The increasing complexity of IT and the shortage of qualified personnel outside the Randstad made an innovative solution necessary. After a careful tender process, this led to a modern hybrid cloud and successful collaboration with PQR and Uniserver.

Nenad Vasiljevic, project manager at Municipality of Berkelland explains:

“We were facing an increasingly complex IT environment, but simply did not have the resources and manpower to manage it efficiently. With a smaller team and over 700 users, it became clear that outsourcing was the only option. Our outdated IT infrastructure needed to be modernized, and cloud solutions offered the flexibility and security we were looking for.”

The shortage of qualified personnel and the high costs of external hiring made outsourcing inevitable. At the end of 2019, the municipality decided to tender, with the aim of implementing a future-proof IT solution.

“The complexity kept increasing, especially in the area of ​​security. It was important for us to ensure not only quality, but also scalability and security. With a small team, this was almost impossible to achieve internally,” says Nenad.

PQR en Uniserver leveren al jaren samen hybride cloudoplossingen, hetgeen heel goed aansloot bij de behoeften van Berkelland. Benjamin Sihasale, Accountmanager bij PQR, zegt hierover:

“The demand from the market – and certainly from municipalities – is focused on flexible, scalable and secure IT solutions. Together with Uniserver, we opted for a hybrid cloud solution: a stable private cloud for basic needs, supplemented with public cloud applications for specific functionalities.”

Thanks to the hybrid cloud, the Municipality of Berkelland now has a reliable and flexible infrastructure that is both scalable and secure. This allows them to benefit from the advantages of both private and public cloud, without losing control over data and applications and thus continue to meet the requirements imposed on government institutions by law and regulations in the long term.

The migration of Berkelland was the result of a close collaboration between PQR and Uniserver. PQR brought its expertise in IT consultancy and project management, while Uniserver provided a robust and flexible cloud platform. This synergy between both parties was crucial to the success of the migration.

Michiel Pronk of Uniserver, who was closely involved in the process, explains: “Outsourcing of IT facilities is increasingly becoming the norm within municipalities. Almost every municipality realizes that it is difficult for an IT team to manage the environment and also meet business expectations and, for example, security requirements. We are very proud that we were able to help PQR and Berkelland with this challenge.”

Nenad Vasiljevic reflects on the project: “The project had some initial start-up problems, but thanks to the strong collaboration between all parties involved, we met the fairly tight deadlines. Despite the initial challenges, we successfully completed the project.”

Since the implementation, Berkelland now runs with satisfaction on a modern, reliable and flexible Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform. Operationally and financially, the municipality is very satisfied with the choice for PQR and Uniserver.

“The big advantage is that we no longer have to worry about daily management tasks such as updates and antivirus. This gives us the freedom to focus on the real needs of the business and on supporting our users. The cooperation with PQR and Uniserver is still positive, and we look to the future with confidence,” says Nenad.

The collaboration between Uniserver, PQR and the Municipality of Berkelland shows how hybrid cloud solutions can effectively overcome municipal IT challenges. Thanks to the flexible and secure infrastructure, Berkelland can fully focus on supporting their business processes and benefit from the scalability and reliability of a modern IaaS platform.

Since 1990, PQR has been a leading IT company in the Netherlands, focused on providing peace and stability in IT environments. With almost 300 employees, PQR serves more than 1000 customers in the Netherlands, including governments and healthcare institutions. PQR is part of the Bechtle Group.

The municipality of Berkelland, located in the Achterhoek, was created in 2005 from a merger of four municipalities and has more than 43.000 inhabitants. The municipality is known for its green surroundings, lively village centres, and a strong focus on sustainability and innovation.