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Customer Story

Justice Department Achieves Faster Roll-outs and Fewer Errors

The Judicial Information Services Department of the Netherlands implemented new technologies to minimize exposure risks, without disrupting its services

Related services
Cloud, Microsoft Azure, DevOps

Industry
Utilities and Tools

Company
Xebia

The Ministry of Justice and Security’s Judicial Information Service is responsible for record keeping. The department handles highly confidential information about people such as criminal records, residency permits, fingerprints, and more. Because this information is sensitive, the department’s ability to maintain accurate, secure records is crucial. About 350 professionals work at the department with teams in Almelo, Zutphen, Leeuwarden, and the Hague. To ensure quality and competency, the team is composed of a diverse range of professionals including product specialists, attorneys, and technical experts.

Why
Maintain high-quality service and ensure information is secure
What
Implement the latest technologies incrementally to minimize security risk factors
How
Automate the roll-out process with incremental releases

Critical Elements: Security and Service

Given the large volume of sensitive information processed by the Judicial Information Services Department, security is of utmost importance. Keeping pace with new technologies while maintaining continuous services is also crucial. Mark van der Molen, unit team leader for the department explained, “It’s important to keep our systems in line with current and future technologies. Any change had to focus on separate, easily manageable components rather than the entire system to decrease our risk exposure. Additionally, any technology we implemented had to have a proven track record.”

Planning is Key

Knowing system updates are an essential task that also creates risk, the Justice Department hired Xebia for guidance. Two consultants performed a detailed analysis of its systems, resulting in a roadmap for technological development and recommendations for optimization. Xebia helped the team develop an implementation plan it could execute on its own. Van der Molen described the collaboration process, “They’re a team of nice guys that work with you rather than intimidating you. They do not force ideas on you and what makes them so pleasant to work with is their relaxed attitude.”

“Xebia’s approach, experience, and know-how have certainly shown their value. Their consultants are very good at explaining complex technology in common terms. They provide guidance and then enable you to implement their advice yourself. This approach is cost-effective and it also ensures that you learn new skills.”
Justitiele Informatiedienst
Mark van der Molen Unit Team Leader

A Step-By-Step Approach

The Justice Department needed to handle system updates with more caution than the average business. “Because we focused on specific system components and used an automated roll-out process, we could implement small releases, which limited our risk. Essentially, it meant we could renovate our shop while keeping our business running and that’s exactly what our customers require and demand of us,” said Van der Mole, describing the process. This continuous approach meant that the department had fewer errors and a faster roll-out while updating to new technologies.

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