Danish Ministry of Children and Education
Industry & location
The Danish Ministry of Children and Education operates in the public education sector, in Denmark. As the primary governmental body overseeing education, it serves as the central authority for educational policy and implementation across the country. The Ministry’s influence extends throughout Denmark, managing educational institutions from primary schools to universities.
Product & service
The Ministry provides comprehensive educational services and oversight for Denmark’s entire education system. They develop and implement educational policies, curricula, and digital learning solutions through their National Agency for IT and Learning. Their services include educational administration, policy development, and digital infrastructure management for learning institutions nationwide.
Mission
The Ministry’s mission is to deliver high-quality education that prepares students for a digital and globalized world. They strive to maintain Denmark’s progressive, inclusive, and innovative education system, ensuring equal opportunities for all learners. Their commitment extends to integrating modern digital tools and technologies to enhance teaching and learning experiences, fostering both academic excellence and future-ready skills.
“In addition to maintaining full control of our cloud infrastructure in-house, we aimed to become more agile, allowing us to continuously develop and deliver new value.”
– Jan Birk, IT Director Danish Ministry of Children and Education
The challenges
Each technology transition, accompanied by new public tenders, led to millions in Danish Krone expenses for the Ministry. These frequent and often complex changes not only created an unsustainable financial burden but also strained resources, disrupted operations, and increased administrative overhead, making long-term planning and budget stability increasingly challenging.
Scalable cloud infrastructure
The Ministry implemented OpenStack, Kubernetes, and Ceph as their primary infrastructure solution. This comprehensive open source approach provided full control over their cloud environment while eliminating vendor lock-in and reducing operational costs. The flexibility of these technologies enabled continuous integration and development.
Strategic partnership
Fairbanks was brought in as a strategic partner to provide managed services tailored to the Ministry’s specific needs. Leveraging our expertise in open source solutions, we ensured the seamless integration, operation, and optimization of the cloud infrastructure, while also delivering essential technical support and guidance to maintain stability, performance, and long-term success.
Continuous integration
We established a system that support continuous integration and development, perfectly aligning with the Ministry’s agile approach. This solution enabled rapid deployment of new services and features, significantly enhanced collaboration, efficiency, and adaptability, and ensured seamless updates without disrupting existing operations or compromising overall system performance.
Scalable architecture
The combination of OpenStack, Kubernetes, and Ceph’s unmatched scalability created a future-proof IT environment designed to evolve alongside the Ministry’s needs. This flexible and resilient architecture not only supported their current requirements but also provided the foundation for seamless expansion, innovation, and long-term growth potential.
In-house management
By transitioning to OpenStack, Kubernetes, and Ceph, the Ministry retained control over their infrastructure while achieving the agility, scalability, and cost-efficiency often associated with public cloud services. This approach streamlined development workflows, reduced manual interventions, and provided a reliable foundation for future advancements.
“The transition to OpenStack, Kubernetes and Ceph has transformed our IT infrastructure, allowing us to maintain full control while significantly improving agility and cost efficiency. With Fairbanks’ guidance, we’ve been able to continuously develop and deliver new services that truly benefit our students and educators.”
– Jan Birk, IT Director Danish Ministry of Children and Education
The results
Enhanced service delivery
Development teams can now deliver new services faster and with fewer manual interventions. The time-to-market for new services has been significantly shortened, allowing quicker responses to stakeholder needs.
Operational cost reduction
The Ministry achieved significant reductions in operational costs, particularly those associated with vendor lock-in and frequent infrastructure changes. The new system eliminated the need for costly technology transitions.
Technical autonomy
The Ministry gained full control over its cloud environment, enabling them to make changes and improvements without depending on external vendors. This autonomy has improved their ability to respond to specific educational needs.
Improved system stability
The new infrastructure brought enhanced stability and reliability, with simplified management, improved efficiency, and longer system lifecycles. This resulted in more consistent service delivery and significantly reduced system downtime.
Innovation leadership
The Ministry has positioned itself as a leader in digital transformation within the public sector. Their successful implementation of open source solutions has set a precedent for other government institutions.
Stakeholder satisfaction
The collaboration with Fairbanks and improved infrastructure have enhanced service delivery for staff, students, and educators. The platform’s continuous development ensures it meets user needs and supports growth.
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