Rapid Skill Upskilling, with Babilou

Caroline Kott : Present across all regions with 1,900 facilities, Babilou is the leader in corporate childcare in France. We also work with local authorities, schools, and leisure centers, and we operate our own childcare training school.

When and under what circumstances was the company founded?

CK : Babilou was founded in 2003 following the clear observation of a lack of childcare solutions for children under the age of three, at a time when France had one of the highest female employment rates and birth dynamics in Europe.

What needs led you to work with FiveForty?

CK : Due to workload pressure, we had a real need for additional expertise and resources. We were facing an acute shortage of functional profiles, and many of our requests were struggling to be addressed.

“Repeated unmet requests”

How did you come into contact with them?

CK : We reached out through our network and, step by step, were introduced to FiveForty. We were already familiar with their approach and had previously experienced the quality of some of their consultants.

Ultimately, what motivated your choice?

CK : Of course, their expertise in deploying Dynamics on the Finance stream was key, but not only that. The human aspect, the quality of relationships, and the consultants’ personalities were decisive.
I have worked with highly competent people before with whom things simply did not click. Here, we can rely on resource availability at all times.

What initial assessment can you make of this collaboration?

CK : For me, it has been very satisfying. I can delegate extensively, regardless of which FiveForty consultant I am working with. I do not need to explain things again. I was also impressed by how quickly one consultant ramped up: within two days, they were already able to engage with the business teams, whereas nothing had moved after several weeks with a predecessor from another integrator.

What do you appreciate most about FiveForty?

CK : Their in depth knowledge of Dynamics 365 and this dual expertise, both IT and accounting. They share practical tips on business operating methods and can speak equally well with integrators, IT teams, and business users.
This is extremely valuable, as it avoids information loss or distortion in technical discussions. FiveForty’s resources help compensate for the limited bandwidth of internal experts, and their interaction with end users is excellent.

“They can speak equally well with integrators, IT, and the business“

In your view, what areas for improvement could be considered?

CK : To nitpick, one would have to compare them with very large organizations like IBM, but that would make little sense given the agility enabled by FiveForty’s human scale. And everything works well with the test books and operating procedures they provide.

If you had to recommend FiveForty, what would you say?

CK : Their level of expertise and availability. I never hear “we’ll deal with that later.”
I also value how easy it is to interact with them and their ability to switch instantly from one topic to another. Knowledge transfer between resources and their substitutability provide real comfort.

What would you advise them to be vigilant about?

CK : Not an easy question. Perhaps staying vigilant even when everything is going well, to maintain a proactive outlook just in case.

How is FiveForty different from others?

CK : Because they are more involved than others. We genuinely feel that we are not treated like just another account. The respect is tangible and sincere. You can sense their desire to build a relationship of trust and to act in the best interest of their clients’ success.

Three words to describe them?

CK : Expertise, collaboration, availability.

Personally, I would go as far as the square root of 25.