Aquafin was founded by the Flemish Region in 1990 to develop, manage, and finance wastewater treatment infrastructure across Flanders. The company is fully owned by the Flemish Participation Agency NV.
Aquafin collects domestic wastewater from municipal sewers, channels it through collector sewers, and transports it to treatment plants, where it is purified in line with European and Flemish regulations.
With a team of 1,400 employees, Aquafin works closely with local communities, public authorities, and infrastructure partners to help ensure clean water and a healthier environment.
Challenge
Aquafin wanted to modernise the way its employees and partners work together and manage information. The goal: create a future-proof digital workplace where people can collaborate more easily, find what they need faster, and work securely, anytime, anywhere.
Before the change, Aquafin used a mix of older systems: documents were stored in different places (like Alfresco and shared folders), and people collaborated through various tools like Cisco Webex and IBM Connections. This made it harder to work efficiently and consistently across teams.
To address this, Aquafin chose Microsoft 365 as the new standard platform, with SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams at the centre. They wanted one integrated environment for both internal teams and external partners such as government agencies and infrastructure providers.
Because Aquafin operates critical services, the transition had to be carefully planned and rolled out in phases, without disrupting day-to-day operations. AmeXio was selected as their implementation partner to help design, build, and support this new workplace from technical setup and migration to training and change management.
From the start, a few key principles guided the project:
Make collaboration simple and secure, for both internal employees and external partners.
Support flexible work, allowing people to work from different locations, at any time, on any device.
Ensure a great user experience, with consistent tools, easy navigation, and access to shared knowledge.
Empower employees, by offering self-service tools and reducing the need for IT support.
Solution
To bring the new digital workplace to life, Aquafin and AmeXio rolled out a step-by-step plan over four years.
First, we defined a clear vision together: what should the future workplace look like, and what was needed to get there? Based on this, we created a roadmap to guide every next step.
The actual rollout followed in the second phase, organised into clear functional tracks. Each track focused on a different part of the transition. Here’s what was done:
A clear information architecture was built in Microsoft 365, so everyone could find the right documents easily and work in a consistent way. At the same time, access rights were carefully set up, making sure that employees only see the information that’s relevant to their role.
Agreements were made about how documents should be named, stored, and shared, to keep everything organised long-term. In fact, a complete governance set-up was implemented.
Connections were made between Microsoft 365 and other internal systems like SAP, so that daily work could continue without interruption.
All existing files were safely moved from the old systems (Alfresco and legacy files) to the new one, including previous versions and details (more than 17 terabytes in total).
Employees were guided through the change with the help of internal ambassadors and a variety of training formats: from live sessions to online tutorials and videos.
To ensure smooth operation after the transition, Aquafin continues to receive expert support from AmeXio’s Service Center.
Result
Several success factors made this project a smooth and impactful transformation.
A clear vision from the start
Aquafin and AmeXio began with a solid plan. Instead of simply lifting-and-shifting documents from the old system to the new one, we looked at how things could be improved, focusing on structure, usability, and long-term value.
Smart information structure
Microsoft 365 works differently from traditional file systems, so the new digital workplace needed a logical, future-proof setup. Together, our teams designed a clear information architecture with sites, teams, folders, and (enforced) naming conventions to make information easy to find, understand, and manage.
Complete content migration
All documents, from Alfresco, file shares, and IBM Connections, were successfully moved to Microsoft 365. This included older versions, document details, and access rights. In some cases, content was reorganised to make things clearer and more useful for the end users.
Strong focus on change and adoption
Technology alone isn’t enough, people need to feel comfortable using it. Aquafin and AmeXio worked closely on change management, combining proven methods (like the PROSCI ADKAR model) with hands-on support. Internal “ambassadors” played a key role in helping their colleagues adopt the new tools, share tips, and answer questions.
Positive feedback from users
Throughout the rollout, users were invited to give feedback. In a mid-project survey, 90% of participants said the move to Microsoft 365 was a positive and necessary step. They especially valued the consistency and clarity in how information was organised and the fact that it became much easier to work on mobile devices. The support from internal champions was also seen as a major success factor.
Meanwhile, all legacy document management platforms have been successfully decommissioned and all Aquafin employees are active on Microsoft 365.
