Fibre-optic supplier Glaspoort optimises project planning with Mendix-app by Bizzomate

Fibre-optic supplier Glaspoort optimises project planning with Mendix-app by Bizzomate

Glaspoort is a fibre-optic supplier that aims to achieve 1.2 million fibre-optic connections over the next five years. Therefore the company is currently working with partners on hundreds of fibre optic projects throughout the Netherlands. In order to manage these projects and processes efficiently, Glaspoort uses ‘Liberation,’ an application built on the Mendix low-code platform that provides the staff with central insight into the status of the projects and allows Glaspoort to manage its projects and partners more efficiently.

1.2 million new glass-fibre connections in five years
Dutch pension fund ABP and telecom provider KPN are the driving forces behind Glaspoort, an initiative launched a year and a half ago aiming to make optical fibre available to everyone in the nation. For that reason, Glaspoort wants to achieve 1.2 million new fibre-optic connections in smaller municipalities, rural areas and industrial areas throughout the Netherlands over the next 5 years. Telecom providers without their own fibre optic network can also offer their services via Glaspoort’s open fibre optic network.

To install these fibre optic connections, the company collaborates with numerous partners with great autonomy. As a result, Glaspoort itself can remain a small business. Glaspoort now consists of 28 people. Together they manage projects in more than 200 locations in the Netherlands. To ensure that these projects are running smoothly, getting a grip on the status of hundreds of partner projects is crucial.

Getting a grip on projects is crucial
Until recently, these projects were managed decentrally in Word or Excel, but as the number of projects grew, they became increasingly difficult to manage. The company felt the need for more centralized real-time insight into the projects that were often long-term.

Glaspoort looked for a partner that could help them solve this challenge. They selected Bizzomate because of their longstanding knowledge and expertise in digitizing business processes. Martin Wanschers, COO at Glaspoort: “We’ve teamed up with Bizzomate because we knew we were hiring true professionals when it comes to digitization with Mendix low-code. They dare to look beyond what is strictly needed to build an application and also analyze what business value the application should deliver, which is exactly what we needed.”

Digitization project-planning
The first step in the digitization process was the project planning of business parks. These projects take at least a year and a half and are more complex compared to projects for consumers. Each project contains about 130 tasks that need to be completed.

First, the entire process from the intake with the customer to the activation of the fibre optic connections was mapped out by Bizzomate resulting in an analysis that formed a solid base for the application. Each project was then broken down into phases with milestones. By completing tasks associated with a phase, milestones could be achieved within a certain time frame and budget.

Live in eight weeks
After eight weeks, the go-live of the ‘Liberation’ application took place. It now acts as a single source of information for all data on current projects and can be accessed by all project management officers, controllers and production managers. The application gives Glaspoorts’ staff a clear overview of the status, tasks and milestones of projects. A dashboard now provides management with KPI’s on the level of projects.

In addition, a budget module shows whether these projects stay within budget. In no time, the application has become an essential part of managing the daily activities of over a thousand employees working for Glaspoorts’ partners.

Martin Wanschers, COO at Glaspoort: “Our teams really connected during the development stage of this application, resulting in a perfect collaboration between Glaspoort and Bizzomate. The application we’ve developed with Bizzomate enables us to deal with our projects more transparently and predictably. We are now much more in control towards our partners installing the fibre optic connections. We have regained the overview of our projects and we can manage our projects more efficiently which brings us significantly closer to our overall goal of making optical fibre available to everyone in the nation.”

Henry Kraaijenbos, partner at Bizzomate: “At Bizzomate, we’re not afraid to challenge our customers about the business value that applications should deliver.

We’re convinced this ultimately results in better applications used more frequently within the organisation. This also applies to the Mendix low-code application we’ve developed for Glaspoort. With this application, Glaspoort benefits from 24/7 insight into the status of projects, timeframes, budgets and the duties and responsibilities of team members. As a result, Glaspoort can manage its partners more efficiently and complete projects on time and within budget. And that is exactly the added value we want to offer customers with our applications.”

In the future also for construction partners
The application is currently used on a daily basis by Glaspoort employees. In the future, the company also wants to provide access to partners installing the fibre optic connections making it easier for them to understand the status of projects and the input that is needed. This proactive data-driven approach makes the construction of fibre optic projects even more predictable and feasible, increasing the chance to achieve the ultimate goal of 1.2 million fibre optic connections within the next five years.