Serco Belgium to continue to provide IT Helpline services for the Council of the European Union

Serco, the international services company, has been awarded a contract in Belgium to continue to provide IT infrastructure support service for the Council of the European Union. The framework contract is valued at  €23m and has  a maximum duration of six years.

With the health crisis and the widespread use of teleworking, the helpline has become more essential than ever for the 3,500 people who work at the Council of the European Union, as Ramón Chismol Ibáñez, Director of Digital Solutions at the Council of the EU, points out: "In a normal working life, the helpline receives an average of 380 emails and calls a day. As soon as the first lockdown started, the calls skyrocketed. In March 2020 alone, the teams had to deal with more than 6,000 calls and emails. Previously, a discussion with a colleague would resolve the issue. Today, the only solution when at home is the helpline. Thanks to Serco Belgium's agility, we quickly ramped up and were able to help all these people in record time."

Serco Belgium has dedicated a team of 45 people to operate the IT support within the Council of the European Union. The Belgian company has been delivering this service there since 2009. Now, following a competitive tendering process, the Council has concluded a new framework contract, extending it to new missions and with strict quality monitoring. The outsourcing of the IT support service has shown its added value, saving time and efficiency with the rapid deployment of experienced people.

As part of the contract, Serco Belgium delivers :

• a helpline accessible by email, phone and soon by chat for the 3,500 people, civil servants and contractors, who work daily for the Council of the European Union; 

• the installation of every piece of new computer equipment. The Council of the European Union's IT park includes some 2,600 PCs, 3,400 laptops, 7,000 monitors, 1,500 printers and 1,000 iPhones;

• IT support for the guests of the Council of the European Union (tablets and phones, support in the meeting rooms).

Serco Belgium has 20 years of experience as an IT contractor for several European institutions such as the Commission or the EEAS (European External Action Service). The company has demonstrated its ability to provide support for the technologies chosen by the European institutions, including the Council. For the latter, in the space of 12 years and under various framework contracts, the services delivered have evolved considerably, particularly with new technologies. Serco Belgium has accompanied this evolution by always providing the same level of quality. 

Commenting on the award, Miguel Delacroix, General Manager of Serco Belgium, said : "Our strength is our ability to focus on the quality of the service. We have a quality manager on site whose sole mission is to analyse performance and see how to improve it. A user survey showed a 96% satisfaction rate. On the other hand, we are a bridge between the users and the internal IT teams. The infrastructure is chosen by the customer, we deploy it and provide feedback to the users. This way, we participate in improving the processes to ensure a constant quality service."

Serco Belgium also benefits from being part of a large international  group. The Belgian company can rely on Serco Group's expertise in new technologies and on the best practices developed within the group when it comes to implementing new tools, such as the IT ticketing software chosen by the Council of the EU and used to ensure optimal monitoring of the helpline's user support service.

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Serco Belgium to continue to provide IT Helpline services for the Council of the European Union
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