Interview with STIHL IT
The Company
It all began in 1926 when Andreas Stihl founded his company and soon after developed his first chainsaw. This invention revolutionized forestry work and established STIHL as a global market leader and technology pioneer. The secret of its success to this day? Following the founder's pioneering spirit, the company continues to develop revolutionary innovations. Examples include battery technology, digital solutions, robotics, and artificial intelligence. STIHL passionately works on advancing these areas with the aim of constantly improving itself—all to make working in and with nature easier for its customers.
Today, STIHL is the world’s best-selling chainsaw brand. With more than 19,000 employees, the company operates in 160 countries across five continents.
Customized Implementation
In our conversation with Constanze Pretzler, Senior Inhouse Consultant for Digital Collaboration, we discussed how the technical implementation of Boardwise was carried out at STIHL, and her insights into topics such as security, reliability, and tailored solutions.
Constanze, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. What was your role in the introduction of Boardwise?
I coordinated the internal implementation from an IT perspective. This involved collaboration with our cloud team as well as Boardwise’s IT department. My main focus was on structuring access rights and conducting penetration and security tests.
How did you perceive the implementation process?
I was particularly impressed by the high degree of customization. At STIHL, we don’t use the standard implementation but instead a fully isolated, self-managed instance. This was of utmost importance to us, and the ability to achieve this was a standout feature. Comparable flexibility is something I’ve only encountered in specially tailored environments where even custom source codes are used. The fact that this was possible with your system is remarkable.
What exactly does it mean that you use a self-managed instance of Boardwise?
We’ve severed the technical connection to your system. This means that your administrators have no access to our instance, and updates, for instance, are not applied automatically. I handle these tasks, giving me complete control and oversight at all times. The process runs smoothly, and your Technical Customer Success Team keeps me informed about relevant updates or specific issues.
Security Tests
You mentioned penetration and security tests earlier. How did Boardwise perform?
Boardwise passed the application security test with flying colors. In fact, this was explicitly noted during the evaluation.
What exactly did the tests involve?
Before implementing Boardwise, we conducted simulations of “man-in-the-middle” attacks to determine if it would be possible, for example, for User A to illegitimately acquire the rights of User B. Boardwise performed exceptionally well, particularly due to its finely granulated permission model. Frequently, Azure-based applications reveal recurring security gaps or issues, but with your solution, we didn’t encounter such vulnerabilities.
Working (Together) with Boardwise
How is Boardwise integrated into M365 at your organization?
So far, Boardwise is primarily connected to SharePoint. In the near future, we plan to integrate it with Teams as well. However, the initial implementation focused exclusively on SharePoint. One highlight worth mentioning is the predefined folder structures, which significantly simplify the process of organizing and storing files, eliminating the need to decide where documents should be saved.
How has your experience been with Boardwise’s support?
I have to say I’m extremely satisfied. Both accessibility and response times are excellent. I particularly appreciate how feature requests are handled—they are systematically logged, and we are consistently kept informed about their progress and current status.
