With the help of DNA, R-kioski recently renewed the telecommunications connections of its entire chain to meet current requirements. The reform ensured better operational reliability for the whole chain.
The story of R-kioski began with magazine sales at railway stations. Now they have franchises everywhere, a total of 475 all over Finland. They are also planning to open new kiosks this year.
“R-kioski handles all electronic services, such as e-tickets and parcels, via internet connections. Without a network connection, the kiosk entrepreneur will not be able to sell these, card payments will become more difficult, and the entrepreneur will lose a lot of sales. With the new duplicate connections, we wanted to make sure that there were as few interruptions as possible. With DNA's duplicate connection and Fortinet's technology, we ensure even better usability of the shops’ networks,” says Maria Sjöroos, IT & HR Director of R-kioski.
Aiming for speed and reliability
“At the start of the project, we made a rundown of our needs and mapped out who we would continue working with. When choosing the technology we would use, we selected Fortinet and DNA, as these suppliers had the best understanding of our needs and their offers immediately showed that their homework had been done,” says Lauri Paatelainen, Technology Manager at R-kioski.
In practice, R-kioski received a comprehensive telecommunications solution that put the office, data center and all R-kioski shops within the same network. The software-defined networking (SD-WAN) solution provided by DNA is safeguarded so that if the main connection breaks down for one reason or another, a backup connection will be used. The service provided by DNA ensures that any possible interruptions will be as short as possible.
The project launched in May 2020, and the new solution was already implemented in December that year.
“The project started with design, after which we moved on to testing and piloting. I would recommend setting aside enough time to pilot, and to establish functionality. In the rollout phase, DNA installed Fortinet's network equipment in all shops. The roll-out went well and we also stayed on schedule and on budget,” says Store Equipment and Testing Manager Marko Mankki.
Technically, the solution gave R-kioski a better view of what is happening on the network side.
“Having supervision of the devices helps us spot any problems right away. We also implemented a lot of data security services for the kiosks. Moreover, we immediately noticed that the connections are clearly faster,” Paatelainen adds.
Seamless cooperation
Cooperation with DNA has also gone well.
"I've been really pleased. The Project Manager and the technical experts all performed their tasks thoroughly. Lately, we have been dealing with the production team and thus far we have nothing but good things to say about them as well,” said Paatelainen.
A comprehensive connectivity solution is particularly suitable for those who are far from where the business takes place.
“I especially think this is suitable for brick and mortar shops. All it takes is a thunderstorm to break connectivity, and then nothing works. If the entrepreneur cannot sell, then there is no income. However, duplicate connections ensure that if one crashes, the other takes over and continues, so traffic does not stop. In the end, the costs are no higher than with traditional solutions,” says Sjöroos.
According to Sjöroos, the feedback from franchise entrepreneurs regarding the reform has been only positive.
“Even though it took some time to adjust to the equipment at first, since then the overall message from the field has been: Oh, it’s so nice when things work fast,” Sjöroos applauds.
