From attic to professional environment

ACES Direct is a perfect example of a company that once started on an attic and has now grown into a professional enterprise, i.e. the second-largest online ICT company in The Netherlands. “What characterises us is our way of doing business: we have an eye for detail. 99% is not good enough for us”, says Bram Sauer, CTO of ACES Direct. “Our website has always played a central role in our company. In the beginning, we did everything ourselves, from designing to managing our site. But as we grew and recruited more employees, we soon realised we needed to become more professional. Our processes needed to be focused, so that not everyone would be working on the same source code, and the chance of error would be minimal.”

Extension requests can be achieved

ACES Direct came to contact with Ibuildings through Zend Technologies. Bram describes his experiences: “Our relationship with Ibuildings has evolved into a pleasant collaboration. We are working with Zend Platform and Zend Studio. The great thing about Ibuildings is that they are always just that one crucial step further. When we were growing and our needs were expanding, our other suppliers told us that our wishes were not feasible – Ibuildings, however, took the challenge. This attitude is the basis for our trust with the company.”

Importance of certifying developers

ACES Direct employs a team of developers. It is important that everyone has the same skills and knowledge. “I think it is important that our developers know how the product works, but also that they are certified. This is one of the many areas in which we seek perfection”, Bram says.

Custom training: ideal flexibility

In custom training, Ibuildings conducts individual interviews with all developers involved. This provides a clear understanding of their current knowledge and the areas that could be improved. Customisation is an ideal approach in the area of training. “Because I can choose exactly what my people are being trained on, they are learning about topics that they do not yet master. This flexibility is very important to us”, says Bram.

Application audits

In addition to training, Ibuildings has also conducted a number of audits at ACES Direct to properly understand the functioning of the customer applications. A security audit, an architecture audit and a performance audit have laid the groundwork for an intensive cooperation.

Application support

Support is a crucial point for ACES Direct. If the system stops working, the pain is immediately felt on two fronts. Bram explains: “Our site can no longer handle orders that are sent through our website, and none of our people can continue working. In our company, everything is done online, so we are very dependent on a well-functioning system. Our support package with Ibuildings is tailored to our needs. There are a predetermined number of support hours that we can use as needed. This way, we only pay for what we really need.”

Intensive cooperation

“Often, we also discuss our new ICT projects with Ibuildings – it is nice to get a specialist view when weighing down the pros and cons of a new project. I see Ibuildings as almost like a distant colleague with whom I can share ideas. Although we have done a lot together, the cooperation is not yet fully developed. We will soon transfer our web cluster to Ibuildings. We are also working on a takeover of another company, and it is nice to brainstorm with Ibuildings about how to link all the different systems in the back.”