Operational management of the VIS

• Pages: 6-13

Report on the VIS 6

2. Operational management of the VIS

eu-LISA is responsible for the operational management of the VIS central system, ensuring uninterrupte d

access to the system 24/7 and allowing the continuous exchange of data between national authorities in

accordance with the legal provisions. The operational management is achieved, to a large extent, through

application management services, s upervision and implementation of appropriate corrective, adapti ve and

evolutionary maintenance.

During the report ing period, the maintenance in working order (MWO) has been provided through the

framework contract (FWC) signed in May 2016 with the successful consortium10. The FWC has been signed for

4 years with the possibility of renewal for up to 24 months. The MWO covers the provision of services related to

corrective, adaptive, preventive, perfective and evolutionary maintenance of the central VIS, the BMS and the

VIS Mail System and devices shared between the VIS and SIS II, as well as associated services and technical

support to the Member States. eu-LISA is responsible for the operational management of the central VIS and

the BMS. On the other hand, the contractor provides the MWO and is responsible for the performance o f the

system, any dysfunction or degradati on in the performance of services and for complementary maintenance

needed to overcome and solve such dysfunctions or degradations.

Operational management of the central VIS system is done in strict coordination with the Member States and

the Commission. Several fora11 exist in this respect, primarily eu-LISAs Management Board MB and the VIS

Advisory Group (AG). The AG meets regularly four times a year, to discuss, inter alia, the availability an d

performance of the central system, approve proposed changes and release plans and also future developments.

The specific technica l expertise developed by the Agency is also recognised and relevant in the Schengen

Evaluation Mechanism. Since 2017, the Agency has been supporting the Commission and the Member States

on a best efforts basis in the context of common visa policy evaluations 12.

2.1 VIS-BMS evolutions and releases

As eu-LISA is in charge of the VIS central system`s operational management

it is also responsible for the continued technologica l and functional

development of the system. Developments and changes are discussed and

formalised within the change mana gement process, ensuring agreement

with Member States and thus coordinated implementation. Once agreed, the

changes are implemented in line with the annual release plan, which is

discussed at the beginning of each year with the Mem ber States. A release

plan for a given year comprises two releases, one major and one minor

release, with some flexibility to accommodate operational needs throughout

the year.

In autumn 2017 at the beginning of the reporting period the V)S databases

storage capacity was up to 60 million recor ds. In terms of data stored, there were slightly more than 49 million

visa applications and over 41 million fingerprint sets. In the light of the projections model used periodically for

estimates of future usage, at that point in time, the capacity limit was going to be reached by the end of 2019.

To align the system with business requirements, a central system capacity upgrade project was planned in two

phases:

 phase 1 VIS capacity increase to 85 million records

10 Bridge3, composed of Accenture NV/SA, Atos Belgium NV/SA and Ide mia Identity and Security France SAS.

11 For example: the Change Management Group, the National Contact Points for traini ng (NCP network), the Security Officer network (SON).

12 In line with Regulation (EU) No 1053/201 3, the Commission has invited eu-LISA to be an observe r in common vi sa policy evaluations. Du ring the reporting

period, eu-LISA experts supported six evaluation missions in Member States consulates worldwide