ITSM and Kubernetes in government: How the SOF Mecklenburg-Vorpommern migrated to KIX
When a government agency's critical ITSM platform moves from Docker to Kubernetes, there is no room for experimentation. The State Office of Finance of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (SOF) successfully migrated KIX alongside KIX Service Software GmbH and DVZ under considerable time pressure without disrupting ongoing operations. This story illustrates the role of a social education worker turned IT manager and an "ITSM tree."
ITSM at the authority: How it all began with KIX and Docker
After the State Office of Finance of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (SOF) introduced and expanded ITSM software with the Docker container application in 2023, the next major change occurred just under two years later. The state IT service provider, which works with Kubernetes, was now to take over hosting. This marked the beginning of a challenging and time-critical project. The transition was to take place within two months, and, to make matters worse, it was to occur during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
"I always had the image of a chestnut slowly growing into a tree in my head," says Jan Winkler. Winkler, who is 42 years old, is head of the IT Policy and IT Service Department at the State Office of Finance in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. He is not an IT specialist but a social education worker who worked in the criminal justice system for a long time. However, it was time for new challenges, and IT offered just that. This is why he often approaches IT, processes, and service management differently than his colleagues do.
The SOF's IT service did not yet have a ticket system, so service management was implemented using Office tools to the best of its ability. Jan Winkler wanted to change that. "Modernizing service management is an organizational change, and in my opinion, it has less to do with IT. Since the routines feel set in stone, we wanted to introduce this change to our approximately 350 employees as simply as possible. 'Keep it simple and stupid' was our motto." A bumpy transition would have had far-reaching consequences because the agency handles a wide variety of tasks. These include paying salaries to employees, civil servants, and pensioners; processing travel expenses; and collecting public claims.
The chestnut becomes an ITSM tree
At the time, Winkler and his four colleagues in the IT department decided to introduce KIX, an open-source IT service management software. Implementation was completed in spring 2023. They wanted to start simply, try things out, and grow with the challenges. They were determined not to let mistakes and setbacks throw them off course. They prepared the ground, so to speak, for the chestnut tree presented by Jan Winkler to grow within IT.
In the months that followed, the tree formed its first branches: colleagues from IT services specialized in their favorite areas, such as certificate management. Other departments within the organization also took an interest in the work being done in Winkler's department. Jan Winkler emphasized the importance of remaining visible as a person, despite a central entry channel. He and his colleagues can still be reached directly today.
More tickets, more transparency: KIX brings transparency to IT services
KIX has thus become the key working tool for IT services. The department now uses KIX for technical documentation, contract management, user manuals, fault management, asset management, and more. Jan Winkler's team processed 1,750 tickets and added 1,500 assets to the database in their first year with KIX. Since then, those numbers have risen to 2,600 tickets and 2,800 assets.
Despite this progress, Jan Winkler had a constant feeling of uncertainty. Did my employees really embrace the tool? Have they internalized the processes? Then, there was an "aha" moment. When he couldn't find any documentation in a ticket, he asked a colleague about it. "But Jan," she said, "that's a subtask. You can find everything there." At that moment, Winkler knew they had succeeded. Nevertheless, he and his team still had to face a major challenge.
Time pressure in administration: KIX becomes a critical specialist procedure
Since its introduction, KIX had been running on-premises on in-house servers at SOF. Two colleagues were responsible for its administration. However, at the end of 2024, one of them wanted to pursue a new career path, and the other was about to retire. This posed a significant challenge for Jan Winkler. In the months leading up to this, KIX had grown into a critical specialist procedure for IT services. Its operation required a high level of security, including BSI basic protection and a security concept.
Jan Winkler therefore first turned to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's state IT service provider, Data Processing Center Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (DVZ). The exchange was positive. They already had extensive experience with container solutions, and the security requirements were not an obstacle. The only catch: DVZ uses Kubernetes to manage container applications, while KIX operated at LAF using the Docker system. In November 2024, Jan Winkler contacted KIX Service Software. The project had to be completed by the end of January 2025 because the two colleagues would no longer be available to work on it after that date.
From Docker to Kubernetes
"Most of our customers and partners run our ITSM software on Docker. Kubernetes has been more of an exception so far. However, we are seeing that our customers are increasingly looking for enterprise-ready solutions,” reports René Böhm, co-founder and head of research and development at KIX Service Software. He adds: "But it's not just us. Docker is one of the most widely used tools in this area worldwide because it's quite simple to use."
From simple deployment to enterprise orchestration
Docker was released as free software in 2013. It focuses on DevOps, container development, automation, support for agile processes, and simple deployment. Kubernetes, released in 2014, has a significantly more complex structure. It is particularly suitable for orchestrating, managing, and operating large container landscapes in the enterprise sector. "I always compare the two systems to a golf cart and a truck. Both get you to your destination, but they serve different purposes. One is much harder to drive than the other," explains René Böhm.
Technical hurdles of migration: Helm charts, images, and startup routines
Thanks to the preparatory work of the state IT service provider, Helm charts (a collection of files for operating with Kubernetes) were already in place. However, the startup and update routines in the KIX images were not yet compatible with Kubernetes. Additionally, René Böhm and his colleagues had to create the necessary infrastructure for development, testing, and deployment. "That was just before Christmas, with all the holidays and vacations. Of course, we took on the task, but we really couldn't dawdle," says Böhm.
The KIX team commissioned a partner to create a reference environment so that they could test all steps. They made rapid progress. “Since we aren’t Kubernetes service providers, our main task was to identify problem areas, research them, and learn. We were even able to bribe the LAF colleague who was planning to retire with chocolate to continue supporting us with the implementation," says Böhm with a laugh. After some trial and error, his team delivered the first test release in mid-January 2025. The final migration by the LAF and the state service provider followed in March.
Mission accomplished: How KIX, DVZ, and LAF are further expanding ITSM with Kubernetes
"I am truly grateful for how flexibly and determinedly the KIX and DVZ teams responded to our challenging request. I know it wasn't an everyday task for them either. I'm impressed by how they got to grips with it despite the tight schedule," Jan Winkler sums up. René Böhm adds: "We learned a lot during the project. ITSM and Kubernetes are not mutually exclusive, but rather, they complement each other wonderfully. If the preparatory work and adjustments are correct, this combination can be ideal for areas with very high security requirements."
Now that this nerve-wracking project is complete, Jan Winkler and his colleagues at LAF can focus entirely on expanding KIX again. They already have a few plans in mind. First, they plan to introduce the ITSM software to another IT department within the agency, adding 17 more agents. They also plan to create a ticket and asset interface for the state IT service manager and set up a self-service portal to more structured processes such as relocations and procurements. Additionally, they are discussing with the internal service department the integration of room and furniture management into KIX.
Conclusion:
"When I look at the big picture, I can see that a lot has improved since we started using KIX. Thanks to the tickets, our work is more structured, less dependent on individuals, and better documented. Our processes are becoming increasingly effective. It's great to see the ITSM tree growing. And if it catches fire in the event of extraordinary circumstances, we always have the KIX and DVZ teams at our side to put out the fire."
"It's great to see the ITSM tree growing. If it ever catches fire during extraordinary events, the KIX and DVZ teams will be there to put it out,” Winkler sums up.
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