Merelbeke, 15 October 2020

Crelan, the Belgian cooperative banking and insurance business, has chosen Avanade, the leading digital innovator on the Microsoft ecosystem, to create an industry-leading workplace experience for its 2.400 employees.

Modernizing Crelan’s infrastructure and employees experience has become a top priority as its leaders looks to increase the agility, productivity, and operational resilience of the organization, especially in the wake of the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of this digital transformation, Avanade will help Crelan migrate its entire IT network to Microsoft’s Azure cloud environment and roll-out Microsoft365 over a 12-month period. Avanade will also run a comprehensive change management program to ensure that Crelan’s employees are confident in using the new technology and can maximize the benefits of its functionality.

Avanade’s solution will deliver flexible, collaborative working combined with the highest level of security, enabling employees to work efficiently and seamlessly, either remotely, or in the office. Crelan’s IT teams will also have the ability to manage employee devices from anywhere at any time; enabling them to remotely push updates, block or wipe both corporate and BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices). A new Zero-Trust network will mean Crelan will maintain complete control of access to customer and organizational data, while ensuring it is also securely transferred between organizational departments, when necessary.

“Through this project we are empowering our people with the necessary tools and infrastructure to undertake their roles in the most efficient and secure way. The new technology will help break down silos, enhance collaboration and facilitate working on the go, which will, in turn, help us provide a better service to our customers,” said Anne Fiévez, CIO Crelan Bank.

“With the continued digitalization of the banking sector and the most recent global crisis, financial intuitions are acutely aware of the need to remain nimble and responsive to change,” said Johann Corlemeijer, Country Manager at Avanade Belgium. “Creating a secure workplace experience that promotes flexibility and agility will require the adoption of a new mindset throughout the organization. Therefore, the importance of a comprehensive training and support program cannot be underestimated. Technology alone will not drive change. That’s why our Change Management team will assist Crelan’s end users transition to their new digital workplace.”

The project will take around one year to complete and will upgrade more than 500 branches to the latest version of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Defender ATP, InTune and collaboration tools like OneDrive, Teams, Exchange, and SharePoint Online.