Alexander Luca, Senior Finance Consultant Dynamics

Favelas and high society

From one school to another, from one country to another, Alexander remembers:

Even if at home we mostly spoke French, it’s when I was thirteen that I learned to

read and write it.” Nowadays, Alexander adds Dutch and English to Molière’s

language. He could easily pick up again the Brazilian of his childhood. In Brazil,

Alexander moves in a contrasted world between soccer games with his favela

buddies and contacts with a more well-to-do society. An experience born out of

international contexts that Alexander describes as a chance: "This gave me an

openness of mind with a capacity to adapt and communicate with others. An ace,

both in life and work." But how did he get to use cutting-edge software solutions?

A 21 year-old Entrepreneur

In the country of Descartes’, a teacher takes note of cartesian qualities in the child.

He advises an orientation where numbers and analytics will be dominant. Why not

accounting? Alexander finds his groove. Accountant, general accounting and public

sector accounting will follow during 20 years. "But here too, my itinerary is not that

linear” adds Alexander. In fact, at twenty-one, he creates his company in the region

of Saumur. Its core business: high value-added packaging engineering. SERTIC is

specialized in the concept of eco refills. After some good years, administrative and

commercial difficulties take over in 2003. Alexander then goes through a series of

jobs. In a parallel way, he decides to complete his initial training in accounting with

a technical Management degree in night classes. With a bachelor’ degree, he joins

Smurfit Kappa, leader in packaging, and finds again a world he is well acquainted

with.

Consulted by the consultants

But, after a few years, the yearning to live something else surfaces. Throughout his

itinerary, Alexander was able to work on ERP tools such as the Dynamics solutions

used by FiveForty°. He is contacted by Avanade. The IT services firm is looking for

people who can understand the needs of the clients and translate them into

machine language. This offer was to open for Alexander the doors of consulting.

"They were interested by my technical and business experience that allowed me to

dialogue with their clients, experts themselves, be they accountants, administrative

and financial directors or tax specialists", indicates Alexander. Why not, said the

polyglot. A nice experience. But on the long run, stress, in particularly that of fiscal

periods closure comes back at fixed dates, in an environment with a very marked

hierarchy. "With 20,000 employees, contact with management is not easy", notes

Alexander. Time for him to do something else… At FiveForty°.

Thanks to Ahmed, whom he met at Avanade. He talks about him to Diana, in

charge of the first hires. His profile is well liked in a place where openness of mind

and a spirit of sharing are the keywords. A very constructive first exchange with

Diana, followed by a second interview with Alexandre in a restaurant. Shortly after,

he gets to meet the three other partners. Alexander shares the common yearning to

live a beautiful, human-sized adventure with the best technologies. He also notes

the mutual help at FiveForty°. "We can discuss, establish priorities with the project

leaders. And if we have a technical bug, it’s Hello Ahmed! We are a team, all of us

listening to each other, in solidarity." Alexander appreciates as well the ease of

access of the managers. He tells us: "a client was creating very complicated

organizational situations. Talking directly with Alexandre and Jonathan, solutions

were very quickly found together." These days, Alexander is developing business

process subjects on a new ERP. These support files are available to his colleagues in

Dev Ops, where Amel organizes the contents and ensures their follow-up.

Sportacus

Alexander is nowadays a pretty busy dad with Maxine and Amélie, his two

princesses. They can count on him for school and activities. When he was younger,

sport was king. In swimming, he earned a bronze medal for The Netherlands in the

200m four swimming styles relay. Horseback riding? It was also his thing for a long

time. At the request of an instructor friend, he used to ride the horses of the Cadre

Noir in Saumur to exercise them. Then it was motorbikes. Later on, as the princesses

demanded a carriage, he had to get a car. A big fan of auto sports, by the way, he

can be found every year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans… Well, more than ever,

Alexandre is ready to take on all challenges.°

Favelas and high society

From one school to another, from one country to another, Alexander remembers: "Even if at home we mostly spoke French, it’s when I was thirteen that I learned to read and write it.” Nowadays, Alexander adds Dutch and English to Molière’s language. He could easily pick up again the Brazilian of his childhood. In Brazil, Alexander moves in a contrasted world between soccer games with his favela buddies and contacts with a more well-to-do society. An experience born out of international contexts that Alexander describes as a chance: "This gave me an openness of mind with a capacity to adapt and communicate with others. An ace, both in life and work." But how did he get to use cutting-edge software solutions?

A 21 year-old Entrepreneur

In the country of Descartes’, a teacher takes note of cartesian qualities in the child. He advises an orientation where numbers and analytics will be dominant. Why not accounting? Alexander finds his groove. Accountant, general accounting and public sector accounting will follow during 20 years. "But here too, my itinerary is not that linear” adds Alexander. In fact, at twenty-one, he creates his company in the region of Saumur. Its core business: high value-added packaging engineering. SERTIC is specialized in the concept of eco refills. After some good years, administrative and commercial difficulties take over in 2003. Alexander then goes through a series of jobs. In a parallel way, he decides to complete his initial training in accounting with a technical Management degree in night classes. With a bachelor’ degree, he joins Smurfit Kappa, leader in packaging, and finds again a world he is well acquainted with.

Consulted by the consultants

But, after a few years, the yearning to live something else surfaces. Throughout his itinerary, Alexander was able to work on ERP tools such as the Dynamics solutions used by FiveForty°. He is contacted by Avanade. The IT services firm is looking for people who can understand the needs of the clients and translate them into machine language. This offer was to open for Alexander the doors of consulting. "They were interested by my technical and business experience that allowed me to dialogue with their clients, experts themselves, be they accountants, administrative and financial directors or tax specialists", indicates Alexander. Why not, said the polyglot. A nice experience. But on the long run, stress, in particularly that of fiscal periods closure comes back at fixed dates, in an environment with a very marked hierarchy. "With 20,000 employees, contact with management is not easy", notes Alexander. Time for him to do something else… At FiveForty°.

Thanks to Ahmed, whom he met at Avanade. He talks about him to Diana, in charge of the first hires. His profile is well liked in a place where openness of mind and a spirit of sharing are the keywords. A very constructive first exchange with Diana, followed by a second interview with Alexandre in a restaurant. Shortly after, he gets to meet the three other partners. Alexander shares the common yearning to live a beautiful, human-sized adventure with the best technologies. He also notes the mutual help at FiveForty°. "We can discuss, establish priorities with the project leaders. And if we have a technical bug, it’s Hello Ahmed! We are a team, all of us listening to each other, in solidarity." Alexander appreciates as well the ease of access of the managers. He tells us: "a client was creating very complicated organizational situations. Talking directly with Alexandre and Jonathan, solutions were very quickly found together." These days, Alexander is developing business process subjects on a new ERP. These support files are available to his colleagues in Dev Ops, where Amel organizes the contents and ensures their follow-up.

Sportacus

Alexander is nowadays a pretty busy dad with Maxine and Amélie, his two princesses. They can count on him for school and activities. When he was younger, sport was king. In swimming, he earned a bronze medal for The Netherlands in the 200m four swimming styles relay. Horseback riding? It was also his thing for a long time. At the request of an instructor friend, he used to ride the horses of the Cadre Noir in Saumur to exercise them. Then it was motorbikes. Later on, as the princesses demanded a carriage, he had to get a car. A big fan of auto sports, by the way, he can be found every year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans… Well, more than ever, Alexandre is ready to take on all challenges. °