Cegeka provides Q-Park with a competitive edge through a digital ecosystem

Q-Park stands for quality in parking. To continue offering a top-tier parking experience in an evolving market, Q-Park required digitization expertise. In Cegeka, they found a partner to guide their direction. 

With more than 600,000 parking spaces in over 3,000 garages across seven countries, Q-Park is one of the largest parking companies in Europe. The company aims to maintain this position while adapting to a changing world and increasing digitization. "We initiated this digitization project even before there was market demand for it," says Hans Linssen, CTO of Q-Park. "We recognized the shift towards digitization and the accompanying rise in customer expectations, and we wanted to establish the right platform to continue meeting those expectations in the future."

A Technology Partner That Innovates Together 

"Parking is a very specific industry, which means there is little interest from software companies to develop solutions for it," says Frank De Moor, CEO of Q-Park. "This is why we sought a technology partner to create those solutions for us. Our collaboration with Cegeka began in 2007 when they started providing support, and in 2015, it evolved into a strategic partnership."

"The foundation of our collaboration has always been our complementary strengths," adds Frank De Moor. "We possess the business knowledge, and Cegeka offers their technical expertise, continuously working with us to best support our business. We understand the expectations of our end customers and building owners, as well as the specific needs of different countries and the variations between urban and rural areas. Through ongoing dialogue with Cegeka, we develop solutions that enhance the customer experience." 

Over the years, Cegeka has created various tools for Q-Park, including a subscription management tool for employees, a new e-commerce platform for user reservations, and a mobile app. 

Future-proof platform 

In 2017, Cegeka began building a cloud platform for Q-Park, which has since evolved into a comprehensive smart parking management platform: PaSS (Parking-as-a-Smart-Service). "Reservations, subscriptions, access management, and customer communication are all managed here," says Hans Linssen. The platform operates on Microsoft Azure and is designed using microservices. This makes it scalable and easy to integrate with other applications, providing Q-Park with a competitive edge. 

"With PaSS, we also offer an API for third parties," explains Hans Linssen. "Through this standardized interface, we can effortlessly expand our digital ecosystem. For example, EasyPark customers can park with us via their app using license plate recognition in our parking garages. KBC customers can also do this with the KBC Mobile app, with their parking session automatically billed to their KBC account." Each parking garage is equipped with an edge gateway, ensuring entry and exit even if the internet connection fails. 

According to Frank De Moor, the significance of this platform cannot be overstated: "Our customers primarily interact with an app, but the real value lies in the underlying platform. Its flexible, future-oriented architecture allows us to easily add new applications and continually enhance the customer experience. Ultimately, our service should be as seamless as possible for our customers. Thanks to these apps, customers no longer need to worry about parking tickets or payment machines: their license plate is automatically recognized, and the barrier opens immediately for them." 

“Our customers may focus on the app, but the real value comes from the powerful platform behind it.”

Frank De Moor, CEO Q-Park

Data lake for the right insights 

One additional challenge for Q-Park is that parking is never their customers' ultimate goal; no one parks just to park. "We need the best possible insight into our customers' end goals," emphasizes Hans Linssen. "Are they going to watch a movie, have dinner, or visit a museum? We need to know what events are happening around our parking lots and what kinds of businesses are located nearby. For that, we require not only a vast amount of data but also extensive data analysis."

"We decided from the beginning to set up a data lake," explains Frank De Moor. "We have information on more than 600,000 parking spaces. We also automatically track all events in each city to manage parking reservations effectively. Additionally, we've linked to the cadaster to identify the types of businesses around our parking lots. All this information is stored in our data lake." 

Scalability 

The platform is, of course, built to be scalable, says Hans Linssen: "The technology is in place now, and we can adapt as new developments arise." Q-Park also sees this scalability reflected in their collaboration with Cegeka, emphasizes Frank De Moor: "Although we are an international company, we have a small office and a small IT department. This is a deliberate choice because we want to work with the best people. We can hire top talent, but we cannot always retain them. We can hire the best front-end developer for a project, but once that project is completed, the developer might leave. Thanks to Cegeka, we can flexibly engage people with specific technical expertise as needed. Our scalability lies in Cegeka's scalability." 

Frank De Moor concludes, "It's not just about technology; it's about people. Other companies could certainly help us with technology, but that's not the point. With Cegeka, we have a true partnership and direct communication. Our account manager at Cegeka understands the strengths and weaknesses of our team, and that personal approach is embedded in their DNA." 

“The technology is in place now, and if new developments occur, we can adapt.”

Hans Linssen, CTO Q-Park