Viridity has been working with Unleashed for more than a year now (we are very proud to have been accredited as the Premier Partner for Unleashed in Australia). 

During that time we have seen dozens of new features released with today's release being one of the biggest.  Just a few of the new features over the past year have included:

• Multiple warehouses
• Bill of Materials / Assembly
• An ever increasing list of ecommerce integrations
• Improvements to partial receipting & backordering
• Improvements to discounting options
• And lots more besides!

One area that hadn’t been upgraded until now was the “look and feel” (as you'll hear it referred to the "UI", or User Interface).  Here is an image of one of the screens released today.

The rest of Unleashed looks just as good, and the system is packed with great features too! If you think Unleashed could help you reduce the cost of managing your inventory please contact Viridity.

The last 18 months has been a pretty hectic time for Viridity, with a shift of focus from desktop to cloud solutions.  We have become dealers for Xero, Paycycle & Unleashed and now have many clients up on one or more of these products (with more being added every week). 

We use Xero & Paycycle internally, as well as a number of other cloud solutions: Workflowmax for our internal workflow, time recording and lead management, Google Apps for email and Box.net for our data storage / data transfer.  We continue to review other cloud solutions that might add value internally or for our clients.

Migrating to these products has involved a learning curve, but far less than with corresponding desktop solutions - and without these solutions we would not be able to provide the level of client service that has allowed us to grow our business.

Not everyone in the market is ready for cloud solutions - we still sometimes hear concerns about security, speed or other issues, but we are seeing a continual shift in the market as more people become comfortable with cloud solutions. 

It is clear (to me at least) that these concerns will continue to diminish over time: 5 years ago many people refused to use their credit card on-line, yet by 2011 the majority of us are comfortable with a wide range of on-line transactions.  Most projections of the IT world over the next 3 or 4 years see significant ongoing growth in take up of cloud solutions.

For those of you who currently prefer to keep you data on your local PC or server please keep reviewing what is available in the cloud - there are no right and wrong answers, so I am not suggesting that by rejecting the cloud you are "wrong".  But as the balance continues to tip you might be missing out on options that could deliver huge benefit to your business.  If you do decide the time is right to make that switch we would love to talk to you.

Forgive me for distributing a tweet thorugh a blog post!  There is a reason for this, first the tweet:

Heading off to the Xero dealers conference in Taupo, really looking forward to it! #Xero

So why blog it?  Well if you are interested in Xero, in what Xero can do for your business right now or what it might be able to do in the pretty near future please keep an eye on this blog or sign up to follow me on Twitter (Rhys2011).  I will try to Tweet throughout the conference, and within a few days will certainly post a blog of all that is new in the Xero world.

I am looking forward to meeting lots of other Xero dealers, to being able to hang out and chat with the guys from Unleashed, to taking a look at all the other third party applications which integrate with Xero.  It's gonna be a blast!

More to follow, or see you on Twitter.

Over the past few months we have seen a change in the size and complexity of businesses implementing cloud based solutions.  Prior to that Viridity had implemented lots of micro businesses (single person, or maybe 1 / 2 staff) most of whom had gone live with either a single solution (Xero) which adequately met all of their accounting requirements or with Xero plus Paycycle (for payroll).

More recently we have been referred an increasing number of “small / medium” clients (from maybe a half a dozen employees to 20 or more), each of which have more complex requirements in one or more areas.  In each case we have been able to meet all their needs entirely through cloud solutions, and have done so far more effectively than would have been possible with desktop software.  A few examples of the businesses we have set up over the past couple of months, or are in the process of setting up right now include:

·         A multi-location service business, running an industry specific (cloud based) “front desk” solution, which we have integrated with Xero for back-office accounting.  We have implemented Paycycle for all their payroll needs, and in addition this client was already using both Dropbox and Basecamp – very eager adopters of cloud solutions!

·         An inventory based business in WA for whom we are in the process of rolling out Unleashed for inventory control & Xero for their accounting.  In addition we are working with their web designers to integrate their e-commerce module into Unleashed / Xero.

·         A training organisation for whom we have provided a complete virtual Finance department (from bookkeeping on Xero and payroll via Paycycle, through to an outsourced CFO service).

A couple of these warrant a far more detailed “case study” write up, which we will be working on early in the new year.

Interestingly none of these clients are local to Viridity (in North Sydney), but the use of cloud solutions has allowed us to provide them great solutions irrespective of location. 

This move to adopt not only online products but solutions made up of multiple online products is very exciting.  The key to implementing solutions comprising multiple components lies in the level and ease of integration.  At times I am put in mind of the wonderful Arthur C Clarke quote “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. 

When I watch the way that Unleashed integrates into Xero I am constantly amazed at how easy this is, and by the thought that all integrations should be like this!  When I demo how these systems integrate (for example how an invoice raised in Unleashed integrates into Xero) I am often asked to “do it again”, because the client can’t quite believe it is that easy.

If you would like to see how easy this is please contact Viridity – we would love to help you make the move into the cloud.

Great news for those of you who run businesses that carry inventory, with the release today of the latest upgrade to Xero to include basic inventory functionality.  Xero have deliberately kept this as an entry level solution, but if your inventory requirements are not too complex this will provide a good solution, at no additional cost.  An overview of the features of Xero inventory are shown in this video clip:




Now as you'll see this is a pretty basic inventory function - I buy a widget / I sell a widget.  But what about businesses that have more complex inventory needs? 

Unleashed is one of the Xero integration solutions designed specifically to provide a greater range of functionality.  Right now the standard edition of Unleashed is available, offering features such as up to 12 price levels, product weight and dimensions, barcodes, re-order alerts through min / max levels on all stock items, item quotes & orders, auto absorb oncosts into cost of products, all reports exportable to Excel, much more besides.  Check out my post on Unleashed in this blog for more details.

For those needing still more power in their inventory control we are just 2 months away from the release of Unleashed Pro, that will include features such as multiple warehouses, serial number and batch number tracking, assembly and kitting options. 

Viridity is very proud to be one of the first consultancies in Australia to be accredited by Unleashed.  If you have been considering switching your accounting to Xero but were concerned that it did not support inventory, call Viridity to see how these solutions can improve your business.

The last few weeks have seen a number of really good enhancements to Xero, one of my favourites being the finalisation of the integration between unleashed inventory management solution and Xero.  Unleashed is an online inventory solution, that provides the sort of advanced inventory features you would expect to have to pay many thousands of dollars for – but instead Unleashed is priced at just $35 per month.

This video shows just a glimpse of Unleashed.  if you want to know more please contact Viridity.

For those of you with simpler inventory needs Xero have announced that they will be releasing entry level inventory functionality later this year – so watch this blog for details.

As always we would also love to receive any comments or feedback you have on this post.