Municipality of Bergen op Zoom

Municipality of Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands

Serving its 68,000 residents with safe and efficient public services is the principal goal of the municipality of Bergen op Zoom. To achieve this objective, the municipal’s 650+ employees must collaborate effectively with each other, its residents and partners alike.

To foster efficient collaboration, the municipality places great importance on supporting its staff in the best possible way. This includes creating a working environment that enables employees to deliver effective services to residents while ensuring the protection of sensitive, personal information.

Breakaway from IT partnership

With these goals established, the municipality of Bergen op Zoom sought to regain control over its workplace environment and supporting IT infrastructure. Previously, they had limited autonomy in making IT decisions due to an existing partnership with four neighboring municipalities. This meant that any changes or expansions, such as storage upgrades or adopting new SaaS applications, required unanimous agreement across all parties involved.

This relative lack of control meant the municipality often faced unexpected IT expenses. To address this issue and improve service delivery, the municipality sought ways to make these costs more predictable, and manageable in the future. Consequently, they made the decision to withdraw from the partnership which would allow them to independently procure a new workplace environment and IT infrastructure. This move aimed to enhance service provision and ensure financial predictability for the municipality moving forward.

The new IT environment would need to be cloud-ready and compliant with the Common Ground guidelines set by the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG). Information security, data management, and integration were key factors that would need to be addressed by the new system. For example, the municipality demanded that the data exchange within the new workplace environment and underlying IT infrastructure take place in a secure and structured manner. Furthermore, they required seamless integration of municipal administrative systems with national databases.

Transformation of the workplace environment

To address these needs, Sogeti was selected to deliver 850 SMART WorkSpaces, a cloud-based workplace environment. Sogeti also delivered the underlying IT infrastructure which would enable municipal employees to work from any device and location with the same Microsoft applications they used previously. After disconnecting from the old infrastructure, Sogeti temporarily took over the old environment, built a new IT environment, and managed the complete migration.

Shift to autonomy

With the migration complete, Bergen op Zoom has successfully reclaimed independence over its IT environment and associated expenses. One significant benefit is the municipality’s recent decision to provide employees with individually managed laptops, eliminating the need for constant reliance on virtual desktops. This strategic choice is now entirely within the municipality’s control.

To further enhance management capabilities, the municipality set up its own helpdesk in collaboration with Sogeti, enabling even greater independence in the IT domain. The restoration of control also brings the added benefit of predictable IT costs, reinstating financial predictability for the organization.

Elevating information security

The new workplace environment enables the municipality to provide exceptional levels of service to its residents while ensuring the security of service delivery. Sogeti plays a vital role in ensuring information security, and the partnership instills confidence in the municipality for its residents, ensuring the protection and availability of personal and privacy-sensitive data. Together, they strive to uphold the highest standards of data security in a dynamic environment in the face of evolving cyber threats.

Focus on core activities

The implementation of Sogeti SMART WorkSpaces has provided the municipality of Bergen op Zoom with valuable time to prioritize its core activities while enhancing the delivery of services for its residents. Moreover, the municipality can now devote strategic thought to IT and digitization once again. With a well-structured foundation in place, municipal employees are relieved of the need to invest time and energy into these areas. This newfound efficiency allows them to focus on delivering exceptional services to the community and driving innovation in line with their goals and future aspirations.

“This modern workplace is a good digital basis for our employees, with a lot of attention being paid to information security. In addition, we no longer have to worry about managing this digital workplace and the underlying IT infrastructure. As a result, we as a municipality can look ahead again and focus on helping our residents as best as possible.”

Joost Pals, Alderman for Operations and Services, Municipality of Bergen op Zoom

“With the switch to the Sogeti SMART WorkSpace, the municipality of Bergen op Zoom has taken control of its IT environment and expenditure: a big step towards greater flexibility and independence. We are proud that we can contribute to improving internal cooperation and services to the citizens and companies of Bergen op Zoom.”

Monika Romeijn, Head of Division Cloud & Development, Sogeti