VIB’s growth exposed inefficiencies in siloed HR and Finance systems, slowing procurement and limiting data visibility across research centers.
VIB unified operations using Dynamics 365 HR, Finance, Supply Chain, and Project Operations, supported by SD Worx and Inetum Belgium.
Automation and centralized data improved procurement speed, reduced costs, and freed researchers to focus on scientific innovation.
VIB is a Belgian nonprofit life sciences research organization founded in 1995. It is an independent research institute where 2,000 top scientists and support staff from Belgium and abroad conduct pioneering biomolecular research.
As the organization grew, it experienced challenges from having separate Human Resources and Finance systems. VIB chose to address these issues by implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources, Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, Dynamics 365 Finance, and Dynamics 365 Project Operations. With this integrated solution, VIB has shortened purchasing and procurement processes, enabled researchers to focus on innovation instead of administration, and improved data visibility.
“Our staff are our most important assets and we want to support them with a high-end back office through Dynamics 365.”
Veerle Bogaert, Human Resources Director, VIB
VIB is a nonprofit life sciences research organization based in Belgium, home to more than 90 research groups across 10 thematic research centers—including cancer, immunology, neurodegenerative diseases, AI, and plant science. Through close partnerships with five leading Flemish universities—Ghent University, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Hasselt University—VIB advances medical discovery through cutting-edge research, technology transfer, and biotech spin-offs.
Over the past 15 years, VIB has experienced a threefold increase in size, driven by rising research success and external funding. However, this success led to growing pains caused by gaps in the organization’s critical back-office systems. “We had been working with the same software for 12 years and essentially outgrew it. Human Resources and Finance, including Procurement, were in separate systems with separate interfaces. We wanted to improve the efficiency and collaboration within our back-office applications,” says Rik Audenaert, Chief Financial Officer at VIB.
Procurement was also fragmented, with individual research centers negotiating their own supplier deals for important items. “For procurement, documents were downloaded as PDFs and sent through personal email accounts. That’s no longer sustainable in a growing organization with 900-plus users—and counting,” says An Verhelst, Procurement Lead at VIB. The company also used multiple workflows, especially for purchasing and onboarding, which often required manual work and email routing, slowing processes, and creating inefficiencies because of incorrect pricing and delivery times. Researchers also had limited visibility into high-end research equipment. “Our researchers typically have a lot of different projects going on within their research labs, and it was challenging for them to deliver research results while also managing procurement and planning,” Audenaert says. “We wanted to streamline our application environment and data structure to make everything more efficient.”
After an extensive selection process, VIB chose to modernize operations and unify its ERP environment on Microsoft Dynamics 365. “We were positively surprised by the flexibility of the workflows and the promise of AI integration in Dynamics 365,” says Audenaert. “Also, the ability to integrate HR with Finance and Project Operations was key for us, especially since personnel costs make up 60% of our total costs.”
With support from local Microsoft partners SD Worx and Inetum Belgium, VIB embarked on a two-phase implementation, beginning with Dynamics 365 Human Resources in May 2024 to manage the company’s time, attendance, and expenses.
In the second phase in January 2025, VIB implemented Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management to manage procurement, Dynamics 365 Finance to manage financial operations, and Dynamics 365 Project Operations to manage research projects, third-party contracts, and internal projects.
During the solution rollout, SD Worx also helped VIB integrate Docentric, an add-on for print management extensions, and X-TEND, an add-on payroll solution specifically for Belgium. VIB also integrated additional software with Dynamics 365, including Peppol e-invoicing for automated accounts payable and PunchOut, a technology that connects a buyer’s e-procurement solution directly to suppliers’ e-commerce sites. Additionally, VIB increased the use of Power BI for real-time project and expense reporting throughout the organization. “Our staff are our most important assets and we want to support them with a high-end back office through Dynamics 365,” says Veerle Bogaert, Human Resources Director at VIB.
Though VIB is still early in its Dynamics 365 journey, the organization is already realizing efficiencies from automating repetitive tasks and streamlining financial operations, procurement processes, and research projects. Onboarding new employees, for example, is faster, with more details than ever. “Now, when an employee is registered in Dynamics 365 Human Resources, the system automatically assigns permissions, timesheet access, and project allocations. There’s no more manual reconciliation between systems,” says Audenaert.
Because Dynamics 365 centralizes the procurement of research lab products, VIB is completing processes faster. With same-day invoicing in Dynamics 365 Finance, VIB has reduced invoice processing time. And the organization’s project procurement cycle has been significantly improved through the increased use of PunchOut and the automation capabilities of Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management, compared to the previous system.
VIB has also simplified its negotiation efforts and is reducing material costs. “We’ve already seen stronger negotiating power with suppliers. Before, each center had its own pricing. Now we are able to increase unified agreements across VIB,” says Verhelst.
By transforming and unifying its back-office systems and processes, VIB can help its researchers focus completely on science—not manual administrative tasks. “Our aim was to free up researchers to do what they’re best at—research,” Audenaert says. “The efficiencies we have gained with Dynamics 365, along with faster procurement time, are improving our researchers’ ability to accomplish their mission. If they can get what they need faster and see their budgets clearly, that improves the entire organization.”
VIB can also more effectively support its goals of demonstrating an economic return on investment and impacting society as a whole by enabling its researchers to work more efficiently. “Dynamics 365 helps us support the impact of the companies we have created and the collaborations we have with other life sciences and biotech companies,” says Audenaert. “We are also making a larger impact on the economy and society by supporting an educated workforce and a healthier population.”
“Our aim was to free up researchers to do what they’re best at—research. The efficiencies we have gained with Dynamics 365, along with faster procurement time, are improving our researchers’ ability to accomplish their mission.”
Rik Audenaert, Chief Financial Officer, VIB
VIB researchers at each of the organization’s 10 research centers now receive real-time project dashboards showing actuals and future commitments—improving how they plan and allocate resources. “With Dynamics 365, each research center has an overview of all actual and future project costs in one place,” says Audenaert. “This includes budget commitments, so researchers can easily see how much is already committed to procured supplies and researcher salaries. For example, if a research center buys a large piece of equipment for a lab and it hasn’t been delivered yet, then they record that cost so they know they can’t spend all the allotted project expenses yet.”
Additionally, centralized data and Power BI provide consistent, timely insights across finance, HR, and procurement. Now, VIB can reconcile financials faster with improved visibility. “There’s one version of the truth for our data in Dynamics 365, with information seamlessly integrated between the different modules and going into Power BI,” says Audenaert.
With deeper visibility into its data, VIB can also work on meeting sustainability goals. “The complete view into all our data allows us to accelerate our sustainability initiatives,” Audenaert says.
As it looks to the future, VIB plans to focus on AI-enhanced experiences by using Microsoft 365 Copilot for Finance. “We’re excited to explore Copilot. It aligns well with our AI research strategy and offers another level of support to our teams,” says Audenaert. The company is also exploring the possibility of migrating its current on-premises CRM solution to the cloud for greater scalability and integration.
Overall, VIB’s transformation with Dynamics 365 has laid a robust foundation for operational excellence in a growing, research-driven organization. Says Audenaert, “This is infrastructure work—getting the back office to the next level—so our scientists can drive value, both economic and societal. That’s our mission.”
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