The Dutch Archery Federation currently has 13 employees and is responsible for a broad range of services for more than 250 affiliated archery sport clubs in the Netherlands. The federation has a role in overall policy, and is also responsible for competitions, education and talent development programs. The Dutch Archery Federation has more than 9,500 active members and is the recognized federation within the Dutch Olympic Committee and Dutch Sport Federation (NOC*NSF) that takes part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Dutch archers have a leading position in the world.

The Challenge: Helping Federation IT Turn Professional

During the last years, the number of employees at the Dutch Archery Federation has grown from three to 13. Many employees have a part-time job and may work, for example, one day at the office and two days at home. One employee even has a permanent home office and never comes into the federation office. Each year, the CEO spends about 10 weeks in foreign countries for the Archery Federation and as volunteer for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The IT infrastructure had never been completely modernized, and was disparate and not standardized. “Our budget is very limited,” said Rita van Driel, CEO of the Dutch Archery Federation. “We receive funds from the ministry and funds originating from the lottery and the football pools. In addition, instead of spending member contributions on IT, we would rather use this money for activities and services for the members themselves.

“Access to data really became a problem, so we decided that it was time to make our IT processes more professional,” she said. Managing files took endless time and the federation felt out of control. Data was stored everywhere — on office desktops and on PCs at home — with unwanted consequences such as working with incorrect files, duplication of files, and the danger of losing business information. It was quite a production, with USB sticks, CDs, PDA synchronization, and files that were sent by email to home addresses.

Implementing Citrix Access Essentials

The Dutch Archery Federation has no knowledge of IT. DHS Informatisering, a Gold Citrix® Solution Advisor — that already was helping the federation with automation and administration — was asked to find a solution to the challenge of making the federation’s IT operations professional at affordable costs. DHS advised online access with Citrix Access Essentials™.

After approval of the proposed solution by the federation, Citrix Access Essentials was installed on a new server, and the Web interface was customized in the look of the federation. SafeWord tokens were added for two-factor authentication. Data is now centralized and employees have browser-based online network access to virtualized applications from home and on the road.

Impressive Professionalism

Citrix Access Essentials helps the Dutch Archery Federation display professionalism to its members, the other federations and the NOC*NSF. The first remarkable improvement in professionalism was seen in the e-mail environment. “Previously, we e-mailed using different e-mail addresses and disclaimers — from home using personal addresses and from the office using business addresses,” said van Driel. “Because we now have access to standardized applications from all locations, we have a single environment. In addition, because we can access applications from anywhere, we no longer have to set an Out-of-Office message. Colleagues don’t even notice that I am abroad and I receive fewer interruptions from phone calls because I can respond to e-mail messages immediately.” In addition, the federation experiences less inconvenience from time zone differences when working, for example, from Canada, because e-mail decreases the need for making phone calls during office hours.

Citrix Access Essentials also enables the separation of roles. “I am also CEO of two other smaller federations. Using Access Essentials, I can use the applications, e-mail addresses and files for any federation anywhere in the world and work using the identity of that specific federation.”

On the Road but Virtually at the Office

Before the Citrix implementations, employees prepared for meetings abroad by selecting the necessary information in advance — either gathering paper documents about the subject or putting electronic documents on USB drives. “Sometimes colleagues were joking, ‘There goes Rita again with her binders in a plastic bag.’ Now we have secure online access to all centralized applications and documents and always use the most up-to-date version.” Added van Driel, “We don’t lose documents any more and no information gets into the wrong hands.”

In addition, because documents are no longer kept on notebooks or on home PCs, the chances of losing data as a result of systems failure have been drastically reduced. Similarly, employees don’t need to worry about losing data if a portable media device is lost or stolen. All files are kept centrally at the office and are archived daily.

“It really is fabulous. During the European Championship I was sitting in my shorts on a field in Athens in the sun, working online. Colleagues from the Netherlands and other countries were impressed with the features we were able to implement with a limited budget,” concluded van Driel. “Even our national coach, who is never in the office, can consult the training programs of the national archers online. The professionalism we’ve gained by using Citrix Access Essentials compared to the previous situation is enormous.”

Future Plans

The Dutch Archery Federation expects that this new way of remotely accessing information can also be very beneficial for other sports federations in the Netherlands and other countries, and hopes to spread the concept.

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