steep GmbH supports the German Red Cross Ulm District Association and the German Red Cross Heidenheim-Ulm Rescue Service in the operation of the Vaccination Centre at the Ulm Trade Fair Centre – one of currently nine Vaccination Centres in Baden-Württemberg. Since January 18, 2021, up to 120 people per hour receive vaccination there every day. The technical service provider steep supplies the IT infrastructure to ensure the smooth administrative flow of the German Red Cross team. An exciting task.
Now that vaccinations against the Corona Virus have started all over Germany, the Central Vaccination Centre in the Ulm Trade Fair Centre also commences its service. “Besides the medical or logistical challenge, there is also a special technical challenge to be mastered here,” says Florian Hägele, head of the IT department of the German Red Cross Rescue Service Heidenheim-Ulm. “Without a functioning and reliable IT infrastructure, our work at the Vaccination Centre is unthinkable.” The current schedule of the state of Baden-Württemberg envisages daily operation of the Vaccination Centre. An interesting task for steep GmbH, which, among other places, is based in Ulm and Bonn: “We are grateful for the trust placed in us to be involved in such an important task,” says Torsten Erdmann, project manager of the IT service provider steep in Ulm. “Our ambition is to create a secure IT environment so that the German Red Cross can fully focus on vaccinating the population.” Initial tests of the IT structure, which was created quickly and at short notice, were successful. “A particular challenge is certainly the flexibility we have to operate with,” Erdmann continues. “Such a network not only has to be secure and stable, but also immediately expandable, if necessary. It is important for us to support our partner, the German Red Cross, even with difficult requirements,” emphasises the project manager.
A first test of the Ulm vaccination centre in November had been reviewed by Minister President Winfried Kretschmann (Grüne), as well as Minister of Social Affairs Manne Lucha (Grüne) and Home Affairs Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU), among others. The test trial in Ulm was successful and made it possible to evaluate the process for the first time.
steep supports with
- Connection of the Ulm trade fair grounds to the existing German Red Cross infrastructure,
- Installation of IT workstations for the administration of the Vaccination Centre,
- New installation of an entire network infrastructure incl. firewall,
- Terminal server connection via ThinClients.
The German Red Cross in Ulm and steep GmbH have been working together since 2020. The service provider converted the German Red Cross infrastructure to a new system during ongoing operations. Successfully, as the renewed cooperation in this special situation shows.