"Enjoying working with the material, that's what gives me energy"

Mathijs has no trouble describing his work as a lead consultant in one sentence."Coming up with solutions for customer challenges," he says immediately.He does this specifically for the financial and project-based component of Microsoft Dynamics 365:Finance and Operations."But I'm not always just a lead consultant in a project," he continues."For example, I am also certified as a solution architect.Which hat I wear depends on what the project requires." For example, for a recent project at a municipality, he took on the role of product owner, answered questions from managed services and was the functional consultant for adjustments to the solution.

How does Mathijs combine all these hats?“That usually goes well.That's also because I love it when I can support the customer in every area.Of course, it is sometimes more convenient to divide the roles and involve colleagues, especially if several things have to be done at the same time.And that is usually the reality.But it feels good when I know what it's about at every point.That gives satisfaction."

If you are in a project from multiple roles, you will also face challenges from different angles for which you as a consultant have to come up with solutions.But that is exactly what Mathijs gets excited about."As a consultant, you constantly have to solve a puzzle.That is often a challenge, but that is what makes it so much fun.Is this the real problem of the customer?Or what is really going on?And how do we solve that as well as possible?"

Thanks to this enthusiasm, Mathijs has also become the person colleagues turn to when they need help.Mathijs himself attributes this to his experience."I have the drive and experience to ask critical questions when colleagues come to me with issues.Through my experience, I have gained the skill of not accepting anything immediately and getting to the bottom of things for the customer.Actually, as a consultant, you also have to have this kind of curiosity with all the new updates that Microsoft implements in its solutions almost weekly.It encourages me to continuously investigate how we can put the puzzle together for the customer in the best way."

But alone is only alone.Mathijs also regularly pulls colleagues by their sleeve if he wants to spar with someone or does not come to the right solution."Some colleagues, like me, have been working at Conclusion MBS for a long time.They know and can do a lot, which is incredibly valuable to work with.

His colleagues are therefore role models for Mathijs and explain why he has been working at Conclusion MBS for so long."For me, it is definitely my colleagues who are the distinguishing factor and make Conclusion MBS such a great company.Like-minded people who, like me, like their work and are there when you need them.I feel at home among them.In the end, the people in an organization are more important than the box around it.For me, it's the main reason I've been in this place for so long."

Mathijs may have been in his current role for years, but he would like to swap a day with a pre-sales colleague."On the one hand, it has common ground with my current role: finding the best solution for the customer.But it's on another level.Where I always work with a concrete need and immediately fill in and test it, in a pre-sales role you have to examine what exactly the customer asks for and what would be a good solution for it.I'm curious about that."

The commercial aspect of the role also seems to Mathijs to be an interesting challenge."You have to think in terms of possibilities, rather than challenges or problems.I'm less good at that.I think it's very clever how my colleagues build a magical world around the product to put it in the spotlight as well as possible.Without it becoming a nonsense, but rather about what the system can really do." All in all, Mathijs is interested in this role for a day."But without the contract business. Just being busy with the material, that's what gives me energy."