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40 years of collaboration: Exact and Advisie team up for excellence
Founded in the same year, with the same passion for technology and the same drive to help customers move forward: Advisie and Exact have a lot in common. Their partnership has produced tailor-made IT solutions that focus on innovation, data and customer centricity for a wide range of industries. “We have seen each other change and grow”, says Pieter Jan Petermeijer, Country Director of the Netherlands for the ESC Group, to which Advisie belongs.
It all started with Exact for Accounting, and dozens of other products have been added since. Advisie uses them all. “We sell software licences, but we also provide services and consultancy for Exact products. So we know the software very well”, Pieter Jan Petermeijer adds. “It’s no coincidence that we are one of three Exact software centres and have a large Service Desk to support our Exact customers. We have around 100 to 120 people using Exact in some form or other every day, so we know exactly what we’re doing”, Pieter Jan laughs.
Advisie and Exact know each other very well, we know what to expect from one another and understand how the other works.”
Shared development
Advisie is also proud of the fact that it is the only Exact Platinum Partner in the Netherlands. “That means we meet Exact’s strict requirements in terms of product knowledge and the development of add-ons”, Pieter Jan Petermeijer says. The latter is another important element of Advisie and Exact’s services. “We do a lot of customisation for our own customers. We use Exact as a solid foundation on which to build in accordance with the customer’s requirements. Exact makes it possible for us to create these add-ons and deliver a very strong end product together.”
Advisie also has an IT Solutions department, the former ComputerPlan, another of Exact’s earliest partners. The department’s activities include a focus on Advisie Business Cloud. Many people prefer to use a single supplier for both hardware and software. This solution allows Advisie to offer customers a secure, complete solution for all their business software.
Together we go one step further: it’s the result of 40 years of partnership, 40 years of knowledge, 40 years of trust. “The fact that we can collaborate in this way, that we can expand on Exact products, is a win-win for everyone. It helps our customers and enables Advisie and Exact to achieve great results together. We’re constantly driving one another to higher levels of service.”
Good communication is crucial in such a close partnership. “Communications are frequent, enabling us to create solutions that go hand in hand. Our long-standing collaboration plays an important role in this: we know each other very well, we know what to expect from one another and understand how the other works. And if something is going less well, we resolve it quickly.”
When I was working for Exact myself, it was still kind of a start-up. During my time as a partner, I’ve seen it become a large company, with lots of people and new products.”
A long history
Advisie and Exact go way back, but Pieter Jan himself also has a long history with Exact. “Exact has actually been a constant factor in my career”, he says. “In my final year as a student, I founded a business that set up companies’ administrations for them. One of the tools I used for this was Exact Compact, as it was called back then. When I graduated in 1993, I started working for Exact, and I stayed until 2002. That’s when I founded another company: Qexpertise, an Exact implementation partner. In 2023, Qexpertise and Advisie joined forces to become one larger company under the wings of ESC.”
Pieter Jan knows Exact inside out. “I’ve seen the company change from different perspectives – first as an employee and then as a partner. It’s quite a special experience”, he says. “When I started working there, it was still kind of a start-up. There was one product, Exact for Accounting, and the founders were still the owners. They were very innovative. In those days, there was no other product like Exact on the market.” Pieter Jan believes that Exact still has that passion for innovation. “The company has become more professional in recent years, though”, he laughs. “It’s no longer the start-up it was in the ’90s. That’s only logical: it has become a large company, with lots of people and new products.”
Advisie part of ESC Group
Since 2023, Advisie has been a part of the ESC Group, which contains several strong players who aim to challenge the European IT and business application market together. The Group’s customers can count on their shared expertise. “We also serve Exact’s Belgian market through our branch in Ghent”, says Pieter Jan Petermeijer. “We now have some nice projects using Exact software and our own solutions underway there. And of course, we will be present at Exact Live in Belgium in November.”
Developments in several areas
So what does Pieter Jan think has been the biggest technological development? “Exact Online, without a doubt. This product indisputably brought about a lot of change for Exact itself, and for us as a partner as well. The product suddenly reached another customer segment. It challenged us to strengthen our services, it required us to provide further training to our people, and so on. Exact Online was a big boost.”
“Exact has evolved very well over time”, Pieter Jan adds. “Not just in terms of technology, but in terms of business management as well. The company’s standards and values are different today than they were twenty years ago, and that’s precisely as it should be. Exact sees when change is necessary. Exact embraces innovation like no other.”
Exact sees when change is necessary. The company embraces innovation like no other.”
Developments in several areas
“Exact has evolved very well over time”, Pieter Jan adds. “Not just in terms of technology, but in terms of business management as well. The company’s standards and values are different today than they were twenty years ago, and that’s precisely as it should be. Exact sees when change is necessary. Exact embraces innovation like no other.”
Sign of appreciation
Exact and Advisie have been partners for 40 years, and as far as Pieter Jan is concerned, this can easily be extended by another 40 years. It’s a close collaboration, with mutual respect. It’s also very nice how well Exact looks after its partnerships. “It organises events to which it invites its partners and puts on award shows to celebrate them. Advisie gets nominated regularly and we have already won several awards, including several times as Exact Partner of the Year. Those are lovely to receive, of course. They are signs of appreciation and a nice way to underline all the years of partnership between Advisie and Exact.”
