Every month, we put one of our colleagues in the spotlight, giving you a chance to discover who is behind our smart software. This month: Eddy Plasier, CEO of Fortes Group.
Eddy is 55 years old, lives in Leiden with his two children, and has a lovely girlfriend who lives in Haarlem. He grew up in and around Leiden, attended high school there, and went to college in Rotterdam. A few months ago, after spending some time elsewhere, he moved back to Leiden.
What many people don’t know: Eddy used to want to become a teacher. He started studying economics in college, switched to the economics teacher-training program, and especially loved sharing knowledge. But with his degree in hand, he had second thoughts. How do you explain to children how a company works if you’ve never even seen the inside of one yourself? So he started working first, to get to know companies. That “first step,” as he himself says, is still ongoing.
From computer training courses to running my own business
Eddy started out at a company that sold computer training courses, ranging from Word to Excel. That’s where his path crossed with Mark Velthuijsen’s. Together, they ended up at an Exact dealer in Noordwijk—Eddy as a consultant and Mark as a technical specialist. They complemented each other well. Eddy learned programming from Mark, and Mark learned from Eddy how a business works.
More and more often, customers were running up against the limitations of off-the-shelf software. Eddy could figure out what it needed to do, and Mark could build it. They drafted a plan for their own custom software division, but the CEO couldn’t spare them at that time. So they wrote their own business plan in the evenings. Eddy was 28 when he and Mark founded Qics in 2000—short for “Quality In Custom Software.”
“We created things that really worked for our clients. As a result, we were very closely tied to that client’s success.”
A large garage full of tools
The early years were all about custom work, from a flower grower to a machine builder. Eddy describes it as being like a little boy who gets to build a car of his own design in a garage with every tool imaginable. His first major client, after six months, rented out medical centrifuges all over the world. He loved working with that client to analyze processes and translate them into software. Another example is a healthcare company providing in-home care. The first version for scheduling, billing, and payroll was a small Access database. More than 25 years later, it has grown into a full-fledged software suite with tens of thousands of users.
Still, the team ran into a limitation: custom development and product development don’t mix well. A product requires fixed capacity and a consistent release schedule, while custom development disrupts that time and again. That’s why they decided to separate the two. That was also the beginning of the team in Slovakia. A Slovak colleague (Marek) was eager to set up a branch, and there was plenty of talent available in the region. Building the first product took about 2.5 years and was quite exciting, but it turned out to be a milestone.
Accounting almost naturally became part of the business. Qics had clients in that field and listened to their needs. In addition, Exact discontinued an advanced time-tracking product, creating a gap in the market. Qics stepped in, and Eddy was a co-creator of what is now Fortes Milestones.
The Move to Fortes
Things were going well at Qics, with a little more growth and a little improvement every year. When Main Capital came knocking in 2021, it felt like the chance to take on a new challenge: expanding internationally and gaining experience with acquisitions and managing other teams. For the product teams, little changed, because they work closely with their customers—and that needs to stay that way. For the overarching teams, such as marketing, sales, and management, a lot changed: Fortes is now managed as a single company with different product lines (though many customers still refer to it as Qics).
For Eddy himself, the difference is significant. He knew the product inside and out and worked his way up from consultant to sales and then to management. As CEO of Fortes Group, he manages companies in multiple countries, each with its own structure and owners. That requires different skills; the stakes are higher, and you’re further removed from the customer. Eddy was eager to find out what that was like.
Letting Go and Trusting
What did he take away from 25 years, and what did he have to let go of? The belief that you always know best. “In the beginning, I truly thought that,” says Eddy. “But it’s a journey of letting go. Moving from support to consultancy, from implementation to sales, from building things yourself to guiding others.” He learned to hire people who are better than he is—and not to be afraid of that. Talent only stays if it’s challenged. His primary role is to ensure that the right people are doing the right things.
He also learned that he doesn’t always know best. Eddy used to think he knew right away what the best specs were or how something should be built. Now he calmly offers his opinion as a suggestion and has a better understanding of where his strengths lie and where his limitations are.
The best advice he ever received: business is war, with the goal of ensuring there’s never peace. After all, there’s always something—whether it’s too few or too many employees, too many or too few customers. If you wait for the day when everything is calm, you’ll be waiting a long time. Eddy likes to quote a racing adage: if everything is under control, you’re not going fast enough.
Proud of What Endures
What is he most proud of? The fact that hundreds of clients rely on our software every single day. The goal was never just to make money; it was about being the best at what we do and delivering reliable software. Millions of invoices and hours are entered into the system by the people who use it daily. He is also proud of the job satisfaction that Fortes provides to its employees every day. The team includes colleagues who have been with the company for 15 or 20 years—a rarity these days. There are also clients who have been growing alongside us for over 20 years. And that is truly wonderful!
“You build something that others will continue to use. That’s something you carry with you as you get older.”
In five years? Eddy expects that AI will be inevitable and that many people will soon be communicating with our software through AI rather than via the screen. Processes will become more automated, and customers will be able to create their own workflows without us having to design them in advance. Packages will start “talking” to each other, almost like living beings. How exactly will this work? No one has a crystal ball.
And what do customers say about Fortes Milestones when he isn’t there? “That it’s the best package you can get, that it’s well-organized, and that the love and effort that went into it are evident.”
Cycling Until Age 85
To clear his head, Eddy hops on his bike almost every day. Sometimes it’s a short ride, sometimes a four- or five-hour outing, and occasionally a race. Whether he’s riding alone or with a group, pushing hard or taking it easy, it’s all about not having to think about anything at all. Beyond that, he makes sure to spend quality time with his partner, children, and friends. His ambition? To become the world time-trial champion when he turns 85. Since he’ll be the only competitor in his age category, that should be doable, he says with a wink.
He also recommends the Netflix series *Black Mirror*: it’s fascinating.
His message to readers: Be open to AI; keep being amazed, keep exploring, and keep experimenting. We’re living in extraordinary times. One day Eddy finds it super scary; the next day, super cool. But in the coming years, you’ll be able to use it to your advantage in many ways—both personally and within your company.