The University of Groningen takes a big step forward in data security
Bergen op Zoom, 28 June 2022 – The University of Groningen (UG) – like many other educational institutions – were looking for an affordable solution to optimally secure their data. In addition, the UG wanted to benefit from working with better tools for reporting as well as having a higher ROI.
UG collaborated with SURF, in order to choose the most suitable IT consultants, that being Quistor, to solve the issue: a migration of all BI tools for reporting and dashboards to Oracle Analytics Cloud. A smart move because BI-tools are safer in the cloud than when they are stored locally. The choice for Quistor was logical, it is the only partner in the Netherlands that can deliver cloud services from Oracle through SURF.
Floris Krabbe, Teamlead of the BI-team of the UG: “We wanted to go to the cloud for management reasons, but also for privacy reasons and better security. The main goal was to implement the latest version of the Oracle software. We were quite behind in that area and that meant security risks were intertwined. Cloud migration to Oracle Analytics Cloud ensures that software upgrades are automated from Oracle. Also, in case of technical issues, you no longer need to have that knowledge in-house and can fall back on Oracle and Quistor.”
Migrating to the Oracle Cloud through SURF, brought the UG more benefits, such as low costs.
Mark Verhorst from Quistor: “SURF was created to provide IT services cheaply for universities and colleges. Most universities have a so-called campus license and can make use of a bring-your-own-license. That means they can migrate to a cloud environment for very low cost.”
In addition to the low investment, the UG now also benefits from better security for data and tools. A platform such as Oracle Cloud has numerous built-in security solutions. Mark Verhorst (Quistor): “Products are delivered with a lot of security measures as standard. You also have tooling at your disposal something that is not included as standard on-premises. That’s why securing your environment on such a cloud platform is much more accessible.”
The new environment has delivered a lot to the university. Floris Krabbe: “We now have a reporting environment in the cloud with new features such as graphical representations, new functions and improvements to existing functionalities.” He also looks back on a pleasant cooperation with the Oracle Lift Team that did the implementation. “The contact with Oracle was extremely pleasant. Oracle provided support in every way possible, so I’m very happy about that.”
