Cegeka Power Cloud Unburdens Vandersanden with IBM Power Systems

After several acquisitions in 2017, brick manufacturer Vandersanden wanted to avoid its data center becoming the single point of failure for all its locations. Thanks to Cegeka Power Cloud’s shared hosting model, Vandersanden now relies on high availability that also frees up its IBM Power experts to work on other tasks.

• 850+ employees
• 600 million bricks per year at full capacity
• 24/7 monitoring and 100% availability during office hours

Intro

Vandersanden, one of the largest brick manufacturers in Europe, celebrates its centennial in 2025. A strong focus on innovation and sustainability is what sets this family business apart from other companies. In 2023, for example, Vandersanden introduced a CO₂-negative facing brick—just one of its Together to Zero sustainability program initiatives aimed at achieving complete climate neutrality by 2050. “We have a major social responsibility,” says Danny Claesen, group manager ICT at Vandersanden. “We are helping to build a better environment for current and future generations.”

Challenges

The brick manufacturer developed its ERP system in-house and runs it on IBM Power, which the brick manufacturer has been using since the 1990s. The production system and failover system were both originally located in the company’s own data center in Spouwen. In 2017, after several acquisitions in the Netherlands and Germany, the company grew from 350 to 600 employees—and now employs more 850 people. “Fourteen locations depend on connectivity to a single location, so we wanted to house our systems in a data center with better availability,” Claesen explains.

It also became increasingly difficult for Vandersanden to find people with knowledge of IBM Power and to provide an on-call service outside office hours. The company wanted a partner that would allow them to keep those employees with IBM Power experience focused on their core tasks.

Solution

Data Center Migration

Vandersanden started the search for a suitable partner and after a market survey chose Cegeka, with whom they already relied on for hardware. “We were particularly convinced by their professional approach and the references they provided,” says Claesen. Cegeka’s data centers in Hasselt and Geleen, close to Vandersanden’s offices in Belgium and the Netherlands, provided an added advantage.

In a first step, Vandersanden moved its own IBM Power systems to Cegeka’s data center. “The move went smoothly,” Claesen says. “We had purchased a new system in 2017 and configured it in Spouwen. One Friday evening, we moved this to the Cegeka data center and started it up as a test system.” After checking that everything was working correctly, a week later the production system was also moved to the data center, and the migration was complete.

“The move to Cegeka Power Cloud went smoothly, partly thanks to the expert guidance of Cegeka’s project manager.”

 

– Danny Claesen, Group Manager ICT at Vandersanden

Cegeka Power Cloud

In 2021, Vandersanden faced another hardware decision. Instead of investing in new systems, the company decided to switch to shared hosting via Cegeka Power Cloud. “That move also went smoothly, thanks to the expert guidance of Cegeka’s project manager,” Claesen reflects.

Thanks to Cegeka Power Cloud, Claesen’s IT team now has full confidence that the system is always available. “We have never had a scenario where we couldn’t connect,” says Claesen. “Connectivity, backups, annual backup recovery tests, security updates, and malware protection: it’s all covered. And if there is a problem, we can rely on the specialists at Cegeka to resolve it.”

Approach

Experts with Drive

Cegeka’s service delivery manager meets regularly with Vandersanden to discuss the overview of incidents and the level of service. According to Claesen, 24/7 monitoring also makes a real difference. “Since Cegeka takes care of that too, we can be more efficient and focus our employees with IBM Power experience on other tasks,” says Claesen.

“The switch to shared hosting did require a change in mindset,” Claesen admits. For example, changes to the network infrastructure can no longer be made straightaway. “When a supplier suddenly showed up here, we used to quickly adjust the firewall rules. We can’t do that anymore, but actually, that supplier shouldn’t just show up. When we request a change from Cegeka now, it may take a little longer, but we can be confident that our request will go through all the necessary security checks. And if it’s urgent, we can communicate with them directly.”

Vandersanden’s ICT manager is also very pleased with the low employee turnover within Cegeka’s IBM Power team, as this ensures continuity. He also praises the drive of these experts: “There’s no such thing as perfection, but we notice how Cegeka strives for it in everything they do. And even though Cegeka is quite a large organization, communication is still efficient.”

“There’s no such thing as perfection, but we notice how Cegeka strives for it in everything they do.” 

 

– Danny Claesen, Group Manager ICT at Vandersanden