Joining Forces

Patrick moved from the Netherlands to the US in the mid-2000s. He has been an IT Consultant for many large international companies since getting his degree in engineering. As an ESYON Partner, he represents the Amazon Marketplace Connector in the States. Patrick lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four-year-old son, Vincent.

Eliminating the Commute

If you were to run into Patrick van de Luitgaarden, say at a neighborhood BBQ or a friend’s birthday gathering, you would probably get into an easy conversation about the pleasures of traveling or maybe discuss the differences between American and European football. If you eventually asked him about his profession, you would be impressed to learn that he has spent the last 20 years crossing the globe designing, implementing, and project managing large-scale IT projects for international corporations using Microsoft’s ERP software, Dynamics 365.

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Patrick earned a degree in engineering from Tilburg University and an MBA from Radboud University Nijmegen. He spent the first few years after getting his degree as a functional consultant for different software products, eventually specializing in Microsoft Dynamics 365.

After ten years splitting his time between the United States and the Netherlands, he moved permanently to America in 2013, living in Texas, then Los Angeles, where he currently resides.

A Mutual Connection

At a certain level, the world of IT consultants becomes very small – people tend to specialize. A close associate of Patrick’s who also focused on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and was working with ESYON suggested he contact co-founders Ronny Bücher and Oliver Pankrath, who were looking for a partner in the US. After a few initial telephone conversations, Patrick flew to Germany for an in-person meeting.

While in Germany Patrick learned about ESYON’s Amazon Marketplace Connector, a product in ESYON’s e-commerce offerings that they believe solves a problem that many large American retailers who use D365 face—how to manage their Amazon business when all of the critical data is located on Seller Central. ESYON’s solution solves this problem in a very straightforward and practical manner: its connector integrates all of the data from Seller Central into Dynamics 365. This integration allows retailers to manage all of the critical processes from their ERP, in a program they are already familiar with and using every day.

Patrick was also impressed with how Ronny and Oliver run ESYON. Their management approach is professional but relaxed; the two co-founders are open and informal with employees. Their focus is on making decisions and finding solutions, and they succeed in delivering the excellence one expects from a German engineering firm.

Making Life Easier

Patrick is happy he can offer his clients this much-needed solution. He explains that “the AMC does much more than process orders – all the data in Seller Central that users need to run their Amazon business can be handled directly in D365, saving not just time and money, but also giving the financial accounting department the ability to view, manage, and control everything in one place. It is a great advantage to my customers that they can do everything from their ERP.”

Oliver and Ronny found Patrick to be a perfect liaison between ESYON and the US. Ronny Büchner recalls, “We immediately saw in Patrick someone who had all the qualities we were looking for – experience with D365, a focus on customer satisfaction, a large network in the US, and the cultural background to work with Europe and America.”

ESYON is happy to integrate Patrick into their partner network, and we have only one remaining question—after 20 years in the US, which does he prefer—American or European football?