The series of interviews with the Clarity team continues with a bright and emotional talk with Alya Bardashevska, an experienced ERP consultant at Clarity Ukraine.
Alya, tell us about your usual working day, what does your ideal schedule look like?
Usually, I have a busy working day with a lot of tasks. In the morning, I try to spend time with my family and daughter, and before starting my work day, I visit my favorite coffee shop – this is my morning boost of energy and some time to set myself up for a productive day.
I prioritize my work tasks. There are days when I have one or two important tasks, so I sit down and keep my head down. And then there are days when I have meetings, a bunch of small tasks lasting 30 minutes each, and my reporting looks very colorful on such a day.
Usually, at the end of the working day, I go to my daughter’s kindergarten and then walk together. My ability to quickly process information, sports, and love for what I have chosen as a career helps me to keep a productive rhythm.
How did you start your career in ERP consulting? What did you study?
This is a very interesting story that proves that there is a destiny, and it helps us find the place where we need to be. I studied at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, majoring in Systems Analysis.
We had a lot of math (which I loved) and a lot of programming (which I didn’t). By the 5th year, most of my classmates were working as developers or data analysts. And I was still looking for a job because designing and building neural networks was not my thing.
But in the 5th year, we had a business analysis class. That’s where I learned about the existence of ERP systems. I liked being an ERP consultant because it involved communicating with people, structuring processes, describing, and creating documentation, which I love and know how to do.
In my 6th year, I looked at job postings on job boards and saw the requirements: “We are looking for MS NAV/Business Central Implementation Consultants, Upper Intermediate English level, more than 2 years of experience in this field.”
I read it, felt like I didn’t fit in, and closed it. But I created a resume in which I indicated that I was good at financial analysis (for some reason I thought I was), that I had studied databases, and that I liked structuring information.
A few days later, I got a call from my employer and was invited for an interview! And now, a few years later, I’m already at Clarity Ukraine, where I feel at home, and where I could never have dreamed of being.
What do you like most about your job?
We have both Ukrainian and international clients and a whole range of projects that are not similar to each other. There is no routine here, there is something new every day, you communicate with clients, make decisions, and figure out how to implement what seems impossible at first glance. You teach the younger generation of consultants and have great colleagues. It all fascinates and inspires me.
How do you rate the importance of soft skills in the work of an ERP consultant?
It is very important. Because most of our work is communication with clients: both top managers and end users. Sociability and flexibility in communication will facilitate faster interaction in the project. Sometimes it is necessary to use practical psychology skills, for example, when launching a go-live project, this is a nervous phase where there may be additional system settings, some tension in the client’s team, etc.
Another important skill is patience.
Responsibility. Because we are all connected. If you fail to do your job, the developer, the lead, and the customer are waiting for you. And so will each of us. This is important.
Well, and stress resistance. Because you are the client’s hope. If not a team of consultants and developers, the process will stop. Therefore, it is necessary to systematically move towards a common goal and implement it in good faith and with high quality.
What is your favorite feature or module to implement for customers?
The last module I implemented was warehouse management. It was a very interesting experience because although this functionality in Business Central is not perfect, because there is no way to connect devices with scanners in a standard way, which is usually required by large customers, there are many settings that can be used to flexibly customize the process of placing goods in the warehouse and picking them. And the more requirements you hear, the more you dig into the capabilities of the system, and it’s very interesting!
What actions or rules help you to recharge your batteries?
20 minutes in the morning before work for myself at my favorite coffee shop and active weekends with my family – I love it and look forward to it. 2 active days somewhere in nature or new places are very restorative. And yet, a vacation on fixed, significant dates each year us is generally the pinnacle of full recovery.
What are the biggest project challenges you’ve faced in your work as an ERP consultant?
The Launch of the automation of the procurement process at KERNEL Agricultural Holding. We have been working on the implementation of this process for a long time. Many modifications, whole blocks of fully customized functionality, and users from different regions of Ukraine. And now, a month before the launch in the production base, we are demonstrating the fruits of our work to key users, and it turns out that the process in the regions is not quite the same. And we, an army of consultants and developers, spent that month from morning to night in the customer’s office reworking the process. And then, for another month, we were actively rolling out, where every day was a challenge.
It was hard, but now, years later, I remember that time with nostalgia. It was very interesting.
How do you deal with stress and avoid burnout?
Regular meditation before going to bed after a hard day, physical activity 3 times a week, active weekends, and occasional vacations keep me in balance.
What advice do you have for young people who want to build a career in IT consulting?
In my opinion, people with a technical background will find it easier to build a career in our field. The ability to structure information, understand system architecture, and make quick decisions is very important.
If you are active, intelligent, responsible, stress-resistant, and willing to change jobs quickly, you will most likely succeed in ERP consulting.
And learn English, because it’s important since the training materials are all in English and there are a lot of foreign clients.
How do you see the future of ERP systems implementation in Ukraine? Do you have time to follow the trends in IT product development?
I would like the implementation process to become simpler.
I believe that one day accounting in Ukraine will be simplified, all accounting will be unified and it will be easier. Besides, our company creates ready-made solutions that clients can use, such as integration with Vchasno, Treasury, Project Management, and others.
And then there is AI. I know that it is already possible to ask Copilot in Business Central to create a sales order for four green chairs, and AI will independently select the necessary items from the product catalog, insert them into the appropriate lines, and generate a sales order. I feel that over time, thanks to Copilot, there will be much less customization because some requests can be written in text instead of code, and that’s great.
What’s your favorite feature in Business Central that has a “wow” effect on customers?
Oddly enough, customers are always happy that lists can be downloaded to Excel.
A related feature is a great analysis mode – a pivot table right in Business Central!
Tell us about your role as a mentor.
I enjoy being a mentor! If I had a little more time, I would take on all the mentees, honestly. I try to build a friendly relationship with the mentees. I don’t want to be a teacher, I want to be a friend and a senior mentor. I like to share my experiences. In meetings, I always try to tell them where I have used this or that functionality in my practice, because I believe that this way they will better understand the functionality, and its purpose, and understand that it is not, for example, some distant and incomprehensible general sales order, but a contract for a long-term relationship with a customer.
That inspires me. And I am very happy to see my mentees grow professionally. They joined the company six months ago after graduating from university, and now they are already communicating with the client, making their own decisions, and participating in real projects. It’s very cool, it gives me goosebumps!
Tell us about your impressions of the international gathering of all Microsoft Dynamics 365 community professionals at DynamicsMinds 2024.
DynamicsMinds 2024 is my first conference. And I have to tell you, it’s amazing! Thousands of people from all over the world love Microsoft products. It’s about talking about Copilot and the possibilities of using Power Platform products in the coffee line. It’s an opportunity to learn how they work in the world, share experiences, talk about Ukraine, and learn about new products. Very cool! And a nice bonus is that this conference was held by the sea, at the end of May.
Could you recommend a book, movie, or channel to our subscribers and colleagues?
I hope everyone has subscribed to the Business Central Experts YouTube channel.
I’m not going to recommend anything in particular, I’ll just say to consume Ukrainian. We have so many talented people: writers, comedians, interviewers, musicians. Read, sing, be inspired!
We thank Alya for such a lively and emotional interview. We are confident that our series of career stories will be useful to young professionals in their search for self-realization.