Project manager Joeri van Puffelen on growing, sprinting and continuing to listen at Buckaroo
In 2015, Joeri van Puffelen joined Buckaroo through his previous employer and started working as a project manager. He still holds that role today, but his work looks very different from when he started. How has he experienced the past 10 years at Buckaroo?
From a flat organization with little structure to tight sprint planning
Joeri explains: “There was no large management team (just one person) you could go to with a new idea. The organization was fairly flat, and not everything was documented in detail the way it is now. There wasn't much structure yet, which I actually enjoyed, and that suited the size of the company at the time. As the company grew, the need for structure increased. Colleagues worried it would hurt the atmosphere, creativity and effectiveness of the team. Fortunately, that turned out to be unfounded. In fact, it freed up more room for new projects, and with that, new energy and ideas.”
Joeri continues: “The transition to new owners in particular forced us to professionalize. The biggest transition was in IT. First came Jira, where we started logging tickets. On top of that, we started working with sprint planning. That was the biggest change, because we had no experience with it yet. It meant I had to approach my work differently and adapt, because the sprint planning became leading for me too. Now everyone is used to the system and we can't do without it.”
“The more you know about the payment landscape, the easier it is to lead projects and changes”
Knowledge of the entire market
Over the past years, Joeri has built up a lot of knowledge of the payments industry. That knowledge of the entire market has helped him enormously in his work. “The more you know about the payment landscape, the easier it is to lead projects and changes. You know how payment methods work and what the consequences are for Buckaroo and our merchants when they choose a specific payment method, or when something changes.
The approachability has stayed the same
Are there certain norms and values at Buckaroo that, according to Joeri, have always stayed the same? “That you can always speak up if you disagree with something. And you can do that with anyone. We have become a more layered organization, but everyone's opinion is valued and respected. We've grown in professionalism, but the approachable, open communication has stayed the same.”
From Noord-Holland to the cloud
One important milestone Joeri was involved in was the data center migrations. “We started with a small server in Noord-Holland. When volumes increased, that no longer worked. We then moved to Schiphol-Rijk, and later we moved from that data center to the cloud. Those steps had a very positive impact on our day-to-day performance. The moves were nerve-racking, but also great to be part of. Sometimes we'd all be here on weekend nights, because you can't do a move like that during the day when most businesses are active. Fortunately, the migrations went well, and we can look back proudly on those moments, which we still benefit from every day.”
“We're very accessible to merchants, and I think that's appreciated”
You can ‘just’ call us
According to Joeri, our profile is what has kept Buckaroo going for more than twenty years. “We're a company that's willing to deliver custom solutions. Besides the standard payment solutions, we offer a lot of additional services, such as credit management and subscriptions. I think that sets us apart from other payment service providers (PSPs). They offer these too, but often through a partnership. With us, it's integrated. And as a customer, you can just call us: you won't get lost in some phone menu. We're very accessible to merchants, and I think that's appreciated.”
Pay by Bank
Asked which innovations have surprised him in recent years, Joeri says there have been so many projects that no single innovation has surprised him in particular. Still, one project does stand out for him. “One of my favorite projects is Pay by Bank. Years ago, we applied for licenses with the idea that we might do something with it in the future. In the end, we decided to actually go for it. I found that really interesting, because it was the first competitor to a major, well-known Dutch payment method. I also think Pay by Bank will play an important role in the future, because the market is going to change."
Paying attention in Buckaroo's DNA
Last year, Buckaroo introduced its new slogan ‘paying attention’, which Joeri is enthusiastic about. “That slogan has always suited Buckaroo. I think it's been in Buckaroo's DNA for 10 years already; we've just been smart enough to actually say it out loud and even make it our slogan. As a company, we don't have to pretend to be something we're not, because ‘paying attention’ has always been the focus of how we operate, both internally and externally.”
Fast checkout solutions are the future
We ask Joeri to look ahead. Are there more important changes coming in the payments industry? “The development of PSD2, the rise of Pay by Bank and the developments around Wero and iDEAL will bring changes. I enjoy following these developments, and I think things are going to change. I also find it interesting that more and more providers no longer want to be listed among the standard payment methods, but among the fast checkout payment methods. You see this, for example, with credit cards that use Click to Pay, and with iDEAL and Wero, which also offer fast checkout options. I'm curious to see how that develops and how merchants respond. With its extensive expertise, Buckaroo can advise merchants well on future developments to determine the best payment strategy. But in the end, it's the merchant who has to make the choice.”
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