The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, a branch of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, has the all-important goal of protecting people, society and the environment from the harmful effects of radiation. The task also extends to future generations, as the Radial and Nuclear Safety Authority ensures the best possible conditions for life in Finland.
Because the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority operates as a supervisory authority and is responsible for work that is essential for safety in Finland, the monitoring of ICT systems requires the very highest standards of reliability, flexibility and versatility. System Manager Mikko Kettunen explains what this means in practice, and how Cinia has responded to the challenge.
A State-of-the-Art Monitoring Solution reacts immediately to irregularities
The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority monitors the major risk factors of our built environment, including nuclear power, mining operations, waste treatment and the use and removal of various equipment that makes use of radiation.
As a supervisory authority, it is important for the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority to be able to monitor its own activities.
- We could not outsource our responsibilities to anyone else even if we wanted to. The final responsibility is always with us, so in order for us to do our work well we need to have information about what is happening in different areas through monitoring, Kettunen explains.
- All our systems must be top-quality. Due to the nature of the work, we must be able to react to situations immediately. So we cannot afford to be without control systems, and this also applies to telecommunications.
Having worked as a system manager for years, Kettunen knows well that the main benefit of Measurement and Monitoring Solutions is that problems can be responded to before they materialise. As a consequence, repairs can also be tackled proactively and quickly.
- If we receive a night-time SMS alert from one of our systems, we may initiate repairs immediately if necessary rather than waiting until normal working hours. Without a monitoring system, many faults would simply be overlooked. In addition, our system provides an alert if interruptions occur in any of the processes within its scope. This also helps in maintaining logs of events. If we have conflicting information on how some service has operated on a given day, for example, we can check the situation afterwards, says Kettunen.
Cinia´s Monitoring and Measurement Solution can be recommended for all companies
The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority has been using the Measurement and Monitoring Solution provided by Cinia for several years. The solution is used to monitor their servers and services, in addition to monitoring the quality of services provided by external suppliers.
Kettunen also points out that, as their long-term partner, Cinia understands the finer points of the authority’s operating environment. He also appreciates Cinia’s proactive approach to developing the control system.
- There have been times where we have been thinking about some additional functionality ourselves. Before we have even mentioned it to Cinia, they have already been working on incorporating it into the overall monitoring solution. As a whole, things have worked really well and I am confident that this will continue in the future, Kettunen adds.
One advantage of Cinia’s Monitoring and Measurement Solution is that its introduction does not require a great deal of know-how. Although The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority`s ten-person information management team has a highly extensive technical background, Kettunen understands that this is not the case with all organisations.
- This is why I would have no hesitation in recommending Cinia’s Monitoring and Measurement Solution to any company. Today, monitoring systems are essential for everyone. If there is no monitoring, there’s something wrong.
