From the back office to the ranger. The wildlife park digitalises everything.

Over the past few years, the Nature and Animal Park Goldau has moved away from its outdated IT systems and, more recently, from unsuitable M365 and Azure setups. Baggenstos has taken over the operation and support of the entire infrastructure.

In recent years, the 100-year-old park has undergone major structural changes: the visitor centre was refurbished, the entrance area redesigned, and the ticketing and access system fully digitalised with online ticket sales. Alongside these physical developments came a digital transformation – delivered in partnership with Baggenstos.

Nestled in a unique landscape shaped by impressive rock formations and idyllic forests, the park provides a habitat for around 100 European and native wildlife species, including bears, wolves, lynx and bearded vultures. With its strong commitment to nature and species conservation, education and research, the park pursues important societal goals. It is one of the largest and most-visited zoos in Switzerland, attracting around 400,000 visitors each year.

{{Referenz (/tierpark-goldau) | Sandra Zampaglione}}

Taking Over and Optimising

Several years ago, the park had already taken its first steps in digitalisation. This time, the brief was: assume the existing cloud infrastructure, modernise and streamline it, optimise resources and licences, and then hand it over for ongoing operation and support under the Baggenstos service model Operation Care. Thanks to a comprehensive IT assessment, the Baggenstos team achieved this within six months, working closely with staff across different areas of the park.
The rollout of the Azure tenant, with baseline client and security configurations, was as smooth as the phased migration away from legacy partner structures. From a historically fragmented IT landscape, Baggenstos created a clean, secure environment in which almost all business processes now run. Onboarding was carefully staged for the park’s various departments.

A Future-Proof Microsoft Solution

One particular challenge was the new construction project: the old entrance building, dating back to the 1960s, was outdated, costly to maintain, and lacked the infrastructure required for a modern network and workplace environment. Baggenstos formed a dedicated team to advise the construction management and project owners. The result: a robust and well-planned solution, seamlessly integrating IT infrastructure into the new building.

By centralising IT services to a small, clearly defined team, the park was also able to streamline its operations. Numerous interfaces were either closed or redefined. An additional benefit: the project exposed inefficient internal processes and uncovered hidden opportunities for optimising collaboration with suppliers.

Facts & Figures

Key Figures

• 90 users and clients across the organisation
• 45 clients dedicated to animal keepers and rangers
• 8 Azure-hosted virtual servers (VMs)

Initial Situation and Objectives

After an initial wave of digitalisation, 2022 presented Nature and Animal Park Goldau with the opportunity to further modernise its cloud-based IT infrastructure – while at the same time streamlining operations and reducing costs.

Solution and Implementation

Following a thorough analysis of the IT environment, the team developed a roadmap as the foundation for the project. The new tenant structure was built with a focus on modern security standards and efficient client configurations.

Legacy systems were gradually replaced with Microsoft standard solutions, without disrupting ongoing operations. A transition agreement enabled a seamless handover to the Operation Care contract, which now ensures the stable operation of the modernised IT infrastructure.

Results

• Optimisation of IT and business processes
• Modernisation of the IT architecture to enhance security
• Centralisation of IT services within a defined group of stakeholders
• Reduction and optimisation of interfaces
• Improved supplier relationships and assurance of third-party support
• Enhanced collaboration among employees and with suppliers, accelerating processes
• Future-proof IT infrastructure
• Digitalised processes securing the organisational and financial success of the association and foundation

Why Baggenstos?

Baggenstos stands out for its strong expertise in the Microsoft ecosystem. Existing technologies were seamlessly adopted or modernised, while older legacy systems were either adapted to the new solution or replaced with expert guidance.