Previder helps Vitens supply drinking water 24/7 in a sustainable way

Good quality drinking water is a basic need for all of us. Vitens supplies top-quality drinking water to 5.7 million people and companies in the Netherlands. That's already a big responsibility, but Vitens also wants to take responsibility for the environment and thus do business in the most sustainable way possible. The IT foundation that supports the important services was for a long time in-house at Vitens. However, IT is not a core task of Vitens and, moreover, this is not a sustainable solution. Therefore, the company went in search of a partner to provide them with the right, high-end data centre facilities.

When you turn on the tap, you expect clean drinking water to come out. You don't even think about that. The IT environment of a company like Vitens must provide the same continuity. Processes should never come to a standstill, so your IT should always be running. The less you notice about your IT infrastructure, the better. After all, then there are no complaints and the systems work optimally. For Vitens, besides sustainability, this was an important requirement. Moreover, there was a desire for Vitens' technical people to be able to manage their systems themselves and keep control of them in a safe and pleasant way. In this vision on sustainability and continuity, Vitens and Previder found each other.

Our data centres

Guaranteed business continuity

Meanwhile, Vitens' systems have been running redundantly in both Previder data centres in Hengelo for a number of years. If one of the locations goes down, the second location remains operational without any interruption of service. All facilities, from power to fibre optic, are duplicated - or even triplicated. In addition, access monitoring, 24/7 physical security and a class 4 security system provide a safe environment for Vitens' systems and technical staff. The ISO27001 certification also shows that Previder has its security in order.

Business Continuity

A sustainable approach

Data centres generally do not exactly have a sustainable reputation. However, we have all become dependent on IT and systems need to keep running properly. That's why data centres are needed. Previder sees it as a challenge to ensure that its data centres operate as sustainably as possible. For example, energy is generated from its own solar panels and “dark green” power is purchased for the power that the solar panels cannot provide. In addition, the data centres are cooled using “free-to-air” cooling, an innovative technique that consumes significantly less energy than traditional cooling methods. The PUE factor underwrites the energy efficiency within the data centres. Vitens required this factor to be a maximum of 1.5, Previder's PUE factor is 1.35 and therefore more than meets this requirement. The residual heat from the data centre is also used to heat Previder's adjacent office building, where the toilets are also flushed with rainwater. And that, of course, is something that Vitens sees reflected in its water consumption! Previder's ISO14001 and BREEAM certifications, the latter of which is a unique sustainability certification in the sector, fit in well with Vitens' CSR policy.

Pleasant cooperation

For Vitens, it was important that they found a partner with whom they could cooperate pleasantly. That also applies to the technical people who come into the data centres to manage the systems. Fortunately, it is experienced as such. Now that the systems are set up and largely managed remotely, Vitens' technical staff visit the data centre less frequently. And that's a good sign, because it means that their IT is functioning well in Previder's data centres. Haico Hangx, Team Manager Network Management and Telecom, summarises the relationship with Previder: "In order to supply drinking water to our customers reliably and sustainably 24/7, 365 days a year, Vitens needs a partner where our own vital infrastructure is in good hands. We found that partner years ago in Previder."