KI.M: Scalable assessment centers in the Microsoft Cloud with Azure

The cologne institute for management consulting (KI.M), its digital subsidiary (KI.BIT) and novaCapta as a partner, set out to digitalize its assessment centers. In addition to the realization of an interactive platform (KI.PAT), we also supported KI.M in the migration of its solution to the cloud.

Complex and lengthy analogue administration of assessment centers 

The market requires decentralized management and performance of assessment centers 

Sustainable realization and execution of assessment and development centers (e.g., paperless) 

Predefined IT budget 

Moving the KI.PAT technology to the Microsoft cloud 

Modern, scalable and secure managed Kubernetes infrastructure on Microsoft Azure PaaS 

Fully automated provisioning of infrastructure and software components  

Use of novaCapta's Azure best practices  

Streamlining of administrative efforts and possibility of decentralized execution of assessment centers based on a browser-based application for the observation and assessment of candidates 

Sustainable execution of assessment centers without travel costs and waste of resources 

Fully automated provision of assessment-specific documents in digital form  

Assessment centers, in which several candidates solve a wide variety of tasks on site and over the course of a day, were part of the standard repertoire at the cologne institute for management consulting (KI.M). In order to offer a modern solution, to reach candidates in a contemporary way in the future, to save recruiters travel expenses and to avoid paper printouts, the company wanted to develop digital assessment centers. The idea for the development of KI.PAT was born. "The market requires the flexible and mobile delivery of assessment centers. This is relevant for companies to remain competitive, but it is also a matter of the heart for us, since such a digital model saves between 200 to 300 sheets of paper per run. Sustainability was an important factor for us in this project," explains Momme Jürgensen, Managing Consultant and Managing Director KI.BIT. 

The cologne institute for management consulting and novaCapta developed KI.PAT together to provide one solution that digitalizesand simplifies both the entire assessment center and development process as well as the management. The web-based application now enables companies to manage the entire process online using tablets or laptops. However, the digital solution also raised the question of the right IT infrastructure. 

Together, the infrastructure requirements for the application were determined and the necessary structure was provided by novaCapta. Due to limited IT resources and the need for high scalability, flexibility and security, a managed approach in the Microsoft Azure cloud was chosen. Here, Azure PaaS (Platform-as-a-service) is used exclusively. This way, the entire workload runs completely in the cloud and the operating costs are kept as low as possible. As a result, there was no need for KI.M to have its own hardware, maintenance and upkeep. Moreover, Microsoft ensures security within the cloud through a high commitment of resources and regular updates, which was a high concern for KI.M in order to protect the sensitive and personal data of the candidates. In addition to more than 3,500 security experts who focus on the protection and security of customer data, Microsoft invests more than 1 billion US dollars in research and development of its cybersecurity. 

The application was realized with Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS). AKS enables a microservice architecture and thus a container-based, i.e., modular, application. This also guaranteed the high scalability of the solution. Required resources in the cloud can be scaled up as well as down. This is a core requirement for KI.M in order to flexibly adapt its solution to its own needs at any time. 

novaCapta supported the fully automated set-up of the Azure infrastructure. The project also benefits from novaCapta's best practices approach for governance, compliance and security to ensure that KI.PAT's sensitive data is protected in the best possible way in the cloud. 

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