Use Case:

You manage IT for a company with multiple locations. Your on-premise servers are reaching their capacity limits, but a full cloud migration is not an option due to strict data protection regulations.

The Challenge:

A hybrid solution was needed that combined flexibility, performance, and security.

The Solution by Digital Creek:

• Microsoft Azure & VMware for maximum control.
• Zero-Trust Security & VPN Tunnels for top-tier protection.

The Result:

    ✅ 40% lower IT costs through efficient cloud use.
    ✅ Improved performance for high-traffic applications.
    ✅ Centralized management of on-premise and cloud workloads.

Why This Matters to You:

Do you need a solution that is both flexible and compliant? Digital Creek offers the best of both worlds.

Use Case:

You are the CIO of a rapidly growing company. Your IT infrastructure, built years ago, is struggling to keep up with increasing demands. Servers are overloaded, applications slow down, and employees face frequent connection issues. A system outage could cost your business thousands – you need a scalable solution, fast.

The Challenge:

The company needed a modern, flexible IT infrastructure that is both scalable and failure-resistant.

The Solution by Digital Creek:

The team led by Patrick Butzkies and Marcell Vass developed a hybrid IT infrastructure, integrating local servers with a scalable AWS cloud solution.

The Result:

• 30% lower IT costs through optimized resource usage.
• 99.99% uptime with redundant systems
• Enhanced scalability, ensuring seamless business growth.

Why This Matters to You:

Is your IT infrastructure reaching its limits? Digital Creek helps you scale securely and efficiently.

Use Case:
You run a growing e-commerce business. Orders are increasing, website traffic is exploding – and suddenly, you realize your current infrastructure can’t keep up. Pages are loading slower, and downtime during peak times threatens the business. You need a solution, and fast.

The Challenge:
The company needed a scalable, high-performance IT solution to handle the growing traffic and operational demands. A simple fix wasn’t enough – it needed to be flexible and future-proof. Additionally, the migration had to be done with minimal downtime to avoid negatively impacting the customer experience.

The Digital Creek Solution:
Our team at Digital Creek developed a hybrid cloud solution, leveraging AWS for scalability and VMware to virtualize the existing servers. We implemented redundant networks and high availability solutions to ensure stable operations, even during peak traffic times. Through the use of automated CI/CD pipelines, the migration was completed with virtually no downtime.

The result? An IT infrastructure that’s fast, reliable, and ready for further growth. The company’s customers experienced smooth service even during the busiest sales periods, allowing the business to focus on expanding without worries.

Why You Might Feel the Same Way:
If you run a growing e-commerce business, you know how important it is that your infrastructure can handle the load. Slow pages and downtime mean lost sales and disappointed customers. At Digital Creek, we understand the urgency and have the solutions you need to scale quickly and securely – without worrying about downtime.

Use Case:
You work in a large public administration. Every day, you manage vast amounts of confidential data from citizens – social security numbers, tax information, medical records. The thought of a security incident threatening that data makes you break out in a cold sweat. Then it happens: A small flaw in the network’s security leads to a breach. You know something drastic needs to change to avoid future threats.

The Challenge:
Like many public institutions, this administration faced the challenge of managing an outdated and heterogeneous IT infrastructure. Different systems and networks meant there was no unified security strategy, which inevitably led to vulnerabilities. At the same time, the pressure to protect sensitive citizen data was growing with each new cyber threat.

The Digital Creek Solution:
After a detailed infrastructure analysis and vulnerability identification, Digital Creek developed a comprehensive security plan. By implementing Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), we raised network security to a new level. Network segmentation isolated sensitive data from the rest of the network, while automated security updates ensured no vulnerabilities were left open. Our real-time monitoring allowed the administration to detect threats before they became problems.

The result? A dramatically improved security landscape, allowing the administration to feel safe again. With our support, confidential citizen data was protected at an unprecedented level.

Why You Might Feel the Same Way:
Can you imagine what happens when your network security fails? When confidential data is compromised, it’s not just security at risk – it’s trust, which is hard to rebuild. If you’re in a similar situation, don’t wait until it’s too late. Digital Creek offers solutions that are proactive and secure, so you can rest easy knowing your data is safe.

Use Case:
Imagine running a financial services company. Your databases are running on outdated servers, which feel like they could crash at any moment. You know modernization is essential, but the thought of moving such sensitive data to the cloud keeps you up at night. What if something goes wrong? What if customer data is lost or hacked? The pressure to find a solution that’s both secure and scalable is overwhelming.

The Challenge:
Choosing to move to the cloud offers many benefits, but the risks can feel intimidating – especially in an industry where data security defines trust and success. This financial services company faced exactly this dilemma: Their aging infrastructure was becoming increasingly inefficient, and strict regulations like GDPR only amplified the alarm bells. And on top of that, there was the fear that one mistake during the migration could have disastrous consequences.

The Digital Creek Solution:
At Digital Creek, we understand those fears. That’s why we developed a custom cloud migration plan for this company, focusing on absolute security and reliability. With our expertise in cloud architecture (AWS), we created a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) fortified with multi-layered security: VPN connections, firewall management, and two-factor authentication. Our real-time monitoring system meant the company could track every movement of their data – no risk was left unchecked.

The result? A stress-free, successful migration to the cloud. No lost data, no security breaches – just a flexible, scalable solution that met the company’s evolving needs. Management could breathe easy and focus on what truly mattered: building trust with their clients.

Why You Might Feel the Same Way:
If you’re facing a cloud migration and losing sleep over the safety of your data, we’re here to help. Our team understands your fears – we’ve seen them in many companies – and we know how to turn them into trust. Your success is our success. At Digital Creek, we treat your migration as if it were our own. Trust us, your data is in the safest hands.

Interview with Digital Creek: Intelligent Software Modernisation – Business Flow Suite and Application Understanding of the Digital Creek Software Service

In connection with ScaleUp 360° Legacy IT, the digital summit for IT decision-makers, heads of IT operations, heads of mainframe and midrange services and leading IT architects and developers from DACH, we.CONECT Global Leaders interviewed Peter Fried, CTO Digital Creek Software Services ybd CEO Legacy Ratio at Digital Creek Software Services, about his presentation at the summit.

we.CONECT: Migration, update or new development: How do I decide which applications need to be modernised before the transformation and which can be migrated directly?

Transformation, migration and modernisation cannot be separated. Our approach is that everything that is necessary for the business must also be transformed. According to our paradigm, modernisation also includes transformation.

You can decide in favour of a new development if the following prerequisites are met: Has the requirement analysis been completed and is there sufficient budget available, as well as a necessary development team with the required expertise. Another important factor is time. If even one of these components is missing, a new development is difficult or even impossible.

There are rational and emotional factors that play a role in making the right decision. The rational factors include cost-effectiveness and the need to maintain existing functionality. The emotional factors include trust when choosing a partner.

Your own business is your own domain. No one understands the functionality of your business better than you. Modernisation is a different story. Unlike your core business, this is usually not your own domain. Never try to modernise on your own, always involve a competent partner.

we.CONECT: What needs to be considered when modernising complex software systems?

A modernisation method must be available. This method must be able to answer the questions and handle the problems that arise accordingly. The right questions to ask during a modernisation or transformation are: what needs to be modernised and what should not be modernised? Only an analysis can provide the correct answers to this question.

How should be transformed or modernised? The answer to this question depends on the scope of functionality of the existing system. This means we have to decide whether the right approach is to create a new system, convert it or transfer it to standard software.

The third question is; with whom do I modernise? The basis of this decision is trust! Who is able to understand the context? Who can provide the appropriate transformation technology and who has already carried out numerous modernisation projects?

In the case of an automated transformation, the expected result must also be assessed. There are numerous characteristics of an automatically transformed system that speak against the use of such a technology. For example, if the transformation is only operational with a so-called runtime, you should refrain from the transformation.

 we.CONECT: What are the advantages of modernising legacy systems?

The reason for deciding against modernisation is often due to the development team. It happens that developers do not have the necessary technological knowledge in a new, modern environment. If the lack of expertise is linked to a completely redesigned application, the development team is overwhelmed.

Modernisation gives developers the confidence to find their way around the business processes.

Modernisation is therefore a smooth transition into a completely new world and saves time, resources, costs and reduces risks. From a test management perspective, modernisation can be seen as a kind of release change. Existing test strategies and test cases even have to be used because of the necessary comparison.

Further information can be found under the following link:

www.digitalcreek.io

we.CONECT: Thank you very much, Peter Fried, for the interview!

Autor: Peter Fried – 24.07.2021

As in most of the entries in our blog, we do not want to repeat the definition of terms. There are numerous knowledge databases on the internet for that. It’s more about how we interpret these terms and answering questions that our customers ask us.

In order to answer what IT consulting actually is, several aspects must be taken into consideration.

On the one hand, the question arises as to what functions IT has in the company, and on the other hand, the various areas of IT must also be analysed. This results in the different roles of an IT consultant. The overlaps between these roles then also become clear.

In addition to the question of what exactly IT consulting is, we would also like to address other questions in this text, such as: ‘What does an IT consultant do?’, ‘How can consulting positively influence your business?’ and ‘Why you should definitely seek advice?’.

The different areas of IT cannot and should not be separated from each other. Although there are not always direct connections, the roles and individual functions have an indirect influence on each other. Understanding this basic philosophy is important because it is part of the core idea behind our consulting and general services.

IT is a component that supports the core business, whether directly or indirectly. This statement is debatable and some critics might argue that there may be applications and programmes that support accounting, yield, controlling or HR that are not directly part of the core business.

Of course, these areas of a company are not the core business in the strict sense, but they are also important components without which a company cannot function.

This basic idea of the functions of IT gives our interpretation of IT consulting a narrower and more tangible scope. Once we have understood what function IT must have in a company, we can recognise what IT consulting is.

IT consulting has the task of analysing the functions, working methods, effectiveness and processes in connection with the tasks of IT.

This means that IT consulting must never refer purely to technical functionalities and components, but must always consider the overall construct as a whole.

IT consulting can be divided into different areas. This is because IT consulting is only one part of the complete range of management consulting services. However, this is one of the largest areas of the consulting sector and therefore basically a field in its own right, but a historical breakdown makes the connections easier to understand and shows that the field of IT consulting should never be measured purely in terms of individual technical components.

But what exactly does an IT consultant do?

For us, the IT consultant is the controlling authority, the person who primarily answers all IT-focussed questions within the company and counteracts any problems that arise with internal solutions. Our definition can, of course, be shown with a much finer granularity and can be adapted accordingly in a variable range, which is agreed with the respective customer.

But let’s look specifically at one of the most interesting areas of IT consulting, which is also only a small part of this large overall construct of management consulting. The role of the IT security consultant.

IT security in general is a very specific area, as there are not only interfaces to almost all areas of IT, including IT infrastructure, software development and actually all other areas, but also because IT security is always closely linked to physical security and the protection of an object. In practice, this means the following: No matter how good my software-side security is, it is of little use to me if my physical components and the infrastructure of my system are not protected accordingly.

Another factor and the biggest weak point from a security point of view, apart from the protection of the infrastructure, are the employees of a company.

Paradoxically, it is often the managers who do not adhere to security guidelines and protocols. But why is this the case? Because employees in management often take the easy and shorter route, as this is what they are used to. Conversely, this leads to a breach of the established protocols.

Many sub-areas can also be identified in the area of IT security. As the above example shows, the range of IT security services extends from physical security and employee security awareness to safe coding (the IT security-compliant coding of programmes). It is quite clear that each component must be controlled and configured accordingly, an understanding of security must prevail within the company and a distinction must be made between active and passive security measures.

IT consulting helps to ensure that the budget allocated to corporate IT is utilised more efficiently and in a targeted manner. Competent IT consulting can increase the productivity of the entire company and save a considerable amount of time, not only for the management level.

In many cases, companies need a complete overhaul of their IT infrastructure. The mammoth task here is to ensure that sensible IT solutions are integrated holistically into the company and that the transformation of the data can be carried out without any problems.

Identifying the interactions between digital technologies, platforms and customer behaviour is one of the most difficult tasks that an IT consultant can help with, as it requires a detached and professional view of the system as well as practical expertise.

Maintenance and expansion of network security, employee training, an efficient entry into the cloud area or the well thought-out expansion of an existing cloud environment are just a few of the notable reasons in favour of professional IT consulting , in addition to the fact that it saves time.

In addition to the options mentioned above and the opportunity to tap into new markets, the potential cost savings should not be neglected.

But at what point do I reach the point at which it is worth resorting to IT consulting?

Two of the key business cases here would be: ‘Can my company save costs in the long term through professional digitalisation ?’ and “Will an upgrade enable the development of new markets, as well as an increase in new customers?”. – In most cases, the answer to these two questions is ‘yes’.

Author: Gabor Fried – 19.07.2021

What is IT-consulting?

What is IT-consulting?

Fortunately, I am not only involved in software development, software modernisation and source code analysis projects.

I also realise infrastructure and IT security projects for some clients.

These different types of projects give me a good view of different approaches and are often in stark contrast to each other.

Development projects can usually be carried out with a high degree of agility and extremely iteratively. The same applies to a certain extent to legacy modernisation projects, but here elements from the classic waterfall principle sometimes have to be incorporated because certain components in the project simply have to be known and decided in advance.

The antithesis of agile projects are infrastructure projects. Here, the individual components, networks and devices must be known and planned in advance. This is where we reach the limits of agile project management. Some phases cannot be carried out iteratively.

However, there is no such thing as good or bad. A good project manager should endeavour to combine the best of several worlds and should proceed sensibly.

As a ‘rule of thumb’, you can say that the fewer physical components a project has, the more agile it can be implemented.

Author: Gabor Fried – 23.04.2021

If we were to imagine IT as a building, the service area would be the basement, entrance area and caretaker all in one, because without it, nothing would work!

Hardly any area of modern IT would function smoothly if it weren’t for the helpdesks. These serve not only as a contact point for various IT-specific problem solutions and questions of understanding, but also as the first point of contact for customers from all kinds of service areas.

We differentiate between three different service levels:

First level support

The primary and direct point of contact and first point of contact for customers/users when questions and problems arise. Call centre agents are primarily, but not exclusively, used here.

Second level support

If a problem cannot be solved directly by the first level, the expertise of the second level employee comes into play. Often, no team is deployed in this area, but rather selected employees from various specialist departments.

For example, the in-house network specialist may also take on the role of helping hand.

Third level support

Third or last level support is the last major point of contact. This can be external specialists from the service provider or employees from internal IT departments, such as DBAs (database administrators) or employees from software development.

Automation? Yes, please…but

In certain instances, support can also be completely automated, e.g. via script AI. However, there are some sensitive areas, such as the financial/investment sector, where face-to-face contact is incredibly important. A major compromise that is often made is to make initial contact via a chatbot that has previously been fed a large number of FAQs.

Of course, this has clear advantages, but unfortunately also disadvantages. For example, the time saved by not having to make initial contact is enormous, but the ‘human-to-human’ method statistically benefits from significantly higher customer satisfaction.

However, what service support can and should ultimately support varies from company to company and should never be neglected in terms of organisation and planning. It should also always be aligned with the processes and the *ITIL framework.

Communication is key.

The user helpdesk also plays an enormous role in software development and in the development of our products. Even during the development process, we make sure that users/stakeholders always have a point of contact.

Although the SPOC (Single Point of Contact) is usually primarily the project manager, at an advanced stage of the project there is also a dedicated SPOC on the support side.

A central term in service support is SLA (Service Level Agreement). This defines the response times for certain incidents, problems or changes.

An important basis of every helpdesk is the ‘knowledge base’, where all current and previous cases are collected. This serves as a central database for employees to solve problems that arise and enables a more effective and efficient work structure.

This type of fast and goal-orientated communication is reflected in particular in customer satisfaction.

In conclusion…

There is much more to a good service desk/user desk than communicating technical expertise and complicated processes. It is extremely important that every support employee treats the customer with the appropriate courtesy and empathy. The ability to act in a considered and thoughtful manner makes the difference between satisfied and dissatisfied help seekers.

Let’s just talk about it: In many situations, support is the first place to vent frustration for justifiably irritated customers. Keeping a cool head even in heated situations is what characterises first-class service support and should be valued as such.

The psychological aspect associated with the technical expertise of an IT Service & Support employee is an incredible asset to any company in the industry and serves as an important cog in the wheel of smooth operations.

*ITILis a defining term for inbound or outbound communication

with the users of IT services