers, and ensure seamless communication
Sprint reviews are conducted to assess progress, address challenges, and plan improvements.
Retrospective meetings are held to reflect on completed sprints, understand what went well, what didn’t, and how to enhance our processes.
Our methods ensures that our team remains agile and responsive to both opportunities and obstacles
Development Process
The development process is the structured approach that teams follow to create, test, and deploy software or systems It ensures that projects are delivered efficiently, meet user requirements, and maintain high-quality standards. Our process is divided into seven key phases:
Requirement Gathering:
Engage Stakeholders: Collect input and requirements from stakeholders
Define Requirements: Document functional and non-functional requirements and create tickets for development
Planning:
Backlog refinement: Identifying critical features and tickets
Sprint planning
Development:
Write code based on requirements & design specifications
Integrate backend and frontend components
Testing:
Perform UAT ticket wise during sprint
Perform unit testing, integration testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT)
Fix bugs and ensure quality
Deployment:
Deploy the application to staging and production environments
Perform post-deployment checks.
Maintenance:
Monitor system performance and address issues
Implement updates, patches, and enhancements
Feedback:
Gather user feedback from google chat and user snap
Analyze system performance
Plan for iterative improvements based on feedback
IT Workflow Process
The development process is the structured approach that teams follow to create, test, and deploy software or systems It ensures that projects are delivered efficiently, meet user requirements, and maintain high-quality standards. Our process is divided into several key, but often interconnected phases. It is important note this is the single most important technical delivery pipeline, and the following diagram is a moderately simplified outline of this operational process.
Streamlined Ticket Workflow
Most of our workflow is built around the ticket system, where individual isolated pieces of work defined by stakeholders are divided into units called tickets.
These then enter a categorization process, that allow us to label them based on a variety of identification metrics During this process a rigid documentation mandate is enforced to maintain standardization of quality management
Quality Validation Process
Once processed, a quality validation process comes underway, which in some cases can account for the majority of the lifecycle of the ticket as it is rectified as necessary
These processed tickets then eventually enter the proper technical development process, where different teams of software engineers pick them up as tickets pass through the 'assembly line' of different phases of work, which normally refers to the different technologies they impact
Then an integrated system validation process comes underway during the SPRINT deployment cycle, which eventually, if successful, passes a finished, feature-complete package to end users. This method minimizes risk for defect exposure from end users and stakeholders
Ancillary Software Relations
The Sunflow family of products sits as the center of the majority of our diverse IT tools across departments This diagram shows a simplified version of these relationships, and the key details to keep in mind in the project lifecycle In summary, industrial projects start with Pipedrive, and graduate into Sunflow when mature. They are also set up in Tripletex and Google for accounting and documentation, and projects are recorded in Multicase when they order goods
IT Operations Outline
Installing new PCs
Handling PC and software issues
Managing licenses
Managing network and firewall configurations
Overseeing other IT infrastructure
Creating, deleting, and modifying user accounts
Managing user access rights
Patching software and operating systems on PCs and ensuring everything is up to date
Managing phone subscriptions and employee phones
Configuring the phone system and managing queues
Managing access cards for the Fredrikstad office
Ordering IT equipment
Shipping equipment to other offices
Managing hardware inventory
Overseeing meeting rooms and printers
Managing electric vehicle charging stations at the Fredrikstad office
Handling robot vacuum cleaners
Addressing automation issues in SF-TT time tracking
Our operations at HQ revolve around ensuring seamless daily workflows through expert management of everything from phone systems and access cards to IT equipment, meeting rooms, and hardware inventory, while also handling automation and supporting company-wide efficiency.
Tor Nevjall
Our IT team adapts its process flow to meet the evolving needs of Solcellespesialisten, ensuring flexibility, efficiency, and alignment with organizational goals
Challenges and Future Strategies
The IT team faces several challenges, including last-minute spec deliveries, insufficient detailed long-term planning, and resource constraints. While the team is mostly efficient, inefficiencies persist in certain areas and there is an ongoing transition to a new leadership structure.
Testing processes are also impacted by last-minute changes, and technical debt remains a concern On the stakeholder side, a chaotic ownership structure and inconsistent compliance with IT protocols have led to bottlenecks and work overload for the IT Development Chief and team in general A lack of formal requirement gathering processes further complicates collaboration.
Challenges in the IT Team
Last-Minute Specs Delivery:
Specs often arrive too late, creating challenges in planning and implementation
These specs are not always sufficiently verified by field stakeholders, leading to potential issues
Lack of Long-Term Planning:
There is no coherent long-term roadmap, leading to specs being requested on impulse
Some specs become obsolete by the time they are implemented due to this lack of planning
Resource Constraints:
The IT team has a moderately long delivery pipeline with limited resources and a backlog, impacting efficiency.
Team Organization and Independence:
Efforts are being made to distribute responsibilities across teams, but some inefficiencies remain due to occasional drift in service quality
Testing Challenges:
The sprint structure (3 weeks) leaves the last week mostly unusable due to extensive testing requirements across three deployment layers (dev, staging, prod)
Last-minute fixes disrupt the testing process
Technical Debt:
While the codebase is stable, past rewrites have left some technical debt, which is being addressed but requires more resources.
Team Leadership Transition:
Transitioning to a new model where team members report to team leads instead of the IT Development Chief Some team leads need further training to take decisive control.
Challenges with Stakeholders
Chaotic Ownership Structure: 1.
A new ownership model has been introduced, improving collaboration, but some stakeholders still neglect their responsibilities, leading to IT overload Stakeholders sometimes initiate IT-impacting projects without consulting IT, leading to work overload and bottlenecks
2. Compliance Issues:
Compliance protocols are not consistently followed, often requiring the IT Development Chief to intervene personally.
A short-term focus among some stakeholders leads to IT making key operational decisions
3 Lack of Formal Requirement Gathering:
There are too many informal channels for feedback and suggestions, creating chaos and overburdening the IT Development Chief.
The 2024 objectives for the IT team focus on completing the Sunflow platform to cover 95% of project management administrative tasks. Major efforts are underway to integrate Sunflow into key departments, enhance reporting compliance, and implement machine learning for better project predictions.
The current pipeline of development is still adding more feature requests and we look forward to enhancing the system even further.
Looking ahead, the future goals include building advanced dashboards for management, increasing automation, further software integration, developing a new incident management system, and implementing advanced AI algorithms for KPI-driven management Additionally, the legacy Sunflow Classic platform will be decommissioned as users transition to the next-generation Sunflow 3.
Develop dashboards displaying financial, compliance, and other critical company metrics.
Improve checklist adoption for better compliance tracking
2. Automation and Documentation:
Automate the generation of critical documents to streamline project management tasks.
Implement best practices to avoid past pitfalls in documentation processes
3. Further Software Integration:
Continue integration with minor company software systems
Develop a new incident management system.
4. Advanced AI and KPI Implementation:
Implement advanced AI algorithms across the platform to enhance KPI metrics
Move towards a KPI-based management approach within the company.
5. Decommissioning Sunflow Classic:
Plan and execute the transition from Sunflow Classic to the nextgeneration Sunflow 3
Develop and implement a thorough migration plan for existing users.
Our systems provide a comprehensive overview of project progress, annual production values, and resource planning, enabling effective decisionmaking and operational efficiency based on realtime and historical data.
Statistical Analysis of Sunflow Data
Through our systems, we gather and analyze data on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, allowing for an in-depth overview of project progress, resource allocation, and logistics Integration with third-party tools like Tripletex enables us to extract specific required details efficiently
This data-driven approach allows us to monitor department productivity, identify areas requiring improvement, and ensure that resource demands, including materials and manpower, are met in a timely manner.
Project Status indicating key project state
There are a variety of different statuses that help a project remained strictly controlled, which is why it is very important these statuses are strictly maintained The most important of these statuses is the Project Status, which monitors which state a project is during the execution stage of a project
Total Status : 6
Ressursfordeling
Prosjektering
Venter på oppstart
Pågående montasje
Sluttdokumentasjon
Prøvedrift
This is an outline of the projects indicated by the different market segments we are currently servicing: Commercial, Residential, SME (and Utility) projects It is important to note that, as expected, we service more industrial projects than residential, but this picture is incomplete with value data, which would show the vast difference here
This is not fully filled in now, which represents a serious operational risk, but is an ongoing case we are working on fixing. In addition, the fraction not assigned any project managers is also displayed, but this is rapidly being worked on currently. Regardless, this displays the major operational risks with unfilled data, and the high-impact value of data entry compliance that management should note.
Activity Progress for Ongoing Projects
The Phase Hours chart helps identify the current stage of each project and assess resource needs In July, most hours were logged for the mounting equipment phase, highlighting its progress and resource consumption.
This data assists in tracking project deviation and allocating additional resources where necessary to ensure timely completion
Phase Hours
Phase Hours are essentialy activities as logged in Tripletex, and they are transferred to Tripletex as such.
Installers are tracked for their time spent on site, but at the end of the day installers self-report how much of this tracked time they spent on the different phases
this ensures a stable control of time spent on different work activites as represented by Phase Hours.
There are non-project related phase hours which include befaring, reklamasjon, service and more.
Overall Projects Assigned to Project Managers
We have projects spanning from Q1 2023 to Q4 2024, with peak workload periods in Q2 2023 and Q4 2023 Significant project concentration is anticipated in Q3 2024 for an individual with 9 projects and Q4 2024 with 2 projects Projects are heavily concentrated in Q3 2023 and Q4 2024, with the highest individual workload expected in Q4 2024 (4 projects)
This helps identify active projects lacking proper management and ensures that no project goes unnoticed, allowing us to focus on those that require immediate attention. Proper oversight prevents project overload, especially during peak workload periods like Q3 and Q4, and ensures smoother progress and distribution of responsibilities
Projects assigned to Project Managers (2023-2024)
Overview of Leave Management
Leave Request data helps to identify patterns in leave applications, assess the efficiency of the approval process, and detect potential bottlenecks in handling requests
This insight can guide decisionmaking on resource planning, ensuring adequate staffing during peak leave periods, and improving the overall leave management process.
Mid-year had the highest volume of leave requests, with July reaching its peak.. The spike included pending and rejected requests, highlighting potential processing bottlenecks during busy periods.
Despite these challenges, approval rates remained strong overall and the backlog of pending requests suggests a need to enhance processing capacity during highdemand periods
*Note: All Data Displayed are snapshots of Mid Year Statistical Analysis value Updates of Specific data can be generated on demand.
Conclusion
The IT development department is a high-impact, high throughput core asset in the company portfolio with outsized utility, but this outfit has still had it's upheavals in the past 2-year growth period
While growth in team & product composition has been meteoric, the most pervasive feedback today is still that there should have been more of everything: more training, more work in development, more ownership etc. These are persisting concerns that have been consistently alerted, and the firm has struggled to respond to them adequately
However, it is important to note that great progress has been made, and the absence of even greater disorganization is testament to this Today a central mechanism for control and organization, both in terms of technology and routines, do exist, and these are rapidly going through refinement
The key challenge into next year will be appropriate compliance mechanisms for this, both in terms of mandate and resource allocation. If this can be prioritized appropriately, it will have the incredible impact on the company bottom-line It is therefore highly recommended to take the recommended steps accordingly
The IT team represents one of the most powerful toolsets in the company portfolio to enact revolutionary change, but for this to occur, meaningful intent and support must be delegated to the IT team to carry the authority they require.
