“Our brand values align very closely with Alistar’s.”

After De Goudse Verzekeringen and Alistar had been working together for years in the area of support, it was time to take the next step. Remy Zuiderwijk (29) has been working as an application administrator on Vulnerability Management since April. But what is that? Why is it so important? And what makes Alistar the ideal partner for this service? Remy explains this together with Koos Broodbakker (DevOps Team Manager, Core ICT).

Koos: To get right to the point: one of the reasons Alistar and De Goudse are such a good match is something I call “responsiveness.” When I have a problem and ask Alistar if they can help me, they grasp the issue in no time at all and, on top of that, find someone who’s a perfect fit for our organization in a flash. Both the account managers I work with and the consultants Alistar provides understand very well what it takes to work here.

Remy: And all this while you’re kind of being thrown in at the deep end. But that’s actually a good thing—you learn from it. Alistar is able to put the right people in the right places; I really feel that myself, too.

Koos: That says a lot about Alistar’s selection process. They’re all about a no-nonsense approach, the ability to adapt quickly, and working according to specific guidelines. What’s very clear is that the candidates had lives before IT. They have a wealth of knowledge and experience they’ve gained elsewhere, which they apply in this line of work. They’re very mature in how they organize their professional lives.

It’s all about thinking proactively, wanting to understand the customer’s needs, and taking ownership.

Remy: I did indeed study health sciences, and now I work in vulnerability management at an insurance company. But it’s working out really well, partly because I get a lot of support from Alistar and they carefully help you build your IT career. I started at Parnassia on the service desk, where you learn to bridge the gap between IT and the end user. You have to be a good communicator and willing to help others. In short: show empathy. That’s what ultimately takes you the farthest. When I look at my colleagues, I see that too. We may not be hardcore IT pros, but our social skills are so well-developed that we’re of great value.

Koos: It’s all about thinking proactively, wanting to understand the customer’s needs, and taking ownership. That fits with Alistar, and it also fits very well with De Goudse. We’re no-nonsense, independent-minded—we chart our own course. And that aligns very well with Alistar’s core values.

Remy: I clearly remember that when I first started here, they emphasized to me that this is a family business. You can really tell that in everything. The people are friendly, empathetic, and they work with you to find solutions. It felt like a very natural transition.

We had to reinvent the wheel, but vulnerability management has really become serious business.

Koos: That’s especially important in our department, because we work for our employees. They’re our end users, and we have nearly 900 of them. Everyone has their own device, and it’s our job to keep them as secure as possible. That’s a timely and very challenging issue. We’re putting more and more effort and energy into keeping our systems secure. At first, we took a reactive approach, but the arrival of Remy is the first step toward a proactive policy. And that’s leading to very positive developments.

Remy: That was quite a challenge—starting from more or less nothing. We went into it with a pretty open mind; it was a matter of figuring out our goal and how we were going to achieve it. But in the end, it went very well—Vulnerability Management has really become serious business.

Koos: This startup phase really says a lot about Remy and Alistar. He really had to reinvent the wheel; he had to use his knowledge and skills to do his thing. Then Remy very smartly started building connections with the product owners. Ultimately, we have to ensure that De Goudse has everything under control and that we’re not playing catch-up. We’re fully committed to ensuring digital security.

Remy: It's very responsible work, but it's still proactive. So it's mainly about identifying and patching vulnerabilities and preventing things from going wrong.

Koos: And that’s ten times better than fixing the problem after the fact. This process is a top priority for us. It’s also a way to assess whether proactive vulnerability management is something we should incorporate into our standard work procedures. If this proves successful—and it already has, really—we’ll need to consider whether we should actually hire someone to handle this. Ultimately, everyone wants a safe workplace. For us as a company, that’s truly a matter of vital importance.

It is in everyone's best interest that we keep our digital workplaces as secure as possible.

Remy: But not everyone wants to go to the trouble of doing that. I understand that, too—updating your laptop never seems to come at a good time. That’s why I actively reach out to end users and explain why it’s essential to cooperate. They really appreciate that. It always comes at an inconvenient time, but it’s in everyone’s best interest that we keep our digital workstations as secure as possible.

Koos: Our digital moat has to be wider than our neighbors’, so to speak. The biggest threat comes, unconsciously, from your own employees. That’s why, for example, we also offer awareness training courses. And Remy’s arrival is really helping to raise awareness and enhance professionalism. He’s the first non-service employee we’ve hired through Alistar. Alistar can do much more than that, too. We’re very happy about that, and it’s quite possible that we’ll make even more use of their services in the future.

Remy: That’s also something I’m really focused on. My goal is to establish a very clear and sustainable process here, so that any successor can hit the ground running. We’re putting a structure in place here that will truly benefit De Goudse.

Koos: Alistar has proven time and time again that it adds value to our IT challenges. That’s true for the service desk, but certainly also for this project. Together, we’re working hard to further professionalize our wonderful company and keep it secure.