How WPS Brings Consulting, Software Architecture and Trainings Together on One Board with Collaboard

About WPS

WPS – Workplace Solutions GmbH develops tailor-made software solutions for complex challenges in business and public administration. With more than 170 employees, WPS combines long-standing expertise in software architecture and digitalisation with modern AI technologies. WPS also offers an extensive training programme on software architecture and modern software development.

Richard Wallintin works in WPS's consulting unit. He advises clients, runs many trainings and occasionally works directly in projects. His focus is software architecture.

The Challenge

WPS has worked with digital whiteboards since the beginning of the pandemic. For a company whose daily work revolves around software architecture, workshops and trainings, a shared visual workspace is essential. In a video call you only see faces and nodding – that is not enough for complex topics. For WPS, a whiteboard is a place to discuss things together, not a replacement for documentation.

Over time, the requirements for the tool changed. Alongside features and cost, data protection, European data storage and digital sovereignty became increasingly important. Especially when working with public sector clients, it is an advantage for WPS to use a European solution that meets high standards of data protection and GDPR compliance. For some clients, this was a prerequisite. Current political developments have made these aspects even more relevant.

Cost played a role as well. WPS wanted a licence for all employees that made economic sense – without paying for tracking and AI features it did not need.

Choosing a new whiteboard

WPS found Collaboard through a targeted search for alternatives. A small internal group tested it and gave feedback. The selection criteria were clear:

1. A feature set on par with mature digital whiteboards such as Miro.
2. Easy to use, robust, highly available and fast.
3. More than sticky notes and arrows: diagrams, appealing visualisation and a Jira integration.
4. A European provider with GDPR compliance – for WPS a knock-out criterion.

Many alternatives failed in testing because they were not easy enough to use. What made the difference: Collaboard is European and holds its own against Miro and other established tools.

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Collaboard in Everyday Work

Around 140 people at WPS have a Collaboard licence. Because everyone has access, anyone who needs a board simply creates one, invites colleagues and gets started. Typical uses include software development, concept sketches, retrospectives and meetings with sticky notes. Some boards serve a team as its workspace for a long time; others are temporary, such as a board for a one-week training.

WPS uses Collaboard for event storming, example mapping, architecture reviews and requirements engineering. In architecture reviews, screenshots from other tools sit on the board next to notes as a visual record. Collaboard is often the place where results from different tools come together – for example a domain story from egon.io or designs from Figma and other tools, placed on the board as images to discuss, sketch on and collect feedback. The board also holds project links and bookmarks, because it is the quickest place for everyone to reach.

A typical training

Participants often receive the board's share link a few days in advance. The session starts with an introduction round on the board: everyone fills in a sticky note with their name and a fun fact. After the trainer's input and a discussion come the exercises. Each group works in its own frame and records its results on sticky notes. Afterwards, everyone walks through the frames together and gives feedback – without screen sharing.

Training boards are based on curated templates. The back office creates a new board from a template in three clicks and hands it over to the trainer, who only needs to make small adjustments.

In client consulting

Consulting sessions work in a similar way, usually with less preparation. Sometimes there is an agenda with a few frames; often the session starts with an empty board that takes shape during the conversation. Clients join as guests, enter their name and can start right away – according to WPS, this works very reliably.

The Value for WPS

Compared with a video conference and screen sharing, a whiteboard is a big step forward for WPS: participants work on the board themselves and take an active part. The whiteboards built into Teams or Confluence are not enough for this kind of work.

Data protection is no longer a hurdle with clients. WPS can point to a Swiss provider that meets its requirements for data protection and European data storage. In the past, WPS used a different tool with data-sensitive clients; today nothing stands in the way of using Collaboard. So far, no client has turned Collaboard down for data protection reasons. Some clients have even discovered Collaboard because they were curious about what WPS uses.

Good collaboration needs trust. Anyone discussing architectures or client projects on a board needs to know their content is protected. That's what we stand for as an independent, family-owned Swiss company – with European data centres and AI you can use, but don't have to. (Michael Görög, Co-Founder, Collaboard)

WPS also values the close, personal collaboration with the Collaboard team. After a pilot phase, trainings now run on Collaboard regularly – at least four within one recent four-week period. WPS reports bugs and feature requests through the Collaboard roadmap and has the impression that they are taken seriously. WPS particularly appreciates that ibv, the company behind Collaboard, is not a large corporation: the exchange is personal, and even small wishes that make everyday work easier have a chance of making it onto the roadmap.

Key Benefits

• A European, GDPR-compliant whiteboard that clients accept
• A shared visual workspace for complex architecture topics
• Active participation in trainings and workshops – no screen sharing needed
• Guest access: clients join with just their name
• One place where results from egon.io, Figma and other tools come together
• Training boards from curated templates in three clicks
• Company-wide licensing: anyone can open a board when needed
• Personal, partnership-based collaboration with the Collaboard team

Looking Ahead

WPS has had very positive experiences with Collaboard and the collaboration with the team. WPS will keep sharing feedback through the roadmap and help shape how Collaboard evolves.