Nortal Explained

Nortal
Type:	Private
Area Served:	Worldwide
Key People:	Priit Alamäe (CEO)
Industry:	Business transformation, Government contractor, IT consulting
Revenue:	€ 100.3 million (2020)
Num Employees:	1000+ (2021)
Foundation:	Tartu, Estonia (incorporated)
Location City:	Tallinn
Location Country:	Estonia
Homepage:	nortal.com

Nortal is a multinational strategic change and technology company headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, with operations in the US, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.^{[1] [2]}

Nortal provides public sector and private sector clients data-driven business transformation.^[3] Most notably a large part of the digitalization of Estonia's governmental e-services has been planned and implemented by Nortal and its Estonian predecessor Webmedia.^[4] Nortal is a keen promoter of good governance through e-government focusing on removing obstacles of human development, reducing hidden transaction costs in societies, increasing transparency of administration, reducing waste and increasing overall procedural efficiency.^[5]

History

• 2000: Nortal was established under the name Webmedia in Tartu, Estonia.
• 2006: Webmedia expanded operations to Lithuania, Romania and Serbia, doubling the number of employees from 62 to 126.
• 2008:
  • Webmedia opened a branch office in Qatar.^[6]
  • Deloitte & Touché ranked Webmedia among the 30 fastest-growing companies in Central and Eastern Europe, and among the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in the EMEA region.
• 2009: In July, Webmedia Group signed a contract to participate in the development of Qatar's e-state.
• 2010: Webmedia acquired the healthcare unit of Cybernetica AS, adding laboratory information system to eHealth product line.
• 2011: Webmedia Group AS acquired Finnish CCC Corporation Oy,^[7] a systems' development partner for telecommunication, shipping and industrial companies, resulting in the largest software development company in the Baltics,^[8] and they rebranded into Nortal.^[9]
• 2012:
  • Nortal helped create the electronic financial management platform GIFMIS (Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System^[10]) for the federal government of Nigeria, an integral part of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) financial policy, going on to save N153 billion and uncover about 46,000 ghost workers by 2013.^[11]
  • Nortal was the IT-partner for the first Estonian e-census in which 66% of the population participated over the internet.
  • One of the founding members, Taavi Kotka left Nortal to become the first Chief Information Officer of the Estonian government and one of the founders of the e-Residency program.^[12]
• 2013: Nortal and Fast Enterprises won €226 million tender to supply the Finnish Tax Administration with a new tax system.^[13]
• 2016:
  • Nortal creates a government e-services portal for the Sultanate of Oman.^[14]
  • Nortal acquired marketing automation and lead management company Element, based in Stockholm, Sweden.^[15]
  • Nortal Group shareholders bought back 50% of Group shares from Enterprise Investors and LHV Pension Funds, regaining full ownership of the company.
• 2018:
  • Nortal opens an office in Düsseldorf, Germany.
  • Nortal acquires U.S. Company Dev9, ^[16] expanding its North American footprint.
• 2020:
  • Nortal announced selling off its marketing automation division in Sweden via a management buyout.^[17]
  • Nortal acquired Schütze AG,^[18] a leading strategic consulting and software engineering company in Germany. The merge strengthened Nortal’s expansion strategy in Europe, creating a transatlantic digital transformation powerhouse of 1000 experts.

Spin-off businesses

Over the years Nortal has been the start for several spin-off businesses, which continue to operate as separate companies, such as:

• ZeroTurnaround
• Plumbr
• eInvoices Centre
• OpenText ECM^[19]
• Leanest Ltd.^[20]

Areas of expertise

Among some of its most noteworthy projects are also the electronic financial management platform GIFMIS for the federal government of Nigeria,^[21] e-tax system for Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) and Invest Easy,^[22] major government e-services portal for the Sultanate of Oman. Invest Easy is widely acknowledged and awarded EODB (ease of doing business) project that has had substantial impact on local business environment and climate in Oman. Following successful launch and implementation of Invest Easy portal, Oman made an unprecedented leap in the Ease of Doing Business Ranking of World Bank's annual Doing Business 2017 report, jumping 127 places in category ’Starting a Business’ compared to previous year.^[23] Invest Easy has also been awarded: H H Sheikh Salem al Ali al Sabah Informatics Award 2016 in the Government category; Al Roya Economic Award for Best Government to Business e-service; GCC e-Government Award for Best Government to Business e-service etc. UNCTAD (GER.co rating)^[24] rated Invest Easy portal in Oman with a perfect score of 10/10, naming it one of the five best government-to-business (G2B) solutions in the world

Among other examples, in Germany the company launched an award-winning pilot to manage digital prescriptions, paired with medical video consultations in the federal state of Hessen, together with Optica and other partners.

Operations

Since the founding of the company in 2000, Nortal's solutions have been implemented in 60 countries across five continents. Nortal has eight home markets – Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Oman, UAE, Germany, United States and Serbia.

People

The company has been owned entirely by employees since 2016.^[3] The chairman of the board of Nortal is Priit Alamäe. The management board members include Andre Krull, Jaanus Erlemann and Neringa Narbutiene.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Estonian IT company ranked 2nd on the Baltic marketplace. 3 May 2023.
2. Web site: Majandus- ja äriuudised Eestist ja välismaalt.. www.aripaev.ee. 3 May 2023.
3. News: Enterprise Investors in €12.3m Nortal exit Unquote. http://www.unquote.com. 2017-01-02.
4. Web site: Nortal chief's new world order. bqlive.co.uk. 2017-01-02.
5. News: Ease of Doing Business - Nortal. Nortal. en-US. 2017-01-02.
6. Web site: ManBetx万博全站APP最新版-ManBetx万博全站. www.tigerprises.com. 3 May 2023.
7. News: Webmedia of Estonia Purchases Finnish Software Developer CCC. Bloomberg.com. 2017-01-02.
8. http://webmedia.eu/news/webmedia-and-ccc-to-merge-creating-software-development-leader/ Webmedia and CCC to merge, creating software development leader
9. Web site: Webmedia Group and CCC Corporation to adopt a common name and image. https://web.archive.org/web/20160828221215/http://www.nortal.com/about-us/press. dead. 28 August 2016. 3 May 2023.
10. Web site: Welcome to GIFMIS - Government Integrated Financial Management Information System. gifmis.gov.ng. 2017-01-02.
11. News: Nigeria saves N153bn from ghost workers, other fiscal measures- Okonjo-Iweala - Premium Times Nigeria. 2013-07-23. Premium Times Nigeria. en-GB. 2017-01-02.
12. News: 15 October 2012 . Taavi Kotka: Hüvasti, Webmedia! . Ajakiri Director.
13. Web site: Verohallinto > Verohallinto valitsi Fast-Nortal-ryhmittymän uuden verotusjärjestelmänsä toimittajaksi. vero.fi. 2017-01-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20170103003655/https://www.vero.fi/fi-FI/Tietoa_Verohallinnosta/Medialle/Lehdistotiedotteet/Verohallinto_valitsi_FastNortalryhmittym(27144. 2017-01-03. dead.
14. News: Invest Easy portal by Nortal propels Oman 127 places up in World Bank ranking - Nortal. 2016-11-09. Nortal. en-US. 2017-01-02.
15. News: Swedish marketing automation firm Element to merge with Estonian software developer Nortal. Sport. 2017-01-02.
16. News: Nortal acquires cloud modernization startup Dev9, will expand Seattle-area footprint. 2018-10-02. GeekWire. 2018-10-02. en-US.
17. Web site: курс . The Baltic Course-Балтийский . Estonia's Nortal divesting Swedish marketing automation division in MBO . 2023-01-16 . The Baltic Course Baltic States news & analytics.
18. News: 2020-09-10. Nortal to acquire Schütze, a recognized digitalization company in Germany. 2021-04-20. Nortal.
19. Web site: Nortal müüs osa ärist ekstöötajaile - IT uudised . 2017-01-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161024005556/http://www.ituudised.ee/uudised/2016/01/20/nortal-muus-osa-arist-ekstootajaile . 2016-10-24 .
20. Web site: Nortal m??b ?he Eesti ?risuuna t??tajatele - ?rip?ev . 2017-01-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160826113425/http://www.aripaev.ee/uudised/2016/07/01/nortal-muub-uhe-eesti-arisuuna-tootajatele . 2016-08-26 .
21. http://oagf.gov.ng/gifmis/ GIFMIS
22. Web site: Nortal's Invest Easy Portal helps businesses - Oman - Muscat Daily. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150806142911/http://www.muscatdaily.com/Archive/Oman/Nortal-s-Invest-Easy-Portal-helps-businesses-444o. 2015-08-06.
23. News: Invest Easy portal by Nortal propels Oman 127 places up in World Bank ranking. The Baltic Course | Baltic States News & Analytics .
24. https://ger.co/ GER website