WebNL

Many organizations want to focus entirely on their core business. This was also the case for WebNL creative studios from Stellendam. Over 10 years ago, they approached Fundaments with this goal and the associated Managed Cloud requirements.

What were you looking for in a Managed Cloud provider?

‍René: “We are very down-to-earth ourselves, and that’s what we look for in our suppliers. If a supplier tells a great story but doesn’t deliver, I walk away dissatisfied. We value action over words, in true Rotterdam fashion. Furthermore, personal contact is very important to us. We don’t want to be just a number where an engineer hides behind a portal. I want to be able to spar with someone and have real discussions. So, we were primarily looking for a partnership with a no-nonsense party.”

What challenge did you bring to Fundaments at that time?

‍René: “WebNL provides services across all areas of communication. From strategy, branding, and design to UX, marketing, and campaigns. And, of course, we develop countless web solutions. That includes application and website hosting.”

Maarten: “Our development department focuses on writing code and building applications. Our expertise is less focused on hosting. We were looking for an extension of ourselves, a party that could handle the hosting side so we wouldn’t have to deal with it constantly. We needed a partner that would think along with us regarding the solutions we require.”

What solution did Fundaments provide for you?

‍Maarten: “A Managed Cloud solution, topped with various security measures. Additionally, the team at Fundaments is always up to date with the latest technologies and experiments with them to see if they might be a good fit for us. That’s exactly what we want. We don’t have that expertise, as we focus purely on application development. Fundaments is exactly the extension I was talking about.”

René: “It also happens regularly that I ask Fundaments to think along about what else might be interesting for our portfolio. For instance, it seems logical that we will look into their Container Platform as a Service solution in the future. Their Solution Consultants understand what we are working on and don’t bother us with things we don’t need. They come to us with very targeted new additions.”

What benefits does this solution bring you?

‍Maarten: “There have been times when something happened in the middle of the night. Fundaments resolves it immediately, so you don’t even realize anything happened. When I open my inbox the next day, I read what occurred and what was done to fix it. Often, a phone call follows to explain the issue in detail. This saves us at WebNL a lot of time and gives us and our clients peace of mind, even in the evenings and on weekends.”

René: “We are essentially completely unburdened, and we can let go of these concerns. It’s not feasible for us to have someone working full-time on server management. The moment a server isn’t performing well, we get a call from Fundaments, and they recommend a solution. We only have to make a decision. Plus, updates are installed for us, so we don’t have to worry about that either. Ultimately, it just saves us money. We don’t have to buy monitoring servers, purchase specialized software, or take expensive courses.”

How do you experience the collaboration?

‍René: “It’s a bit like a good marriage. We bicker occasionally, but that’s necessary to stay on the right track. Because we are both very down-to-earth, everything is said and discussed openly, and then we can move on. We work well together, and there’s a great atmosphere. Personally, I find it very helpful that I can bounce ideas off their team when I’m stuck, even if it’s not related to a Fundaments server. That is what I truly see as an extension.”

What does Fundaments' sovereign Cloud status mean for you?

‍Maarten: “For a number of our clients, this status is incredibly important. We have clients operating in healthcare, and we also work with insurance companies. This involves a lot of personal data. In terms of legislation, we are required to ensure this data stays within the EU, or better yet, in the Netherlands. This is also a common requirement in tender processes.”

René: “The fact that Fundaments can guarantee that data stays in the Netherlands is extremely reassuring for us. Especially when we are talking about personal information that people enter on websites we have built. If we were using a party like Amazon, it would be much harder for us to verify whether the data is actually stored in the Netherlands or Europe.”

How do you see the future (with Fundaments)?

‍René: “We are primarily looking at where our own services are heading and where we need Fundaments to realize those plans. Ultimately, it’s about being able to focus more and more on what we do best, while Fundaments handles the rest. We are very optimistic about the future!”

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