We’re thrilled to announce that Matthijn Hoogenboom has been awarded the Resco Most Valuable Professional (MVP) title for 03/02/2022 – 03/02/2023. The Resco MVP Award is an annual award that recognizes individuals who are actively sharing their technology, business, and industry knowledge with communities related directly or indirectly to Resco. They do this online (via blog posts, social media posts, webinars) or at local, regional, and international business events. Consultants who played a crucial role in successful Resco implementations and helped us reach new markets are also eligible for the title.
All of us at Resco recognize and appreciate Matthijn’s outstanding contributions. And today, we’d like to introduce him and his work to you as well.
Matthijn, congratulations on this recognition! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
I’ve been working with CRM and ERP systems since 1996 and started focusing more on CRM in 2003 when Microsoft came with the first CRM.
I’m currently working as a consultant and a project manager at MicroPartner, where I’m also responsible for the partners we’re working with, like Resco and Microsoft.
I have an IT education which I later supplemented with a finance degree.
I’m a huge fan of all things vintage – I have a vintage boat and a vintage car. Things from the old days when quality was very much appreciated, unlike today where everything is throwaway.
What is your specialization in business?
Counseling, helping customers on their journey.
We still see many companies who’ve taken the first steps into the cloud. A lot of companies are already in the cloud and using tools such as Office 365. Also, a lot of companies are running legacy ERP or CRM systems that are locally maintained and installed, and I think it’s my specialty to help them by moving into the cloud, which will make things easier, more transparent, and integrated.
We really like working in tandem with customers, so they know why this is happening, why this is beneficial for them, and the whole sales cycle is always transparent.
If a customer comes to us and says we would like to have some help with an area in which we are not experts in, we will point them to a company that is. We don’t want to spread ourselves too thin over too big an area, we prefer to stay very focused and specialized in ERP and CRM.
How do you work with your customers?
We’re a little bit old-fashioned. We don’t do hit and runs, we don’t try to make a quick sale and then move on to the next project. We want to be part of the whole journey for a customer, and that’s why some of them have been with us for over 10 years, which is quite unique in this line of business. We have a saying here in Denmark: “you have to pick the feathers of the chicken without the chicken screaming,” and that’s what we try to do with our customers.
How and when did your Resco journey start?
In the mid-2000s, we were working with CRM solutions and needed a stable mobile CRM app that also works offline because many salespeople and service people needed this feature.
And because Resco offered it and had a closely and uniquely integrated solution with Microsoft CRM, it was the logical choice.
In my opinion, if a solution needs a four-day training course to learn, then it’s already disqualified. And that’s also one of the reasons we started working with Resco – the tools are easy to learn and use.
According to your experience, what are the most important attributes, features or functionalities a customer looks for when it comes to field service solutions and mobility?
Offline – when you do installations or you have maintenance work in the most distant places, like offshore, underground, you name it, you don’t want to go through a hassle. First, you have to connect to a network, then log in, etc. But sometimes, you just want to open your tablet, have the full functionality and as soon as you are ready for it, you can synchronize all your data into the server.
Seamless integration – with several people working offline on the same case who all go online simultaneously to synchronize, it’s essential to be able to configure which rule wins. Things have to work, because if they don’t, clients lose money every day; therefore, integration simply must work. I believe one of the most important things about mobility is not having to worry about integration and stability.
Data safety – and of course, security is also important: a great thing about Resco is that the data is encrypted even offline.
Very friendly user interface – technicians might be skilled professionals in electronics, high-pressure systems, hydraulics, etc., but that does not necessarily mean that they’re highly skilled in IT. So, the solution must be simple and user-friendly.
Configurability – Resco is 100% configurable, meaning we can take a complex scenario, easily build it and present it in a simple manner.
Optimized for touch screens – even though you can run Resco on a computer or laptop, it’s very smart to use it on your phone or tablet. Mobile devices have become the norm, they are now almost an extension of our hands, so we use them naturally. I once gave my six-year-old daughter access to the Resco app, and she was easily using it, but I doubt she would be able to do the same on a PC.
What is the potential you see in Business Central?
In Business Central, we have service management and manufacturing, which are two pretty nice modules because they are the foundation for the Resco field service solution. In BC, everything is centered around finance – meaning everything is either generating financial transactions or stock transactions. This service management module in BC is pretty good because you can handle everything from a quote through an order or a service item to a contract, and schedule maintenance or repairs. But the one big thing which was lacking was the planning and execution part of field service tasks, and that’s where Resco fits in perfectly.
The potential for Business Central is huge. It has a very long track record – it all started in the late ´80s. Since then, many companies (especially mid-sized) have started using it, and they have different versions of it.
Business Central is so great because it has had about 20 years to mature – just like Resco! So, both solutions have gone through some major developments throughout the years and are fully mature now.
One of the reasons you have been nominated for the Resco MVP award is a project where Resco was integrated with Business Central. What stands out about this project, and why was Resco the right choice for the customer?First of all, I’m very honored to become a Resco MVP, but I have to say that this wouldn’t have been possible without my team.What stands out about this project is that we started with a different field service solution, but then we became aware that Resco was working on a connector and integration between Resco and Business Central. That, of course, caught our attention. It soon turned out that the customer was using the service management in Business Central very efficiently, so there was no need to duplicate all this into another field system.The customer was doing a pretty good job in Business Central with their contracts and service orders, and the only missing thing was a strong planning and execution part. The reason we didn’t go with Microsoft was that it was overkill for the customer, who only needed a simple functioning field server solution. Microsoft just tends to build things very big.
From my experience, implementing Resco is three times faster. In the end, Resco was the better, cheaper, faster, and more flexible solution for them.
How do you see the landscape of business apps in 2022 playing out?Continuous growth. I believe that we will see even more companies going into the cloud.How do you balance working with Resco and Microsoft solutions?First of all, we always look at the customer’s needs, and we don’t listen to the propaganda of either Microsoft or Resco. We place our customers first and then we decide what’s the best solution.Resco has some features which Microsoft doesn’t, and it’s just a more flexible solution. If a customer needs more flexibility and offline capabilities, we go with Resco.What is your cooperation experience with Resco? Can you share some highlights?We have built a close relationship with Resco in the last three-four years. We now have regular meetings; we are working together on sales opportunities and co-marketing activities.And because there’s no software without issues or bugs, how openly and quickly a company gives support and helps solve problems is key. And this is something Resco has been doing since the beginning. We have an open dialogue; we don’t try to hide anything but try to work on a solution.Anything you’d like to say to the Resco community?I highly encourage everyone to enroll in the Resco Academy. One of our developers took the new training, and even though he has been working with Resco for many years, he learned a lot. And I went through all the business courses.Another thing I’d like to emphasize is that if you’re a customer looking to integrate Business Central and Resco, make sure you have a partner involved who knows Business Central well, because it’s a very technical platform. So, make sure you have a capable partner or the experience and knowledge to do it yourself.
You can connect with Matthijn on LinkedIn and learn more about MicroPartner here.
Become the next Resco MVP
If you know someone or consider yourself a worthy candidate for the Resco MVP award, please send an email to partners@resco.net with the subject line “Resco MVP nomination.” Or you can reach out to me on LinkedIn if you have any questions.
We are looking forward to recognizing more exceptional Resco experts and influencers!
