31-01-2020 Written by Xavier Geerdink

Johan Cruyff Foundation gets digital workplace

Access anywhere, anytime on any device using a digital workplace in the browser. Real-time collaboration in the same documents. Easier to communicate with colleagues abroad. This has become possible for the Johan Cruyff Foundation with a modern digital workplace based on the Office 365 suite.

The Johan Cruyff Foundation was founded in 1997 by Johan Cruyff with the mission to give every child – including children with disabilities – the opportunity to play sports. In 2018, this mission was named Creating Spaces. Every child should be given the space to develop themselves through sport and play. A well-known initiative of the foundation are the Cruyff Courts: safe playing fields where children can play sports together with respect for each other.

"It was not possible to work at home or on the go." Niels Meijer

International growth

In addition to an establishment in the Netherlands, the Cruyff Foundation is also active in Spain and the number of CruyffCourts is growing worldwide. This international growth is achieved by a small group of people, making efficient andeffective working essential. Technology plays an important role in this.

Being able to work anywhere in the world, sharing accessible files, easily communicating with colleagues in Spain andcollaborating in the same important documents are important points for the Cruyff Foundation to get work done. Becausethe foundation encountered limitations with the older digital work environment, for example, it was not possible to workfrom home or on the road, a modern, digital workplace was sought.

Video-case: Johan Cruyff Foundation

Office 365-suite

"An important condition was that the new digital workplace was available on multiple devices (smartphones, laptops),that files could be easily exchanged and that communication between different branches would be possible", says NielsMeijer, director of the Johan Cruyff Foundation.

The choice was made for a digital workplace in the browser based on the Office 365 suite. "This workplace is apersonalized workplace where users can easily log in from any device and have instant access to the Microsoft Officeapplications they use every day."

"Through the cloud workplace, the latest information from the organization is available." Niels Meijer

The implementation was done by True and Breinwave. Both companies operate under the Broad Horizon wing, a provider of IT and cloud solutions for medium-sized companies in the Benelux. True has delivered the Office 365 licenses and the dashboard for the digital workplace, as well as the technical implementation. For example, True has provided all employees with the single sign-on capability, the Office 365 tenant has been provisioned, and the user creations are configured within the Azure Active Directories.

To keep devices safe and compliant, Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility Suite has been implemented, which means that JohanCruyff Foundation employees can also safely access the digital workplace through their mobile devices.

In addition, True has provided the in-house developed User Provisioning tool. With this app the Johan Cruyff Foundationitself is able to provide new users with the right Office 365 licenses and access rights. True has also housed a financialsystem (Exact Globe) within a private cloud and linked it to the digital workplace.

Functional implementation

While True has mainly taken on the technical implementation, sister company Breinwave has realized the functionalimplementation. Based on persona research, Breinwave investigated what the Johan Cruyff Foundation employees neededin the personal dashboard. Based on the wishes, the necessary applications have been made available per user. Employeesare then trained on how to use the digital workplace as efficiently as possible.

"Thanks to the collaboration between the two Broad Horizon companies, the Johan Cruyff Foundation has a moderndigital workplace that allows employees to communicate and collaborate anywhere in the world", says Meijer.

"Applications like Microsoft Teams and Word Online allow employees to collaborate in documents at the same time.Through the portal, the latest information from the organization is available and content is easy to share. This allows asmall team to continue to work together efficiently and effectively and create space for organising sporting events forchildren."

"Applications like Microsoft Teams and Word Online allow employees to collaborate in documents at the same time." Niels Meijer

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You can read the Dutch version of the story here.