On 8 January 2024, ACA Group and TU Delft joined forces to further develop the intranet of the largest technical university in the Netherlands. The first task in this collaboration was to migrate the intranet running on Liferay from Firelay to AWS. In this article, you'll discover everything about the new partnership. A few years ago, some people from TU Delft attended a Liferay inspiration session at ACA’s offices, where they were enthusiastic about ACA’s technical expertise. When the tender for the hosting, development and maintenance of the TU Delft intranet based on Liferay was issued, we were happy to submit a tender. ACA chosen as partner In response to the tender, ACA submitted a thorough dossier, which convinced TU Delft. The tender covered six criteria, including an implementation plan, test process description, dashboard visualization, and others. ACA got rated with the maximum points for: organization (with a description of the project team and relevant experience), contribution to the Liferay community, and focus on innovation and advice. Our recognition as a Liferay platinum partner undoubtedly contributed to the positive assessment. The successful Intranet migration is the result of close collaboration between TU Delft and ACA, where we not only transfer technology but also build trust and appreciation. — Tom Claus , Project Manager at ACA Group Successful Liferay migration to AWS In early 2024, we began transferring the existing intranet with 13,000 users from Firelay to AWS (Amazon Web Services). There was quite a bit of pressure on this project because support for Firelay was set to end on April 1. Despite this, the migration proceeded smoothly, and after thorough testing in the acceptance environment, we successfully completed the project on March 13, 2024, well in advance of the deadline. Transitioning to AWS brings several benefits to TU Delft. The new environment is five times more efficient, offering enhanced flexibility and scalability. Additionally, AWS's cloud-native and monitoring features provide further advantages. TU Delft is off to a great start with ACA. What is striking about the collaboration is the professionalism, following well-thought-out processes and personal contact. We look forward to the coming years in which we will achieve great developments together. — Sanne Wijsman , Product Owner Intranet at TU Delft Building the intranet of the future The collaboration between ACA and TU Delft doesn't end after the migration. In the long term, ACA will continue to develop and maintain TU Delft's intranet using Liferay. One definite plan is the upgrade to Liferay DXP 7.4, which will provide more user-friendliness and additional functionality, such as improved content management, integrations, low-code capabilities, and even AI integration. Together with Liferay and TU Delft, ACA is committed to build the intranet of the future. 💡 We are thrilled to see ACA's successful migration of TU Delft's intranet to the cloud. Their deep understanding of Liferay DXP and cloud platforms like AWS makes them a valuable partner for complex digital transformation projects. The successful collaboration between ACA, Liferay, and TU Delft further showcases the strength of our partner ecosystem in delivering innovative digital solutions – we are really proud of that! — Christian Thiede , Head of Sales EMEA North at Liferay More about our Liferay services

At ACA Group, we've always believed that the key to success lies in continuous learning and relentless improvement. That's why we recently hosted our second knowledge-sharing event of the year on September 20, 2023. This event brought together project managers and analysts to delve into essential topics crucial to our mission of delivering successful projects. Behavior Driven Development (BDD): Unlocking the Potential During the event, we featured a presentation by Niels Berghen introducing Behavior Driven Development (BDD). This session explored the core principles of BBD and how it can be integrated into our project management workflow. By focusing on defining behavior from a user's perspective, BDD allows us to create software that truly meets our clients’ needs. We discussed the importance of collaboration between clients, developers, and testers when writing BDD scenarios. These scenarios bridge business requirements and technical implementation, ensuring that every feature we deliver aligns perfectly with user expectations. Lessons Learned: The Heart of Project Improvement During the event, Ann Verwee delivered another insightful session centered on "Lessons Learned" from one of our past projects. Regardless of its outcome, each project provides invaluable lessons that can shape our future success. This open and candid discussion allowed us to identify common patterns and pitfalls we can avoid in future projects. By reflecting on these lessons learned, we're continuously refining our processes and becoming even more adept at delivering successful projects. Slicing the Cake: A Masterclass in User Story Splitting One of the event's highlights was a captivating presentation by Koen Vastmans, the owner of simu-learn.net , who introduced us to the intriguing world of "Slicing the Cake." This innovative game, born out of Koen's experiences in the field, leverages simulations, and gamification to impart agile principles and techniques. "Slicing the Cake" draws inspiration from Richard Lawrence's story-splitting patterns. During the presentation, Koen explained the "why" and "how" of the game, showcasing its potential as a powerful tool for learning to write valuable user stories. In an engaging and interactive format, we played a game demonstrating how these slicing patterns work in practice. Our attendees gained a deeper understanding of this critical skill by experiencing how to break down complex user stories into smaller, more manageable pieces. Building Stronger Bonds Over Pizza At ACA Group, no event is complete without a bit of entertainment, fun, and camaraderie. After the enriching knowledge-sharing session, we shared delicious pizza and continued our discussions. These moments of informal interaction strengthen our bonds and foster a culture of collaboration within our team. Knowledge-sharing events like this are the cornerstone of our commitment to delivering successful projects. By equipping our teams with the latest insights and best practices, we are better positioned to not only meet but surpass our clients’ expectations. We look forward to more such enlightening sessions in the future as we continue to empower our teams with the knowledge and tools necessary to excel in the ever-evolving world of agile development.

The museum pass, the most comprehensive museum subscription in Belgium, launches a digital version of the pass. From now on, subscribers can use their smartphone to visit museums. With the museum pass, visitors gain access to more than 200 Belgian museums and exhibits. Together with publiq , we previously took care of the technical implementation of the physical museum pass. This current physical card, which serves as an entrance ticket, is now complemented by a digital version on a smartphone. This way, museumPASSmusées wants to continue their efforts concerning digitization and user-friendliness. Digital museum pass is available right away Erika T’Jaeckx from museumPASSmusées explains the digital pass: “From subscriber surveys from last year, we learned that new subscribers don't like waiting for the shipment of their museum pass.” The interest for a digital version, therefore, was substantial. “New subscribers have access to the digital museum pass right away after their purchase. That means they're able to visit museums immediately and that is an enormous improvement, especially today since contactless is becoming the new standard.” In the new app, users will find a personal QR code, which acts as an entrance ticket at the reception desk of museums. The app will soon be expanded with content about the range of museums to visit. Proud of our close collaboration Since ACA Group already had experience with the IT behind the physical museum pass, we understood the context very well and were able to develop quickly. Together with publiq, we worked in close collaboration to be able to offer users a beautiful and user-friendly app. We carefully crafted the app's UX and UI thanks to a lot of best practices, feedback and prototyping. We're proud of the result and the trust between ACA and publiq! Populair pass The popularity of the museum pass has only increased since its launch in 2018. Last year, 90,000 passes were sold, which accounted for half a million museum visits. The payments of museumPASSmusées to the museum industry increased to 2.5 million euros, a new record. The amount of participating museums is on the rise as well. The Suske Wiske museum in Kalmthout and the AfricaMuseum in Tervuren have recently joined the ranks, for example.