Stay distinctive with a team that keeps learning
Tailored training makes SolidForm stronger. Read their success story.
Information
A short overview of this project:
SolidForm
Client
Professional services
Sector
Training & Development
Service
Highlights
- A stronger team through shared learning experiences
- A certification plan or a multi-year development programme
- Technical depth, process improvement and soft skills
Our field is always moving. As an organisation you have to make choices. What do you do, what do you stand for? Because if you do a little bit of everything, you never stand out. Since we worked a lot with Microsoft packages and systems at SolidForm, we decided to focus there. To become an officially certified Microsoft Gold Partner we had to work through a whole package of courses, training and exams. That is what we went to Indicia Training & Development for.
Running a resilient business in a changing market
Every business owner knows the moment when you think: we do all sorts of things, but what are we really good at? For software developer SolidForm, that moment came in 2020. The market was changing and focus was essential. Their answer: stand out as a Microsoft Gold Partner. And then something unexpected happened. Microsoft discontinued the Gold Partnership programme. Months of preparation gone in one go.
Where a lot of companies would have given up, SolidForm and Indicia Training & Development, then still called Tailor iT, chose to act rather than stand still. Together they put a tailored training programme together that built technical depth, improved processes and strengthened the way the team worked together.
That turned out to be hugely valuable: in 2025 the training programme is still running. The result? A team that stands out for being client-focused and proactive, with the depth of software development knowledge the market demands.
The challenge: how do you stay distinctive?
SolidForm is made up of eight professional systems developers who specialise in custom software. A close team with a shared mission: making business processes more efficient with smart IT solutions. John Kalle, managing director of SolidForm, explains:
The turning point: what do you do when everything changes?
The plan looked clear, but after the first training course Microsoft turned the whole programme upside down. The certification track they had chosen disappeared from the catalogue, and the courses SolidForm had picked were cancelled. A change of direction like that can be frustrating, but SolidForm and Indicia were not easily thrown.
John: "We had committed to a course that no longer existed. So I agreed with Indicia to put the training budget towards other courses instead. A win-win that says a lot about how flexible both sides were."
From certificates to the pleasure of knowledge
That principle became the heart of the new programme. Bert Knot, adviser and operations director at Indicia Training & Development, listened and drew up a plan to fit. The package became a mix of:
- technical depth in C# and Azure,
- process-focused scrum and agile training,
- soft skills training on communication, collaboration and client focus.
That turned the programme from a series of Microsoft certificates into a learning journey with lasting impact.
It was no longer about the certificates for us, but about real knowledge and the pleasure of learning together
Clicking with the trainers
Most of the courses were taken by all the colleagues together, sometimes in a classroom and partly online.
John: "Doing this together is really enjoyable and valuable for us. Not just to top up our knowledge, but also to get to know each other better and strengthen the team. And I have to say: Bert really has a talent for matching us with trainers who suit us. There was often an immediate click, and that is part of why the training moved us forward. As individual professionals and as a team."
Challenged to think differently
John looks back fondly on the session with trainer Robert-Jan at the hockey club in Bunnik: "As an IT person you sometimes make assumptions without noticing, because the moment you see a problem you think you already know the answer. And then you forget to take the client or the user along with you. Through exercises and games, the trainer deliberately caught us out. It showed us how quickly you fill in the blanks for someone else. We were pushed to think differently and to ask better questions. And so to work together more effectively, with each other and with clients."
John: "The programme we had in mind no longer existed, but Indicia thought along with us flexibly. So we still picked up a lot of valuable knowledge and experience."
A lasting boost for the team
Because the team has worked in the same line-up for years, the shared learning gave them a noticeable boost. John saw his colleagues become more proactive, take more responsibility and think along more actively about the future of the company. Even outside their comfort zone, giving a company presentation for instance, the group turned out to be willing to take on new challenges.
Bert Knot: "SolidForm's involvement and open communication made this a pleasure to work on."
Still happily learning
SolidForm used up the budget over five years. But the team is not done learning.
John: "Development matters to us. To deliver on the team's ambitions. To stay competitive. So we keep investing in training and development. Recently, for example, Indicia ran a session that gave colleagues ideas for applying AI practically in their work. We always make time for training and turn it into something sociable, with a nice lunch or a drink afterwards. The next session is already in the diary."
John: "Bert has a talent for finding exactly the trainer who fits us. That click really makes the difference."
