For Tom Philips, system administrator at Spronken Orthopedics, we are colleagues. And that is correct. We are an extension of the internal IT team and we play a supportive and proactive role. The cherry on top? The recently updated server park.
But what do they actually think about it? Raïsa from Mast Agency was her curious self and organized a double interview between Spronken Orthopedics and Tricore.
Spronken Orthopedics (Belgium, Netherlands, France) is part of the Spronken Group which also includes Quality Production (Genk), the Wellness Clinic (Genk and Barcelona), Kinétec (USA, Germany, UK, and France), Halo-Medical (UK), and Sprofit (Belgium). The Belgian companies Spronken Orthopedics, the Wellness Clinic, and Sprofit are clients of Tricore.
At the table:
Tom Philips and Frank Iliaens from Spronken Orthopedics (client since 2018)
Jonas Camps and Stijn Derison from Tricore
Good morning everyone! Tell me, what does Spronken do exactly?
Frank: “Spronken Orthopedics is a family business, active in technical orthopedics and rehabilitation for over 60 years. You can come to us for braces, arm and leg prostheses, supports, foot lifts, corsets, insoles, and all kinds of mobility aids. In addition to our own specialized production unit, we also distribute leading brands.
In Belgium, we employ about 130 people, a large part of whom are caregivers. We have seven stores here and 300 fitting locations in hospitals. Furthermore, we are also active in the Netherlands and France. Recently, we made headlines with the opening of a specialized Amputee Care Center for prosthetic users.”
"We had a good contact from day one."
And what do you do here?
Frank: “I lead the back office, the warehouse, and everything related to IT. Operations manager is my official title. I am not a technician, but I know enough to understand that they can't fool me. (laughs)”
Tom: “Four years ago, I started here as a support staff member, to strengthen the internal IT team. In the meantime, I grew into the role of system administrator. I am, among other things, the contact person for first and second line support. I pass third line issues on to Tricore. Robin, Jonas, and Stijn were already working with Spronken when I started here. We had a good contact from day one.”
When do you pass something on to Tricore?
Tom: “For example, for the purchase of products such as laptops or smartphones. Furthermore, I contact them when it is important to check something about security or during the execution of more complex configurations. For example, questions about switches, firewalls, or servers. Tricore is always up to date with the latest technologies and best practices.”
Stijn, what has the Tricore team achieved here?
Stijn: “In 2018, we started with a budget-friendly solution for the existing server park. The current servers could still last a few more years at that time. We also chose to centralize the servers for the Netherlands and Belgium in one server park in Genk.
Before Tom joined the IT team, we also helped with first and second line issues. And when Tom came on board, we trained him. We always do this to bring our internal contact person along in our vision.
Later, we added processing power to the existing servers. And just now, we implemented a complete renewal of the server park and the firewall. We chose Simplivity here, a hyperconverged solution from HP Enterprise.
Furthermore, we always play a supportive and proactive role. Also in terms of IT infrastructure."
"We want to build a strong partnership in which we assist in keeping things running."
Tom, how did you find it to be trained by Tricore?
Tom: “There was good pizza. (laughs) In my first week, I went for a visit to get acquainted. After that, I received training on the tools they use in their Pro-Active plan, including the documentation and monitoring platform. And finally, we took a deep dive into the IT infrastructure of Spronken Orthopedie.
In the beginning, they also supported me with first and second line support. Now it is only third line support, and you can see that in the hours. The number of reactive hours that Tricore performs has been reduced to half.”
Jonas: “That is of course the intention. We are not here to rack up as many hours as possible. We want to build a strong partnership in which we assist in keeping things running.”
Do you feel that way too, Tom?
Tom: “In my eyes, Tricore is a colleague. It’s nice to have a sounding board. I know I can rely on trustworthy people. The team has grown strong over the years, but I always know who to turn to for a specific issue.”
"All our clients have access to the tools with which we proactively monitor the infrastructure."
Frank, what do you think is Tricore's greatest strength?
Frank: “The proposals they make are always down to earth and Tom can always turn to them. I find that important and appreciate it. Even when Tom is on leave, I can count on Tricore to follow up on the tickets.”
Jonas: “That is of course also easier because we share systems. All our clients have access to our tools with which we proactively monitor the infrastructure. Especially the monitoring and documentation platform are a great added value. This way, we always look at the same data and help users in the same way. Whether that’s by Tom, Frank, or a Tricore colleague.”
That seems like a practical way of working?
Tom: “The documentation platform is indeed a great asset. All important information is contained here. Think of information about users, devices, passwords, and procedures that we can always rely on.”
Jonas: “On one hand, a high-performing and stable IT infrastructure with high uptime is important. On the other hand, users must also be able to work as productively as possible. Our personal approach for the users, monitoring of systems, and automation of actions certainly makes a difference.
How does that automation happen?
Jonas: “With our monitoring platform, we read a huge amount of data. We then link the appropriate response to it. In some cases, this can mean that a ticket is automatically created, which then requires manual input. In other cases, we handle it completely automated.”
Cool! Do you have an example of that?
Jonas: “Think of all kinds of bottlenecks or issues that cause downtime. For example, laptops that start up slower than normal or a decrease in battery capacity over the years. But also more advanced problems on servers and network devices, such as resource issues or processes that stop running. In that area, we can automate a lot so that the impact remains minimal for the users and much less human intervention is needed.”
So working with Tricore means: satisfied users, saving time, and lower costs?
Tom: “Exactly.”
Sounds good!
Also looking for an IT partner as an extension of your internal IT team?