From 300 Excel sheets to control — this is how Vara Municipality took the lead on information security and data protection

Spreadsheet chaos and unstructured information security

When Johan Johnsson took on the assignment as information security coordinator for three municipalities at the same time, he was met by a massive Excel mountain. Classifications and register listings existed, but they were scattered, incomplete and difficult to follow up.

“I became the focal point of all activities. I sat on 300 excel sheets that basically said the same thing. It wasn't possible to work like that.”

Despite early ambitions to address the Register listing, work had bogged down.

“It had been made so big and complicated that no one could fill it in. There was no structure, which meant we didn't meet the requirements.”

A growing need for support and a solution that simplifies

With increased demands on information security and growing pressure from business, it became clear: work must be streamlined. Vara municipality began to look for a system that could collect everything in one place and make it easier to do the right thing.

The choice fell on DirSys, largely due to its ease of use.

“It was like a stone being lifted. Now we can monitor the situation, report and get a clear picture of how we are doing, without drowning in documents.”

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New insights and better priorities in information security work

In addition to increasing efficiency, the solution has done something even more important: it has increased understanding throughout the organization. Today, more people know what information they handle, why it is important and what protection is required.

“In the past, a system administrator would only present a price tag — “we need to implement these security measures for the system.” Now we know why protection is needed, what information is involved, and how critical it is.”

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Target: full control of three quarters of the municipality's information

With a new structure and digital support in place, the objectives have also become clearer. Now Vara Municipality aims to have 75% of its information under control before the end of the year — a goal that only a few years ago would have seemed far away.

“Had we not prioritized a system support, we would have remained in exactly the same place. It was really treading water.”

Johan now hopes that more municipalities will take the step towards a more structured way of working.

“There are national and regional strategies — but it needs to actually happen. I hope this is the year when more people really get started.”