Opiniones de Windward System Five

A powerful POS with unlimited flexibility, reliable stability, and great support staff.

Comentarios: Saved our company time and money in the ling run. Being able to customize the look, feel, and functions of the application let us implement EXACTLY what our company needed. We evaluated MANY other products before choosing Windward, and nothing comes close. It was one of the better decisions made in our organization, and is a big personal red-feather in my hat.

Puntos a favor:

- Extremely customizable. Allows you to customize anything from report, to custom price-labels, to customized POS screen (even changing the size/color/look of virtually every button). If you are a little more adventurous, you can even write code that allows you make your own functions. - Easy to learn. For as advanced as this is, most people can pick up on the majority what thy need in a day. For those who want to do more, their is a complete 'Windward Academy' that you can watch videos and read comprehensive guides. - LOTS of support. If I ever have a question, there are about ten people I can call. Of-course, they have 24/7 technical support, but virtually anyone in the company is eager and willing to help. I can call my account manager, or any number of others I have talked to throughout the installation process. Even the lovely receptionist is awesome has walked me through issues on more than one occasion. - Philippines support. You might think this would be under the "Cons" section; but it isn't. The Philippines support is not outsourced like other companies, but they are actual employees working in a Windward office in Cebu. They all speak great English, are EXTREMELY knowledgeable about the product, and aim to please. No matter how frantic I am when I call, they never get upset and are always positive. And they are not going to give up until it's fixed. - You typically don't find this level of customer service in Western support groups.

Contras:

- Price tag will be your biggest hurdle. And some features will cost you extra. Having to pay extra to have the software integrate with our merchant account is probably the biggest complaint I have with the company. But even this is vastly outweighed by the Pros. If you want the best, it probably isn't going to be the cheapest. - There are occasional errors that pop up and random issues. But 90% of these are self-resolving (very intuitive software). For the other 10%, support is right there to remote in and stay with you until it's resolve.

Great system management

Comentarios: When we first took over this long-time local business, previous owners did most reports or tracking by hand (ie hand-written invoices entered into QB and hand-written price books) WWS5 helps us keep track of items in inventory, current prices and mark-ups for inventory, general price increases from vendors, EOD reports and sales, and AR accounts much more easily. We do not currently use the accounting portion, but hope to move over to the accounting option with the new data set.

Puntos a favor:

We currently use Windward for our POS and AR needs. This helps keep us on track for monthly billing to AR clients and keeps up with the daily till. We do very much like the additional features such as inventory management, price checks/updates, but have trouble at time keeping it current due to staffing issues. With more staff, this system would be absolutely amazing.

Contras:

When we first installed Windward, there were issues with understanding the larger picture during set-up. Understanding more about the system prior to set up would have helped. We are currently setting up a new database now that we understand more about the full operation of WWS5.

I wish I never heard of Windward Software

Comentarios: Our overall experience was extremely poor and detrimental to our business. All our staff were frustrated ( I nearly lost staff), some customers were frustrated, we invested so much money, and have in turn lost so much money. Oh and did I mention the time invested. All that time I spent, all a waste, the time my staff spent which I paid for, such a waste. So much stress that my whole team went through only to end up worse off. Before we went live, in my gut I had doubts due to my experience with Windward staff in the lead up transition period. But unfortunately I have faith in people, and faith that people tell the truth, and they assured me that the Windward System 5 was an investment in my business- to have confidence, to go live and realise the benefit. Oh so wrong. The system just plain and simple had so many glitches and caused more harm than good to my business. Once live, it just got worse and worse. In hindsight, I should have listened to my gut in implementation, written the money invested off as a bad business decision and aborted. By pushing on, I cost my business so much more, and then blindly I stayed for the full 60 days as required by the refund clause, further harming my business, only to be told they were not giving me a refund anyway. Also if you are in a different timezone, that is another thing to be wary of. When I signed up they promised local support as they had two people in Australia. But these staff left and no one replaced them.

Puntos a favor:

We are a retail shop with a mechanic workshop out the back. The special order process was a positive, but unfortunately when you think of all the difficulties, costs and time loss from the rest of the system I can't go so far as to say it is a pro. The idea of the detailed security and reports options is good, but due to extensive glitches never realized any benefits. Unfortunately the reports and exports were missing data, which meant reconciliation was problematic, and the security just caused glitches and locked my staff out of the system. Due to this, the amount of bookwork to fix the mess is just huge, this system is continuing to cost me in staff costs and time even though I have left Windward. Ultimately this POS system was one of the worst business decisions I have ever made and I do not recommend it all.

Contras:

The implementation is long and tedious. We worked hard with 'technicians' to ensure quality data was loaded. We had 5 different implementation technicians as 2 left the company, one they allocated to us didn't suit the timezone, one provided intermittent help, & one was finally helpful. Windward waived some licencing fees to compensate for lack of support as we were paying for a licence we could not use. Windward then deleted all my data and we had to start again. The daily technical staff in are in a Philippines call centre, they failed to fix most issues. Due system glitches we had no choice but to leave despite due to it harming our business. A huge amount of funds and time invested. Windaward refused to provide refund despite us doing the mandatory 60 days. Glitches include BUT WERE NOT LIMITED TO: mixing up data across customer records showing machines that belonged to other customers on accounts (nothing to with our data); showing bills and outstanding amounts for other customers on accounts; continuously locking our staff out; full system outage; slowing down sales; daily sales reports inaccurate; export reports missing data. Windaward technicians use a licence you have paid for to investigate their system's issues further undermining your business as you've less workstations. We wired the internet throughout our shop as they suggested, this resolved no issues. We found usability to be poor, search functionality poor, & it would take us many steps to do basic things.

We couldn't live with our our System 5

Comentarios: We couldn't do without them and their service is fantastic.

Puntos a favor:

How the inventory management and purchasing work. So many extra features here that make it so helpful.

Contras:

How the form creation functions. It is a difficult process and way too time-consuming.

Windward Software is an amazing program to help you run your business in every aspect.

Comentarios: Inventory was a huge issue for us before we started using System Five. We absolutely cannot imagine running our business without Windward System Five at this point.

Puntos a favor:

The Support is A1 and the features of everything from Inventory to Sales Invoices, everything is connected and very user friendly. Reports are easy to run, reconciliations, sales and purchase invoicing, ageing, financials are easy to read and all other functions are again, user friendly.

Contras:

No cons at this time. We didn't like that it didn't have a payroll feature when we started with it but now it does.

FIX MOST ANY THING..FOR A COST

Puntos a favor:

The system has many good functions and tracking abilities.

Contras:

Had to have a "wildcard" search for part numbers programmed in after they said it wasn't part of the system. It was already in the system for description but not for parts. As like so many other reviews, updates are a roll of the dice to see what will be affected when they are done. The biggest issue is, A PRICING MATRIX WITH VARIABLE RATES BASED ON COST. Currently I can set up different percentages based on supplier, sub category and others, BUT I am unable to set a pricing matrix with varying percentages for an increasing cost value. That is $1.00 may be marked up 300% but $1000.00 isn't. That function does not exist and system 5 support team as well as account manager act as if I am the first person/business to want this incorporated into the system. I was told we could spend more money to have some one talk to us to tell us they don't know how to do this. The irony of it all is that I came from a Winworks System that we were out growing, but it had that function available to a great extent. Again kudos to the sales team for saying this system could do every thing we first questioned.

Windward Review

Comentarios: Mostly positive when it comes to day to day interaction. Any negatives are more nit-picking issues.

Puntos a favor:

Required Orders system and ability to interact with the invoice easily throughout.

Contras:

Lack of multiple kits. Purchase orders with SO items become buggy with large quantities. If a user moves too quickly in the system, it can break.

Tami McQuown

Comentarios: Its been a great experience!

Puntos a favor:

Ease of use, technical support answers all questions

Contras:

Credit card transactions did not go well at first

Would like to set up the system again knowing so much more now than was first told.

Puntos a favor:

Windward is easy to navigate and manipulate. Inventory items are easy to add and change. Like the way the payroll system integrates with Windward so no need to journal . Love the support I have received when requiring assistance from the team in the Philippines . They are prompt in getting back to you and try to assist at all times.

Contras:

When trying to customise the system to suit our requirements alot of manual hours are required to change simple things like updating prices and modifications. When we needed to collect information from the system we required a special programme be written to fulfil government requirements. This additional reporting is cumbersome to produce. There is also alot of double entry when making a payment and then having to do a journal entry to reflect the same. A journal entry should be automatic. Would like the ability to make ledger numbers inactive Although we have a very confusing payroll and tax system, we experienced many issues with setting up the payroll system with this year being the first year we have successfully produced a payroll summary. Even then it required alot of double/triple checking to ensure the information was correct. Adding a new employee is once again difficult and time consuming. It would be great to be able to copy an existing one.

I've been a Windward user for close to 20 years. Overall, my experience is frustration.

Comentarios: The system has a good POS system. It is quite easy to use but does have serious flaws. You can integrate VISA processing with the system, however, this opens another set of problems.

Puntos a favor:

The ability to expand on transactions no matter which module you are in is a nice feature. The GST function is also very good.

Contras:

With every update, there is a new set of problems. In addition, you can not add additional data bases, terminals nor change your company information such as address, phone etc. Windward's main goal seems to be collecting licence renewal fees and support fees at higher than market rates. They control the number of users - unlike Simply Accounting who allows up to 10 users for a basic license. Windward also charges a licence fee PER DATA BASE. This is bogus! Overall, I am disenchanted with Windward and moving away from the product after over a decade of use.

Using Windward in a Small Shop

Puntos a favor:

Windward offers a comprehensive set of features, more than we will ever use. What drove us to purchase Windward is that its POS features are fully and seamlessly integrated into its accounting software. That means that both our POS and accounting data is up to date and current at all times. No integration with other software is required. Windward does it all. Another thing I like about Windward is the quality of Windward's support. Windward not only sets the system up for you and makes sure that all you point of sale devices work (barcode scanners, printers, etc), but if you are a cloud customer or have a maintenance contract, Windward will also remote in to your machines and fix any issues you may have. In addition, they have an on-line learning academy with training videos, documents, etc. that help you continue to learn the functionality of the system. They also offer live sessions on specific issues like maintaining inventory, year-end procedures, etc. We needed a lot of hand holding when we first started--I had no previous experience with POS software--and Windward successfully guided even a slow learner like me!

Contras:

Windward is continually upgrading its software to provide additional functionality or to streamline its processes. We recently moved to the cloud version of Windward, and that has reduced some administrative overhead for us--no need for backups, no need to install updates, and greater data security. So overall, it's a plus. But there is one feature I miss in the cloud version. When our software was installed on site, we were able to print barcode labels directly from Windward to our barcode printer, a Zebra ZT510. That feature no longer works for us in the cloud, and I'm told that the reason why is that the cloud version of Windward does not currently support our particular printer. I'm still looking for a better answer from Windward. But what that loss of functionality means for me is that I must now create a separate barcode database in Excel, link that database to Zebra's barcode software, and print my barcode labels through it. So you should pay close attention to the particular peripheral hardware that Windward supports.

From your friends at Bob's

Comentarios: Windward 5 does so much above and beyond the POS/accounting systems I have used in the past, and I know I haven’t made it through all it has to offer. The integrated CRM is very useful for keeping track of appointments and follow ups. I’m able to see that staff has made these appointments and keep them accountable for follow ups.
There is so much that can be done to organize and track inventory. Set multiple selling prices, build kits out of existing parts. Add pictures for staff and customers to reference, and way more.
Booking orders use to take me days to put together. Now the system tells me what I need based on past years. Some orders now take me less then a hour. Information and automation. Windward tracks so much for you and automates tasks. Saving you 100’s of hours and $1000’s of dollars a year. I am very happy I made this investment

Puntos a favor:

Windward 5 does so much above and beyond the POS/accounting systems I have used in the past, and I know I haven’t made it through all it has to offer. The integrated CRM is very useful for keeping track of appointments and follow ups. I’m able to see that staff has made these appointments and keep them accountable for follow ups. There is so much that can be done to organize and track inventory. Set multiple selling prices, build kits out of existing parts. Add pictures for staff and customers to reference, and way more. Booking orders use to take me days to put together. Now the system tells me what I need based on past years. Some orders now take me less then a hour. Information and automation. Windward tracks so much for you and automates tasks. Saving you 100’s of hours and $1000’s of dollars a year. I am very happy I made this investment

Contras:

It does take some time to set up, but you do get some great help. There is allot to learn. Be prepared to give this some attention, it will be worth it.

System Five

Comentarios: Service and online capability was not good. While we paid for 24/7 service, we had to setup tickets and would get a call back within 24hrs.

Puntos a favor:

The built in reports allowed for easily customizing reports. With their "lookup words" it was easy to tag, customers, products and vendors to particular categories for additional reporting

Contras:

The online capability. There was no good capability for online. Sales would take a long time to integrate back into the software and there was no direct connection between Windward S5 to the online platform such as WooCommerce. Which meant an additional cost for another API connection. Windward API was very limited to what info could be pushed and pulled from the website.

Scalable multi-user POS retail from a company that listens and adapts.

Puntos a favor:

Excellent customer support 24/7. A product that is scalable to your business. One of the few softwares that have a stand-a-lone ability that allow sales and lookup when the main server is offline or unavailable. Inventory orders in cases or singles by multiple suppliers with multiple part numbers and UPC codes for a single item. Capable of printing price tags on the fly when receiving. Easy lookup of products at the POS terminal by description, barcodes, serial numbers, etc. (Think about a phone caller asking for an item that is not in your hand, no numbers available and you need to quote the price.) Easy Purchase ordering. Easy resorting of POs in a fashion that matches the packing list. Complete control of forms, receipts, printers, slip printers, faxes etc. Multiple price groups and quantity price levels allowing maximum flexibility to different retail environments. Matrix pricing, kit pricing (both dynamic and static) with prices broken out or just single line on receipts. This software is our forth in 30 years and in our use since 2003. Regular updates and revisions are available to keep it fresh and up to date with changes in the ever changing retail industry. This is a very robust software and does far more than given here.

Contras:

Back office reporting is probably the weekest area. However, custom reports are available and creatable. If you are looking into any software you should have a list of what you need to know daily, weekly and monthly and have it demonstrated to you. Another area is handling price protection from manufacturers. It is not easy to drop cost on items that receive price protection. It can be done but is time consuming.

Very flexible, comprehensive software package with a somewhat cumbersome user interface.

Puntos a favor:

the flexibility thanks to various data load and import options, the ability to chain import/exports and call external scripts; detailed permission settings; the numerous features; lots of customisable reports easily ported to spreadsheet or similar.

Contras:

- documentation is very fragmented, incomplete and sometimes just wrong. - the user interface is not intuitive and a long way from modern apps. I couldnt convince our sales team to use the tasks/appointment/history-comments section as they found it too complex (but feature wise I think it's good). - the one time we needed support, we received bad advise which would have crippled this company if it had been followed. - a selection of sample scripts would really help with implementation of more complex customisations. - the unique email feature is applied across both suppliers and customers. this is problematic where a customer is also a supplier. - no support for linux pervasive engines any more. - no support for Sys5Script.exe any more. - the template editor is very unpleasant to use. Very tricky to create a visually pleasing document.

I have been using Windward System 5 as the Financial Controller for about 18 months

Puntos a favor:

Windward System 5 is well organized and intuitive for knowledgeable users. It is an extensive system doing just about anything you could want in a business management/accounting system. Reports are extensive and well laid out, and allow you to drill through to the details in most cases.

Contras:

It seems plagued with system errors. Not sure if this is just our platform, or if this happens to most users, but we get system errors on a very frequent basis (more than daily). Most are nothing and the system corrects them on its own, but some require more effort, and frequent assistance from Windward Support. Most of the support personnel are very helpful and knowledgeable, so your problems get fixed fairly quickly but they are still a nuisance.

Windward System Five

Comentarios: With Windward we are able to use the reports to budget for the future, look at our sales history per customer, get customer reports that we need.

Puntos a favor:

I like the ease of being able to run our day to day business. We use the software all day every day. The ease of checking our inventory is terrific. Setting up a new customer is very easy. The system is very easy to use. Moving the data from our old system to Windward was very easy. We were able to import with very little mistakes.

Contras:

I really don't have any cons with the software except that it is sometimes hard to set up new reports that we would like to download. Some times the help feature is not very specific for the reports that I need

Good POS Order Management Software

Comentarios: Very happy with the software. They worked with me in implementing and transferring our data with only a few hickups.

Puntos a favor:

Order Management, POS, Inventory Tracking.

Contras:

Not as customizable as I would like. Email feature lacks templates for the email body of the message when sending statements in bulk. Could have a better more customizable email feature for invoices and statements.

This software is the most in depth software program we have found.

Comentarios: The best benefit is being able to control inventory.

Puntos a favor:

It tracks model and serial numbers of appliances for customers and stores the details. Easy to use.

Contras:

Set up was a little hard just because you had to create every outstanding work order you already had and every inventory item you have and when you are dealing with appliances, furniture, mattresses, and appliance parts it was a lot to do. The system upgrades and up front costs are somewhat pricey.

easy to use as you learn one area at a time

Comentarios: Inventory management, historical data for customers, professional POS, and financial history and tracking all in one place , and working together.

Puntos a favor:

all encompassing full service software for the business starting from the POS, inventory tracking, customer history tracking, book keeping etc.

Contras:

help guide sometimes makes it difficult to find what you need to do to get the info you want, getting the terminology or areas to look correct first.

This software is a good POS system for garden centers and an adequate accounting system.

Comentarios: Inventory Control

Puntos a favor:

Very fast at the registers - was also fast for cards until recent changes Easy to drill down pretty well throughout the system Good stock control system Easy to export items to Excel

Contras:

Often reports don't align ie it produces different numbers depending upon the report you make - it's all fairly mysterious but it's something to do with the integration of the accounting system. Way too many available reports with confusing names, but obvious reports such as what our sales were today / yesterday / last week etc. are either hidden or need a workaround to access. Accounting system seems adequate to me but is hated by my bookkeeper. It was great 7 years ago when we installed it but it hasn't changed much since and I suspect that there are more intuitive systems out there today.

Great fitting package for our business

Comentarios: System Five has been very good, and their support team is excellent and helpful

Puntos a favor:

Windward fits us great, the cloud system was a very important consideration for remote accessibility. It covers all of our needs in terms of sales, repair work orders, and inventory controls. It is just the right amount of software for us.

Contras:

There are some advance features that could add value for us, such as stock adjustments that post to G/L's, min/max's that make recommendations on PO's

It has been a steep learning curve. Things are getting better all the time

Comentarios: Much better control over our inventory and keeping track of all our product. The PO and receiving makes it easy to know when someones product comes in. We are tweaking the software constantly as we learn new things. The webinars and academy have been a big help.

Puntos a favor:

Very versatile, learning new things all the time. Everything meshes together in one package. Like the way you can drill down to see what happens in the background. The accounting took a bit of getting used to but has proved itself .

Contras:

The Terminology is different from most other programs and it is sometimes difficult to determine exactly what a certain term means

This is a smooth and feature rich software that transformed our business.

Puntos a favor:

Our ability to drill into items where you should be able to. Having linked PO's direct in the inventory items is essential to tracking when an items was purchased and received. The full functioning GL of this software in nothing less than exceptional and really can give a business owner the feeling of control when operating their business

Contras:

I think the most difficult thing with Windward is the learning curve. Reports are sometimes hard to understand at first until you understand them. the XML editor for invoice templates need work, this the most difficult part of the program to use if you are a novice or not tech savvy.

Using Windward software for our small business has saved hours of time

Comentarios: Improved inventory management and tracking of customer service orders

Puntos a favor:

We like the way we can track service and parts for our customers and how the point of sale system tracks our inventory

Contras:

The payroll module isn't as easy to use as the point of sale module and fine tuning forms can be very confusing