Operational management of Eurodac

• Author: European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 6-10

Eurodac  2019 Annual Report 6

2. Operational management of Eurodac

Being responsible for the operational management of the Eurodac central system, eu-LISA ensures

uninterrupted access to the system 24/7 and facilitates the continuous exchange of data between national

authorities, in accordance with the legal provisions. Continuous operational management is achieved thro ugh

various services, such as management services, service-desk services, monitoring and supervision, and the

implementation of appropriate corrective, adaptive and evolutionary maintenance. Under the framework of the

Maintenance in Working O rder (MWO) contract, eu-LISA is not only responsible for the operational

management of the Eurodac central system but is also directly accountable for the system performance. Th e

contractor5 provides maintenance services and technical support.

In the beginning of 2019 in the shadow of Brexit, eu-LISA in close cooperation with the Member States prepared

for the disconnection of the UK. The Eurodac Advisory Group meeting6 held discussions to analyse the different

technical options available for disconnecting the UK, and on how to handle the UK data once disconnected. The

analysis encompassed several issues, s uch as test activities, hardware decommissioning, disconnecting off the

TESTA-ng network, timelines needed for preparation and implementation, possible downtime and related

costs. A preferred option was selected, one that ensured in particular the stability of the Eurodac central system

during the implementation phase. Following tests on the pre-production environment, the technical

preparations were put in place for implementation as soon as political decisions were taken to disconnect the

UK from the Eurodac central system.

2.1 Eurodac: technical functioning and evolution

By the end of December 2019, the overall storage of fingerprint data sets in the Eurodac central system reached

5.69 million records. The current ma ximum storage capacity of the system is 7 million data sets. If we consider

the recent monthly increase rates, and assume a similar growth in the future, the current capacity of the central

system should be sufficient for approximately three years.

As mentioned above, pending the adoption of the

recast Eurodac Regulation, no major evolutions were

implemented in Eurodac in 2019. All projects

executed in the reporting period concerned internal

work on the IT infrastructure and configuration,

not all of them visible at the Member State level. The projects, requiring intensive efforts, were aimed at

improving the Eurodac internal security and sys tem versions, encompassing operational system upgrades

and security patching. The initial release plan for 2019, consisted of tw o adaptive and corrective releases, to be

deployed on the basis of one in April and one in October. However, only one release was deployed in the second

half of May. The second planned technical release was postponed, and scheduled for deployment in

February 2020.

The release 19_R1 deployed in May 2019 covered the CAFIS7 application component update, and the

migration of backup component to the Common Shared Infrastructure (CSI) platform. The release was

deployed with a switchover to BCU on 21 May and a switchback operation to CU on 28 May.

In 2019, Eurodac operated from BCU twice. In addition to the switchover/back operations for the release 19_R1

mentioned above, there was a switchover operation to BCU also on 26 February for maintenance reasons

5 In October 2017, the MWO contract was signed with the consortium Sopra Steri a Benelux SA (Group Leader), Bull SAS and Gemalto SA. The duration of the

framework contract is three years, and it may be renewed three times for a maximum period o f 12 months each time.

6 Ad hoc formation, without the presence of the UK.

7 Cogent AFIS.