In 2002, D2B Informatique was a small French distributor of IT security products. Competing against European giants, the company had one advantage: the willingness to build a tool perfectly adapted to its business, rather than settling for a generic ERP. Twenty years later, D2B held 60% of the French WatchGuard market, ranked #1 across multiple vendor product lines, and was acquired by the Infinigate group.
Here are the lessons we learned from those twenty years of collaboration.
The problem: when generic tools slow growth
IT distribution is not a standard retail business. Each quote involves a complex pricing matrix: reseller partner tier (Platinum, Gold, Silver), end-customer sector (Enterprise, Government, Education), active vendor promotions, exchange rates, and margins negotiated on a deal-by-deal basis.
In 2002, these calculations were done manually in Excel spreadsheets. An experienced sales rep spent 30 to 45 minutes per quote. Margin errors were frequent. Contract renewals regularly slipped through the cracks. And vendors demanded POS (Point of Sale) reporting that nobody had time to produce accurately.
Off-the-shelf ERPs (Sage, SAP) handled invoicing, but not the specific complexity of IT distribution. What was needed was a tool built around this reality.
The decision: build rather than buy
D2B made a bold choice for an SME: invest in fully custom-built software. Not an add-on module grafted onto an ERP, but a platform designed from scratch around the real processes of the business.
This decision rested on a simple observation: in a market where every competitor has access to the same products, the same vendor pricing, and the same theoretical margins, competitive advantage comes from speed of execution. Whoever responds fastest with the most accurate quote wins the deal.
The pricing engine: the heart of the system
The first component built was an automatic calculation engine capable of cross-referencing in real time the vendor price lists, partner tiers, active promotions, and deal-specific margin rules.
The concrete result: a quote that used to take 30–45 minutes was reduced to under 5 minutes. Automation eliminated 80% of manual work and, crucially, eliminated the margin errors that were costing real money.
Continuous evolution: 20 years, 3 phases
A business application is not delivered once and forgotten. It evolves with the company. Over 20 years, the project went through three distinct phases:
2002–2012: architecture and development. Software architecture design, pricing engine development, pipeline management modules, and first vendor connectors. IBSTAR IT served as architect and lead developer.
2012–2018: industrialization and integrations. The project shifted to project management mode with a team of developers and designers. Major additions: native EDI connections with vendors, automated renewal management, and marketing action integration directly into the quoting workflow.
2018–2022: B2B portal and acceleration. Launch of a self-service customer portal allowing resellers to check pricing, generate quotes, and place orders autonomously. The impact was immediate: acceleration in order volumes and reduction of administrative burden.
Lessons from 20 years of custom development
1. Business software is an investment, not a cost. D2B invested in their tool for 20 years. That investment generated 80% automation, +50% growth, and market leadership. ROI is not measured in the first year but over time.
2. Start small, evolve fast. The first module delivered was the pricing engine. Not a complete ERP. This incremental approach delivered value within months and allowed continuous course corrections.
3. Automation frees sales teams. By eliminating 80% of administrative work, sales reps could focus on what truly makes the difference: client relationships and technical consulting.
4. Integrations create network effects. Each new EDI connection (vendors, resellers, Sage billing) amplified the value of the entire system. The 2018 B2B portal would not have been possible without the foundations laid 16 years earlier.
5. Custom beats generic when the business is complex. A standard ERP could not model the multi-tier pricing matrix of IT distribution. This is precisely the kind of business complexity where custom development creates a decisive advantage.
And today?
D2B Informatique was acquired by the Infinigate group — proof that the strategy paid off. The principles behind this success remain the same: software that adapts to the business (not the other way around), continuous evolution, and automation that frees teams to create value.
Today, with AI and machine learning, the possibilities for automation are even greater. But the logic remains identical: understand the business first, automate second.