“Since Cheops started managing our IT infrastructure, we haven’t had any unplanned downtime,” says Jan Van Hyfte, IT Manager at Vlerick Business School. “As an international educational institute, we can’t afford that either. Every failure of our IT infrastructure – from the internet connection to data storage – has a major impact on our activities. For example, we use digital learning platforms with teaching materials and interactive exercises, which must be available at all times.”

Outsourcing versus hiring IT administrators

When two of the three IT infrastructure administrators left Vlerick, the organisation was faced with the choice of recruiting new people or outsourcing that responsibility. “Our IT department is not that big – about a dozen employees – which sometimes makes it difficult to attract the right people and keep them on board,” explains Jan Van Hyfte. “So we decided to outsource. This way we can be sure of continuity and we are always supported by specialists.”

The collaboration with Cheops started after a thorough selection procedure. “Cheops clearly understood our needs and delivered a proposal that best met our expectations in terms of service and budget,” says Jan Van Hyfte. Afterwards, Cheops also proved to meet these expectations in practice.