The work@BE project utilizes Microsoft 365 to enable mobile, cloud-based work. It provides employees of the Bern Cantonal Administration with a modern, flexible IT work environment.
The work@BE project, launched by the Bern Cantonal Administration, is a modernization program that enables mobile and cloud-based work using Microsoft 365. The goal is to provide employees of the Cantonal Administration with a modern, flexible IT work environment, regardless of their location or the device they use.
The Office for Information Technology and Organization (KAIO) is implementing the project in collaboration with Bedag Informatik AG. The Bern Cantonal Government initiated and officially approved the program in 2021. The technical implementation will take place in stages until 2026.
The focus is on increasing efficiency through modern collaboration tools and flexible working arrangements. Another objective is enhancing attractiveness as an employer through a cloud strategy that prioritizes security, data protection, and compliance.
Reduced infrastructure complexity
The infrastructure complexity was reduced by up to 70% through the consolidation of computing, storage, and virtualization on a single platform.
New Workloads
Deploying new workloads can be up to 80% faster, which dramatically reduces time to deployment and significantly increases operational agility.
Platform availability
Thanks to integrated resilience mechanisms and automated recovery processes, platform availability is very high.
Switching our platform to Nutanix is more than just a technical migration for us; it's a strategic move toward building a secure, scalable private cloud for our customers. This will enable us to reliably meet future administrative requirements.
The existing IT infrastructure was technologically heterogeneous and complex, and it was also more expensive to operate because it had separate systems for computing, storage, and virtualization, which were often from different vendors. Provisioning of new services often took a long time and had to be done manually, slowing down innovation and efficiency. The platform was difficult to scale, costly to maintain, and prone to downtime. Additionally, necessary cloud capabilities required for implementing modern working models like work@BE were not in place. Operations relied heavily on specialized expertise, which increased the risk of staff shortages. Meeting availability and resilience requirements using existing resources required significant effort and could lead to an increased risk of system failures and SLA violations.
For this project, Bedag chose Nutanix AHV (Acropolis Hypervisor) as the virtualization platform, Prism Central for centralized management, and integrated storage for VMs and volumes. Decisive factors were the combination of simplicity, integration capability, and license independence. Nutanix offers a comprehensive infrastructure bundle that includes its own hypervisor, which reduces complexity and simplifies automation.
Adopting the Nutanix solution has significantly simplified, stabilized, and modernized the infrastructure. New systems can now be provisioned up to 80% faster. Platform availability exceeds 99.9%, and operating costs have been reduced.
Additionally, a future-proof foundation has been established that meets the requirements of programs such as work@BE, particularly with regard to cloud proximity, scalability, and automation. IT can now respond more flexibly to new requirements and provide administrative services more efficiently.
Another goal has been achieved: thanks to Nutanix's extensive API functions, Bedag was able to develop a wide range of automations around the platform. Workloads are now provisioned via an internal automation tool capable of performing basic tasks. This significantly decreases the need for system engineers to interact with the platform manually.
In order to standardize the infrastructure, Bedag currently is planning to migrate existing VMware and Xen environments to the Nutanix platform. The goal is to gradually consolidate all virtual workloads on Nutanix AHV (Acropolis Hypervisor) wherever possible, thereby reducing license dependencies and driving platform unification. This migration establishes the foundation for more efficient operations and a clearly defined target architecture.
Bedag is a leading Swiss IT service provider with sales of CHF 109.6 million. With around 490 employees, over ten percent of whom are trainees, the company has extensive IT expertise. The company's core business involves developing, maintaining, and operating business-critical IT solutions, as well as data storage in its own data centers in Switzerland. This allows customers to use IT in an economical and worry-free way. Their customers are mainly public administrations and businesses. Founded in 1990, Bedag is owned by the Canton of Bern.
Bedag offers the entire range of services, from the operation and full outsourcing of complex, custom, and specialist applications in various cloud architectures, such as private, hybrid, and multi-cloud, to colocation services. All services are offered with maximum availability and security, making it a one-stop shop for everything. Best of all, customer data is guaranteed to remain in Switzerland.
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