Invu's response to DocuSoft statement
We’re flattered that DocuSoft has chosen to specifically identify Invu in it’s recent statement. Since Invu Document Management was first released nearly 4,500 organisations have adopted the version 5 or Series 6 products, a large proportion being accountants. Just shy of 90,000 users utilise Invu each day and we’ve been delighted with progress with accountancy practices where Invu’s relationships with Sage, Iris and Star have reinforced it as a natural choice. The need for document management for professional firms has long been known and AccountingWeb has a history of reviewing the market place in line with that need with Invu always featuring prominently.
Invu’s dedication to the accountancy profession is well known:
· Dedicated partners which are experts in the field
· A new version of the product last year specifically for accountants (the imaginatively titled Invu for Accountants)
· Dedicated accountants product forums
· Partnerships with Sage, Iris & Star
· Staff from practice and accountancy software houses
Invu’s products began with the software which has evolved to become Invu version 5. In 2007 a .NET version (Series 6) was released. Invu continues to support both versions of the product. At the end of 2009, a new update (v5.5) was issued to early adopters and will be rolled out more generally this quarter. The investment in this product has lifted the user interface, updated the engine so that it is compatible with the latest operating system and MS Office versions and introduced a raft of operational enhancements. However, although this is a significant investment and commitment, we find that version 5 is a real ‘old faithful’ which performs well and, by and large, needs no major maintenance; our customers tell us that it’s a product which they can rely on, so why change?
With any migration there are not just costs of software – there is familiarisation with a new piece of software, training time/ costs and loss of continuity. (That’s not to do say that we haven’t got plenty of experiences of migrations ourselves – we’ve got a great track record of many happy customers who have moved to Invu from competitive products.) With Invu we have mitigated the familiarity issues and the software is free. However, we do recognise that there is some porting of configurations which we can do effectively and, in many instances, with limited effort and therefore professional services time/ costs. We maintain our commitment with working with our customers and partners to ensure that any transition is as painless and low cost as possible, something which we’ve seen with many sites. If customers wish to move to the parallel Series 6 version of the product then we’re happy to work jointly with you and your partner to ensure that we mitigate any disruption and cost. Of course, there’s no rush – we’re not pushing customers. If you want to consider moving to Series 6 then please feel free to get in touch with your partner or Invu (info@invu.net).
We continue to talk to our customers and take on board their feedback. Both products are updated with this in mind. We think the feedback from accountants speaks for itself:
· "The fact that Invu is endorsed by ICAEW who are our regulators and also major companies like Sage made us think this was the one to look closely at"
· “If you gave me £50,000 today I wouldn’t let you remove Invu from my business”
· “The savings provided by Invu have been staggering when viewed across the firm”
· “My only regret regarding Invu is not buying it sooner”
· “I would thoroughly recommend this software to fellow practitioners who want to increase efficiency and staff recovery rates, in addition to saving paper copying, filing and storage costs. For me it has been a very cost effective investment”
