Primary school students work with digital learning materials from dozens of publishers every day. But each publisher with its own login procedure means classroom chaos and teacher frustration. Stichting Basispoort needed a partner to future-proof their existing single sign-on solution: scalable, reliable, and ready for one billion authentications per year. Together, we built a cloud-native platform on Microsoft Azure that simplifies login for 6,500 schools and takes the burden off publishers.
Single sign-on for 1.6 million primary school students
Cloud-native architecture on Microsoft Azure
Integration with 30+ educational publishers
One billion authentications per year
High availability and scalability for peak moments
15+ year technology partnership
The challenge
How do you give 1.6 million primary school students fast, frictionless access to their digital learning materials every day, on a platform that stays reliable at one billion authentications per year and effortlessly handles extreme peaks on school days?
The solution
A cloud-native architecture on Microsoft Azure with microservices, seamlessly integrating with 30+ publishers and serving 6,500 schools.
Basispoort x iO: technology partnership for the education of tomorrow
Stichting Basispoort is the identity provider for Dutch primary education. They ensure that students and teachers can access digital learning materials from over 30 publishers with a single login.
We have been their trusted technology partner for over 15 years. Our collaboration goes beyond individual projects: we advise on architecture decisions, cloud strategy, and build a platform that grows with the ambitions of education. This case highlights the Azure migration, but there is much more we are working on together.
Why single sign-on is essential for digital education
Imagine a teacher having to start every lesson with ten different login procedures. That is the reality without a central identity provider. Basispoort solves this by acting as an intermediary between schools and publishers. One login, access to all learning materials. But the existing solution needed replacing. Technical debt was mounting, scalability became an issue, and reliance on an on-premises data centre limited flexibility.
From on-premises data centre to Microsoft Azure
The choice for Microsoft Azure was not a technical whim but a strategic necessity. Basispoort wanted to leave behind the constraints of their own data centre: high operational costs, limited scalability, and risks during peak moments. Azure offered the solution: a platform that automatically scales when 1.6 million students log in simultaneously at the start of the school day. Together with Basispoort, we designed a migration strategy that guaranteed continuity, because downtime was not an option for 6,500 schools.
Cloud-native architecture with microservices
We deliberately chose a microservices architecture. Why? Because educational technology never stands still. New publishers come on board, privacy legislation changes, and availability requirements only become stricter. With microservices, we can update, test, and deploy components independently without affecting the entire platform. That means faster innovation and less risk.
One billion authentications per year, without a hitch
The numbers are impressive, but the real challenge lies in the peaks. On Monday morning at 8:30, hundreds of thousands of students log in simultaneously. The platform must handle that load effortlessly. Thanks to Azure's elastic scalability and our focus on high availability, Basispoort remains reliable, even at the busiest moments. For schools, this means: no frustrated teachers, no lost lesson time.
Integration with the entire publisher landscape
Single sign-on only works if all parties participate. Basispoort is connected to over 30 educational publishers, from the largest players to specialist providers. Each integration requires careful alignment of protocols, data formats, and privacy agreements. Our experience with complex integrations and our understanding of the education sector made us the right partner for this puzzle.
The numbers
1
Primary school students with access via Basispoort
1
Connected schools in the Netherlands
1+
Publishers integrated into the platform
1
Authentications per year
1+
Years of technology partnership with iO
Scalable access to digital education
The migration to Azure does not just solve today's challenges; it lays the foundation for the future of digital education in the Netherlands. Basispoort can now effortlessly grow alongside the digitalisation of education, without worrying about infrastructure limits. For schools, this means reliable access to learning materials, every single day. For publishers, a stable partner that relieves them of complex authentication challenges. And for 1.6 million students: simply start learning, without the hassle.
