CSN Groep

How do you create the ideal cloud platform for your client? A platform that seamlessly meets all their requirements, is scalable, and offers pay-per-use. It is the ultimate challenge for countless IT service providers. This was also the case for CSN Groep, who enlisted the help of Fundaments, Expert in Clouds. Sales Director Karste de Vries of CSN explains how Fundaments' innovative power has prepared them for the future.

Karste, tell us, why did you enlist the help of Fundaments?

"We were facing a significant challenge in the digital transformation of our clients. CSN is primarily active in the construction industry and offers a platform to facilitate the BIM process. BIM stands for Building Information Management, essentially supply chain integration. In construction projects, it is essential that everyone can work from a single data model simultaneously. CSN provides a platform where everyone can collaborate in 3D design applications, from architects to electricians. Our platform is based on a vast amount of data that needs to be processed constantly. On top of that, the graphical requirements are heavy. You need to be able to scroll through a model drawing with fluid motion. To offer a high-quality platform, a lot of IT resources are required. We used to purchase the hardware ourselves, install it at the client's site, and handle the maintenance. We had already migrated the workloads that were previously on-premise to our own data center, but it was taking more and more time, money, and effort to do everything ourselves. So much time that we sometimes couldn't even meet our client demand. In construction, time-to-market is often very short. It also came at the expense of our focus on our core business: helping our clients with fantastic BIM products. We were therefore looking for a partner who could take things off our hands and help us with the further digital transformation of our clients. The key question: how do we set up digital workspaces with fast access to all data and superior graphical performance?"

How did you arrive at a solution together with Fundaments?

"Let me start by saying that it was a major challenge to even find a party that could help us, given our specific requirements and the rarity of our stack. Fundaments welcomed us with open arms and great enthusiasm. They were convinced they could help us. Fundaments' stack is based on VMware, and as a solution to our issue, they proposed the associated tooling: vCloud Director. It’s a kind of toolbox containing building blocks that enable you to create the ideal cloud platform for every client. We could migrate our clients' workloads to Fundaments' data center in Enschede. This would make 'BIM-ing' possible from any device. Self-reliance, which was very important to us, was central to the solution. The tool makes it possible to handle metering yourself, track the usage of each client for pay-per-use, implement changes, and scale up—all in a simple and clear manner. Maintenance would be entirely in the hands of Fundaments. Exactly what we wanted. What provided confidence was that Fundaments is one of the few parties in the Netherlands fully certified to work with vCloud Director. That is the ultimate proof of their high level of expertise. We were immediately incredibly enthusiastic. Or well, the commercial side was. We realized that with vCloud Director, we could build the ideal platform for our clients in no time. That we could scale up at a moment's notice thanks to Fundaments' large amount of hardware. That we would never have to say no to a client again. The tech team, on the other hand, was not at all keen on the migration to the cloud."

What were your tech team's concerns?

"Facilitating the BIM process and providing a platform as a result is all about tuning hardware to get 3D design applications running well and keeping them that way. If you match the wrong hardware with the applications, they won't work. Furthermore, it is a chain full of individual components. If one component needs an update, it has consequences for the entire chain. In short, our product is highly specialized. Our tech team was afraid that Fundaments didn't have the right knowledge and hardware. They didn't want to hand over the stack, updates, and maintenance for fear of a drop in quality for our clients."

How did Fundaments alleviate those concerns?

"They took our tech team through the migration process to the cloud step by step. The Fundaments engineers showed them how everything works at their data center in Enschede. What hardware they use, how updates are performed, how data is secured, and so on. Slowly, they won the trust of our tech team. Simply by proving that what they do works. That our clients' workloads are in good hands with them and that they have all the expertise in-house to facilitate and maintain our specialized processes. By now, our tech team is completely on board. They are in perfect sync with Fundaments, which now acts as an extension of us on a technical level. The solution they proposed and our collaboration feel like a perfect fit."

Did Fundaments' solution also feel like a perfect fit for your clients?

"Well, not immediately. It was quite a culture shock. They were used to working on large, heavy computers, and now we were telling them they could work from any device via the cloud. Fast and with the same graphical performance. At first, no one believed it. Now that it's up and running, they don't want to—and can't—go back. Whether they are at the office, on the construction site, or in China: our platform is always accessible thanks to Fundaments' cloud environment. That is, of course, ideal for our clients."

How does Fundaments' solution work in practice now?

"Soms voelt het een beetje alsof ik een evangelie aan het verspreiden ben, maar de voordelen zijn onvoorstelbaar groot. Onze techneuten kunnen zich weer richten op hun corebusiness, klanten kunnen locatie-onafhankelijk werken in een Cloud-platform op maat, we hebben minder cash-out omdat we zelf geen hardware meer hoeven aan te schaffen, onze lead time is drastisch ingekort en dankzij de oplossing van Fundaments hebben we een groot concurrentievoordeel. Wij kunnen heel snel, waar anderen dat niet kunnen. Wij zijn dus meer dan tevreden."

Wat was de meerwaarde van Fundaments in dit proces?

"Innovatiekracht. Het gebruik van de vCloud Director geeft ons de slagkracht om snel te kunnen bewegen. Het geeft ons de mogelijkheid zelfredzaam te zijn en we hebben tijd vrijgespeeld voor onze techneuten waardoor zij bezig kunnen met het perfectioneren van onze BIM-producten. Dat is immers wat ons als CSN Groep uniek maakt. Ik vind het hartstikke gaaf om te zien. Dankzij Fundaments kunnen wij door naar de toekomst. Dankzij hen kunnen wij ook innoveren."

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