Skip to content
Customer Story

Valk Solutions Boosts Delivery with VSTS

Retail automation specialist radically improves its delivery process utilizing Agile tools and cloud-native infrastructure

Related services
Azure DevOps

Industry
Business and IT

Company
Xebia

Valk Solutions empowers retailers with omnichannel cloud solutions. A specialist in retail automation since 1989, the company develops and provides cloud software for retailers, webshops, and kiosks, including in-store and online point-of-sale systems. It also owns Countr, an international POS solution for retail, hospitality, and public transport. Valk Solutions has 20,000 clientele and processes more than 3 billion euros in sales revenue for retail organizations annually.

Why
Workflow driven by outdated process
What
Implement an Agile workflow
How
Infrastructure updated to cloud-native to improve delivery

Updating Outdated Software

Customers rely on Valk Solutions for seamless payment systems. Any interruption impacts their business processes: if payments can’t go through transactions stop, and shoppers look elsewhere. In 2017, Valk knew its version management process—a labor-intensive, manual process—was not only outdated but prone to multiple errors. A year later, the company welcomed more than 800 new stores to its omnichannel cloud platform ASPOS. It was time to rapidly adopt a new system. With Xebia’s guidance, the company migrated its software towards Azure DevOps, looking to effectively track and control changes, and deliver releases faster.

Upgrade to Reap the Benefits

In order to grow, Valk Solutions knew it couldn't put off updating its system. Once Valk Solutions’ manager of Software Development Joke Huizinga convinced the company to move to VSTS, it didn’t look back. Using Agile tools allowed Valk to create a new framework, migrating its old database into Azure DevOps. With VSTS (now known as Azure DevOps), Valk Solutions didn’t have to manage any infrastructure. That's’ because Microsoft takes care of the machines VSTS runs on.

Using VSTS, Valk Solutions improved quality control and transparency. It now has immediate insight into customer status and use.

“The change to VSTS has radically improved our entire delivery process. We now have what we previously thought was impossible— higher quality, more transparency, and reduced costs.”
Valk Solutions
Bart van Dodeweerd Lead Developer

Green Light to Change

With Xebia’s know-how, experience and skills, Valk Solutions updated its version and release management system, increasing operational reliability. The Xebia-designed platform made the process more Agile, so able to keep pace with other platforms that are constantly growing in complexity. The company’s infrastructure is now entirely cloud-native, ensuring short release cycles that take roughly one-tenth of the time. Valk is also in the process of adding release management, databases, and back-end systems.

Explore related customer stories