Family Business

A sunny spring day in Hengelo at BLOM Opleidingen. With a big smile, Sandra Lammertink from the financial administration stands at the entrance. Also in the office is Teun Freriksen, the operational manager. Just as down-to-earth and friendly. Despite the size of the company, the personal atmosphere at the largest logistics training provider in the Netherlands is clearly palpable. A true family business that has grown with its feet in the clay.

Getting to Know Axelio

BLOM was looking for a reliable IT partner for their 1:1 transition to Microsoft Business Central (BC) in the cloud. Not a groundbreaking transition, but one they wanted to entrust to a party they clicked with. Teun talks about the pleasant introduction to Lubbert, director of Xperit (now Axelio): "What immediately appealed to us was the personal approach. From the first conversation, we felt right away that it was a good fit."

"What we found important," Sandra continues, "was that the people at Axelio really understood what we were working on. It didn't feel like a large, impersonal organization, but like a team that genuinely wanted to collaborate with us." It clicked immediately, and thus Axelio became their new IT partner.

With Axelio to Business Central in the Cloud

The transition was essentially according to the so-called 'clean start' principle. This means that a 'clean' Business Central environment is created in the cloud, in which any customizations from the past do not migrate. For all add-ons in use, the current app version is downloaded and installed from the app store. If, after testing all procedures, it turns out that additional solutions are needed, this is realized according to the new requirements and wishes and made available as PTE.

When the migration began, Marco and Stephan from Axelio had set up the test environment. "Everything went very quickly. Of course, some issues arose, such as invoicing in another system, but Axelio took care of small adjustments. They really collaborated with us," says Sandra. "We transitioned on Friday, and by Monday we were already up and running. No hassle, everything worked immediately," Teun recounts.

Challenges

One of the challenges was the integration of the invoicing process in the cloud. They had a solution in the old system for linking invoice numbers between Chainwise and Business Central, and that needed to work in the new system as well. "It was a small adjustment, but Axelio ensured that this was arranged quickly, even though it worked a bit differently in the cloud," Sandra explains.

Additionally, there were some minor issues with bank statements and payments. "We had to ensure that everything was booked correctly, and even those tricky questions were resolved quickly," says Teun. "Axelio was always available and explained things well."

Why Axelio?

What truly sets Axelio apart for Sandra and Teun? "The communication was quick and personal. You feel that they really think along with you," says Teun. "They don't make it a large, cumbersome organization, but it truly feels like a collaboration. That was the most important thing for us."

The transition to Business Central was not only a technical success, but the collaboration with Axelio felt good from the start. "They ensured that everything went smoothly and were always there for us," Sandra concludes. "We now work much more efficiently, and Axelio continues to support us where needed. Just well organized."

Power BI for Quick Insights

After going live, Sandra and Teun wanted to refresh the reports a bit. "We were looking for something visual, so we can quickly see what is going well and where we still have some work to do. Especially in the presentation to the management. We didn't want long monthly reports anymore," Teun explains. Axelio recommended their sister company IQBS (now Axelio) as a partner in Power BI. "You can see at a glance what is happening. The director can also quickly get started with it, and that is what we want." With IQBS, they hope to experience just as pleasant a collaboration as with Axelio, but we have no doubts about that.