Under the motto “Enabling Delta Life,” the Dutch knowledge institute Deltares conducts global research on water and subsoil. Deltares’ expertise focuses primarily on deltas, coastal regions and riverine areas. Because managing these densely populated and vulnerable areas is complex, they work closely with governments, businesses, knowledge institutions and universities at home and abroad.
As an applied research institute, Deltares aims to give fundamental scientific knowledge a practical application. To do so, they use huge amounts of data and develop software products and models. In this way, Deltares provides answers to global issues for now and in the future. For example, they work around land subsidence to drought, water quality and maintaining robust dikes, dams and dunes that prevent large parts of the Netherlands from flooding on a regular basis.
Data is central to applied research
Central to making scientific knowledge applicable today is information technology. Crucial to this is the data and computing capacity of the in-house data center. Deltares also develops simulation software for water and subsurface.
For example, the institute created Delft- FEWS, an advanced data-driven platform to predict and prevent flooding in coastal and riverine areas. They want to make the software they develop freely available. “As a foundation, we capture our knowledge in open source software,” says Han Van Veldhuizen, Head of ICT at Deltares. “A beautiful and challenging model.”
In order to develop software models like Delft-FEWS, Deltares needs an enormous amount of data. Van Veldhuizen said the institute has “1.5 petabytes of unique data that must be stored and processed in a secure, efficient manner.” In addition, the institute has two branches in the Netherlands and some projects are ongoing abroad. So the data and applications must also be easily available and manageable across multiple locations.
Transformation project IT: new strategy
To support research and application development, the IT department plays an important role in the Deltares organization. Several years ago, the company rolled out a new IT strategy to best contribute to this. The goal? Be able to connect faster with the business to offer them new services faster.
To achieve business goals, Deltares is transitioning to a software-defined data center and hybrid cloud. Because they have a huge amount of data and applications with unpredictable capacity requirements, it is important to be able to quickly switch between environments. Virtualization is the first step in this. After considering several options, Deltares, supported by PQR, chose VMware.
VMware’s solution consists of two tracks: the Horizon Suite and the Cloud Foundation Suite.
VMware best fits the need
On the one hand, Deltares is opting for thorough app and desktop virtualization with the Horizon Suite. This simplifies management and allows them to choose more flexibility and efficiency. Inactive VMs are disabled, eliminating capacity consumption and reducing hardware costs. For a research institution working partly with public funds, cost efficiency is obviously very important.
In turn, the Cloud Foundation provides an integrated hybrid cloud platform to simplify application development and service delivery. “We are making both an efficiency gain and a security gain here,” says Van Veldhuizen. Automatic updates for security now make IT service life easier “We used to have to manually patch 900 virtual environments. With Cloud Foundation, we can simplify and automate this.”
Also, a hybrid cloud increases efficiency. First and foremost, more capacity can be switched to the public cloud faster. In addition, a hybrid environment also allows for easier management: the software systems that Deltares develops often consist of a standard package of models that must be configured differently for each client. The development team used to do this manually, which takes a lot of time and work. “With Cloud Foundation, employees or customers can simply click their environment together. We fly it DevOps.”
A true partnership
Van Veldhuizen, meanwhile, has been Head of ICT at Deltares for five years. But the relationship with PQR has been going on a bit longer. “It’s more of a partnership than a customer-supplier relationship. We really tackle it together.” As a partner, PQR plays a major role primarily as an advisor and consultant. The project therefore began with a thorough analysis of Deltares’ needs. With a proof of concept (POC), PQR gauged expectations among the organization. What do end users and IT professionals want from their infrastructure? Is that feasible with VMware?
After PQR developed a proposal based on the POC, they and Deltares set up a small hybrid cloud environment in late 2018. When that was approved, it was time to implement the full solution. Deltares and PQR opted for a phased implementation.
Meanwhile, the foundation of the Cloud Foundation is in place and they can begin the full rollout. “We are addressing this incrementally, service by service,” By implementing the new environment step-by-step, they ensure that every facet of it fully meets Deltares’ needs. Additional questions that arise in the meantime will be incorporated into the solution as soon as possible. “It’s really customized,” says Van Veldhuizen.
With the new hybrid environment based on next- gen VMware technology, Deltares chooses to efficiently support its core business: application development. Together with PQR, they designed a solution that shortens time-to-market and reduces hardware costs. With this new IT infrastructure, they can move faster and respond more smoothly to the needs of the business. This is how they achieve more with less.
When to take the plunge?
As an IT expert, PQR has years of experience in designing, implementing and managing complex IT environments. Together with you, we develop step by step a flexible environment that matches your organisation’s ambitions and priorities, now and in the future. Ready to transcend the boundaries of your physical infrastructure? Request an assessment now and discover the potential of software-defined for your enterprise.