Helmond Municipality faced the challenge of converting its traditional office environment to a modern workplace, where employees have the option of hybrid working. To achieve this transition, the municipality engaged the expertise of PQR. Together with the ICT management organization of the Municipality of Helmond, PQR took care of the transition; from the development of a functional to a technical design, to the implementation of the new workplace and its supervision.
The desire for a future-proof workplace
The motivation from the Municipality of Helmond for this transition was the need for a new digital workplace and renewal of the infrastructure. Marty van der Hoek, Senior ICT Advisor at the Municipality of Helmond, explains, “As a municipality, we were keen to create a future-proof workplace, especially in view of the move to our new, modern city office; the House for the City. We were running into more and more bottlenecks, so it was necessary to develop a user-friendly, flexible work environment with the ability to work independently of location. And, of course, an environment that meets information security and management requirements.”
A functional design was written from the municipality, in which a number of key elements emerged, namely optimizing ease of use, location-independent working, information security and management. During the start-up phase of the project, the COVID-19 pandemic erupted in full force, making the importance of remote working all the more apparent and benefiting from the early continuation of the project. Once the functional design was ready, it then had to be translated into a technical story by a specialist. For this, PQR proved to be the party of choice for professional advice.
Modern workstation for optimal ease of use
In cooperation with the Municipality of Helmond, PQR drew up a plan of action to set up the municipality’s work environment. The goal was to translate the requirements from the functional design into a technical story, using Microsoft as a guide. A Modern workplace from Microsoft with Windows 10; a flexible platform that can be well adapted to personal preferences. The premise here is that the user needs only one environment that contains all the facilities, services and applications needed to work efficiently. Helmond Municipality has a hybrid application environment with on-premises and cloud applications, with a shift to the cloud. Both the cloud and on-premises applications were made accessible via the Internet as much as possible, based on a SaaS solution published app or VPN, the latter being available only from a workplace of the Municipality of Helmond.
Easy access to traditional applications via published apps
If traditional client-server applications that depend on the data center must be available externally, they run on the VMware Horizon platform. They are conveniently offered as a published app on the Modern Workplace. Preferably on VPN, where latency and stability is a concern. These published apps are accessible in the same way as the other applications, because for the user, all applications are in one place, namely in the Liquit Digital Workspace. The Modern Workplace thus cleverly combines the benefits of applications that reside in the cloud, offered locally, and applications available as published apps. This allows users to work efficiently without being hindered by technical limitations. By combining Liquit with the modern workplace and VMware environment, applications can be installed and provisioned to end users from a single solution, regardless of the location from which work is performed.
Van der Hoek: “Although the system is an investment, you quickly recoup the cost through a decrease in management costs. The technology works optimally, without our colleagues having to worry about how it works. They can fully focus on their work, which improves productivity.”
In addition to setting up the work environment, PQR also provided security for the workstations, servers and network of the Municipality of Helmond. To ensure a solid level of security, both workstations and servers are included in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: a cyber security tool that protects devices and data from malware, spyware and other malicious software. In addition, Intune Security Baselines are also activated on Windows workstations, ensuring a protected workspace while remaining fully functional.
Conditional Access is also used; for secure access to files as well as to ensure that a device meets certain conditions before being granted access to the network environment of the Municipality of Helmond. Windows Hello for Business requires additional authentication at Windows workstations. This can be done with facial or fingerprint recognition. These measures increase safety while maintaining optimal ease of use
Pilot prior to rollout of implementation
After PQR made everything technically possible to realize the new workplace, a pilot started. Van der Hoek: “From the municipality we had put together a pilot group, consisting of various users with different roles and digital skills. After carrying out a survey among the pilot users, a nice mark of 7.0 already emerged for the various components of the ‘New Digital Workplace’ living lab. We picked up and adjusted the resulting points, after which the implementation could start.”
Adoption plan for smooth transition
To make the transition as smooth as possible, it was important to actively involve the employees of the Municipality of Helmond.
So PQR put together an adoption plan, which included training to familiarize employees with the new technologies and work processes. “In not too large groups of up to 20 people, adoption sessions were held in the Council Chamber. This way there was enough time for everyone to ask questions and enough room for personal attention. A reservation system was opened where employees could register, and it was well used. The trainings were incredibly well received by our employees. By guiding them well in the new way of working during this process, they are able to work efficiently in the new work environment and are also convinced of the advantages the new work environment offers them. Any concerns or uncertainties could thus be addressed in a timely manner,” said Van der Hoek.
After the workstations were implemented, and employees attended the necessary information sessions, it was important to secure the new way of working. All information regarding the transition was therefore included in the already existing information portal, where
The ICT Service Desk serves as a point of contact and supports where necessary. Based on the various needs, we consider how best to implement the assurance phase. This through a plan of action that includes customized training,
additional instruction and refreshers to optimize digital skills. Indeed, it is important that users continue to make the best possible use of IT facilities.
A very pleasant cooperation with PQR
Van der Hoek: “The remote workstations have now been implemented, In the process, the necessary adjustments were made to optimize graphics performance. We are very pleased with the new working environment, which was designed entirely based on PQR’s advice. We can work location independent, we have a unified user interface and one does not have to switch to different environments. Our employees can fully focus on their work, without having to think about the technology; the back end is taken care of. Thereby, security is a very important part in the whole IT environment and we comply with all security standards.
Thanks in part to a well-designed adoption plan, the transition also went smoothly. We have found this whole process with PQR to be very pleasant! Among other things because of the pleasant cooperation, knowledge and skill of the company and flexibility of service. The foundation is in place, which means we can now take the optimization step.”
