Frequently Asked Questions about Polaris
Where does the name “Polaris” come from?
Many people are curious about the origin of the name Polaris for this IT system. Here is the real story:
In summer 2019, when the renewal of the previous solution called RCMS started, the project was called RCMS V5. RCMS stands for Rotary Content Management System and / or for Rotary Club Management System. At that time it was also used in Belgium and Luxembourg, where it was called "Harmony".
The "renewal" of the solution was a new creation, as the old basis was not adaptable to the new requirements. In the course of the project, it was considered to give the system a new name, since almost everything was new anyway.
Olivier Gardiol, who was the project manager at that time, compiled a list of proposed names and carried out a survey among the people involved in the project. The name Polaris came on the list because it is a major star in the firmament and when Rotarians in France talk about Paul Harris, it sounds like Pol-(H)arris = Polaris. This hidden allusion to both the important navigation point and the Rotary founder won the race and was ultimately chosen as the new name.
Olivier and his wife Laurence are also the authors of the logo, which incorporates the Rotary colors of navy blue and golden yellow.
At this stage, we want to highlight that Polaris serves solely as a pseudonym for this IT system within the Rotary community. It is not a registered trademark in this setting and has no connection to any commercial or non-commercial product.
Where is Polaris running?
Logistics Structure
Polaris is provided as a SaaS solution to districts and exceptionally also to clubs.
Each country has its own jurisdiction and that's why each country uses a separate Polaris instance. Polaris instances are completely separated from each other and share only the basic IT infrastructure. Consequently no data is shared between the instances.
The system and the software is owned by the association Rotary Communication Services Schweiz-Liechtenstein (RCS), a non-profit association supervised by the Rotary Districts Switzerland/Liechtenstein.
Physical Structure
Polaris IT is built upon a private cloud technology. Each instance consists of multiple docker containers running on multiple virtual machines within a virtual data-center. The virtual data-center is provided by Metanet and spans two physical locations. It fulfills all requirements on high availability, redundancy, security and performance. Third private location is used as redundant long term backup storage. All locations are in Switzerland, no data is stored abroad.
The IT infrastructure is operated by Cloudtec, which is also responsible for the software engineering. No other company or personnel has access to it.
About Cloudtec
Cloudtec implements and operates online platforms and develops professional web applications that meet the highest requirements for security and functionality. Read more about on their Website.
About Metanet
Metanet is a certified provider operating a scalable and fully redundant infrastructure for any kind of application and business type. It utilizes over 60 server racks rented from Equinix, SenseLAN und GTT. The own Multi-10-Gigabit-Network connects all five locations in Switzerland. Read more about on their Website.
Virtual Data Center, www.metanet.ch
Can I use Polaris on my smartphone (App)?
Yes, Polaris is a purely web-based application and can of course be opened on a smartphone via the Internet Browser (e.g. Safari, Chrome, ...). All functions such as news, registration for events, member search and administration are available. Once opened, this page can be saved as an “App” with just a few clicks on your smartphone’s screen.
Learn more about Polaris on the smartphone.
What about data protection?
Data protection refers to member data or to personal data of other persons involved such as guests, visitors or the speakers.
Learn more about Practical guide to data protection (GDPR).
Who are the people behind Polaris?
The Polaris Team currently consists of 5 members of Rotary clubs from Austria and Switzerland. They meet weekly in video conferences to discuss current issues and decide on the future of the program. In addition to this core team, there are former team members and Polaris ambassadors in various European countries.