An Introduction to DycoTrade – An Interview with Cees Poortman, CEO, DycoTrade
ComTech Advisory Who is Dycotrade and how did it get started as a business?
Cees Poortman: DycoTrade, headquartered in the Netherlands, is a Microsoft partner delivering an end-to-end commodity trading solution for soft commodities and metals. Our platform is seamlessly integrated with Microsoft’s flagship ERP solution, Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management.
Our journey began when our founders completed a management buyout from a multi-solution software company, choosing to specialize exclusively in commodity trading and risk management solutions. Starting with a team of 10 expert consultants, we have grown into a international organization of over 90 professionals, serving customers worldwide.
This growth has not gone unnoticed. Two years ago, we joined the Novature Group, alongside Companial, one of Microsoft’s largest license distributors. Since then, we have accelerated our ISV strategy, collaborating closely with certified Microsoft partners to deliver predictable implementations for companies trading in grains, pulses, metals, dairy, coffee, tea, cocoa, and other agricultural products.
Additionally, our Forex, Futures & Hedging solution is available to all Microsoft Dynamics (both Business Central and D365 Finance) users facing the challenges of fluctuating exchange rates. As a horizontal solution, it is not limited to commodity traders but provides invaluable support for CFOs and finance teams seeking to manage currency risk effectively.
ComTech Advisory Who are Dycotrade’s customers (industry segments, geographies etc.) and why do they select Dycotrade?
Cees Poortman: DycoTrade users span the globe, with approximately 40% based in Europe, 40% in North America, and 20% in other regions when considering headquarters locations. However, our software is actively used in daily operations across more than 80 countries worldwide.
Our specialization in soft-commodities and metals has been a key factor in earning the trust of our customers. DycoTrade consultants have deep expertise in addressing the unique challenges of industries like grains and dairy. Additionally, our comprehensive solutions for metals, grains, dairy, coffee, tea, and cocoa further enable us to meet the needs of these sectors effectively.
ComTech Advisory What do you see as Dycotrade’s competitive strengths?
Cees Poortman: First and foremost, our solutions are seamlessly embedded within Microsoft Business Solutions, providing customers the robust foundation of a proven and powerful SaaS-ERP platform. DycoTrade 365 is a state of the art ‘end-to-end’ solution that utilizes the broad and proven functionality of the Microsoft Dynamics platform, combined with the comprehensive capabilities of the DycoTrade CTRM software.
Microsoft’s extensive research and development budget of $29 billion (2024) ensures that it remains a market leader in ERP while continuously integrating cutting-edge technologies such as CoPilot, AI, and data-driven decision-making. DycoTrade leverages this continuous stream of advancements, tailoring them specifically to Commodity Trading solutions.
What sets DycoTrade apart is its unwavering focus on commodity trade. Unlike companies with a diverse portfolio of industry solutions, we specialize exclusively in this sector.
Bringing together 20 years of commodity trade experience, combined with the wealth of experience from partnering with dozens of CTRM customers.
Finally, our customers value what they describe as our “Dutch” approach—a practical, hands-on, and no nonsense, results-driven mentality that aligns perfectly with the dynamic nature of commodity trading.
ComTech Advisory How is Dycotrade evolving and why?
Cees Poortman: Traditionally, DycoTrade handled the majority of global implementations of our commodity trading solutions in-house, with our teams frequently traveling around the world. The shift to an “online-only” approach during the Covid pandemic transformed our implementation model. Today, we operate with a hybrid approach, combining online and onsite engagements.
By focusing on our ISV profile and partnering with accredited Microsoft partners worldwide, we have achieved a threefold benefit:
- Enhanced Focus: Our teams can dedicate more resources to advancing and expanding our CTRM solutions.
- Localized Support: Customers benefit from regional support and “boots on the ground” provided by local partners of their choice.
- Global reach: We are able to partner with customers around the globe with near-local onsite services.
This strategic shift ensures a more agile, localized, and customer-centric approach to delivering our solutions globally with high-quality implementations and localized support, ensuring seamless deployment and ongoing customer satisfaction.
ComTech Advisory What is Dycotrade’s relationship with Microsoft?
Cees Poortman: DycoTrade has a long standing relationship with Microsoft reaching back for 20 years. We deliver our CTRM business applications exclusively on Microsoft technology, leveraging its leadership role on innovation and the strength of its platform. Microsoft’s broad business applications ecosystem enriches our CTRM solutions with cutting-edge technologies like AI, CoPilot, Power Apps, Microsoft Fabric, and Power BI. These tools ensure our customers can utilize cutting edge technology to provide a competitive edge.
The DycoTrade solutions are Microsoft Certified, ensuring that each of our four annual releases undergoes a thorough review and approval process by Microsoft. Once approved, these solutions are published on Microsoft AppSource and Marketplace, providing end-users and partners with easy access to trusted and certified add-ons.
DycoTrade is part of the Novature Group, a group of companies dedicated to the Microsoft platform with an annual revenue of >240 million euro and > 350 professionals.
Novature/DycoTrade is member of the prestigious Microsoft Inner Circle, an exclusive group representing the top 1% of business application partners worldwide. This membership provides us with unique and early access to additional resources, roadmaps, insights, and strategic business opportunities.
ComTech Advisory What is Dycotrade’s growth strategy?
Cees Poortman: With our strong focus on our ISV role, we leverage our experience and customer relations to develop and provide industry leading and comprehensive CTRM solutions.
Think of us as translators: on one hand, we translate customer needs and demands into our solutions, and on the other, we translate state of the art software innovations into tools that allow commodity trading companies acclear competitive edge.
While trading in metals, dairy products, grains, coffee, tea, cocoa, and other agricultural products shares commonalities, each sector has its own unique nuances. We are continuously fine-tuning commodity-specific environments to accelerate implementations while improving quality and customer satisfaction.
Our mission is to guide customers toward the future of their business processes, fully utilizing the technical possibilities at their disposal. Additionally, these same technologies enable us to rapidly develop new functionalities and tools, such as Microsoft Power Apps, AI-driven features, CoPilot, and more, through modular, “block-based” applications. This approach enhances flexibility, scalability, and innovation for our customers.
About Cees Poortman, CEO, DycoTrade
Cees Poortman is a seasoned business leader with a trackrecord in organizational transformation and extensive experience in the Microsoft Dynamics world.
He continues to prove his ability in building and leading high-performance teams, particularly in ambitious fast-paced B2B SaaS companies.
He joined DycoTrade as CEO in June 2024 where he will lead the organization from a more service-driven organization into the next-generation global CTRM Software Vendor He has a focus on customer success, combined with deep understanding of international business culture differences.
Keep in touch and sign up to our Newsletter
