Strategic multi‑cloud foundation for renewable fuels on Azure & GCP.
- Fragmented cloud adoption and governance gaps were limiting Neste’s ability to scale and optimise costs.
- Nordcloud built a unified Azure and Google Cloud foundation with managed services and automation, enabling a stable, governed platform with measurable cost savings and reliable day‑to‑day operations.
Project Summary.
About.
Neste is a global leader in renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock solutions, operating across 14 countries. To maintain its competitive edge and accelerate innovation, Neste needed a robust and scalable cloud environment.
When Nordcloud first engaged with Neste, the organisation was facing a pivotal moment in its digital evolution. Although cloud adoption had begun years earlier, progress was fragmented. Neste had adopted Google Cloud and on‑prem environments, but lacked the unified foundation, proper governance and expert support.
Neste had clear ambitions: multi‑cloud capabilities, managed services and SAP modernisation, improved security and cost efficiency.
Over the course of more than five years, Neste and Nordcloud have built mutual trust by working side‑by‑side on one of the largest cloud transformations in the company’s history. And here’s how we’ve done it.
The Challenges.
When the journey began in 2019, Neste faced several hurdles:
A Fragmented, early‑stage cloud environment
Having a lean internal IT organisation and multiple external vendors, Neste faced governance and operational gaps that limited cloud maturity.
Limited internal IT capacity
Neste’s internal teams were lean, leveraging many external vendors. They lacked true ownership of cloud operations to run, improve and safeguard their environment.
Cost pressures and urgent savings targets
Neste had to find ways to dramatically improve cost efficiency across cloud spend. They needed hands-on engineering support for optimisation, not just FinOps advice. The system required redesigning or retiring inefficient workloads.
Our approach: partnership first, technology second.
From day one, Nordcloud approached Neste’s challenges as part of a broad and long-term transformation. We believed that trust, ownership and partnership were the foundation for everything that followed. And we delivered.
Building a unified cloud foundation.
To unlock long‑term potential, Neste needed a unified, well‑architected foundation across both Azure and Google Cloud. Nordcloud delivered exactly that, designing and implementing robust landing zones in Azure and GCP, creating a multi‑cloud foundation that enabled scalable growth, reliable governance and a consistent developer experience.
This became the backbone for all future cloud initiatives, from SAP to data platforms to developer tooling.
Delivering managed cloud services at scale.
As Neste’s environment expanded, we established a comprehensive managed services model that covered:
- Infrastructure operations and landing zone management
- Database as a Service, powered by Datadog monitoring
- DevOps as a Service
- Lifecycle management to prevent end‑of‑life risks
- SAP infrastructure run services
What started as advisory rapidly became an essential operational partnership powering the entire cloud environment.
Automation and developer empowerment.
We introduced a self-service cloud catalogue with 24 automated forms, where developers can raise service requests for zero touch resource creation such as ordering a new DevOps development environment. This enables us to work faster and more independently, reduces friction and increases overall cloud adoption.
Targeted cost optimisation.
Even without a formal FinOps contract, our team delivered savings like significantly reducing GCP BigQuery cost, continuously tuning Azure and GCP workloads, adjusting configurations and reservations, and proactively eliminating cost drivers. All that was possible thanks to our in-depth knowledge of the Neste estate and applications and trusted collaboration with the stakeholders.
Nordcloud’s dedicated hands‑on approach ensured Neste could optimise spending without compromising performance or innovation.
Trusted collaboration.
One of the most powerful success factors was the dedication of the Nordcloud team with nearly 90 specialists over the years, who consistently showed Neste that they were not just delivering services, but owning outcomes.
“Exceptional collaboration from day one has been a key success factor, we work as one team.” Joakim Saari, Engagement Director, Nordcloud
“Our team felt responsible for the customer, and the customer felt that commitment.” Maurice Maessen, Delivery Executive, Nordcloud
“You can only grow when you provide real value. We never pushed services; we listened to the needs and then delivered.” Pasi Ilvesmäki, CTO and Lead Architect, Nordcloud
From the very beginning, our proactive and fruitful teamwork with Nordcloud created a deep, years-long trust that enabled all of our major cloud successes. I am extremely pleased with this collaboration and can highly recommend Nordcloud as a deeply competent and customer-centric partner.
This trust enabled candid conversations, the introduction of new services, and collaboration during challenging periods, especially during cost-cutting phases and contract negotiations.
Business outcomes: how the landscape transformed.
1. From fragmented to strategic multi‑cloud
Neste now operates on a stable, governed, well‑architected cloud foundation across Azure and Google Cloud, ready for new digital initiatives.
2. Meaningful cost savings
Cost optimisation practices translated into measurable savings across Azure and GCP, more predictable spending, better planning and decision‑making.
3. Proactive services and automation
With managed services and automation in place, monitoring, patching and incident response became systematic, lifting day‑to‑day operational burden.
4. High trust = high satisfaction
Consistent highest score CSAT results reflect how strongly Neste values Nordcloud’s contribution. We built trust while successfully delivering 600+ projects and providing stable operations over the years.
By combining deep cloud expertise with a true partnership mindset, Nordcloud has helped Neste build a cloud foundation designed to evolve with the business for years to come.
