Belgium 23-9-25 Squad Only Virtual english
Security teams are overwhelmed. Too many tools. Too many alerts. Too few people. And now, increasing pressure from the board to protect everything, everywhere, all the time. Expect honest reflection, shared strategies, and a conversation that cuts through compliance noise and focuses on what to do when your team is stretched and your risk is rising.
Read MoreBelgium 23-9-25 Invitation Only Physical english
In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, the financial services industry in Belgium faces a critical juncture regarding its cloud adoption strategy. While the allure of cloud computing – with its promise of scalability, agility, and innovation – is undeniable, the unique regulatory demands and paramount need for data sovereignty present significant challenges. This CIONET roundtable, aims to bring together Digital Leaders from the Belgian financial sector to discuss how to navigate these complexities. We will explore how financial institutions can leverage cloud technologies while ensuring complete control over their data, maintaining compliance with stringent European regulations like GDPR and DORA, and mitigating geopolitical risks.
Read MoreBelgium 24-9-25 Invitation Only Physical english
As smart devices proliferate across operational environments — from sensors on factory lines and GPS trackers in logistics fleets to wearables in healthcare and connected systems in smart cities — the integration of Managed IoT (MiOT) is accelerating. But with it comes a surge in cybersecurity risks. No longer isolated or air-gapped, OT systems are becoming fully networked, remotely accessible, and deeply entwined with IT. This creates a vulnerable, highly complex digital mesh, one where a single compromised device can trigger physical, financial, and reputational consequences.
Read MoreSeptember 23, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english
Security teams are overwhelmed. Too many tools. Too many alerts. Too few people. And now, increasing pressure from the board to protect everything, everywhere, all the time. Expect honest reflection, shared strategies, and a conversation that cuts through compliance noise and focuses on what to do when your team is stretched and your risk is rising.
Read MoreSeptember 30, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english
Everyone has technical debt. The question is what to do with it. Refactor now? Wait for the next feature? Build on it and hope it holds? If you’re tired of debating whether to clean up or move on, this session helps you frame the debt conversation in a way that supports both speed and stability.
Read MoreOctober 2, 2025 Squad Session Squad Only Virtual english
Architecture doesn’t happen in diagrams. It happens in minds, seasoned, curious, sharp minds that understand how the pieces fit. But who’s shaping these minds? Who’s growing the next generation of digital architects? If you’re responsible for complex systems, and for the people designing them, this session is for you.
Read MorePutting the power behind Hotelbeds’ soaring business
A scalable, cloud-based server platform makes staying ahead in the travel industry more affordable.
Overview
Staying at the forefront of today’s travel industry means Hotelbeds Group has to manage hundreds of millions of online transactions every day. And that number’s always growing. Keeping on top of that growth meant investing in more and more computing hardware. As a result, the group had around 700 servers, hosted in a third party data centre. But it needed a smarter solution.
With our Cloud Compute platform, the group could scale up fast. And more affordably. Our professional services team made sure migration went smoothly. Now the group has near-limitless capacity and the assurance that our security products and experts are keeping cyber-threats at bay.
The challenge
The Hotelbeds Group’s platform connects travel services providers with travel sellers across the globe. With upwards of 430 million data requests a day from users worldwide to manage, the group was buying hundreds of new servers to keep up. As a result, the company’s physical estate had grown to around 700 servers, hosted in a third party data centre. It simply wasn’t sustainable.
We need to be able to quickly and flexibly increase our compute capacity. The only way to do that economically is in the cloud.” Álvaro de NicolásCIO, Hotelbeds Group
The group needed a better way to manage its growing number of transactions. One that meant they could scale their services more affordably, make the most of their existing investments, and keep their whole operation secure at the same time. They knew that meant looking to the cloud.
The solution
With our Cloud Compute platform, the Hotelbeds Group can do things like deploy and monitor its own cloud services. Or create hybrid environments to address both private and public requirements. Everything’s easily managed via a set of tools in a self-service portal.
The Hotelbeds Group solution runs across one of our BT data centres and a Hotelbeds Group data centre, both in Madrid. They’re linked over our IP Connect Global network for high availability and easy connection to the company’s operations in Europe, Asia and the US.
To kick things off, our professional services team hosted a number of workshops with the Hotelbeds Group IT team to develop a transition plan. We also prepared briefings to help the company communicate the plan to staff and senior management.
Once everything was agreed, the professional services team looked after the group’s migration to the cloud and made sure things ran smoothly and didn’t affect day-to-day business.
Our Cloud Compute solution features Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) hardware “For us it’s important that BT runs Cisco appliances,” says Álvaro de Nicolás. “UCS provides a combined computing, networking and storage solution that means a faster and more reliable network.”
The great thing about Cisco UCS is that it decouples scale from complexity. So, whether you’ve got one server, or a thousand, it’s all easy to manage. It also makes it quick to deliver new services, with end-to-end provisioning and migration support for both virtualised and non-virtualised systems.
BT Cloud Compute running on Cisco hardware increases scalability at lower cost for global travel services provider Hotelbeds.
The result
As well as being far more sustainable, our Cloud Compute means the Hotelbeds Group can better align IT investment with growth thanks to flexible commercial terms. New virtual servers offer near-limitless capacity and sure up business continuity. And they mean new servers can be deployed in minutes, rather than weeks, making the whole business more effective.
Better still, Hotelbeds Group is redeploying 200 of its existing servers to our private cloud. The remainder removed or re-used for non-core applications in its HQ in Palma, Mallorca, so nothing goes to waste. The Hotelbeds Group Oracle database will be hosted on physical servers within the BT private cloud and the rest of the infrastructure will be fully virtualised in our public Cloud Compute zone in Madrid.
And everything’s kept secure. Our contract with Hotelbeds Group also sees us provide security services like firewalls and DDoS attack prevention.
“In fact, security is one of the key items on my agenda and the CEO’s agenda,” confirms Álvaro de Nicolás. “BT helps us with firewalls that protect our websites, as well as allowing us to move and redirect traffic in case of cyber-attack.”
All in all, the new solution means the whole business can react to a growing and changing market faster. Sam Turner, Sales Director at Hotelbeds Group, sums up: We’ll also reduce cost per transaction, which in a scale-and-growth business is very important.”
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Digital Transformation is redefining the future of health care and health delivery. All stakeholders are convinced that these innovations will create value for patients, healthcare practitioners, hospitals, and governments along the patient pathway. The benefits are starting from prevention and awareness to diagnosis, treatment, short- and long-term follow-up, and ultimately survival. But how do you make sure that your working towards an architecturally sound, secure and interoperable health IT ecosystem for your hospital and avoid implementing a hodgepodge of spot solutions? How does your IT department work together with the other stakeholders, such as the doctors and other healthcare practitioners, Life Sciences companies, Tech companies, regulators and your internal governance and administrative bodies?
Read MoreThe Telenet Business Leadership Circle powered by CIONET, offers a platform where IT executives and thought leaders can meet to inspire each other and share best practices. We want to be a facilitator who helps you optimise the performance of your IT function and your business by embracing the endless opportunities that digital change brings.
Read MoreDécouvrez la dynamique du leadership numérique aux Rencontres de CIONET, le programme francophone exclusif de CIONET pour les leaders numériques en Belgique, rendu possible grâce au soutien et à l'engagement de nos partenaires de programme : Deloitte, Denodo et Red Hat. Rejoignez trois événements inspirants par an à Liège, Namur et en Brabant Wallon, où des CIOs et des experts numériques francophones de premier plan partagent leurs perspectives et expériences sur des thèmes d'affaires et de IT actuels. Laissez-vous inspirer et apprenez des meilleurs du secteur lors de sessions captivantes conçues spécialement pour soutenir et enrichir votre rôle en tant que CIO pair. Ne manquez pas cette opportunité de faire partie d'un réseau exceptionnel d'innovateurs numériques !
Read MoreCIONET is committed to highlighting and celebrating female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, creating a leadership programme that empowers and elevates women within the tech industry. This initiative is dedicated to showcasing the achievements and successes of leading women, fostering an environment where female role models are recognised, and their contributions can ignite progress and inspire the next generation of women in IT. Our mission is to shine the spotlight a little brighter on female role models in IT, Tech & Digital, and to empower each other through this inner network community.
Read MoreWould you like to know more about CIONET Belgium, membership or partnership opportunities? Do you have feedback or any other question? Send us a message!
You can either send us a registered handwritten letter explaining why you'd like to become a member or you can simply talk to us right here!