Software for the real world….

Like software businesses the world over we find ourselves testing new releases in something of a vacuum – attempting to replicate the actions and environments of the real world can be a thankless and impossible task. Where the software can be used across a number of business scenarios and the twists and turns of a wider user community can vary enormously the scope of error is compounded. It’s an issue which the software community has wrestled with for many years now. Other than long, in-depth and often automated testing, the most common belt and braces proving route is by customer validation. Beta site testing is used the world over whether it be the big names like Microsoft, Oracle, Sage and others or the niche software provider.

Invu’s Early Adopter programme is typical. But we know that alongside those who are genuinely keen to see what’s round the corner, for most businesses the attraction can appear limited. We’ve been giving this a lot of thought. You see, high quality, real-world pre-release feedback is nothing short of gold dust. It can be the difference between success and embarrassment in some cases. But there must be something in it for the customer.

That’s why we’re formalising the Early Adopter programme with some sweeteners to add to the standards. (The standards being: a bit of first-mover advantage so you can be up and running before your competitors, enabling you to plan out your implementation and getting closer to the vendor and therefore being more influential in future product direction. There’s also the issue of ensuring the software quality for yourself – don’t trust anyone else, gain your own confidence etc. This is what large organisations with major roll-outs will do anyway so some of you may already be used to a period of User Acceptance Testing before new software is available to the business in a live environment.)

We’re looking for a good spread of customers across a range of organisational types. If you join us we’d like to make it a worthwhile exercise for all parties. Our most recent Newsletter leads with this request and asks that if you’re interested that you contact Mark Palmer or Sandeep Kang. Of course, we’ll be asking some customers and partners directly. But it would be great if you put your hand up first before we even send the invitations out….

A tale of two cities?

In our news section, we’re talking about a tale of two cities. Not exactly original, but it comes to mind with two new case studies – Seren Group in Newport and, a quick hop down the M4 in Cardiff, Hendre. They are both engaged in social housing and both have been delighted with their Invu experience. Housing Associations (HA’s) are waking up to Invu with its wider portfolio of products and integration opportunities with housing systems. Forty plus HAs have adopted Invu and, increasingly, the demand is for document management at the heart of the business.

HAs face a bombardment of documentation, from invoices, to maintenance orders, to tenant correspondence and much more. Service levels can massively improve if the documentation is immediately to hand and a 360˚ view of a tenant’s affairs or suppliers transactions are to hand. HAs come under tight regulation and service levels are an important benchmark, so being able to respond quickly with all queries answered first time is a significant measure of success. It’s also a measure of efficiency and cost saving. Right now there are still many HAs find themselves reliant on paper filing and queries may take hours or days to get answered and then only in part – add in the “whilst I’ve got you”, almost mandatory supplementary question and you could be back to square one. You can see why a good eDM solution is needed.
HAs face particular issues with accounts payable – often working with a host of suppliers. Many of these are likely to be local and small in keeping with an ethos of trading in the community where possible. Quick payment is often critical to these suppliers. However, manual processing of paper invoices can be a slow process. Invu’s invoice processing solutions cut through this – we’re getting increasing and encouraging demand here. Invoices are scanned, the relevant data is extracted from the invoice and then looked up against the finance system for supplier details, POs etc. This then initiates an automatic workflow for authorisation – what might currently be 1-2 week’s worth of round trip can be simplified to minutes, all without the fear of loss and all whilst still having sight of the information for queries. Extending Invu Document Management out beyond a passive repository can make a huge difference to the way businesses work and this is a great example of a sector where the fit is especially good. Invu’s engagement with HAs continues to get closer and stronger – we hope to see our South Walian friends at Seren and Hendre joined by many more HA peers using Invu.many more HA peers using Invu.

Inside Housing highlights Invu

The most recent Inside Housing magazine is a welcome reminder that Invu has an important part to play in making Housing Associations more efficient. Invu represents eDM in the recent technology focus of the magazine: http://tinyurl.com/3h2k3rb.

From simply enabling better and quicker decision making and improving tenant and supplier service through to wholesale changes in the way that finance departments work, there’s a large number of HAs using Invu solutions nowadays. The trend is one of increasing adoption – encouraging news and also a reminder that this is a sector which faces its own pressures. Less money coming in, increasing demand for their services and greater regulation and service demands.

Invu has been shown to make a genuine difference to these organisations – check out the recent case studies on the Invu web site for the Seren Group based in Newport and their near neighbours in Cardiff, Hendre (www.invu.net/testimonials.aspx).

These join other HAs with similar experience and words of encouragement for Invu, notably Derwent Living in Derby and Sheffield HA Arches Housing.  Housing Associations and Invu – a very good fit indeed.    

 

Calling all customers – keep up to date

The latest copy of InsideVu is available to download here.

We’re talking about our Health Check reviews, pointing you towards our recent invoice processing white paper, covering the new version of Invu Capture, the latest service pack and hearing about how Stoddards Manufacturing has transformed the way its finance department works using Invu solutions. And there’s also the normal hints and tips of course.

In case you missed it you can also find edition #9 online (it’s the same address as above). It majors on the invasive operational issues, costs and risks that email brings to so many organisations. Also included are a couple of great case studies – Northern Feather manufactures Snuggledown bedware and Invu’s purchase order, sales order and delivery note solution has been described by Financial Controller Brian Wilcox as “transformational”. Also in the North West, Tony Collier, managing partner at Milner Boardman accountants, tells us about the effect of going paperless and the print savings the practice has seen. 

InsideVu is a quarterly roundup of news, adding to our website, twitter and blog. You can sign up to receive future issues here.

Get Match Fit!

It’s so easy for us to lose contact with each other! Businesses may nurture their relationship with suppliers and service providers and many of us start off aiming to do so, but often good intentions lapse. With software this is normally countered with updates and communications. However, this doesn’t always give you that objective when your investing in a solution rather than a commodity. Many of Invu’s partners bridge this divide but we’re aware that this doesn’t always happen so we’re stepping in.

If you’re an Invu customer it may have been a little while since you began using Invu. As time moves on we all change - your business may have changed and Invu solutions certainly have. Increasingly, we’re seeing more and more customers who want to see how they can work even more effectively. We’re therefore offering a free half-day Health Check with one of our consultants*.

We can dig a little deeper into the pain points in your business and get an idea of your business processes. Often, documents are a manifestation of your processes but can also represent a contribution towards hidden costs and degradations in productivity. Hearing about your business and the way you work, understanding how you currently use Invu and raising awareness of the wider functionality of Invu, we’ve been able to realise even greater rewards for existing customers. We’ve seen:

•        More savings in time, resources and costs.

•        Better customer & supplier service

•        Compliance peace of mind

So - can you improve the way you work? Take our challenge - call us to book a free Health Check 01604 859893 or sign up here.01604 859893 or sign up here.

Wealth management, brokers and Invu’s compliance role

We’re seeing some genuine demand amongst the broking, wealth management and investment communities right now. The latest editions of CIO & Computerworld magazines illustrate this with some PR around stockbrokers Redmayne Bentley’s adoption of Invu. The firm joins others such as Charles Stanley, Vestra Wealth and others in the broking sector. The driver here is not just enhanced efficiencies and cost savings but a strong compliance driver. Keeping pace with FSA obligations is a costly and potentially fraught experience with accurate and complete records an absolute requirement. This includes all client communication, transactions and proof of full diligence. For Redmayne Bentley the introduction of Invu has given peace of mind whilst also reducing costs through integration with existing stockbroking systems. Better access to client and transaction information has also improved service to clients.  With 30+ offices to keep onside Redmayne Bentley recognises the benefits of keeping its documentation secure and immediately accessible. It’s 30+ offices face stringent FSA compliance obligations and the wealth management firm has identified its reliance on paper documentation as an obstacle to efficiency and record keeping. We see this as a growth area, building on Invu’s already strong position in the insurance, IFA and accountancy sectors.

Computers and the internet are changing the nature of our memory, research in the journal Science suggests

There’s an interesting article on the BBC website about the way we think and remember information: http://tinyurl.com/6xyya3k . It seems that we’re changing and knowing how to find information is now more important to some of us than actually remembering facts. As levels of information multiply and technology makes it easier to find then maybe it’s logical that our behaviours should adapt. What is astonishing is how quickly this seems to be manifesting itself. It may well be a generational thing. If so, then reliance on technological methods of finding information will become more prevalent.

Nearer to home, this feels sensible. More and more we find that if we don’t know something we can hop onto a pc, tablet or mobile device and within seconds that elusive fact is there at our fingertips thanks to Google. It’s astonishingly liberating. Does this make one an expert? Of course not, but it certainly enables the curious mind. Taking the same principles, as data and documents expand at a seemingly exponential rate then document and content management tools become ever more important to the way we work. If we can lay our hands on information almost at a whim outside the work environment then surely we should expect the same capability for our business needs and behaviours. In fact, maybe even more so as deadlines and time pressures grow increasingly acute. Add in a bit of competitive pressure then access to all your information whenever you need it begins to seem like a necessity not an optional extra. Information trapped in paper documents, files, folders, emails, Word docs and pdfs shouldn’t be a barrier to future success, especially if we’re increasingly wired to work by reference rather than memory.