Azure Cloud Platform at IKNL
Cities | Public Services  x  Cloud
The Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL) is a non-profit research organisation dedicated to reducing the impact of cancer. They accomplish this by collecting, enriching, and distributing large amounts of data. IKNL links the insights and advice that result from this data, back to healthcare organisations. With its own Future IT program, they are striving to handle all data they process in an even more careful, structured, and efficient manner. The use of Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework is key in achieving these standards for IKNL's new cloud environment.
The situation
"The current IT landscape dates back to a merger, eight years ago”, says Ed de Vries, Head of ICT at IKNL. “The principles established back then, now hinder us in our daily work and with this landscape we are not prepared for the future. Furthermore, our core application has a suboptimal performance. Innovation is in the DNA of IKNL. Therefore, we need a future-proof IT landscape that complies with the high safety standards as we are NEN 7510 and ISO/IEC 27001 certified. That's why we started our Future IT program”, Ed continues. “In this program, we will address the entire scope of our IT landscape from people and technology to process and governance. We look at new technological possibilities as well as the organisation's need for innovation. We also create our own applications.
But, in order to establish Future IT properly, we need a solid foundation to build upon. And we found this in the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework."
The solution
“There was an instant match between our specialists and those at Heroes”, says Ed. “They practice what they preach, and more importantly, they looked far beyond our own Azure issues. They thought about how to create a solid foundation for our data, now and for the future. In addition, Heroes already implemented a solid Azure Data Platform at STIZON, a reference in which we saw many similarities to our situation. Furthermore, Heroes performed a health check on IKNL's Azure environment to determine what was present and what potential risks existed. Then they started implementing the Cloud Adoption Framework to get the basics right.”
“Ultimately, we're doing this to perform our primary purpose of collecting data, conducting research, and providing results and insights”, Ed explains. “The Azure platform is fundamental in achieving this. What we have now is a modern, future-proof cloud environment, fully designed according to Microsoft's best practices and fully managed in-house. We have far less shadow IT and enjoy a high degree of flexibility, for example when we want to develop a new application. Heroes ensured that all the knowledge they brought to the table was also secured within our organisation. I can say that we are now fully in control of our Azure environment.”
The three key takeaways for every company
Robust IT infrastructure: A solid and scalable IT foundation is crucial for handling sensitive data and supporting future growth and innovations.
Tailored solutions: Success hinges on thinking beyond immediate technical needs and providing a customized solution.
Knowledge transfer and internal management: Ensuring internal control and capability in managing new technologies is essential for independence and ongoing innovation.
“With Azure configured in accordance with the Cloud Adoption Framework, we have a solid foundation for the next step in our cloud strategy", Ed concludes. "So, there is still plenty to do within our Future IT program!"
Email me the case as PDF
Hi, I'm Tom. Drop me an email on tom.steenbakkers@heroes.nl and Heroes will find a solution for your case.
