Sector Alarm is investing in a new app with an international development staff

Alarm systems and the associated app functionality must be user-friendly and safe. It’s therefore crucial that developers have the right expertise. Sector Alarm brought in a consultant from Schjønhaug AS when they identified a need for more senior experience within their iOS team.

Sector Alarm is one of Europe’s leading security companies, but has recently also taken great strides towards becoming an important player in the field of technology. They’re fast approaching new markets in Europe, which means that the small app team at Sector Alarm has seen exponential grown in a short space of time.

“We were a small team with a lot to do. When we decided to invest properly in technology, we wanted to bring in high professional expertise within iOS development to ensure that our new solution would be state-of-the-art, using the latest technology. We were warmly recommended Schjønhaug AS, and were impressed by Andreas' knowledge and professionalism,” says Morten Brandanger, Development Team Lead at Sector Alarm.

New hardware and new app

There were several reasons why Sector Alarm wanted to revitalize its app. They’re launching a new hardware solution, they’re entering new European markets and they want to invest in innovative technology. Therefore, they need developers who can create an app that will function on both the old and new hardware solution, and that utilises the latest technology. The app needs to work seamlessly for both customers who use the old alarm system and future customers who will use Sector Alarm's new system.

“We’ve greatly expanded our development staff and now have dedicated teams working with iOS, Android and React. Not long ago our team consisted of only 4 developers, but we are now an international team of over 20 talented people. We’ve increased our competence over a very short space of time, and Schjønhaug AS has been an important part of that work,” he says.

Andreas Schjønhaug, consultant and general manager at Schjønhaug AS, says that it was challenging and exciting working on an app solution that needed to function on an existing and a new user interface. It requires a solution where many things come together simultaneously.

“Since the app had to work on new and old alarm panels, the overall architecture was important. At the same time, it’s clear that Sector Alarm has big ambitions as a tech company and are entering new European countries, which also needs to be reflected in the new app. It has to be professional and modern,” he says.

Ease of use and security in focus

The most important thing for Sector Alarm’s customers is to have a fast and user-friendly app to control their alarm system. They should be able to control electronic locks, watch video streams, go through history and view receipts. In a system like this, having high security and flexible solutions is key.

“One needs to be able to trust the app. It just has to work. That’s why you need skilled developers who have insight into best practices and new technology. Andreas has contributed a lot of knowledge that has benefited the entire team,” Brandanger says.

Andreas has extensive experience as a developer and contributed the senior expertise that was needed in a project of this size. Sharing knowledge across the teams was important to ensure that everyone was pulling in the same direction.

“We were a great team, and we often had meetings where we exchanged knowledge and ideas. You were given great freedom to solve the tasks in the way you thought was best, but there was also an expectation that you could work independently. I like that kind of freedom under responsibility,” says Andreas.

A technology company with employees all over the world

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way many companies work, and this is also the case for Sector Alarm. They already had a customer center in Spain, so they were used to working and collaborating across country borders. Recommendations and rules related to working from home during the pandemic have led to the rest of the employees also working remotely at times.

“We’ve expanded our staff during the working from home period because we can see that it works well and that many roles can be performed independently. We now have back-end developers in Poland, London and Norway. This is an exciting development that I think will only continue to grow in the future. You can’t always find all the IT resources you need in Oslo, so we’ve now opened up to collaborating with developers in more locations in Norway and Europe,” he says.

Andreas says that it was exciting to work in an international work environment and that it’s uplifting to see that companies like Sector Alarm are so willing to adapt and invest in new technology and new ways of working.

“It seems as if more and more large companies now see that many developers want a hybrid or remote solution where there are more opportunities for site-independent work. Collaborating with the various developer resources Sector Alarm had across Europe worked well. At the same time, I would say that I’m a person who appreciates regularly seeing my customers and colleagues face to face," he concludes.