Dennis van der Lely has been working as an SAP Business One consultant at Logres Business Solutions for a few weeks now. He is a highly experienced business consultant, although SAP is new to him. “I’ve learned to ask clients tough questions.”

Dennis worked for many years for a company that developed financial software for client money management: for example, for administrators who help people with debt problems, but also for wealth managers who help people invest their money.

Good choice

Dennis: "After having served a very specific niche for all those years, I was looking for something broader. SAP Business One is a fantastic package in which an enormous amount is possible. That is nice, because I like to help customers in all areas with digitizing their business processes. SAP Business One makes this possible, as much as I have learned in recent weeks. So I made the right choice!

SAP Business One is a package that helps customers move forward in all kinds of areas: very broad, in other words. Exactly what I was looking for.

Dennis also found his niche at Logres, he says. "I clicked with him right from the first interview. It is nice to work together with colleagues who do the same things as you and the type of clients at Logres also attracted me. SMEs and especially with wholesalers and in the process industry everything happens: these are two very dynamic industries. No company is the same and so you are actually always delivering customized solutions.'

Ask questions

In his career so far, Dennis has learned to ask "tough questions" of clients, he says. 'If you only do what is asked, as a consultant you are not really worth a damn. Instead, you are paid to be critical, think further and advise well.'

Dennis: "I want clients to make well-considered choices and to be aware of the steps that are taken. Sometimes business processes as they have been set up so far are not efficient at all. For the software to really come into its own, something actually has to change in the organization. Look: these are interesting cases in which you can really demonstrate your added value'.

Certification

For now, Dennis is mostly reading up and getting certified as an SAP consultant. Dennis: "SAP has an extensive online course which you have to do before you are officially certified. By now I have read like hundreds of pages and taken dozens of intermediate tests.

The pressure is on because in a few weeks the final exam will follow. Fortunately, I get a lot of help from experienced colleagues who show me what certain theory looks like in practice with clients.'

Can't wait

In addition to practicing for the SAP Business One certified consultant exam, Dennis also looks along with customers who are in an implementation process. That is ultimately the most fun: getting a look behind the scenes. I have a lot of admiration for how my colleagues do things there.

I greatly admire how my colleagues approach an implementation project.

So far, the "walking along" has mostly been online joining Teams meetings, but I can't wait until I get to physically visit clients again. I love being among people: a consultant should just come to the floor, I think. In the end, that's what works best.