Gemeente Eindhoven

Gemeente Eindhoven is a rapidly growing local government within a dynamic, technology-focused environment. The increasing presence of tech companies requires significant advancements in both infrastructure and technological capabilities, including projects like the expansion of the sports stadium. Marcel de Vries, IT Project Manager, notes: 'We aim to support, streamline, and enhance the experience for our residents, businesses, and visitors. To achieve this, maintaining top-notch security and reliability is crucial. While the variety of challenges makes the work stimulating, it prompts us to question whether we should continue managing everything internally '

On-Premises Data Center or Cloud-Based Solution?

The question became pressing as our contract for the current server storage environment neared expiration. Marcel notes: 'We faced a choice between reinvesting in physical infrastructure or transitioning to infrastructure as a service. Our architects compiled a comprehensive analysis of Cloud benefits, prompting us to explore market options. While many companies offered private Cloud solutions, few had Dutch data centers, which was a key requirement. Thankfully, Fundaments provided the sovereign Cloud solution we needed as a standard offering.'

Transition to IaaS: An Exciting Move

He continues: 'Transitioning to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) was a significant step, as it required giving up some established certainties. Nevertheless, Fundaments quickly earned our confidence. From our very first interaction, they demonstrated exceptional expertise, transparency, and commitment. They upheld these standards by personally overseeing the installation of our hardware in the data center, rather than outsourcing the task.

The flexibility of IaaS is a significant advantage: Fundaments can scale resources as needed to meet our growing demands. Importantly, our environment remains fully exclusive. We utilize a dedicated platform, ensuring that our hardware is exclusively ours and not shared with others.'

Partnering Together

Marcel acknowledges, 'I’m not the easiest collaborator. I expect partners and suppliers to deliver on their commitments, but I also believe in addressing issues constructively rather than assigning blame. My view of partnership involves identifying challenges, discussing them openly, and collaboratively finding solutions. Fundaments shares this philosophy. We both value direct communication in a professional yet relaxed setting, which is not always common. The transparency with which we address issues defines our working relationship, from the executive level down to the operational teams.'

Status: In the Testing Phase

With the foundation in place, we enter the testing phase. During this phase, users will receive comprehensive training on the new environment, and the first ten migrations will be executed collaboratively by the local government and Fundaments. Once approved, the new system will go live, and the old system will be decommissioned. Marcel states, 'This is the critical test. Should any issues arise with the new environment, our disaster recovery system will be activated. We've thoroughly tested this, and I am confident in its reliability. Fundaments has consistently delivered on its promises.'

Faster Time-to-Market, Simplified Management

Marcel concludes, 'Our partnership with Fundaments is perfectly aligned with the needs of the Local Governement Eindhoven. The implementation of IaaS is a key factor, as our rapidly evolving local government demands swift adaptation. With IaaS, we can efficiently allocate resources to our departments and support their application needs. Moreover, by transferring IT management to Fundaments, we expect to significantly reduce our internal administrative load, allowing us to concentrate on other crucial tasks.'