Solita won a 4-year maintenance agreement for a portfolio of the Agency’s existing systems – Husweb, SPOT, COP, SIDIS, Mithuseftersyn and a gas notification solution, which was under development internally at the time of the takeover. Solita successively redesigned the solution architecture, refactored the code base, further developed, tested, and commissioned the solution, and supports the solution to this very day.
Improved quality across the field
As the Danish Safety Technology Authority experienced many issues with errors and general performance of their systems, they wanted to improve the foundation of the quality of their products, namely their solutions, data, architecture, and code. They were committed to getting the best possible solution, over a fast one. For this, the Danish Safety Technology Authority collaborated with Statens IT, the Agency for Governmental IT Service. The Agency’s goal was to invest in better architecture, one that can eventually be transferred to Govcloud. Statens IT now hosts the Danish Safety Technology Authority’s servers in their data centres in Denmark.
Solita’s tasks have been manifold in simplifying and bettering the systems. Modernising code to reduce errors, coding better API integrations, standardising code, optimising containerisation and databases, to name a few. We subsequently designed the solution architecture, refactored the code base, further developed, tested, and commissioned the solutions as part of their maintenance agreement.
The many integrations
The Danish Safety Technology Authority’s systems support the control and supervision of technical systems in their area of authority. These technical systems are used by key workers in construction, electricity, plumbing and sewage management. For example, professional gas installers, gas distribution company supervisors, and inspectors who approve quality management systems in authorised companies within electricity, plumbing, and sewerage.
Building surveyors and electrical installation, companies submit condition and electrical installation reports via Husweb, an IT reporting system, which can be accessed via both the front-end and the API. Gas reports are submitted through a form on Virk.dk, a newer system through which gas installers report on new, dismantled, or significantly changed gas installations. The system also supports statutory inspections of gas installations.
Maintenance, Docker and Kubernetes
Solita’s maintenance responsibilities are mainly twofold. They handle ongoing maintenance, as well as preventative maintenance to ensure the longevity and scalability of the Danish Safety Technology Authority’s systems. Ongoing maintenance manages the integrations, bug fixes and general problem solving, while preventative maintenance includes scheduled tasks at regular intervals, contributing to the performance, scalability, and overall security of the systems. Solita implemented logging and 24/7 monitoring of critical jobs and processes in Docker Swarm, contributing to a more proactive environment of maintenance tasks.
The Danish Safety Technology Authority needed help in creating a new Kubernetes cluster to manage its virtual servers, a task to be done with a Rancher interface as the user interface. They wanted a system similar to the one found in GovCloud’s Kubernetes cluster. However, they wanted full control over the data, for security’s sake, so their new system will be on servers located in the internal network zone at Statens IT.
Solita has provided several further development services under the contract, including developing and testing integrations to NemLog-In, DAWA, e-Boks, the CVR register and the customer’s own authorisation register. They made it possible for gas companies to access reported documentation through a generic API, and they developed a PDF tool for printing forms specially fit for the workers.
