Waterbedrijf Groningen N.V.

Netherlands · owned by Province of Groningen and Groningen municipalities (Netherlands) · waterbedrijfgroningen.nl · 35 vendors

Waterbedrijf Groningen is a Dutch water utility company that provides clean drinking water to all residents of Groningen province. The company operates as a public utility focused on sustainable water management, water conservation, and protecting water sources for current and future generations.

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Last updated 2026-07-30 · revision 26

35 direct vendors, 291 subvendors

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Subvendors by controlling owner country (sample)

Migration Readiness: 3/10

Assessed by AI based on technology stack characteristics (cloud-native vs legacy, containerization, microservices), regulatory environment, data residency requirements, financial stability, and vendor lock-in risks. The score ranges from 0-10, where higher scores indicate better readiness for technology migration.

Waterbedrijf Groningen N.V. exhibits low migration readiness, scoring 25 out of 100. The primary challenge stems from its core operational technology stack, particularly the extensive use of SCADA / Industrial Control Systems. These systems are typically on-premise, highly specialized, and deeply integrated with physical infrastructure, making them extremely difficult and costly to migrate to modern cloud-native environments. The custom customer self-service web portal ('Mijn Waterbedrijf') also suggests a potentially monolithic application architecture, which would require significant refactoring for cloud adoption, rather than a cloud-native, containerized, or microservices-based approach. Regulatory factors further complicate migration readiness. While GDPR compliance is a positive foundation for data handling, the 'High risk' 'Assessment Required' status for NIS2 Directive compliance means any migration project would need to heavily prioritize and integrate enhanced cybersecurity measures, incident reporting, and supply chain security, adding complexity, cost, and potential delays. The lack of ISO 27001 certification also indicates a need to establish a more robust information security management system, which would be a prerequisite or a significant component of a secure migration strategy. Data residency requirements under GDPR (EU data processing) are clear but still impose constraints on cloud provider selection and architecture. Regarding vendor relationships, while the geographic diversity of vendor HQ/owner countries is a positive, the explicit count of vendors is stated as 0, making it difficult to assess vendor lock-in directly. However, the presence of custom systems and specialized industrial control systems inherently suggests a degree of technical and potentially vendor-specific lock-in, which would impede flexible migration. The company's high revenue concentration could also limit financial flexibility to fund a large-scale, complex migration project.

Compliance

3 in-scope frameworks identified; showing 3.

NIS2 (source) — Assessment Required

As a drinking water utility in the Netherlands, Waterbedrijf Groningen falls under the 'drinking water' sector which is explicitly listed as an Essential Entity under NIS2 Directive. Essential Entities face the highest compliance requirements including mandatory incident reporting, risk management, and cybersecurity measures. The company appears to exceed size thresholds as a regional water utility serving the Groningen area.

As a drinking water utility in the Netherlands, Waterbedrijf Groningen falls under the 'drinking water' sector which is explicitly listed as an Essential Entity under NIS2 Directive. Essential Entities face the highest compliance requirements including mandatory incident reporting, risk management, and cybersecurity measures. Non-compliance can result in significant fines (up to €10M or 2% of annual turnover) and operational restrictions. The company appears to exceed size thresholds as a regional water utility serving the Groningen area.

Evidence: https://waterbedrijfgroningen.nl/over-ons/

ISO 27001 (source) — Assessment Required

As a critical infrastructure provider (water utility) that processes personal data and operates digital systems, ISO 27001 certification would be beneficial for information security management. While not legally mandatory, it's considered best practice for utilities and may be required by customers or regulators. The company's exposure to cyber threats and data protection requirements make this relevant.

As a critical infrastructure provider (water utility) that processes personal data and operates digital systems, ISO 27001 certification would be beneficial for information security management. Risk is medium because while not legally mandatory, it's considered best practice for utilities and may be required by customers or regulators. The company's exposure to cyber threats and data protection requirements make this relevant.

GDPR (source) — Compliant

As an EU-based water utility processing customer personal data, employee data, and supplier data, GDPR is fully applicable.

Company is located in the Netherlands (EU member state) and processes extensive personal data including customer NAW data, IBAN, phone numbers, email addresses, meter readings, and interaction data. Their privacy policy demonstrates GDPR compliance with proper legal bases, data subject rights procedures, retention policies, and processor agreements. Risk is low due to established compliance framework and regular privacy policy updates (last updated June 2025).

Evidence: https://waterbedrijfgroningen.nl/disclaimer-privacy/, https://waterbedrijfgroningen.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Disclaimer-en-privacy.pdf

Financials

Three-year financials

Financial Resilience Score: 9/10

Waterbedrijf Groningen N.V. exhibits exceptionally high financial resilience due to the confluence of its business model, market position, and strong financial management. The company provides drinking water, an essential service with inelastic demand. Its revenue stream is highly predictable and is not significantly impacted by economic downturns. As the sole provider of drinking water in its designated region, it operates without direct competition. Tariffs are regulated, ensuring revenue is sufficient to cover operational costs and necessary infrastructure investments, which minimizes price risk. With an equity of €275.4 million against a total balance sheet of approximately €450-€460 million (based on 2022 figures), the company's solvency ratio is over 60%. This is an extremely strong position, indicating a low reliance on debt and a significant capacity to absorb financial shocks. The company is owned by the municipalities within the province of Groningen. This public ownership structure prioritizes long-term stability and public service over short-term profit maximization. It also provides an implicit guarantee of support, further enhancing financial stability. The steady growth in EBIT demonstrates a proven ability to operate profitably within the regulated framework, allowing for continuous reinvestment into the water network.

Key strengths: Non-Cyclical, Essential Service, Regulated Monopoly, Strong Solvency, Public Ownership, Consistent Profitability

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