Eshgro becomes the new shareholder of the managed services activities of Provide. With this, Eshgro, which recently joined Total Specific Hosting (TSH), takes the first step in its renewed growth phase. Provide, operating from offices in Maastricht and Utrecht, thus gains access to knowledge and scale advantage of Eshgro, strengthening its competitive positions.

“The separation of our MSP activities is a logical consequence of the developments in the market of specialization and scaling. The transfer of MSP activities ensures continuity of organization and service for our customers. We are confident that Provide’s Managed Services activities are in good hands within Eshgro.”

The MSP activities of Provide have grown since the start in 2002 into an organization with over 40 employees and has a deep knowledge of the SME+, a high service level (XLA) towards end users and a full scope ICT outsourcing services package.

Mike Dawud, CEO of Provide: “The separation of our MSP activities is a logical consequence of the developments in the market of specialization and scaling. The transfer of MSP activities ensures continuity of organization and service for our customers. We are confident that Provide’s Managed Services activities are in good hands within Eshgro.”

Edwin de Ruijter, CEO of Eshgro: “The acquisition of Provide is a logical step for us in the next growth phase as part of TSH. By combining organic growth with acquisitions, we are further expanding our portfolio and customer base. We can help Provide’s customers accelerate the transition to the cloud with our self-developed Smarter365 platform. In this way, even more customers can use Eshgro’s proven cloud solutions. We look forward to working together.”

TSH is the leading group of collaborating Dutch ICT outsourcing companies founded by Strikwerda Investments (SI). SI is a family investment company that focuses on healthy, ambitious, medium and large SMEs. It is a Dutch investment fund with a strong track-record in the ICT sector. TSH has a long-term investment horizon and, in addition to the current strong organic growth, also wants other leading ICT outsourcing companies to join the group.

What is outsourcing, and how can you benefit from it within the IT industry? In this post we explain the benefits of outsourcing, what to look out for when working with an outsourcing partner, and the most common types of outsourcing.

What is outsourcing?

Outsourcing is the practice of delegating certain work to a third party, usually to another company that specializes in the field in question. For example, a large part of the IT activities of Dutch companies is outsourced to other companies every year. There are several ways in which IT outsourcing can take place today. Read which ones they are, and which model could be most beneficial for your company.

What is IT-outsourcing?

IT is a business area that lends itself ideally to outsourcing, in part because most of the necessities (infrastructure, software) for a functioning IT team can be easily shared online. IT outsourcing has been around for decades, and every year there are new developments within this industry.

Which parts of IT can be outsourced varies from company to company. For example, it may be application management (a CRM or ERP system). Technical management (the maintenance and security of the IT infrastructure) can also be outsourced to a third party. Finally, it may involve functional management (keeping the information provision going).

A well-known reason for IT outsourcing is the possibility of cost savings. Dutch wages are high, and leaving all IT activities to a Dutch team can be very costly. Outsourcing all or part of these activities to IT professionals in low-wage countries can save a large portion of the budget. But there are more reasons than justification for companies to choose a form of outsourcing.

Examples of IT-outsourcing

We see, for example, that the main reason for outsourcing at the moment is not lower costs or quality of service, but the ability to scale up and down quickly. Corona has considerable uncertainty in the labor market, and thus brought with it both risks and opportunities. Being able to expand or downsize quickly was the main reason for IT outsourcing in 2021 for 61% of the organizations asked, according to the ‘IT Sourcing Study’ of Quint en Whitelane in 2021.

Another development is the collaboration between certain Dutch companies and software developers in countries such as Spain. This happens because the level of IT education in Spain is high and so is unemployment: Spanish computer professionals and the overheated Dutch labor market are a match made in heaven. Several companies place their work via IT outsourcing with companies in Valencia, a city known for its knowledge economy. Madrid and Barcelona are also popular choices for IT outsourcing.

“IT remains one of the most complex types of services around. IT outsourcing provides immediate access to highly skilled professionals.”

Benefits and disadvantages of outsourcing

IT outsourcing can be an excellent solution to take care of your company’s computer business and has advantages over managing it yourself. On the other hand, there are risks and drawbacks to this business practice.

Benefits

  • Flexibility. IT outsourcing is available in any size and at any time. You pay by the month if you want and can quickly scale up or down your projects. You don’t have to invest in expensive equipment or hire new employees on temporary contracts.
  • Specialty. IT remains one of the most complex types of services available. IT outsourcing gives you direct access to highly trained professionals in this field, who continuously update their years of experience within their field with the latest innovations.
  • Cost savings. It can be costly to bring in employees with the proper training and expertise on your own. A specialized IT outsourcing company already has that knowledge and offers its services at a favorable price.
  • Focus. By outsourcing (part of) a company’s IT, your own employees can focus on their actual task, whether that’s management, marketing or logistics. This increases the production of your own company and you make maximum use of the talents of your staff. Your own IT people also get their hands free for their core business.

Disadvantages

  • Risk of reduced control. The lines of communication with an external IT company are longer than with an internal department, which means less control is possible and a gap can open up between expectations and results. This is why it is important to first sit down with the external party and draw up an SLA (service level agreement) together.
  • Substantial hourly rates. Dutch IT companies offering outsourcing services have a high level of knowledge and quality. The rates for their services can therefore be considerable.

Types of outsourcing

Are you thinking about outsourcing part of your IT to a specialized company? Then you should know that there are several models for this. The most notable difference between each form of IT outsourcing is the country where the IT workers perform their duties. As you’ll see, that brings some notable differences, which means that one form of IT outsourcing may be (much) more suitable for your business than another.

Offshoring

As we mentioned, Dutch IT companies charge high hourly rates. It can therefore be attractive to outsource the work to a company in a distant foreign country, where hourly and production wages are lower. India and China, where knowledge of information technology is relatively high, are popular choices.

Benefits of offshoring

  • Cheapest option. Often, offshoring is the most affordable way for a company to get its IT work done by an outside party. You can get great service for a very low cost.
  • Rapid growth possible. Many offshoring companies have a large pool of specialists, which allows for rapid scaling.

Disadvantages of offshoring

  • Higher risks. It may happen that the external party delivers work that does not meet the agreements. If that happens, it can be difficult to get redress, and the risk of a strop is also present. It’s smart to do a good risk analysis in advance if you’re considering this model.
  • Loss of intellectual property. Also, it is not always clear whether the intellectual property rights of business information is respected by a distant provider.
pros and cons offshore outsourcing

Nearshoring

With nearshoring, you also outsource your company’s IT work abroad, but this time to countries that are relatively close. This often involves companies such as Spain, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. This form of outsourcing brings its own pluses and minuses.

Benefits of nearshoring

  • Cheaper. Again, the cost of the work is lower than in the Netherlands, although not as low as in a distant foreign country.
  • Easier communication. The cultural differences with Eastern and Southern European countries are smaller than with Asia, and the time zones are more or less the same. This often makes it easier to consult and make arrangements.

Disadvantages of nearshoring

  • Language barriers. Where the Dutch are known to have an excellent command of the English language, this can sometimes be disappointing when making contacts in some European countries.
  • More expensive than offshoring. The hourly wages and production costs of nearshoring are not as low as the costs of offshoring to an Asian country.
pros and cons nearshore outsourcing

Onshoring

A trend in recent years is not to outsource IT projects to foreign companies, but to retain them in the home country in order to maintain the knowledge economy. More and more foreign employees are being brought to the Netherlands and incorporated into Dutch IT companies. You can therefore make use of foreign specialists working for a Dutch company via a staffing construction, for example, a system known as ‘onshoring‘.

Benefits of onshoring

  • Faster scaling. Outsourcing companies that use foreign workers can bring over more specialists for each project. This allows them to scale up or down quickly and flexibly in a tight labor market compared to Dutch companies.
  • Short lines of communication. Consultation with an onshore company involves minimal communication problems. If immediate consultation is required, the company can be visited within a half day to set out a new strategy or planning. This allows for quick turnaround and maximizes the speed of the desired service.

Disadvantages of onshoring

  • Cost. Hourly wages in the Netherlands are among the highest in the world, and additional costs are also considerable. This remains the main argument for not choosing the premium service of a Dutch IT outsourcing company, even if foreign employees are used.
pros and cons onshore outsourcing

How do you choose the right outsourcing model?

So as a company, you have three ways to outsource your IT: nearshoring, offshoring and onshoring. For each company, there is a model that best fits their specific needs and desires, and ultimately it’s up to you to make the decision. To make an informed decision on where your company will get the best results, you can look at the following six factors, among others.

1. Cost. This is where offshoring generally wins out, as hourly wages in Asia are lower than those in any European country.

2. Language. In the Netherlands, almost every IT employee has a good basic knowledge of the English language. In non-Anglophone countries in Europe, this is not so obvious, and this can impact communication lines.

3. Staffing supply. How large the pool of workers with a particular education is varies from country to country. One type of IT worker can be found mainly in China, and another specialist can be found in Spain.

4. Distance. An important advantage of nearshoring is that European countries are in (approximately) the same time zone, so their working hours largely overlap with those of your company. Also, you can be in Spain or Poland by plane within a few hours; flying to India or China for a meeting means a substantial investment of time.

5. Cultural differences. The mentality and work ethic of employees differs per country, and the differences with the Dutch mindset are always so complex that no simple summary is possible. Your own experience and talking to experts can provide insight into what a suitable choice is for you.

“More and more companies are now opting for nearshoring instead of outsourcing to Asia. ”

More and more Dutch companies are now opting for nearshoring instead of outsourcing to Asia. The reasons they mention are the drive and service attitude of European IT professionals, the shorter distance and the smaller cultural differences, which make it easier to make agreements. The supply of personnel is also increasing: following Eastern European countries and Spain, Turkey and Morocco are now also starting IT projects that specialize in providing services to the Netherlands.

A final trend in IT outsourcing is working with hybrid teams, which are connected online and work in different places around the world. This form of outsourcing, called multi-sourcing, can combine some of the benefits of each outsourcing model.

How does Provide help?

Provide takes the concerns about nearshoring completely out of your hands. We do this by focusing on the culture and personality of both parties during the matching processes and by providing all our projects with a dedicated Dutch project manager. With over 10 years of experience and our tailored approach, we can ensure the success of all our clients.

An outsourcing partner who understands your organization is in our opinion an important condition for success. And that is what we are committed to. Are you curious about the possibilities for your organization? Please contact us via +31 (0)30 6669600 , email nearshoring@provide.nl or use the contact options below.

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In a time of digitalization and rapid technological innovations, it is important for organizations to constantly stay on top of developments in the market. Users expect applications and platforms that load quickly, are user-friendly and offer excellent performance. In addition, customers demand a high level of quality from all the digital channels they use (omnichannel).

To meet the high demands of today’s critical and tech-savvy customers as an organization, it is up to software developers to develop increasingly complex and user-friendly applications. The field of software development will only become more challenging in the coming years. Today’s developer must be able to work with tech stacks that are constantly changing. In addition, new cloud services are constantly appearing on the digital stage, which also brings specific challenges with it.

The consequence of these developments and challenges? Companies sometimes run up against the limits of their possibilities, for example, because they do not have enough specialist and technical knowledge in house or because they do not have enough software developers. Fortunately, there are various trends that can help you improve and modernize your application landscape. In this white paper we highlight the most important software development trends of the moment and we show you how you can take advantage of them.

1. Enhanced cybersecurity thanks to DevSecOps

By now, most IT professionals are familiar with the benefits of DevOps. The method provides better communication and more connection between development and operations, making the process of software development fast and streamlined. There is less room for errors and misunderstandings, while you significantly reduce the time-to-market of the final product.

An important current trend is that the subject of security is becoming increasingly important within DevOps. A logical development if we look at the professionalization of modern cybercrime and the sharp increase in the number of ransomware attacks. Such incidents can threaten the privacy of personal data and the security of business-critical information.

With the growing need for greater security during the development process, DevSecOps is in increasing demand. DevSecOps is a natural extension and evolution of DevOps thinking. The goal? To close the security gap between development and operations. DevSecOps forces all those involved in the DevOps process to treat security as an integral core topic that recurs at every stage of the journey. You validate security and compliance requirements at every step of the development lifecycle.

Applying DevSecOps has several benefits:

  • You identify vulnerabilities in the code or design of an application early on.
  • Security becomes an integral and natural part of the process.
  • Ownership and responsibility for security now lie with everyone involved in DevOps.
  • You reduce risks and operational costs because you do not have to change all kinds of security measures afterwards.
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2. The rising popularity of PWAs

A second important trend is the increasing popularity of progressive web apps (PWAs). PWAs combine the features and user experience of native apps with the accessibility and flexibility of the web. They work for any user, load quickly and basically work on any device with a supported browser. Like native apps, PWAs can also work offline, send push notifications and access hardware.

PWAs have been and remain popular because of their “connectivity-proof” design and the resistance of many users to continue downloading native apps on their devices. From a user perspective, PWAs are easy to use on mobile devices without the need for an app store.

From a software developer’s perspective, working with progressive web apps also has advantages. They are lightweight, much faster to customize than native apps and easier to maintain. PWAs also use one codebase for all devices. Developers therefore do not have to build multiple versions of the same application. PWAs are also searchable by Google and consorts, contributing to better discoverability.

“PWAs also use one codebase for all devices. Developers therefore do not need to build multiple versions of the same application”

3. The increasing use of cloud-native apps and Node.js

More and more organizations are using or needing applications born in the cloud (cloud-native). Cloud-native applications are not only scalable and easy to customize, but also easier to connect to a diverse spectrum of cloud services without the need for additional coding. They can run on virtually any device type. As a result, the use of cloud-native solutions is expected to continue to grow in 2022.

Like cloud-native apps, Node. js is also becoming increasingly popular. Node.js is a runtime environment for JavaScript that allows developers to create servers, data layers, applications and web applications using a single platform. A versatile tool, in other words. Unfortunately, there is a serious shortage of Node.js specialists on the market today.

4. IoT continues to advance

The rise of Internet of Things (IoT) is now unstoppable. IoT technology is expected to create a staggering $6 trillion in economic value on a global scale by the end of 2022. Especially as IoT increasingly goes hand in hand with cloud computing and “connected data,” the technology is also transforming software development. For example, we are seeing mobile devices (and the applications that run on them) increasingly optimized for vertical markets. Combined with smart sensors and analytics, they are increasingly focused on using and processing real-time data.

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5. Artificial intelligence for better user experiences

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that continues to evolve at lightning speed. In particular, the rise of deep learning and artificial neural networks offers limitless possibilities. It is, for example, possible to crawl into the psyche of customers and users in order to optimally adjust applications and platforms to customer needs and preferences. As more and more applications contain complex AI functionalities, software developers need to be increasingly well versed in this technology.

6. The rise of microservices

In the field of IT architecture, there is a movement towards microservices. This requires a different way of development. Instead of building an application or package that can do ‘everything’, the emphasis with microservices lies on modular development. A microservice architecture consists of individually adaptable services and functionalities that work together as one application. A microservice architecture is flexible, easily adaptable and suitable for customization. It is therefore expected that by 2022 more and more organizations will be adopting microservices in their development process.

7. Low-code and no-code

In the field of IT architecture, there is a movement towards microservices. This requires a different way of development. Instead of building an application or package that can do ‘everything’, the emphasis with microservices lies on modular development. A microservice architecture consists of individually adaptable services and functionalities that work together as one application. A microservice architecture is flexible, easily adaptable and suitable for customization. It is therefore expected that by 2022 more and more organizations will be adopting microservices in their development process.

“In addition, the transition to digital collaboration has removed the last barriers for many organizations.”

8. Growth of nearshoring

To develop the more complex applications demanded by modern users, organizations need larger and more diverse software development teams. But assembling and growing such a team is a serious challenge in a tight IT market. After all, competition is fierce. This means that talented developers have many choices and are expensive. This can make it a challenge for an organization to keep up with the growth.

More and more organizations are choosing to expand the development team with a dedicated nearshore team. In doing so, you outsource business activities to an organization in a relatively nearby country with lower wages and a larger supply of IT professionals. Compared to recruiting in the Netherlands and offshoring, nearshoring has several advantages:

  • Reduced cultural differences compared to offshoring, because you are working with IT professionals from a relatively nearby country.
  • You are not completely dependent on the expensive and tight Dutch market. This leads to lower wage costs, while you have a larger pool of talent to fish in.
  • Compared to offshoring, there is a low threshold to meet physically. Moreover, because of hybrid working, nearshoring is quite easy to implement.

In addition, the transition to digital collaboration has removed the last barriers for many organizations. It is therefore expected that nearshoring will also experience strong growth in 2022.

How does Provide help?

Provide takes the concerns about nearshoring completely out of your hands. We do this by focusing on the culture and personality of both parties during the matching processes and by providing all our projects with a dedicated Dutch project manager. With over 10 years of experience and our tailored approach, we can ensure the success of all our clients. We help with the right strategy by answering the following questions:

  • How do you structure your nearshore development team?
  • How can you effectively organize nearshore development?
  • How can you identify the bottlenecks in your organization?
  • How do you prevent friction within your team?

An outsourcing partner who immerses himself in your organization is, in our opinion, an important condition for success. And that is what we are committed to. Are you curious about the possibilities for your organization? Please contact us at +31 (0)30 6669600, send an email to nearshoring@provide.nl or use the contact options below.

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Because it is not easy for many organizations to find good developers in the country, nearshoring often offers a great solution. Provide builds nearshore software development teams for Enterprise and SME organizations that have the right skills, but also fit within a certain corporate culture. A good example of this is how we did this for Pro4all, supplier of innovative software solutions for the construction and manufacturing industries.

We spoke with Wouter Coebergh and Arjan Kalfsbeek of Pro4all about their choice for nearshoring, how the collaboration went and what it will look like in the future.

Choosing nearshoring

Pro4all has had experience in the past with outsourcing development work to both Asia and Eastern Europe. “At Pro4all we have a strong corporate culture. We value certain manners and a certain culture. When I look back on the past two years with Provide in this way, I conclude that we have been able to find it best at our longitude in Europe, which is Valencia,” says Coebergh. “The further you cross the latitude, the different those manners become. This sometimes makes team integration and working together more difficult.” The ‘you ask, we turn’ attitude doesn’t fit Pro4all’s corporate culture. “We don’t really have a consultative culture, but we do like to have good discussions and make quick decisions,” Coebergh continues. The moment the developers from the Spanish development team realized that contributing ideas was not only appreciated, but even encouraged, has created a fun dynamic. “They are smart guys with smart ideas, and we want to make the best use of that.”

Because there is a lot of room for personal input at Pro4all, a Spanish developer also came up with the idea of reducing the impact of absence by increasing the size of the teams. The latter had previously worked in larger teams and noticed that the impact was much lower as a result. “It might have been obvious because of the strong staff growth over the past year, but you have to be open to it,” says Coebergh. “And this is what we are going to implement soon. We think shaping the whole team together, with the whole team, is a very logical way of working.”

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The start

“We first started with a small team in Spain consisting of 2 people,” says Coebergh. “We started with the idea that the Spanish team would be completely separate from the Dutch team and that they would mainly focus on maintaining one of the legacy products of the old packages.”

There was an enthusiastic response to this from the Dutch team, but at a certain point it was no longer feasible to keep the teams separate. Besides the fact that the
constant maintenance work became very monotonous, we also recognized that the Spanish team could be used for much more. The timing of this was perfect, because at that time Pro4all already had a plan to integrate the back-end and front-end teams and the integration of the nearshoring team could be included in that plan.

Because the cooperation with the Spanish developers went well and finding new developers in Spain was both easier and more cost-efficient, Pro4all immediately decided to expand the team in Spain. After that, things went pretty fast. The team was scaled up from 3 to about 10 people in a fairly short time, with both .Net, React and QA specialists. “And we are really satisfied with this,” says Coebergh. “Also because we were able to find the right candidates quickly.”

Integration of the teams

“At first, you didn’t have the feeling that the Spanish developers were ‘part of the team’, because our Dutch team of developers actually saw them too little. But that has really changed since the integration of the teams,” says Coebergh. The idea that the rise of remote working has made the integration easier is shared. “It was actually now as easy as adding the Spanish developers to the Teams call and a bit of expectation management. Before this, I don’t think we could have done that, and we might have had a lot more resistance,” continues Kalfsbeek.

“The team was scaled up from 3 to about 10 people in a fairly short period of time.”

Tips for companies that wan’t to start nearshoring

“Above all, you shouldn’t take it too lightly and think ‘oh, we’ll just start a team there,’” says Coebergh. “We select people who are excellent at English, because the teams have to be able to communicate well with each other. Expectation management towards your own people is also very important: explaining that they will not be replaced and explaining the reasoning behind it.” It’s a choice you make for the longer term and new people can start working quickly, but they also need to be trained. Just like someone in the Netherlands. Provide has made it as easy as possible, so the coaching of the existing team and new entrants goes well. But there are always a few things you have to do yourself, like internal expectation management and making sure internal communication is good. Don’t think about it too lightly and do it in steps.”

“Looking back, we thought it would work well to keep the team separate, but I think now that it’s combined, it’s more fun for everyone,” Kalfsbeek says. “And also that it actually works better. There was nothing wrong with the initial idea, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The way it is now is more fun for everyone, and we get more value out of the overall team.”

Vision for the future

By 2030, Pro4all wants to have 1 million paying users in their software. “We still have about 8 years for that. If the cooperation continues to go like this and the need for designers and developers continues to grow like it did, we see no reason to reduce or stop the cooperation with Provide,” says Kalfsbeek. “Also because it will remain difficult to find good developers for the foreseeable future. I don’t think that situation will change any time soon.”

“The way things are now is more fun for everyone and we get more value out of the overall team.”

How does Provide help?

Provide takes the concerns about nearshoring completely out of your hands. We do this by focusing on the culture and personality of both parties during the matching processes and by providing all our projects with a dedicated project manager. With over 10 years of experience and our tailored approach, we can ensure the success of all our clients. We help with the right strategy by answering the following questions:

  • How do you structure the setup of your nearshore development team?
  • How can you set up nearshore development effectively?
  • How can you identify the bottlenecks in your organization?
  • How can you prevent friction within your team?
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The North Brabant municipality of Vught, known regionally during Carnival as Dommelbaorzedurp, is a stone’s throw from Den Bosch and has about 26,000 inhabitants. Years ago, this municipality belonged to the medium-sized municipalities, but after many municipal reorganizations, it is now one of the smaller ones. The IT department manages a total of 230 workstations and is headed by Bob Appeldooren, Team Leader Organisation Support.

Until recently, the municipality itself managed the server rooms, which were equipped with a double system to deal with emergencies. Because the systems were virtually written off, the time was ripe for Bob Appeldooren to take a good look at the infrastructure and the management of it. Much revolved around the question of how ready it was for the future. Appeldooren: “To start with, it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the increasingly high demands made on server rooms. In addition, the number of products and processes has increased significantly in recent years. Of course, the ‘big data’ phenomenon cannot escape us either. A lot of data is also linked to each other with the risk that if something falls over somewhere, problems will arise elsewhere. Finding the cause of that domino effect is becoming increasingly difficult. Because your own expertise starts to fall short, you automatically have to rely on help from external parties.”

Fast scaling up and down

In order to make the right choice between in-house management or outsourcing, Appeldooren believes that two other, equally important factors play a role. “In the context of the decentralization of healthcare tasks, local authorities are being given more and more tasks by the government. At the end of the day, more work has to be done by fewer people. Without embracing new technologies, this is a losing battle. Especially when civil servants are expected to work different hours in the context of 24/7 services. And then there is the possibility that we will also merge with other municipalities in the future. In both scenarios you have to be able to scale up and down quickly, especially in terms of IT, and outsourcing, especially in the cloud, is a good solution for that. In our case, such a solution fits in perfectly with the policy of the municipal council, which aims to take control and not do everything itself. Once it became clear that outsourcing was inevitable, some cold feet had to be overcome.”

“Where other parties promote their own product, Provide bets on flexibility. That fits in perfectly with our needs”

Not promoting own product

“A certain resistance to handing over part of the control is normal. This is certainly true when you have the legal obligation as a municipality to be back on the air within 48 hours in the event of a calamity. And then there is the question of what the US does with your data if it ends up on a foreign server. The market now has good solutions for that.” All this resulted in a European tender before the summer of 2016. Because all the departments involved had been working towards this internally for almost a year, a Programme of Requirements could be drawn up in a relatively short time. What immediately stood out about Provide’s tender was that, unlike others, they do not promote their own product. Other parties get stuck sooner or later while we are looking for flexibility. In addition, they met all the requirements and immediately thought with us. Immediately after the summer they started with the implementation and last December we went live.”

Citizen Affairs virtualized

“After an extensive testing process using our own systems as backup, the servers were first moved to Provide’s private cloud over a weekend. Part of our organization was present during this process. All test protocols were run through and that went very well. The workstations were subsequently transferred in phases, with the most difficult ones being transferred last. In this way we were able to immediately apply the experience we had gained in the interim to the other workstations. We immediately took the opportunity to virtualize the desks of the Citizens’ Affairs department with a view to possible calamities. In all honesty, I do not know what Provide’s private cloud solution looks like in detail. That is not necessary as long as they meet all the requirements. The size of Provide gives confidence, as does their previous experience with cloud solutions for other municipalities. By the way, those were all partial solutions because we are one of the first municipalities with a complete cloud infrastructure.”

“Our organization has not noticed anything from the operation, except that the systems have become faster”

Above expectations

“Furthermore, their price is good, they handle risks very carefully and work in a very structured way. During the entire implementation there was a solid project leader present three days a week, someone for the databases and two technical people. Since the implementation, we have only done the first-line helpdesk and the functional application management; the rest is done by Provide. That also applies to the updates and the monitoring. Because they do this for a multitude of customers, they are much better and faster at it than we could do ourselves. All in all, everything went above and beyond our expectations. Our organization has not noticed anything of the operation, except that the systems have become faster. The number of failures has been greatly reduced since the implementation so the environment has become more stable. If there is still something wrong, Provide solves it immediately and communicates. Finally, it is nice that they do not get bogged down in all kinds of procedures and details. Don’t talk the talk, but walk the walk and that works very well!

Meer weten?

Provide sluit volledig aan op de vraag van de Gemeente Vught, door continuïteit te bieden en IT-zorgen uit handen te nemen. We gaan voor het beste resultaat door efficiënt aan een oplossing te werken en een zorgeloze ICT-infrastructuur aan te leggen. Neem direct contact op via de onderstaande mogelijkheden.

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With 5 decades of experience, an annual turnover of over €140 million and more than 400 employees, BOAL is a well-established company with a strong financial base for future growth. BOAL was founded in 1970 and today is a leader in the design and production of, among other things, aluminum greenhouse cover systems for the agribusiness sector.

About 5 years ago, the management of BOAL discovered that the outdated ICT situation had to change in order to continue to meet the needs of customers. Provide fully complied with this demand. We spoke with Erwin Ronge (Group IT manager at BOAL) about how Provide Managed Services (hereinafter: Provide) has taken several ICT concerns out of BOAL’s hands.

The ICT challenges of BOAL

Whereas BOAL’s IT department used to be full of developers, today the operational part of the IT department is outsourced. Although the developers could respond quickly to employee questions, matters were rarely documented and sometimes not tested. “There were enough people, but the level of knowledge was declining,” says Erwin Ronge. To ensure the continuity of the company, BOAL therefore decided to look for a suitable partner with whom they could house their IT department.

” From the board of directors it was recognized that we could no longer continue with this approach,” says Erwin Ronge. Costs were soaring and real innovation would never occur. The industry as a whole went through a rough patch starting in 2008. Investments in infrastructure lagged behind as a result. That had to change. BOAL started looking for partners who could help with this. Provide quickly came out of the test as the strongest provider.

Erwin explains why Provide was chosen. After a very short time it was clear that Provide provides an excellent service. But that was not all. “I would dare to say that it was also the best offer in terms of price.”

“Today, the executive part of the IT department is fully outsourced”

No more worrying about ICT

Provide tackled and improved the outdated situation at BOAL. Erwin explains “the situation that existed at the time of signing had various challenges. Provide has managed to combine all solutions in one contract. After more than a year Provide offered even more solutions. Such as complete hosting in their own data center, in a hybrid way.” This choice led to the benefits that BOAL is now reaping. The management confirms that the ICT system has improved enormously since the collaboration with Provide.

More quality, clarity and security

BOAL is very satisfied with the Pay Per Use model that Provide offers. “You pay for what you use.” As fragmented as the services used to be with various suppliers, everything is now centralized at Provide. Instead of contacting 15 suppliers, BOAL now only needs to coordinate with one party for infrastructure matters.

“The lines are getting shorter, everything is becoming clearer. We have much more visibility into what is being used.” This not only provides more structure, but also works more securely.

“The service manager who sits with us, Edwin, really understands how things work. If you ask him about something, you can be sure that something is going to happen. We haven’t been disappointed once in that respect.” Says Erwin. “When it comes to the technical side of things, it’s really nice to have someone who knows your business.”

BOAL faces a number of IT challenges in the near future. He is confident that if something does happen soon, it will be solved immediately by Provide. So Erwin isn’t worried. “In a few weeks we’re going to move an entire server cabinet. That’s pretty exciting. But I haven’t had a second of stress from it.”

“The lines become shorter, everything becomes clearer. This not only provides more structure, but also works more safely.”

Want to know more?

Provide fully complies with the demand of BOAL, by offering continuity and taking ICT worries off your hands. We go for the best result by working efficiently on a solution and building a carefree ICT infrastructure. Please contact us directly using the options below.

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How Provide helps optimize IT processes

When you and I think of Boels Rental, we think of rental machines, tools and event equipment. Looking at the impressive figures of the rental company, we are certainly not the only ones. After a recent, large acquisition, the revenue counter will soon reach no less than one billion euros. In any case, the Limburg family business manages to double its turnover every five years and that is a very exceptional achievement. Due to the strong growth, however, the shoe began to pinch on the IT side.

Reiant Mulder has been COO at Boels Rental since October 1, 2018. Reiant is responsible for the commercial and operational leadership of all operational Business Units. The responsibility for IT processes comes on top of that. With 4,000 employees in thirteen countries, that is a huge job. “Until recently, we did all service desk activities in-house. At a certain point, that was really no longer manageable,” Reiant explains. “There was hardly any time to document processes, for example. Of course, we want to focus as much as possible on the business itself. In order to optimize and improve Boels Rental’s IT processes, outsourcing the service desk, 1st and 2nd line, in combination with workplace management was unavoidable. But only to a professional party that is flexible and comes up with solutions quickly.”

“Despite the existing cooperation, we still went through a regular RFP and RFI process. There Provide came out on top again.”

Overview

Boels had a strong preference for a partner that is not as big as the big boys, is closer to home, works fast and flexible and preferably already knows Boels. Provide fit exactly into that picture. Reiant: “In addition to a dozen of our own service desk employees, we already hired a number of consultants from Provide. Despite the existing cooperation, we still went through a regular RFP and RFI process. Provide came out on top again. During the transition, in which not only the Providers but also some of our own people made the switch, Provide has taken many IT worries off our hands. I never had the feeling of losing the overview. During the transition, they continuously gave us insight into the course and state of affairs. They documented everything very accurately and recorded all the important issues.”

Less worry, more focus

“We know that we outsourced the IT department in an unstructured way. At the same time, we ask for flexibility and we get it. The cooperation is pleasant and familiar. I think we accomplish this well together. Boels also wanted a smooth transition and that too has been achieved. The various branches nationally and internationally noticed little or nothing of the switch to an external IT service during three months. The big advantage is that from now on our own IT department can start focusing on further optimization, innovations and new applications. That gives us a lot of peace of mind, all the more so because the basic services will continue to be provided in an orderly and documented manner. We continue to grow in number of employees and business. With Provide’s help, we can further facilitate Boels’ existing growth.”

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Grand and compelling

Reiant is impressed with the collaboration with Provide. “I have run IT outsourcing projects at large, publicly traded organizations. These were heavy, grand, compelling and fraught with hassle. At Boels, however, you see that a family business with good entrepreneurship, in collaboration with a professional and local party like Provide, can do the same job, in a very pragmatic and smart way that also went smoothly. That’s wonderful.”

Want to know more?

Provide fully meets the demand of Boels Rental by taking ICT worries off their hands. We go for the best result by working efficiently on a solution and building a carefree ICT infrastructure. Are you curious about the possibilities for your organization? Get in touch via +31 (0)30 6669600 or the contact options below.

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