COUNTRY FOCUS: NORDICS
backbone via encrypted tunnels established by zerotouch Cato Sockets, Cato’ s edge SD-WAN device, ensuring rapid deployment and high availability. With 85-plus Points of Presence( PoPs) worldwide and centralised, single-pane-of-glass management, Elkjøp gained the performance, visibility and control required to support real-time operations at scale.
By leveraging automated provisioning, centralised management and a structured deployment strategy, Elkjøp successfully migrated its entire network infrastructure to Cato within a few months. The transformation allowed the company to modernise its operations without experiencing any disruptions to its business operations.
Bringing networking and security to the 21st Century
“ We could put up guardrails to ensure our developers could access the resources they needed while ensuring everyone still had a safe work environment,” said Dokken.
Rapid and remote deployment with Cato – and without business disruption
Since implementing Cato, Elkjøp has experienced a transformational shift in its IT operational efficiency. One of the most significant benefits was the drastic reduction in network change times. Dokken said that previously,“ a simple network change could take six weeks due to vendor coordination. With Cato, we can do this in seconds – it’ s an extreme increase in speed and efficiency.”
Elkjøp’ s deployment of Cato was designed to be swift and minimally disruptive. A phased rollout was planned
Operationally, even simple network changes could take weeks due to the complexity of vendor coordination and the limitations of the existing infrastructure.
Reno Dokken, Elkjøp Infrastructure Manager across its 420-plus stores, prioritising locations based on network demands and operational dependencies. Pre-configured Cato Sockets were shipped directly to each store, allowing local, non-IT personnel to set up connectivity with minimal technical expertise.
Remote assistance played a key role in the process. The IT team provided step-by-step guidance to store managers, ensuring a smooth installation experience. Network configurations were centrally managed, automatically applying security policies and optimisations to each store once connectivity was established.
Security has also been significantly enhanced through Cato SSE 360, the security service edge component of the Cato SASE Cloud Platform. Powered by Cato’ s Single Pass Cloud Engine( SPACE), the platform converges NGFW, NGAM, TLS inspection, IPS and more into a unified, cloud-native architecture. This convergence allows Elkjøp to strengthen its security posture, inspecting even encrypted traffic for attacks, reducing risk, complexity and operational burden.
Employee productivity has also increased. Remote workers now have a smoother and more secure experience thanks to Cato’ s SASE-based remote access solution. Developers – who previously struggled with VPN limitations – have embraced the new system, allowing them to work more efficiently and collaborate effectively across teams.
Beyond technical improvements, Cato enabled a strategic shift in how IT supports the business. With a unified platform and simplified operations, the infrastructure team now plays a central role in driving innovation, supporting business growth and improving customer experience.
IT has evolved from a reactive support function into a proactive business enabler.
Each store connected to Cato’ s global private
“ Routing traffic and hiding behind certain public Internet protocols were extremely hard with our old set-
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