Marja van der Veer is the coordinator of the central Mendix team at the City of Rotterdam. For the past few years, she has been working with Alistar consultants Ruben Koornneef (Mendix consultant and coordinator) and Robin Vervuren (trainer and community leader) to further professionalize IT within the municipality. The three of them discuss what makes this collaboration so special and how both organizations help each other.
Robin: ‘The partnership between Alistar and the City of Rotterdam began when we Mendix Developer We were seconded to the project team of the “Mijn Rotterdam” participation platform. Through that contact, we learned more about the city’s goals. We presented our experiences with Mendix Administration ’at BAM, and after that we continued our discussions."
Marja: ‘Due to the tight labor market—particularly for IT professionals and Mendix developers—we were looking for a solution that would allow us to continue managing and developing our applications. When it turned out that Alistar could also provide Mendix training to our own staff, we thought that was a great way to meet our needs after all.’
If you can't find the right people, you'll have to train them.
Robin: ‘We’ve set up a customized training program for the City of Rotterdam that aligns perfectly with the way they already work internally. We deliver this training over twelve weeks, one day a week, to teach city employees the basics of programming with Mendix. No prior IT experience is required. To date, four groups from the City Management cluster and one group from the BCO (Administrative and Corporate Support) cluster have successfully completed the training.’
Ruben: ‘The idea behind this is that we at Alistar won’t always be needed, and that we’re training the employees of the City of Rotterdam so they’ll be able to solve problems on their own. There’s such a huge shortage of qualified people that organizations like the city can only bring in new talent by training them themselves. And that’s where we help out.’
Robin: ‘Three days a week, as Community Lead, I work on supporting and developing the employees who have successfully completed the training. After the training, there are two paths they can take: some join the central Mendix team, and others join the Mendix community within City Management. There, they work on the municipality’s Mendix projects two days a week. Over the course of a year, we then work to bring them up to a certain level so they’re able to do their work independently. We really tailor this to each individual, because everyone has different ambitions and strengths.’
This partnership is extremely valuable, especially in the long term.
Marja: “In this way, Alistar is making a significant contribution to our efforts to become more professional. Having a partnership like this is extremely valuable, especially for the long term. It’s a partner we can truly rely on and trust.”
Robin: “For me, it starts with common sense. You have to communicate with each other in a normal way and try not to get bogged down in lengthy bureaucratic procedures.”
Marja: “We were immediately enthusiastic about their approach. Alistar really thinks along with us, as if they were part of our organization themselves. Alistar consultants are generally fairly young, and partly because of that, they bring a lot of positive energy to the table. That’s what really sets them apart—they have a drive you rarely see in others.”
As a municipality, we do not want to stand in the way of people's development.
Ruben: We’ve been—and continue to be—welcomed with open arms. And we’re given a lot of freedom. I started as an application administrator, but due to circumstances, I suddenly became a coordinator. The opportunity was there, so I took it. There’s a lot of room here for growth and a real focus on professional development, which is really nice.
Marja: As a municipality, we don’t want to stand in the way of people’s professional development. And if someone leaves or takes on a different role within our organization, Alistar makes sure that effective solutions are found quickly. Time and again, I’m confident that we’ll have everything we need. It’s truly a pleasure to do business with them; everything is handled through open communication.
Robin: I think that really suits us, too. Identifying a problem and getting right to work on it. At every level.
Marja: In that regard, Alistar is also a great fit for the Rotterdam mindset: roll up your sleeves and get to work. You can spot an Alistar consultant right away. They’re proactive, take on a lot of responsibilities, and aren’t afraid to ask questions.
Ruben: If you feel that something is important, you need to get started on it right away. Even in the evening or on the weekend, if necessary. Not always, of course, but you need to be able to sense a sense of urgency. In situations where application security is at stake, you need to be able to act quickly. That’s when it’s really helpful to have direct lines of communication and know who to contact.
Marja: That’s exactly what we wanted to achieve. We’re continuing to grow as an organization; our people are developing through Alistar’s training programs, and through our projects, we’re helping Alistar consultants grow. I’m pleased with this partnership and hope we can expand it even further in the future.
