Association IT – reimagined

EIT.swiss was facing significant replacement investments in new server and storage systems. At the same time, requirements for availability, data security, mobile collaboration, and protection against cyberattacks were continuously increasing. For an association active throughout Switzerland with many affiliated members and digital services, a flexible, scalable, and long-term economical IT platform became essential.

Baggenstos migrated the systems in a controlled manner to a modern cloud environment and took over core operations at the second level. The transition took place without any downtime. Today, services run noticeably faster, security is centrally managed, and day-to-day administrative effort has decreased significantly. Following a detailed analysis, the Baggenstos team built a parallel infrastructure in the Azure cloud that reimagines and optimizes EIT.swiss processes while making the IT future-proof.

EIT.swiss

EIT.swiss is the professional organization for around 2,000 companies in the electrical industry with over 40,000 employees in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein. EIT.swiss represents the interests of the electrical industry to politics, business, and society. As a national association, it is responsible for the design and further development of vocational training. 55 employees work together with around 400 external experts (including examination experts). All higher vocational education examinations for EIT.swiss are conducted at the central examination center (ZPO) in Zurich Altstetten.

{{Referenz (/eit) | Dominik Meile}}

{{Referenz (/eit) | Daniel Brunschwiler}}

Facts & Figures

Initial situation and objectives

The existing infrastructure had reached the end of its technical lifespan, caused increasing maintenance efforts, and could only meet new requirements with significant difficulty. Many tasks were manual. Security settings were scattered and difficult to maintain. Furthermore, expensive server renewals were pending, with no prospect of reduced complexity.

The goal was a modern, automated environment with higher availability and sufficient flexibility for further growth. At the same time, security and access needed to be managed centrally and transparently, while ensuring reliable operations at predictable costs. The decision was therefore made to pursue a cloud migration with clearly defined operational roles.

Key figures

• 55 employees and around 400 external experts
• 15 virtual machines and 22 Azure SQL databases (PaaS)
• 14 app services and storage account for data storage (PaaS)
• Project duration: 6 months from analysis to cutover
• Managed Service: Operation Care to ensure monitoring and operational performance, as well as second-level support for backend infrastructure

Solution and implementation: The path to the cloud: step by step

Together with the IT managers at EIT.swiss, Baggenstos took on the modernization and migration of the systems to the cloud. The team built the new environment in parallel with ongoing operations, ensuring all services remained accessible. Following comprehensive testing, the switchover was carried out in stages without any interruption to availability or productivity.

Infrastructure redesign

The entire IT environment was restructured. Instead of migrating servers that no longer met current requirements, a solution was created based on Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The Baggenstos team reorganized data, decommissioned legacy systems, and standardized processes. Recurring tasks such as backup checks and server updates are now automated. The client area remains with the customer, while Baggenstos manages core backend operations at the second level. Responsibilities are clear and helpful.

A key focus was security. The team implemented a multi-layered protection concept with centrally managed gateways and segmented networks. The network was hardened, and new, high-performance Wi-Fi access points ensure stable coverage across all locations. VPN connections are available for remote work.

The journey followed clear phases: analysis, target architecture, setup, data migration, application restructuring, security hardening, cutover, and transition to operations. After go-live, the Operation Care team took over recurring checks. EIT.swiss receives clear reports and defined maintenance windows.

Future-proof solution

The environment grows with the tasks. Services can be deployed quickly, and peak loads are handled flexibly. Policies are centrally defined and enforced. Processes run more stably and faster. New requirements can be addressed without major upfront investments. EIT.swiss maintains a transparent view of costs and performance.

Results

EIT.swiss viewed the transition to the cloud not just as a technical step, but as a strategic decision to improve business processes. An overview of the key results:

‍No interruption at go-live: Switchover and migration during ongoing operations.

• Higher system availability: By moving to the cloud, downtime was minimized and system availability was increased.
• Location-independent access: Employees can now securely access their applications and data anytime and from anywhere, which significantly increases flexibility and productivity.
• Improved collaboration: Using Microsoft Teams for collaborative document editing has made teamwork more efficient, as everyone can now work on the same files simultaneously.
• Enhanced security: This is ensured by our centralized policies and a hardened network.
• Predictable costs: High capital investments were avoided through cloud migration. Recurring costs are now based on usage.
• Reduced local dependencies and lower complexity: The association is no longer dependent on physical on-site IT infrastructure. The cloud solution offers greater flexibility and is easier to manage. Clear responsibilities and centralized administration reduce complexity.

Why Baggenstos?

EIT.swiss values the proximity, expertise, and reliability of Baggenstos. Baggenstos works pragmatically, remains accessible at all times, and takes ownership. Decisions are explained, security is made transparent, and collaboration is simplified. This builds trust, day after day.

Thank you for the great partnership

Many thanks to EIT.swiss for their trust and collaborative partnership. We look forward to continuing to support the association as a reliable IT partner!