One of the most complex data center transformations in Netherlands history was recently completed, with zero disruption to ongoing operations. The return on investment for the Dutch federal agency that initiated the plan has been a significant reduction in the cost of IT operations.
The project was undertaken by Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen (UWV), which translates to "the public employment services organization in the Netherlands." Each year this federal agency provides social benefits to approximately 2 million people — nearly 7% of the Netherlands’ total population — who are either out of work or unable to work. Last year those benefits were worth €24.2 billion (equivalent to approximately $26 billion).
Providing accessible digital experiences and well-functioning IT systems, running more than 200 custom applications, is core to UWV’s mission to support its citizens in need. For UWV, stability and continuity are fundamental. In 2019, DXC Technology replaced IBM, which had managed the agency’s data centers since 2005, winning an up to 14-year IT modernization contract that included relocating UWV’s data center by mid-2023. DXC successfully met that deadline — a tight timeframe for a project of this size.
“More than 200 applications now run in a new environment. And even more importantly, with fewer incidents in the business,” says UWV CIO Maarten Jonker. “A wonderful project with a major impact!”
An easy choice
DXC offered a strong partner ecosystem, automation, a technology-agnostic approach, impressive references and more. Specifically, DXC offered these four key services:
- Hosting services: Working with data-center partner Equinix Inc., DXC provides data-center services from multiple locations in the Netherlands. This new hosting platform includes a private cloud featuring automated building blocks and robust security.
- Technical application management: DXC manages UWV’s technical side of the business applications — the layer on top of the hosting. To do this work, DXC partnered with two companies: CGI Inc., a provider of IT and business consulting services, and VX Company, a local IT services supplier.
- Digital transformation: DXC updated and modernized UWV’s digital infrastructure and systems, moving both to a new private cloud.
- Security services: DXC provides services to keep UWV’s systems and data safe and sound.
The DXC plan called for the installation of a greenfield data center, rather than doing a lift-and-shift of UWV’s old virtual servers. DXC determined that a fresh start, though more time-consuming, would be the most effective long-term approach. In addition, DXC demonstrated excellent collaboration with UWV by building a team of experienced professionals.
“The UWV transition and transformation program (VeDaT project) is one of the most complex programs I have experienced during the 39 years I have worked in the IT industry,” says Peter Nootenboom, account executive at DXC Technology. Strong collaboration among all involved parties led to success, he says.
DXC delivers outstanding outcomes
Now that the work has been completed, UWV is enjoying a long list of significant benefits, in addition to saving costs on IT operations. These are:
- Improved efficiency: Standard and automated provisioning of hosting building blocks streamlines application development and testing. This approach is making it easier to modernize many of the custom applications — now, it is possible to quickly develop, test and deploy solutions.
- Enhanced innovation: The private cloud is the foundation of the DXC digital platform ecosystem that allows UWV to become more agile.
- Security services: As part of the move, DXC has improved UWV’s security posture, so that it is able to better respond to the changing threat landscape. DXC has added several security solutions and services to the platform that were previously unavailable to UWV to protect it against all kinds of attacks. In addition, by working with partner ServiceNow, DXC is providing UWV with extended global risk and compliance (GRC) services.
“For me, the VeDaT project is a wonderful example of how, together with DXC as a supplier, we can successfully carry out a very large project,” says Andre van Alphen, director ICT services at UWV. “It's hard work but the results are worth it. I'm really proud of that!”
With the data center transition complete, UWV is positioned to modernize other aspects of its IT architecture and operating model to support its customer journeys. DXC will be developing new platforms, systems and services for the divisions, which own the applications and interact directly with Dutch citizens.
As one of the first IT architecture innovations, DXC has delivered a fully managed Red Hat OpenShift container platform. UWV consulted with DXC and Red Hat on building a container strategy as a modern application platform to deploy and run its future business applications. DXC and UWV designed an OpenShift architecture that met UWV's stringent requirements for availability and security.
This resulted in a set of clusters deployed on UWV’s private cloud, managed by DXC. The solution offers advanced container security and disaster recovery (DR) so that no data is lost when a disaster happens. UWV now runs some of its new core business applications on the OpenShift platform and has plans to add many more in the near future.
“Having UWV as a long-term customer is something I am very proud of. It is great to see what we have already achieved together,” says Hans Klopper, DXC managing director, Netherlands. “DXC is strongly committed to continue this successful journey — to build an even better future for UWV and its customers.”
