The Free University of Brussels (VUB) is an internationally oriented university in Brussels, the heart of Europe. By delivering high-quality research and tailor-made education, the VUB wants to make an active and committed contribution to a better society. Various factors are causing VUB’s connectivity needs to increase. That is why VUB went looking for a partner who could support them in this.
One of the challenges faced by VUB is the explosion of data volumes. More and more data is being generated as part of the research carried out by the university, and it is also kept longer and made available to other users. In addition, education is increasingly being done remotely and the use of multimedia applications is increasing. In order to be able to provide that performance and large data volumes, we have to rely on high-performance and secure network connections.
"In order to support our researchers, students and staff, connectivity must be ‘on point’." – Xavier Moens (CIO)
On the other hand, there is also the growth of the university. "The VUB continues to grow", says Xavier Moens, Chief Information Officer at VUB. “We are one of the fastest growing institutions in the Flemish educational landscape, with the number of registrations continuing to rise every year. In order to support our researchers, students and staff, connectivity must be 'on point'."
The VUB is moving towards a connection of 100 gigabits in order to continue to facilitate the needs of these stakeholders. The university is a leader in its field in Belgium in this respect.
From now on, the VUB will rely on LCL's data centers to improve and expand its connectivity. The choice for LCL was made because of our approach and the way in which LCL deals with customers.
"The VUB is neither small nor hugely big. This is also true for LCL. LCL is big enough to be a party you can count on. It is, among other things, a stable, high-performance and environmentally friendly data center. However, it is also small enough to maintain a personal relationship with the customer. LCL doesn't treat customers like a remote data center mastodon would”, said Moens.
Their way of communicating was also a good reason for the VUB to choose LCL. "Communication with LCL is very smooth. Moreover, it soon became clear that LCL's main focus was to find a good solution for the connectivity challenges that the VUB is facing today. The contractual and commercial aspect comes second.”
"It soon became clear that finding a good solution is LCL’s priority focus. The commercial and contractual aspect is only secondary." - X. Moens
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