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.

Puntos en contra:

- 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.

Puntos en contra:

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.

Stay Away, poor Company and Poor program full of glitches

Comentarios: spent alot of resources and time to get their web module to sell online and they discontinued it the next year just as inventory came online

Puntos a favor:

Windward is just there for your monthly fees, not to support you

Puntos en contra:

glitches in the system for inventory control, does not count correctly stock constantly out

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.

Puntos en contra:

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

Puntos en contra:

Credit card transactions did not go well at first

This softwear has made our business extremely essential to operate.

Comentarios: the main function of our business, our retail set up revolves around the software making it easy to operate day to week, to month to yearly. it has been absolutely essential. recording & keeping track of everything form our substantial amount of inventory, along with accounting, reports, staff, ect. our main source of operations for sure. :)

Puntos a favor:

that is is absolutely fluent in keeping all of our information organized & keeps me able to do my job as a 1 woman Owner/Operator. without this softwear we would not have been able to stay open for the past 11 years without the ease of Windward System 5, for my retail business.

Puntos en contra:

for us a small retail shop, the maintenance & updating costs are quite high & out of our price range on a year to year basis.

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.

Puntos en contra:

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.

it has been great and have found it very user friendly and easy to use

Comentarios: more up to date information and tracking of items with serial numbers, it was easy to set in place policies and see where we lacked and brought in a lot of controls in the company

Puntos a favor:

the software is easy to use and customizable. we have found a it works well and have not had too many problems. there are a lot of options in the setup and we are able to change if it does not work. the implementation staff was great and the support is great. when ever I have contacted support they responded very quickly and the webinars have helped make the software better

Puntos en contra:

it takes a long time to get a feature added and a lot of pestering, there are a few things in the software that does not make sense with the labels

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.

Puntos en contra:

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.

Windward

Puntos a favor:

Invoicing. It is easy with Windward for all invoicing.

Puntos en contra:

Needing more specialized reporting---hard to create

Windward- Success for Power Equipment, Construction Supplies and Rental

Comentarios: We have been using System 5 since 2003. The system has scaled to our operation as we grow. The accounting side is robust and handles all our AP- AR- and General Ledger needs. Purchasing is fully automated. Billing customers can be fully modified with "Types" and "subTypes" to keep the status of orders updated and classified. Our inventory and product locations have been controlled and managed with the Advanced Inventory Control. The system is constantly being improved with fixes and new features multiple times per month. The database is rock solid. After 14 years, we never have had data corruption requiring the loading of a backup. All our employees depend on the info from system 5 to make decisions and give customers information. The ability to customize and provide information to users is endless and grows each year. We have used the barcode function and have 40,000 SKUs barcoded and labeled. We have even barcoded our rental equipment. We rely on this system for everything and for 14 years it has been bulletproof. Because we sell, service and rent serialized equipment, the "UNIT" way of handling things is great. Provides cost, service and income information.

Puntos a favor:

We could not run our business without the information and order that the system provides! 1. Ease of use- Everything is in one program 2. Total integration- We don't need to transfer data to another program like QuickBooks 3. Strong Accounting, Control, and reports- Ability to customize GL and P&L format and multiple years. 4. Hundreds of pre-built Reports- We rarely do custom 5. Ability to create custom reports 6. Barcoding and Barcode printing- Couldn't live without it 7. Integrated Credit card Processing-Vantiv- Saves errors and time 8. Moves easily from desktop to desktop - configures easily when replacing stations 9. Weekly online training to learn features. 10 Responsive support staff who find the answers to any questions. 11. Ability to attach pictures and documents. 12. Unit history on serialized items. 13. Automated output of data, pictures pricing and descriptions to our Website

Puntos en contra:

Probably not really a con But there are so many features available, it take some time to learn and put them into daily practice. The rest are just enhancements we'd like to see !! First, We would like to see the RMA system simplified. Second, we would like to see the E-commerce platform developed more. We are using it now for our website, but we would like to see more features and search options. Third, we would like to see the Timecard function developed and enhanced. Fourth, we would like to see the offering of more credit card processing options. Fifth, we would like the ability to attach PDF's to items, instead of JPG. But all in all, the system works really well!

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

Puntos en contra:

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.

Windward can't do that, but let's try to come up with a "Workaround" for you....

Comentarios: Headaches

Puntos a favor:

I like the ability to special order a product on a work order and have it directly linked to the purchase order. Great for tracking an item through.

Puntos en contra:

INVENTORY!!!! There is no direct link between the inventory sub-ledger and the ledger. There is no transaction list of what is recorded in the sub-ledger, so balancing inventory and determining where an outage may have occurred is a long, tedious process that involves tracking every purchase order received, bill, work order and invoice put into the system. Implementing the software is very time consuming and self-regulated. Enhancements to the software can be requested if your company agrees to pay for the programming time to develop it.

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.

Puntos en contra:

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.

Puntos en contra:

- 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.

Puntos en contra:

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.

Do not spend your money or time on this Software!

Comentarios: Please ask around to similar businesses and see what they are using - Do not waste your money and your time on this program. When you phone for support -you have to fight for major issues to be fixed. Every year you have to pay a lot of money for renewal and support - and you could be having a know issue that is a programming error but you still have to pay for support to have it repaired

Puntos a favor:

There isn't much I like about winward. Inventory is okay but not great.

Puntos en contra:

It is slow. Freezes. We are not a large company but it takes a long time to generate the AP/ AR reports ect. Exporting this to caseware or making you books easy access for your accountant is no existent. Which adds a major expense to a business' year end. Talk to your accountant - if they haven't heard of it - RUN! ( if they have they probably wont recommend it.) Subledger reports will not match Balance sheets: So generating an AR Report the balance will be different than the Balance Sheet. We had issues with our inventory and selling - sometimes it pulls the cost of an item twice -so it would inflate our expenses!

Best system around if you are willing to put the effort in before you go live, super easy POS side.

Comentarios: Best system I have ever used, to date have implemented this system in 2 businesses. This system has increased speed of transactions and lowered overheads. Best all round system.

Puntos a favor:

Have put this system in 2 businesses have had no real issues to date that have not been easy to fix. POS is pretty flawless and easy to use. You can report on just about anything. Support staff are fantastic, and implementation was easy. Windward are with you the whole way making sure everything works.

Puntos en contra:

To date have non, anything that I have ever had an issue with usually stems from user error. There are some processes that I would like to have, and they can absolutely be custom programed, like seeing what items on the invoice are have customer contract pricing, but this does not affect most sales and can be checked other ways. So not really a con just something that my end would be great, more than likely there is a way to do this. I am always learning new things to stream line the process.

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.

Puntos en contra:

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.

IN THE LAST 2 1/2 YEARS OF USING THE SYSTEM I HAVE HAD SEVERAL PROBLEMS!EVEN LOST RECURRING RENTALS

Comentarios: TAX WRITE 0FF, I COULD HAVE USED BETTER !!!

Puntos a favor:

INVENTORY/ RENTAL SET-UP , PAYROLL AND TIME CLOCK.

Puntos en contra:

RECURRING RENTALS LOST IN SYSTEM TO WHERE 5 MONTHS OF RENTAL LOST. COST OF THE SYSTEM WAS EXPENSIVE AND AFTER A GLICK IN THE SYSTEM IT COST ME ANOTHER 1500 TO GET IT UP AND GOING AGAIN ! WISH i WOULD HAVE DONE MORE TRIALS WITH OTHER RENTAL SOFTWARE !!!

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

Puntos en contra:

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.

Puntos en contra:

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 .

Puntos en contra:

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

why I use windward

Comentarios: When we first started with windward it was fantastic. If we needed support, we called in Australia and it was fixed. Now there is no point in using that phone number! It then seemed the support workers did not know windward very well and I was brushed off or it would take a long time to resolve the issue. I must say it is getting better but not as good as it once was.

Puntos a favor:

This system fits our needs with long part numbers. We are not computer people so the support is very important to us.

Puntos en contra:

Some times it takes so long to get the support we need. The was such an issue I did think about changing systems. It has got better.

Windward System Five - I would recommend this program

Comentarios: Windward System Five is an easy to use program that allows people who have little experience to use it.

Puntos a favor:

Inventory Control is very functional and easy to use.

Puntos en contra:

Reports are difficult and you have to build most of your own reports so you need to be skilled with it. Also if a tax changes on a product you have to make a new product code and start over for that item.