Magenta MMT

Magenta chooses Fundaments for reliability

Imagine you’re a firefighter running into a burning building with five colleagues. You need to A) know what you’re doing and B) be able to trust the people beside you. Safety Regions in the Netherlands and Belgium organize recurring professional competency programs to ensure this, for both career staff and volunteers. For planning and coordinating these programs, they rely on software from Magenta MultiMedia Tools (MMT), based in Hengelo. This includes 19 of the 25 Dutch Safety Regions and 40% of the Flemish Safety Regions. In this article, you’ll read how Magenta MMT organizes this and why reliability is crucial.

The software that connects everything

Asked how the software contributes to the professional competency of fire brigades, Tim van den Brink, Manager R&D at Magenta MMT, explains: “The content of these training programs is, of course, determined by the Safety Regions themselves. What we do is ensure that everything around it runs smoothly and that’s a discipline in its own right. You’re dealing with different roles, training sessions, and requirements that are constantly evolving. All of this needs to be planned, recorded, and accounted for properly. The reports that come into the central control room in Driebergen are also recorded using our software. Safety Regions use that data for evaluation, reimbursements, and payroll. In Belgium, the Magenta system is also used for permit applications. The advantage is that everything comes together in one system. This gives regions a clear view of where they stand and what’s needed to keep everyone’s competency at the required level. In this way, our software brings calm and clarity.”

Trust is built under pressure

Magenta forms the foundation of its customers’ services. If it’s unavailable, their processes come to a halt. The same applies to Magenta’s own software, for which they partner with Fundaments. Tim explains: “Fundaments ensures that the infrastructure in which our software runs is stable and secure an essential condition for delivering what we promise. The fact that we’ve chosen Fundaments for years is primarily based on trust. When something does come up, and fortunately that’s rare, you want to get someone on the phone immediately who understands the situation and thinks along with you toward a solution. Even on a Sunday afternoon. And that’s exactly what happens.”

Sitting down together when the playing field changes

“Another example that illustrates our strong relationship with Fundaments is the situation involving Broadcom and VMware. Changes in the licensing structure suddenly threatened to significantly increase our costs. Even though our contract still had time remaining, Fundaments was willing to think along with us about alternatives. This led to a redesign of our environment: we switched to a different architecture and adjusted the contract. In the end, our costs actually decreased. But what mattered most to me was that we truly worked through it together. There was flexibility, and we reached a solution jointly. That says a lot about how our partnership works.”

People make the difference

“People make the difference,” Tim concludes. “When something comes up, I get someone on the line who knows us, our environment, our history, and how we work. That may sound obvious, but it’s not. There are providers where you end up at an anonymous helpdesk and have to explain everything from scratch each time. Not here. Especially when it matters most, you want to move quickly with someone who understands the content. You don’t feel like you’re interrupting; instead, they immediately think along and take action. That brings peace of mind and for us, that’s ultimately what it’s all about.”

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