Serviceforbundet saves money and enjoys an easier upgrade process with cloud version of KMD WorkZone

Like many other organisations, the trade union Serviceforbundet is busy moving several of their core systems to the cloud. The latest solution in Serviceforbundet’s IT landscape to complete the transformation from a traditional data centre to a hyper cloud data centre is KMD WorkZone, which Serviceforbundet uses as an information system for managing the members’ data.

KMD WorkZone was previously hosted in KMD’s data centre in Ballerup, Denmark. So, it was not the prospect of fewer manual operational tasks that made Serviceforbundet switch to a cloud version of KMD WorkZone – as they didn’t have any. Rather, it was the prospect of a smoother upgrade process and a greater financial predictability that was the driving force behind the switch, explains Anders Damgaard Nielsen, IT Manager in Serviceforbundet.

“Previously when we upgraded KMD WorkZone to a newer version it required half a year of planning prior to the actual upgrade, several meetings with KMD and an entire weekend to carry out the upgrade and test the system. It was a long, arduous, and expensive process. Because we paid for the consulting hours needed for the upgrade process,” he says.

KMD WorkZone-as-a-Service

Today, KMD WorkZone is delivered to Serviceforbundet as Software-as-a-Service. This means that Serviceforbundet is automatically upgraded to a new version every quarter, and the upgrade itself is completed in a couple of hours and during a weekday afternoon.

“We are not even spending that much time testing once the upgrade is over. It takes an hour, and that’s it,” says Anders Damgaard Nielsen and explains that the time saved in every subprocess of a system upgrade is visible and tangible in the IT budget.

“The simplified upgrade process gives us a predictability in our finances enjoyed by – not only me – but certainly also our CFO. We know the exact monthly costs of our cloud model. Previously, our KMD WorkZone spending could go up and down if something was changed or fixed. The financial predictability is also an aspect that the rest of the organisation values as it eliminates sudden surprises in the IT budget.”

Continuous system improvements

In addition to a more stable financial setup and a smoother upgrade process, Anders Damgaard Nielsen highlights the cloud model’s continuous software improvements as a clear benefit over the traditional delivery model.

“This means that we are always updated to the latest version. Just like, for instance, the Office suite. Feature improvements are continuously pushed to the users giving them the full value of the solution,” he says.

“We have now been running the cloud version of KMD WorkZone for a month, and the users have actually not felt any major changes in their workday. I see this as a positive. It illustrates that it requires no additional or special training to migrate to the cloud version of KMD WorkZone. It just works.”

Complete security in the cloud

Before Serviceforbundet chose to migrate their KMD WorkZone solution to the cloud they considered whether the switch would be secure, and whether they could get their data back if they needed it.
“We aired those concerns with KMD, but they had good answers to all our questions. We know that they have created a secure tunnel to our data, and we know that our data is fully protected in a data centre in Amsterdam. So, we are completely confident,” says Anders Damgaard Nielsen.

Prior to the migration, Serviceforbundet was also unsure of how long the migration from their traditional solution to the cloud-based solution would take. But it turned out that it was done in a weekend – after which the users could continue work.

“All in all, we’ve had a great collaboration with KMD. The solid process combined with the expectation of an increasingly stable platform and financial gains in the long run leave us very optimistic about our future use of KMD WorkZone,” concludes Anders Damgaard Nielsen.

About Serviceforbundet

Serviceforbundet is a trade union established in 1911. Serviceforbundet gathers several trade groups within the service industries, including bank clerks, dairymen, watchmakers, and opticians. Serviceforbundet previously ran Funktionærernes and Servicefagenes Unemployment Insurance Fund. On 1 January 2017, the fund merged with Min A-kasse that Serviceforbundet collaborates with today.