Modernization of critical public IT infrastructure
Behind the scenes of many essential public services, complex IT infrastructure runs day and night to support a wide range of daily needs. At a large Dutch government agency, I am part of the team that ensures this infrastructure continues to run reliably, securely, and efficiently.
My role focuses on managing and modernizing a large-scale Linux environment that supports more than 50 development teams. These teams build and run a wide range of business-critical applications, all hosted on a hybrid infrastructure consisting of traditional bare-metal servers, VMware-based workloads, and an evolving OpenShift container platform. Legacy technology and modern cloud native platforms run side by side here, and without in-depth Linux knowledge, things come to a standstill.
Where legacy and innovation converge
The organization is in the midst of a major transformation: the transition from older, manually configured Linux systems and VMware-based virtual machines to a more modern, containerized platform based on OpenShift. Although OpenShift is the ultimate goal, this journey requires deep technical insight and continuity of the existing environment. This is not simply a “lift-and-shift” from virtual machines to containers.
Instead, it’s about real Application Modernization. We containerize applications and refactor them where necessary so they run natively on OpenShift. This significantly increases agility, scalability, and operational efficiency, while immediately reducing the complexity of legacy management. The Application Modernization Assessment identifies which applications are suitable for this approach.
Automation as an accelerator
One of the key drivers of this transformation is the organization’s mature automation strategy. Even the current (legacy) Linux environment is managed entirely according to Config-as-Code and Infrastructure-as-Code principles. Tools such as Ansible, AWX (the upstream project of the Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform), and Salt are used extensively to provision, configure, and manage Linux servers.
This strong foundation in automation significantly accelerates the transition to OpenShift. Much of the existing automation can be reused, with only minor adjustments needed to move deployments from VMware to OpenShift. Many existing Salt states and Ansible playbooks remain applicable, allowing us to focus on containerization and platform optimization rather than reinventing basic automation.
This is an excellent example of how modern DevOps practices pay off: by investing in automation early on, the organization has adapted much more effectively to the next generation of infrastructure.
Why we are needed
Despite the size and strategic importance of this government agency, it faces the same talent challenges as the rest of the market: finding and retaining experienced Linux engineers is becoming increasingly difficult. That’s where SUE comes in.
With decades of expertise in Linux and Red Hat systems, SUE offers the depth and stability needed to manage mission-critical environments. But we’re not just here to “keep things running.” Our mission is to help modernize how infrastructure is built, deployed, and used, so that public sector organizations can adopt modern, cloud native practices that deliver greater agility, security, and value to citizens.
For example, I'm currently working on designing shared infrastructure pipelines and multi-tenant platforms that allow development teams to provision their own environments without compromising governance or security.
Looking ahead
As the organization continues to shift toward containerized workloads, our role becomes increasingly important. We help translate years of infrastructure best practices into cloud native equivalents and ensure that the transition to OpenShift is smooth, secure, and scalable.
From lifecycle management and patching to advice on CI/CD practices: I am proud to contribute to the future of IT infrastructure within the government. Quiet, but effective.
To find out what SUE manages for you and what your team will continue to handle on its own, see the Managed Services page. The guide to outsourcing IT management will help you make that decision.
