Phillippe Balzli, CTO at zvoove Switzerland AG, shared in an interview with Kaj Arnö of MariaDB Foundation how the company navigated legacy software, rapid growth, and evolving customer needs – all with the help of MariaDB.
Who is zvoove?
zvoove Switzerland AG is a Swiss-based software company that provides tailored solutions for personnel service providers. The company has evolved significantly over the years, transitioning from M&D Computers to backoffice, and finally to zvoove Switzerland AG. Current CTO Phillippe Balzli took over leadership in 2023, continuing the company’s journey toward modern, scalable infrastructure built on MariaDB.
The Legacy Foundation and Early Modernization
The company’s digital transformation began in the early 2000s under the leadership of Ralf Mouttet, who was co-owner and CTO until 2023. Mouttet led several critical modernization initiatives:
- Migration from Access to MySQL (around 2000)
- Transition from Visual Basic to SaaS (completed in 2012)
- Initiation of the MySQL to MariaDB migration project (2022)
By the time the MariaDB migration was undertaken in 2022, the platform was running on MySQL 5.5, but the limitations of this setup became increasingly apparent.
The Challenge: Breaking Free from Vendor Lock-In
zvoove faced growing strategic concerns about MySQL:
- Strategic concerns about Oracle’s control over MySQL’s future
- Licensing uncertainty following Oracle’s MySQL acquisition
The Oracle acquisition was the final catalyst. As Philipe explains:
“When Oracle acquired MySQL, we knew we needed a future-proof, truly open source alternative. We wanted the freedom to grow without vendor lock-in concerns.”
zvoove also had the need for specialized database expertise. As Phillippe also explains:
“We’re a development house. We know our software and our customers, but we’re not specialists in database infrastructure.”
The Migration: From MySQL 5.5 to MariaDB 10.3 (and beyond)
In 2022, the migration from MySQL 5.5 to MariaDB 10.3 began as an initiative by Ralf Mouttet, with Phillippe Balzli leading the technical execution. The team worked with external expertise to ensure a smooth transition.
“We rehearsed the upgrade multiple times, and adjusted the configuration to reduce swap usage. It was a clean migration in the end.”
After Phillippe took over as CTO in 2023, he continued the modernization journey. With support from MariaDB expert Oli Sennhäuser, the team successfully migrated from 10.3 to 10.6, again with minimal disruption.
Operational Realities: Indexes, Engines, and MyISAM
zvoove continues to use MyISAM for some historical reasons – an unusual choice today, but one that works for their current architecture.
“We know MyISAM isn’t modern, but it still fits our system. We had to set some additional indexes and tweak the optimizer settings to improve performance.”
Their infrastructure is now gradually being updated to support modern workloads and future customer demand.
A Strategic Vision: Multi-Host MariaDB
Under Phillippe’s leadership, zvoove is preparing to modernize its database infrastructure even further:
- Establishing multi-tenant environments for customer isolation
- Providing customers with their own dedicated MariaDB hosts
- Planning upgrades in line with MariaDB lifecycle support, including the upcoming EOL for version 10.6
“We aim to split out our infrastructure and give customers their own MariaDB hosts. The PoC worked well – now we’re working on the final adjustments before rollout.”
The Value of MariaDB
MariaDB’s impact at zvoove has been both technical and strategic:
- Stability: Repeated upgrades with zero critical incidents
- Performance: Optimized queries, smarter index usage
- Openness: A future without vendor lock-in
- Support: Trusted consultants like Oli Sennhäuser for guidance when needed
Phillippe summarizes:
“As long as things run well and deliver value, we continue. So far, MariaDB has done just that.”
Conclusion
zvoove Switzerland AG’s journey showcases how companies can modernise legacy systems gradually without sacrificing stability or business continuity. By leveraging MariaDB’s open architecture and ecosystem expertise, zvoove is positioned for scalable growth and continuous innovation.
Thank you to Phillippe Balzli, Ralf Mouttet, and the zvoove team for sharing your story.
