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Belgium 13-11-2026 Squad Only Physical English

Building the Business Case for New IT Capabilities; How to justify investment when value is strategic, shared, or only visible over time.

Many IT capabilities are essential and difficult to fund through a simple project ROI. The challenge is showing why architecture, governance, resilience, cybersecurity maturity, data foundations, and AI readiness deserve investment before the gap becomes expensive. Three pressure points make the case harder. - Shared value means the benefit often sits across several teams, while the budget sits in one place. - Timing creates friction because the cost is immediate while the value appears over time. - Risk translation is needed so business and finance leaders understand the consequence of delaying the investment. The working question is simple: how do we turn foundational IT capabilities into credible investment cases that link cost, risk, business value, and future flexibility? If you are building these cases internally, let’s compare how others are positioning value, risk, and timing.

Belgium 19-11-2026 All Members Physical English

Europe’s Digital Foundations

Public organisations are re-evaluating the digital foundations on which critical services depend. Cloud strategy is increasingly shaped by questions of operational control, legal exposure, supplier dependency, interoperability and long-term resilience. For public-sector leaders, the issue is not only where workloads are hosted, but how much strategic control remains over the technologies that support essential public services. This is where European cloud initiatives, sovereign infrastructure and open-source technologies become strategically important. Together, they can increase transparency, preserve portability and reduce dependency on individual providers. But they also raise practical questions around maturity, procurement, integration, support models and long-term sustainability. Open source brings a specific dimension to this discussion. It claims to better support transparency, interoperability and strategic autonomy, but it is also requiring clear governance, security controls and operational support. The opportunity is to understand where open technologies can strengthen the public-sector technology stack, where commercial platforms remain essential and how both can coexist within a coherent European digital strategy. Three questions shape the discussion: Which parts of the public-sector technology stack require stronger European control? What role should open-source technologies play in reducing dependency and strengthening transparency? Which governance and procurement decisions will determine whether a sovereign cloud strategy succeeds? Bringing these perspectives together can define where sovereign cloud and open technologies create strategic value, identify the decisions that deserve executive attention, and establish practical principles for strengthening Europe’s digital foundations while preserving flexibility and innovation. See you at the table?

Belgium 24-11-2026 Country Members Physical French

Les Rencontres: Innovation de l'Ombre

Créativité vs. Chaos : Quelle est la gouvernance minimale ? Le défi principal est d'équilibrer le risque et le rythme du changement. Les équipes métier adoptent de nouveaux outils d'IA et low-code de leur propre chef, créant une véritable créativité mais aussi un risque massif et non géré. Cette discussion se concentre sur l'établissement de voies simples et sûres pour l'innovation, en débattant de la gouvernance minimale qui protège la réputation de l'entreprise tout en évitant l'erreur d'écraser les initiatives utiles dans l'ombre. Questions clés d'Échange entre pairs : Où l'innovation de l'ombre aide-t-elle plutôt que de nuire, et comment éviter de l'écraser ? Quelle est la gouvernance minimale qui protège la réputation tout en maintenant la vitesse, et à qui appartient-elle réellement ? Comment les pairs ont-ils réussi à transformer les efforts initiaux de l'ombre en services officiels soutenus sans perdre la confiance de l'entreprise ? Comment pouvons-nous rendre plus facile d'innover de manière responsable que de simplement agir en franc-tireur ?

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Trend Micro and Vodafone Business secure the cloud journey for infrastructure firm

Story Contracting, a leading infrastructure and civil engineering company, has partnered with Trend Micro to enhance its cybersecurity posture. Trend Micro's advanced security solutions have provided Story Contracting with the necessary tools to safeguard its operations and ensure business continuity.

Story Contracting is an award-winning Infrastructure and civil engineering company with offices across the U.K. As a provider of rail, plant, and construction solutions, the firm has built a solid reputation over the past three decades. Alex Fletcher, the IT manager at Story Contracting, is responsible for network infrastructure, desktop environments, IT security, service providers, mobile voice connectivity, and much more. The more than 500 corporate users are geographically dispersed across the country.

"We have so much flexibility now, and with Trend Micro, there’s the peace-of-mind that anything malicious coming in is being dealt with."

Alex Fletcher - IT Manager Story Contracting

Moving to the Cloud

"Like many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Story Contracting was looking to embrace a software as a service (SaaS) platform to drive user productivity, enhance IT flexibility, and boost business continuity. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, around 20% of its employees worked remotely - this has now increased to 95%, making the company’s decision to migrate to Microsoft 365 even more crucial to streamline operations.

However, Alex Fletcher and the team were well aware of the potential cybersecurity risk associated with migrating to the cloud. Although less than half (46%) of U.K. businesses suffered security breaches and/or attacks last year, the figure rose to 68% for medium-sized firms, according to a recent U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) survey. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2020 found that phishing, malware, and ransomware were the top three threats.

A One-stop shop

Keen to find a seamless, hassle-free way to manage Story Contracting’s cloud migration and security, Alex Fletcher spoke to Vodafone Business. He was particularly impressed by Vodafone Business Marketplace, a web-based portal that offers customers a single point of entry to purchase licenses and manage their applications - simplifying and minimizing the supply chain. It features multiple security offerings, productivity software, back-up tools, and more.

“On the cybersecurity side we were particularly looking for web reputation and URL filtering elements, especially with some of our staff working remotely across construction sites and at home,” Fletcher explains. “This was always something we wanted to enhance, so that we could apply URL filtering directly on the machines as a client, rather than via network solutions like the firewall.”

Why Worry-Free Services

After shortlisting and trialling several security offerings, Story Contracting chose Trend Micro™ Worry-Free™ Services on Vodafone Business Marketplace for 100% SaaS-based endpoint security. The platform offers:

A cross-generational blend of advanced threat detection capabilities, including high-fidelity machine learning, behavioural analysis, file and web reputation, URL filtering, app control, DLP, and much more
Simple deployment and ongoing management via a single console
Maximum protection for remote workers thanks to a cloud model
Endpoint detection and response (EDR) for improved threat visibility
Backed by real-time threat intelligence that protects over 250 million global endpoints
Email security to block targeted attacks, phishing, business email compromise (BEC) and more
Support for Microsoft Windows (desktops and servers), Mac, iOS, and Android™ devices

Moving to the Cloud with confidence

Thanks to the unique partnership with Trend Micro and Vodafone Business, Story Contracting is able to manage both Worry-Free Services and other SaaS investments from within the Vodafone Business Marketplace portal. That adds value in reducing the number of resellers and suppliers Story Contracting must manage, freeing up IT’s time to focus on higher-value tasks. Vodafone Business offers a single point of support, while its monthly billing option is helpful for cash flow.

From a cybersecurity perspective, Story Contracting’s investment in Trend Micro has already paid dividends, offering more advanced functionality missing from previous endpoint providers. This includes machine learning and behavioural monitoring to stop sophisticated threats, and the granularity to block USB devices, network shares, and more. There’s also the web reputation and URL filtering model Fletcher was looking for - delivered via the cloud rather than as a network-based solution.

Most importantly, the addition of Trend Micro has enabled Story Contracting to move to the cloud with confidence and ditch its on-premises endpoint security server.

“From a business continuity and planning perspective and the events of the past 12 months, the businesses that have embraced SaaS and mobile working are in a much better place than the others,” says Fletcher. “We have so much flexibility now, and with Trend Micro there’s the peace-of-mind that anything malicious coming in is being dealt with.”

As for the future, there are plans to extend Worry-Free Services to Story Contracting’s mobile device fleet, and to upgrade to the product’s advanced version, which includes comprehensive email protection and Trend Micro™ Cloud App Security that integrates directly into the Microsoft 365 environment to give advanced protection for additional Microsoft products such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and Teams. That will set up the the firm well as it looks to emerge from the pandemic in an even stronger position.

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Worry Free Services

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CIONET’s Cyber Circle: a new three-event programme exclusively focusing on the most urgent, complex, and high-impact challenges in cybersecurity today. Launched in 2026, this initiative brings together CISOs, CIOs, and senior IT executives with a strong interest in cybersecurity for three curated gatherings each year. As part of CIONET’s trusted executive community, the Cyber Circle provides a confidential, peer-driven environment to exchange insights, share real-world experiences, and address evolving cyber threats. Each session is designed to foster strategic dialogue, strengthen resilience, and elevate cybersecurity as a core driver of business value.

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