{"id":19823,"date":"2022-03-09T14:58:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T13:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alistar.net\/?post_type=referentie&p=19823"},"modified":"2026-09-27T15:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T13:54:11","slug":"commodity-discovery-fund","status":"publish","type":"referentie","link":"https:\/\/alistar.net\/en\/referentie\/commodity-discovery-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"Commodity Discovery Fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Well-Known Discovery Fund's Journey into Dynamics 365<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What do you do when you\u2019re certain there\u2019s more to be gained from Dynamics 365, but you don\u2019t know exactly how to go about it? Exactly\u2014you ask your vendor questions. But what do you do when you don\u2019t get any answers\u2014and are even told, quite literally, that you\u2019re \u2018an odd one out\u2019 in the customer base? That\u2019s exactly what happened to Caroline de Groot, Manager of Corporate Affairs at the Commodity Discovery Fund. She decided to set out on a journey of discovery. In search of a different vendor\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caroline's Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a small team of five full-time employees and several freelance contractors in the Netherlands and abroad. That has its charm, because it means my job is incredibly diverse. Among other things, I handle administrative tasks related to investors joining and leaving our fund, ensuring compliance with AFM laws and regulations, as well as marketing, human resources, and IT. When it comes to technology, this means I often know what I want, but I lack truly in-depth knowledge of the technology itself. So a good partnership is crucial,\u201d says Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tracking the administrative process for participants joining and leaving the program was a labor-intensive, manual process. Changes\u2014such as additional contributions to the fund, as well as client agreements\u2014needed to be visible for each participant in Dynamics 365. This was necessary to maintain a comprehensive view of the client and to always serve participants with the most up-to-date information. Meanwhile, the Commodity Discovery Fund had grown steadily to more than 1,900 participants. Management also wanted a simple way to gain more real-time insight and maintain control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Journey of Discovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The relationship with our Dynamics 365 provider at the time was sluggish. \u201cI didn\u2019t get enough support and experienced the bureaucratic rigidity of a large organization. Since we\u2019re based in Aerdenhout, I was looking for a smaller, local provider\u2014someone close by, pragmatic, and who would speak our language. Google led me to Alistar, and we clicked right away,\u201d says Caroline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience: \u201cnothing but little tricks\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Caroline says that what she appreciates most is that Alistar literally provides \u201call kinds of handy tips.\u201d The updates, which come from an external accounting firm, are now dragged into a template, bringing the entire participant database in Dynamics 365 up to date in just a few minutes. \u201cThis used to take me days of work.\u201d Management can also view the number of participants and the total value of the fund in an intuitive dashboard, and additional contributions or withdrawals for each participant are automatically displayed. Finally, client agreements\u2014made via email, for example\u2014are also automatically added to the relevant client file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThey really think along with us, and for every challenge we face, we quickly receive a professional response. That\u2019s what I appreciate so much. My international colleagues in Hong Kong and Seattle also want to make better use of Dynamics 365. We use a Dutch system, but Alistar is now also creating the user manual in English.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n