How Brabo Group and Cegeka Delivered the 'IT Project of the Year'

Fragmented Systems and Complex Invoicing

Due to various acquisitions, Brabo’s IT landscape consisted of isolated systems, says Johan: “Each entity used a different accounting package. That resulted in incomplete and inconsistent information, making reporting and financial consolidation extremely difficult.”

One of Brabo’s longstanding challenges was invoicing. “We offer a wide range of services,” Johan explains. “For pilotage and boatmen services—our core business—we use an extensive tariff system that takes numerous factors into account: from a ship’s depth, length, and width to the various resources deployed. A standard invoicing package simply can’t handle that level of complexity.” 

Time for a Clean Slate

The alternative? With the help of an external partner and several key users, Brabo evaluated three ERP systems. At the IT team’s recommendation, they chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC). “We wanted a flexible, scalable, and future-oriented solution, and a cloud-based platform was the logical choice,” says Johan.

An added advantage: Microsoft guarantees the security of the software—crucial in an international port environment that is highly sensitive to cyberattacks. 

No More Waiting

“With Microsoft Business Central, we can easily add new functionalities,” Johan continues. “So when the business has a new request, we can respond immediately. Integrating new services or even entire companies is also straightforward. For instance, shortly after going live, Brabo took over operation of the Waterbus. We transferred the master data, adjusted the logic, and within a few days, we managed all Waterbus financial processes in Business Central.” 

Custom Billing Engine

For invoicing, Brabo had a custom billing engine developed. “The functionality, flexibility, and performance we needed were difficult to achieve within the Business Central environment,” Johan explains. “But Business Central integrates seamlessly with the custom solution, while ERP core upgrades have no impact on the custom layer and vice versa. That saves a lot of testing time.”

Rebecca Massie, Project Manager at Cegeka Application Services, oversaw the development of the billing application: “Our experts synchronized the data from Business Central and faced a significant challenge in integrating the numerous rules needed to calculate the correct rate for each customer. We also built a simulation tool that uses the same billing engine. It provides financial insight into the effects of tariff adjustments and helps prepare for contract negotiations. That ensures more transparency, accuracy, and efficiency.” 

Why Cegeka?

Brabo Group already had some experience with Cegeka through a smaller IT project at its sister company, Brabo Cleaning Company. Even so, they invested significant time in a presales phase, speaking with several potential implementation partners. Cegeka was the only one capable of both implementing Microsoft Dynamics Business Central and developing the custom billing application, a major advantage.

But they also inspired the most confidence. “Their methodology and proposals immediately convinced me,” says Johan. “Sure, their offer wasn’t the cheapest. But I’ve been in the business long enough to know what a realistic price tag looks like. Their offer was transparent, and their approach did not disappoint.” 

One Cegeka

Cegeka, too, looks back on the collaboration with pride. “Johan and his colleagues knew exactly what they wanted. That’s always a pleasure,” confirms Peter Meus, Project Manager at Cegeka Business Solutions. “The IT team, finance department, and commercial management were all closely involved. They expected Cegeka to act as one single point of contact—and we delivered. For us, this project was an excellent opportunity to present ourselves as ‘One Cegeka’. Of course, our teams work differently than Rebecca’s team from Application Services, but we shared the same goal and quickly found the right rhythm.” 

IT Project of the Year 2025

The result of all these efforts? The ‘IT Project of the Year 2025’ award (SME category) from Computable Belgium. “Honestly, I didn’t think our project was flashy enough to win, but the jury was impressed,” Johan admits.

Together with his colleagues, he’s already making future plans: “We now have a partner and a platform we can build on for the next 10 to 15 years. In the future, we plan to add an asset management add-on to the Business Central solution, and we look forward to doing that together with Cegeka.”