How TenneT is powering the future of hybrid teamwork.

It’s easy to take electricity for granted—after all, it’s almost everywhere. But have you ever stopped to think about where that energy actually comes from?

Well, if you’re in the Netherlands or Germany, chances are it’s all thanks to TenneT. As one of the region’s largest transmission system operators, the company owns and manages over 25,000 kilometers of high-voltage lines and cables. Providing 24/7/365 power to over 43 million customers, TenneT’s mission is to deliver electricity as safely, reliably, and sustainably as possible. 

In fact, according to Product Owner and Project Lead Bas Ferwerda, this is one of the company’s core pillars. With a steadfast commitment to the future of affordable energy, he and his team are focused on doing everything they can to contribute. 

“We need to move the energy transition forward no matter what,” he explained. But, to do that, he and his colleagues will need feature-rich, intuitive, and a highly compatible collaboration suite. For a company with over 7,000 employees internationally, staying on the same page is immensely important. 

“That’s why we want to equip all meeting rooms with the best available products,” Bas added.

Fortunately, as a long-time Cisco customer, TenneT didn’t have to start from scratch.

At the time, TenneT had about 400 meeting rooms spread across multiple locations in Germany and the Netherlands. Roughly 75% were equipped with Cisco video conferencing devices—however, these systems were out of date. So, TenneT decided it was in urgent need of an upgrade to be assured with good communications.

“Since we already had video conferencing through Cisco, it was the most logical way forward,” he said. “We decided to renew all our rooms with the latest Webex equipment.”

Given the rise of hybrid work, TenneT made every effort to accommodate an anytime, anywhere collaboration experience. As Bas explained, this way of working has to be just as available as water out of the tap. 

Once he and his team envisioned their ideal meeting rooms, they needed a partner who could help make them a reality. So, TenneT issued a tender and began taking offers from various companies. 

Axians—one of the world’s premiere information and communications technology (ICT) service providers—rose to the challenge. According to TenneT, Axians’ offer met all of its requirements regarding service standards, 24/7 monitoring, and competitive pricing. However, what it looked for most of all was a partner the team could trust.

“You can write anything on paper, but the real experience of getting to know and working with each other is more important,” Bas said. “The partnership is actually the most valuable. You have to collaborate with each other and build a relationship.”

Combining their powers, the two sides got to work. Of course, TenneT was already working with Cisco, making this a three-team collaborative effort. And, because of that existing relationship, Bas knew the best path forward was to cloud-enable the existing environment first.

According to Peter Ariens, Client Manager at Axians, TenneT wanted a service where everything would be fully arranged on their behalf. That not only included migration, implementation, and monitoring, but also guidance on the Cisco hardware, solutions, and licenses. 

“With the help of Cisco, we created a total managed service for TenneT,” he said. “If anyone needs information or if something needs to be replaced, there’s a single point of contact one can dial and resolve the problem.”

As the company’s service provider, Axians also devised a strategic plan of approach. Coupled with a project document written by Bas, the two companies standardized the entire implementation process. 

“We have about 400 meeting rooms and thousands of users who each have their own wants and specific wishes,” Bas said. “We came up with room standards for different sizes. This allowed us to collaborate with internal users, conduct a site survey of the room, and decide which mold it fit into.”

Rather than on a room-by-room basis, Bas enacted this plan per location according to Axians’ site survey results. This made for an easy, repeatable process.

“Bas doesn’t take enough credit for that,” Peter added. “There are so many stakeholders involved in a large company, but he dealt with it very well by making a plan and sharing it with us so that we could come together and address our challenges as a team.”

When you’re introducing new solutions, you might think there’d be a learning curve at first. However, this wasn’t the case when TenneT rolled out Cisco devices.

“We were already equipped with Cisco, so you can imagine how easy it was to adapt to the new video equipment,” Bas said. “You could see the improvement in sound and image quality. The screens were better and easy to use, so there was no effort needed for a smooth transition.”

All of the company’s meeting rooms are outfitted with the latest technology, including the Cisco Board Series. As an integrated collaboration system, Cisco Boards offer everything employees need for hybrid teamwork and co-creation.

Plus, the company’s entire workforce also has access to the Webex App. This mobile application makes it easy for them to leverage Webex Calling, Webex Messaging, and the rest of their collaboration portfolio. 

“We’re now better equipped to work from anywhere at any time, even on the road,” Bas added. “You could say it created a lot of freedom and work-life balance for people. It’s much better, and it makes us a more attractive employer.”

TenneT is in the process of rolling out Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR). Because Cisco devices feature seamless MTR integration, the company can deploy Teams without disrupting everyday workflows.

"With Cisco as the base solution, users have the flexibility to use the system of their choice," Peter explained. “Still, you have Cisco running through the entire implementation, which makes it very valuable.”

Even after TenneT transitions to MTR, Bas plans to still leverage the Webex Control Hub. As a centralized dashboard for their entire collaboration suite, this solution makes oversight and management a simple and intuitive experience. 

“It’s very easy,” he said. “We used to have everything on premise, but you couldn’t see it all in one view. Control Hub allows us to focus on specific metrics or look at devices overall to see if there are any troubles.”

Looking ahead, it appears likely Cisco, TenneT, and Axians will continue a three-pronged partnership. 

"As new devices and standards come, we will adapt our rooms over time," Bas said. "Because Axians conducted all our site surveys and is deeply familiar with Cisco devices, I foresee it being a very strong partner in the future for any company, including us."

Get in touch with our team today to learn more about how Webex can improve collaboration and customer experience at your organization.