DXC and VLAIO Launch Aid Distribution System in 10 Working Days on AWS

Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) swiftly distributed critical financial aid to thousands of businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic using Amazon Web Services (AWS). VLAIO, the primary support agency for entrepreneurs in Belgium’s Flanders region, needed a system that could help distribute assistance payments to businesses. Working with AWS Partner DXC Technology (DXC), VLAIO created and launched an automated, scalable application in just 10 working days. The application processed 50,000 requests in its first 4 days and achieved a 95 percent user satisfaction rate, helping VLAIO effectively respond to the unprecedented economic challenge.

In March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to severely impact businesses, VLAIO faced an unprecedented challenge. VLAIO is a key agency of the Flemish government in Belgium, serving as the primary point of contact for entrepreneurs in the Flanders region. VLAIO’s mission is to create a positive business climate that fosters sustainable economic growth and job creation. The COVID-19 pandemic posed one of the agency’s biggest challenges yet as it worked to help thousands of struggling businesses survive the economic fallout.

The Flemish government approved an assistance payment for businesses affected by the crisis, and VLAIO was tasked with distributing these funds through the newly established Corona Hinderpremie program. To accomplish this, VLAIO required a system that could process applications quickly, distribute funds efficiently, and handle the volume of requests that the agency expected—all while most of its staff were working remotely. “The application had to be very fast,” says Mark Andries, VLAIO administrator general. “It had to be simple and easy to access for small businesses, and—above all—the applicants had to see the money quickly in their account.”

For VLAIO, time was of the essence to process these applications and distribute payments, with businesses desperately needing financial support. The agency didn’t have the months it would typically take to create such a system from scratch and launch it on its own. So, VLAIO looked toward the capabilities of the cloud—specifically AWS—and the expertise of an AWS Partner to meet these demanding scalability and deployment requirements.

VLAIO engaged AWS Partner DXC, a global technology consultant with which it has a long-standing and successful relationship, to bring this project to fruition. DXC had previously developed several critical projects for the Flemish government; these include the successful MAGDA solution, which lets Flemish citizens enter their data only once to access all public services. The partner also developed a web application for an earlier government program that provided bonuses to businesses that were forced to close due to unexpected events.

Thanks to DXC’s familiarity with the agency’s systems and processes, as well as its expertise in cloud solutions and application development, the project got off to a swift start. DXC could use components of previously built applications as building blocks for the new system, accelerating the development process. In only 10 working days, DXC created and launched an automated system capable of processing high volumes of applications with minimal manual work.

The Corona Hinderpremie application is a container-based system built to run on AWS. It is powered by AWS Fargate, a serverless, pay-as-you-go compute engine, which works in tandem with Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS), a fully managed container orchestration service. This architecture facilitates rapid scaling and efficient resource usage so that the system can better handle sudden spikes in demand. By using containers, the application can quickly spin up new instances to process incoming requests, maintaining high availability and responsiveness even under heavy loads.

VLAIO anticipated a high demand from businesses once Corona Hinderpremie went live. To prevent system overload, DXC implemented a queuing mechanism that helps control the flow of users. The system also incorporates robotic process automation to help employees process files more quickly; for applications that require additional verification, VLAIO would need to complete several manual tasks that would slow down processing times and fund distribution. With DXC’s system, these processes are automated. The solution also automates the submission of files for entrepreneurs who are entitled to payments but were unable to submit their applications digitally. “Normally, it takes months to build such an application,” says Andries. “With the help of DXC, it only took a matter of 10 days.”

When the Corona Hinderpremie application went live on March 27, 2020, it immediately demonstrated its capacity to handle high volumes of requests efficiently. In the first 4 days alone, VLAIO processed an impressive 50,000 applications through the new system. At peak times, the application successfully managed up to 1,000 simultaneous users.

Using built-in monitoring capabilities, VLAIO could gauge user satisfaction without the need to administer separate surveys. Based on various indicators, the system automatically estimated a 95 percent satisfaction rate among users. This estimate was reinforced by positive feedback from users and high-ranking members of the Flemish government. “It was a great moment when lots of appreciation came in from customers,” says Andries. “Minister Hilde Crevits for Economy and Innovation has praised our agency on several occasions.”

Looking ahead, VLAIO and DXC are poised to build on this success. The rapid development and deployment of the Corona Hinderpremie application has demonstrated VLAIO’s commitment to working with strong partners to deliver innovative solutions, and the agency will continue to use the cloud to meet the evolving needs of Flemish entrepreneurs.

Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship—VLAIO for short—is the point of contact of the Flemish government for all entrepreneurs in Flanders. The department contributes to a positive business climate that strengthens sustainable economic growth and job creation.