Qualogy and A.S. Watson: the remarkable story of Sullivan
Published on: Author: Kay van Scharrenburg Category: NewsFrom Paramaribo to Rijswijk and Renswoude: Qualogy-consultant Sullivan Kromosoeto’s story is exceptional. 3.5 years ago, he worked for Qualogy Caribbean in Paramaribo as an Oracle Consultant. Now, he works and lives in The Netherlands and is an essential link between Qualogy and our customer A.S. Watson.
In 2009, Sullivan started as an ambitious, young developer for Qualogy Caribbean, at that time called Qualogy Suriname. Back then, Qualogy in the Netherlands was already a well-known name in the Oracle world. Qualogy Caribbean was founded in 2007 and quickly gained more ground in Suriname.
From the start, Sullivan was committed to build Oracle expertise in Suriname. Qualogy Caribbean was a pioneer in this area in Suriname. Over the years, Sullivan gained more consultancy experience and was promoted to team lead, technical lead, trainer and project leader.
International collaboration
In those days, Qualogy Caribbean’s mission was: automate Suriname with Surinamese people. It quickly became apparent that Qualogy’s accumulated expertise was interesting for the entire Caribbean area. When companies from Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba wanted to utilize Qualogy’s service, ambitions were scaled up.
In 2015, the first Dutch companies took the advantage to outsource operations to Qualogy Caribbean. Sullivan was deployed offshore for several clients from Qualogy Netherlands. A great opportunity for Sullivan to develop himself and for Qualogy to expand their capacity by offering offshore IT.
Pursuing ambitions
One of Qualogy’s Dutch customers is A.S. Watson. A.S. Watson is the global company behind among others, Kruidvat, Trekpleister, ICI PARIS XL, Pour Vous and Prijsmepper, and market leader in terms of Health & Beauty. In 2017, A.S. Watson was looking for external expansion in the field of Oracle PL-/-SQL and Oracle APEX development. At the time, Qualogy Netherlands had no one available at a short notice.
Qualogy Caribbean’s Service Delivery Manager, Sonny Sheoratan, saw a good opportunity for Sullivan. After the first Skype meeting between Sullivan and A.S. Watson, it was clear: they were a perfect match. Sullivan decided to go for it! Late 2017, he left for The Netherlands, to work fulltime as an interim Oracle Consultant with A.S. Watson.
Broadening horizons
A new workplace, new colleagues and a new home. Professionally, everything was different too. The Dutch IT landscape is bigger and more complex. Sullivan loved the challenge. Thanks to his solid basic knowledge and perseverance, he quickly found his way.
Now, 3.5 years later, he’s still more than happy with A.S. Watson. He barely has to miss his Surinamese colleagues. Part of A.S. Watson’s development tasks have been placed with Qualogy Caribbean, so Sullivan regularly contacts his Surinamese colleagues.
Reap the benefits
Sullivan’s commitment to A.S. Watson in The Netherlands was the start of a unique collaboration. Both between Qualogy and A.S. Watson, as well as Qualogy’s colleagues in Suriname and The Netherlands. More and more Dutch companies now profit from IT offshoring and outsourcing by Qualogy Caribbean.
Same language
The collaboration’s success is easy to explain, according to Sullivan: “We speak the same language, and the cultural differences between The Netherlands and Suriname are much smaller compared to, for example, India or other countries in Europe, where IT offshoring also takes place.
In addition, Surinamese IT experts satisfy Western European education and certificate requirements. Every Qualogy consultant is trained on soft skills by expert André Vegter. This strengthens the collaboration and helps bridge small cultural gaps.
Optimal occupation
A.S. Watson experiences the advantages of outsourcing to Suriname. More flexible capacity, Dutch experts and attractive rates. Now, several consultants work remotely from Suriname for A.S. Watson.
Proud: preferred supplier
Since 2019, Qualogy is A.S. Watson’s preferred supplier. We are proud to supply knowledge and consultancy in the field of (Oracle) application development, integration, Business Intelligence and Data warehousing.
Sullivan’s efforts in 2017 have brought us much in a short time. A close collaboration with A.S. Watson, opportunities to expand offshore IT in Suriname, and let’s not forget Sullivan’s extraordinary story. We thank A.S. Watson for their confidence in our professionals.
