Our Mandate

CERN’s Business Computing group (FAP-BC) is responsible for delivering information systems for all of the organization’s business functions. Applying product management principles and relying on lean/agile development and support teams, BC works for its partners across the whole organization (e.g. HR, Finance, Planning, Safety, Security, Purchasing, Logistics and Accelerator Operations). The type of products under the group’s responsibility ranges from custom-made solutions for a few users to large and widely integrated systems with several thousand users.

Our Mission

Cost-effective → Be conscious about BC's solution delivery cost and keep the cost/benefit ratio aligned with how other organisations provide business computing services. Find a healthy mix between in-house and contracted workforce to cope with CERN specific contract policies and the related high personnel turnover. Sustainable → Manage BC's application landscape, actively monitor and work on reducing technical debt, consolidate complex integration landscape. In general manage our architecture. Computing solutions → The group provides software solutions aimed at supporting the work of CERN's business units and their owned processes. In addition BC provides desktop computing support for the administrative sector (FHR-). CERN’s administrative business processes and capabilities → our target are the business processes such as hire-to-retire and source-to-pay as well as others in the administrative area. It is not in our scope to provide infrastructure computing services, accelerator control systems or scientific/research computing solutions. Product management → Product management is the process of managing the lifecycle of products to maximize business value. It also encompasses actively managing the business demand and business relationships. Design → BC solutions are built following shared design principles. This comprises business analysis and a BC design system to ensure optimal user experience. Agile methodologies → Agile methodologies incorporate incremental delivery, short iterations, fast feedback, transparency and collaboration that allows us to better respond to the type of work that we are tasked with. By being agile we are able to quickly adapt to a changing CERN business environment. Entire CERN community → The BC group provides solutions to the FHR+ sector and users from across the entire CERN community. Education and knowledge sharing → build expertise and develop future leaders in computer science, and IT engineering by facilitating knowledge exchange through communities of practices, attending industry events, participation in internal and external training. Our high-turnover (by design) requires us to focus on long-term knowledge retention and continuous skills improvement. Our people → Recognizing the diverse needs of and commitments to our workforce, we provide the right support, development opportunities, and collaboration frameworks to enable everyone to excel. We foster an inclusive, high-performing environment where all contributors — whether employees, contractors, or external partners — are valued and empowered to drive success. Broader IT community → we aim to contribute and inspire beyond the BC group by actively contributing to the IT community at CERN and the industry (for instance by organising events such as Voxxed Days or Spring Campus).

Our Vision

trusted business computing partner → BC and the CERN business units whose processes are supported by BC's computing solutions work together in a trusted partnership. This implies that BC is not seen as an order-taking service provider but as a partner with whom to discuss upfront changes to existing and future evolutions of the IT solutions enabling the digital execution of CERN's business processes. BC contributes its business analysis expertise early on to ensure optimal understanding of the AS-IS process landscape. It serves as a common basis for discussion to evaluate future state (TO-BE) scenarios. BC contributes its knowledge of the existing systems and its technical expertise to help making decisions about process and in possibly required IT solution changes. Backed by its knowledge of the latest technology trends, BC advises and inspires its stakeholders. Standardisation is a key focus for BC and will help to rely on standard market solutions requiring as little adaptation as possible and which hence are cost effective in terms of implementation, maintenance and access to external expertise. centralizing → BC is the recognised centre of excellence for providing administrative computing solutions at CERN. BC's ambition is to be the only and central unit which provides business computing services at a CERN-wide scale. state-of-the-art solutions → BC maintains a simplified portfolio of standard cloud-based solutions that support CERN's business needs. These standard solutions are complemented by few high-quality bespoke in-house products tailored to the unique needs of the organization. BC relies on recent technologies used also outside of CERN in other organisations and private companies allowing to leverage industry knowledge and skills developed outside. outstanding user experience → All BC applications rely on a unified design system that brings together best design and development practices, ensuring that every user interaction feels consistent, intuitive, and aligned with BC's brand identity. best-in-class environment where people grow → As expressed by the BC values, we are committed to excellence in both organizational performance and employee development. We have a workplace culture that prioritizes learning, innovation, and personal growth. We provide clear career paths, mentorship, and leadership development.

Structure

Link to the organigram.