AWVN secures continuity with Tiptrack

Availability of data and platform: a must for business continuity

When the original developer of Tiptrack was heading for bankruptcy, there was a sudden risk that both the app and the data would no longer be available. "That is why we started looking for a suitable alternative," says John Simons (Manager Information Services at AWVN). "We wanted the best technical solution for Tiptrack, but we also wanted the contractual side sorted out properly, so we can always get to the data and the app."

AWVN found exactly that combination in the joint offer from Indicia and data centre and cloud specialist Interconnect. The Interconnect continuity guarantee is unique here: it guarantees continuity of services at Interconnect for up to six months. Given Interconnect's exceptionally healthy financial position, that is extra reassurance on top.

Tiptrack

The Dutch general employers' association AWVN has been around since 1919. Over 750 individual companies and industry organisations are members, and AWVN is involved in more than half of all collective labour agreements in the Netherlands. But AWVN does much more than that. "We are increasingly becoming a digital service provider," says John Simons, Manager Information Services at AWVN. "Take Tiptrack, our personal, interactive online tool that encourages employees to take charge of their own careers."

"Tiptrack shows users where they can improve their employability, and then lets them buy products and services such as training, coaching and assessments straight away." The app serves more than a hundred thousand employees, who can browse the offerings of over a thousand service providers. Tiptrack gives access to almost 15,000 available products. Around the clock, of course.

Constant attention to information security

Indicia and Interconnect work closely together for AWVN and for Tiptrack. The extremely data-intensive app runs on a Virtual Private Cloud supplied by Interconnect, which makes sure server availability is as high as it can be. Interconnect's cloud is spread across two of its own data centres, in 's-Hertogenbosch and Eindhoven. Together they give Interconnect 6,800 square metres of data centre floor space, making its Tier 3+ data centre the largest in the south of the Netherlands.

Indicia manages the servers and the underlying platform, and keeps improving Tiptrack in close collaboration with AWVN. Tiptrack holds all kinds of health data about employees, and Indicia and Interconnect do everything they can to keep that data safe. Both companies are ISO 27001 certified, and Interconnect also holds an end-to-end certification, which means its information security processes are clearly defined.

A lot of trust between AWVN, Interconnect and Indicia

Simons is happy with the way AWVN, Indicia and Interconnect work together. "We have an agreement that is worthy of any corporate. And yet we never actually use it. We leave the contract in the drawer, we think along with each other and we are willing to think outside the lines about things that are not in the SLA. That is how I like to work best."

That collaboration also means Simons sleeps better, because he knows everything is properly arranged. "I can reassure my management team with certainties. We have our affairs in order."