As a rapidly growing SME, you need a flexible IT partner who thinks along and can switch quickly when needed. That is exactly what Watergenius was looking for in 2018 and found in Tricore. Now, seven years later, it is clear that what seemed like a calculated risk back then was a bullseye.
We are in the meeting room of Watergenius in Kortessem. From here, I, Senne Snellings from Smeltpunt, would like to take you along with Terry De Reydt, Robin Wauters, and Wouter Vanaken, through a collaboration where trust is the driving force.
Good morning Terry, can you briefly explain who you are and what Watergenius does?
Terry: “Watergenius has been active as a water treatment company for 35 years, making water smarter and more sustainable, with systems that increase comfort and reduce waste. I have been involved in all operations for the last 25 years, including both the service aspect and the general operations and IT technical side.”
What needs or frustrations led you to seek an IT partner?
Terry: “When I started here, we were only five people and my PC led a double life as a server (laughs). As we continued to grow as a company, it quickly became clear that the need for structured IT management was increasing.
In 2018, we moved to the current location and it was time to renew the entire IT infrastructure. That moment coincidentally aligned with the decision of Robin, Stijn, and Jonas to establish Tricore. Robin was my contact person at the previous IT partner, and that was the deciding factor for me to change IT partners and place my trust in Tricore.”
“That flexibility ensures that I have not regretted the choice of Tricore for a moment.”
What impact did that decision have on your company to switch from an IT partner where 30 people worked to Tricore, where only three people worked at the time?
Terry: “The size of the company didn’t matter much to us; it’s the people who work there that make the difference. As a growing SME, you need people who know and understand your situation and interests. Tricore has since also grown to a company of 18 people, yet we have not had to adapt at any point.
For us, it is important that if there is a problem tomorrow, I can turn to someone who can respond quickly, and that is absolutely still the case today. That flexibility ensures that I have not regretted the choice of Tricore for a moment.”
Robin: “I think that for customers who knew us from the past, it was definitely a calculated risk to partner with us from day one. At that moment, you have to make the decision to entrust the continuity of your business to the people you know or to stay with your current IT partner, where you have no visibility on who your new contact person will be.
Watergenius is one of the first three customers who have given us that trust, which is absolutely not a given. Someone with the right technical skills is therefore not yet able to run a successful business. Given that we are still working together, I think we have certainly not violated that trust.”
“That is the reason why we started Tricore, to prevent problems instead of curing them through a proactive approach to IT infrastructure.”
What solutions has Tricore implemented here over the years?
Robin: “Just before their move here, we made a proposal for the renewal of their IT infrastructure. That was the first time that Stijn and I, as technical people, embraced the commercial aspect. Ultimately, we gained the trust of Peter and Terry to carry out a complete renewal. Specifically, this involved a completely new server environment, a renewed network, and a huge increase in cybersecurity.
That was rendered not long after when a camera server that was not under our management was hacked. Thanks to the strong network security we had set up, it remained that way and we were able to avoid access to the entire Watergenius network. That is the reason why we started Tricore, to prevent problems instead of curing them through a proactive approach to IT infrastructure.”
Terry: “That all went relatively quickly, after nine months everything was renewed. The best decision ever when you look at where we came from.”
How does the collaboration work in practice?
Robin: “In the beginning, I was always the first contact. As Tricore grew further, that changed a bit and I think Terry today has several good contacts within Tricore that he can turn to. Of course, I am still involved in all the commercial aspects and Terry knows that he can always reach me when needed.”
Terry: “When you are collaborating almost every day, you don’t want to have to explain who you are every time you call. As I said earlier, Tricore is also a lot bigger than in the beginning, but everyone is always aware of our situation. That makes communication much more pleasant.”
At one point, Tricore also implemented Odoo here, how did that work?
Robin: “That is again a wonderful example of the trust we received from Watergenius. After our first collaboration in 2018, we continued to grow and new departments were added within Tricore, including software in 2023. Coincidentally, Watergenius was also looking for a renewal of their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) during that period.”
Terry: “We have worked with Adsolut for 15 years because we have been a Brilliant customer in the past. In the beginning, it was in the hands of a small group of people, and we could grow with them. A few years later, they decided to sell their solution to Wolters Kluwer, where we then ended up as just a number in a helpdesk. From then on, it has really been a struggle for Watergenius. Three years ago, I told Peter that the biggest hindrance for this company was the ERP and that we needed to look for something new.
Not long after, Tricore became a partner of Odoo, and Wouter came here to give a demo, after which we made the decision to choose Odoo (and again for Tricore).”
What is the big advantage of Odoo for Watergenius?
Terry: “I have looked at many different solutions, but the fact that Odoo is open source combined with the many integration possibilities were the biggest advantages for me. Within Watergenius, there were already many small islands, and Odoo now allows them to communicate with each other.”
Wouter immediately had the lead of the software department within Tricore, someone you actually didn't know yet. Did you have as much trust in him right away as in Robin, Stijn, and Jonas?
Terry: “It quickly became clear that Wouter is someone I could be myself with, which is very important to me. Additionally, Wouter is also someone who can interpret things extremely quickly, at a level I have not often seen in my life. That was already clear in the GAP analysis.”
Wouter: “It was also a very large project, so it makes sense that you know the company.”
Robin: “You are minimizing it now Wouter, but it is given to few to understand an organization in that way and to think five steps ahead during implementations.”
Terry: “I think Wouter understands our internal workflows better than some who have been working here for years.”
“Almost 50% of all ERP projects fail and 75% are delayed, then clear and open communication is essential.”
Wouter, what was your experience with this project?
Wouter: “In six months everything was arranged right (everyone laughs). No, we started in September 2023, where it quickly became clear that the proposed schedule was somewhat too optimistic. In the beginning, it was mainly about finding a workable solution for Watergenius within the possibilities of Odoo. I think we went live at the right moment, with a solution that all parties were satisfied with.
Almost 50% of all ERP projects fail and 75% are delayed, then clear and open communication is essential to bring a project to a successful conclusion.
The initial plan was to go live after nine months, but after six months this proved unfeasible. Then we decided together with Watergenius to extend the fiscal year to the end of 2024 and we switched over from one day to the next on May 1, 2025.”
Robin: “Such a transition should not be underestimated, Watergenius is a large organization with a huge amount of data. From the moment the switch is flipped, there is no turning back. If it turns out that there are errors, the entire organization comes to a standstill.”
Terry: "Additionally, we are also a company with a very atypical way of working, which made it impossible to implement a phased approach. It was really all or nothing."
Terry, how do you look back on that process?
Terry: "Wouter and I have WhatsApped each other at the most impossible moments to achieve the best result together, and neither of us got irritated in that process. Wouter just said that 75% of ERP projects experience delays. It is thanks to those extra months in which we further perfected the solution that we were able to switch over in one day and ensure full continuity as a company."
I don't think many companies can say that during a change of this magnitude. That is entirely due to the preparation and the people behind it."
Wouter: "To give you an idea: on Friday we turned everything off, and on Monday, 180,000 relationships were transferred, 50,000 serial numbers synchronized, 40,000 contracts migrated, and 6,000 outstanding invoices transferred. Speaking of a lot of data (laughs)."
Odoo is a very broad package; have you discovered new functionalities that you weren't using before?
Terry: "That's the danger when you get new toys (laughs). At one point, Wouter also said to stop focusing on the peripheral features and focus on the fundamental basics. In the last four months before the go-live, I decided to add an integration with a new planning tool after all."
Wouter: "That integration was supposed to be done by another party, but they flaked out. So in the end, we did it ourselves, which has actually benefited us in managing it afterward."
Robin: “For a year now, we have also been handling telephony here, and we are currently looking to create an integration with Odoo CRM where the contact record of a client automatically opens when a call is made.”
Terry: “Telephony is the common thread in everything we do. We have a team of eight people who man the phones every day, which translates to a traffic of 400 to 500 calls per day.
Our previous telephony partner could no longer provide that service, which meant we were constantly dealing with connection issues. That was also a small company at first and was then acquired by a large giant. As a result, all my personal contacts disappeared, and we could no longer get anything arranged. Stijn proposed the solution from Tricore here, and then we also chose Tricore for our telephony, again based on trust.”
Wouter: “A company certainly does not have to put all its eggs in the basket of the same supplier, but it is a huge added value in terms of efficiency to have all IT services under one roof.”
So many changes in IT for Watergenius in recent years, how did you manage to get your people on board with those changes each time?
Terry: “During the implementation of Odoo, people from Tricore camped here for the first two weeks after the go-live to facilitate one-on-one training. This was very well received by our people because Giel and Arnaud also took their time for it and realized that our people are not IT professionals. So even in that regard, it was a very pleasant collaboration.”
Are you afraid that Tricore will one day become too big for Watergenius?
Robin: “Terry has even expressed that concern to me and that we must maintain who we are, regardless of the size of the company. I also don't think we will ever evolve into a company where there is no personal contact anymore. SMEs are companies that need to be able to switch quickly, an IT partner must be able to provide the necessary flexibility.”
Terry: “Exactly.”
Okay, one last question to wrap up: If you had to summarize the collaboration with Tricore in three words, what would they be…?
Terry: “Human, approachable, and reliable.”
A successful collaboration is about more than just trust. To make a collaboration a repeated success, you must meet and sometimes exceed expectations time and again. The relationship between Tricore and Watergenius is proof of that, where trust is the foundation of a strong partnership.
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