A conversation with Alan Connor, managing director, iplicit Ireland
In association with iplicit
True-cloud accounting software iplicit has been disrupting the Irish cloud accounting space since it was introduced in 2019. The highly versatile true-cloud accounting software was designed to be a natural next step for organisations moving from server-based legacy software.
Providing greater flexibility and enhanced levels of automation and reporting, iplicit integrates with other cloud applications and offers a seamless migration path from your existing system.
Since it was launched by the founders of Exchequer Software, iplicit has helped hundreds of organisations across various sectors in Ireland and the UK take advantage of its true-cloud innovative platform.
Managing director at iplicit Ireland Alan Connor explains why the software represents a powerful alternative for organisations struggling with server-based solutions who are planning for a digital journey to the cloud.
Why did you develop iplicit?
Having spent 30 years developing accounting, corporate ERP & NFP solutions, the experience within our dedicated team was unparalleled in the UK and Ireland. Our founders come from both the mid-range and high-end accounting software market with decades of knowledge. In that time, we’d gone from DOS-based accounting through to Windows accounting software, exploiting all that this technology had to offer and delivering the best functionality and customer service throughout and we knew we needed to do the same with the evolution to cloud.
A few years back, we found we were limited by what local data servers and local development protocols had to offer. The technology didn’t really change in two decades. Then, along came the first generation of cloud-based systems that started to introduce change. These weren’t really true-cloud – they were applications running in a web browser that required Microsoft components locally on a machine, or may have required specific redundant browsers like Internet Explorer, or even full hosted servers. It’s the difference between Web1.0 and Web2.0, but it was a start on the cloud journey.
A lot of our early peers adopted browser or cloud technology by taking what was done before in server-based systems and popping it in, or on the cloud. They didn’t really stand back and say, ‘Well, why are we adhering to the previous limitations?’. It was equivalent of the first hybrid cars. They were dipping their toe in, when for it to be truly revolutionary and evolutionary, it needed to be built from the ground up.
And that’s just what you did?
Absolutely, those decades spent writing and delivering accounting software enabled us to identify the real gaps in cloud technology and accounting functionality. From there, we were able to develop our signature true-cloud solution. We wanted to challenge some of the complacency that we were seeing in the server and cloud-based accounting system space. We knew something was missing.
Modern technology could enable a far more efficient implementation and higher levels of self-service at a customer level; solutions could now be part-built with modules configured at a generic level that could save literally months in project implementation.
Seven years ago, we started looking into developing a true cloud software for the mid-range market. There wasn’t an existing solution that we felt was either good enough or had the potential to evolve into something new and wonderful. Instead, we harnessed our decades of experience to develop iplicit’s innovative cloud accounting software.
This software was designed to be much more scalable than a server-based application would have allowed. We’ve taken everything we’ve learned – everything we know from our clients wants and needs – and put it into a product that we believe in. It’s so configurable that we have different clients, even in the same sector, using it in completely different and exceptional ways.
You’ve mentioned true-cloud. What’s the difference between true-cloud and hosted cloud?
If you host a server-based application on the cloud, it’s a server-based application running in a browser ‘on ’the cloud. That’s not true-cloud software. True-cloud is not hosted, there’s no local application or local software needed. It’s designed from the ground up as a true-cloud solution. It’s any browser, any device, any location. And you get a fully multi-tenanted secure, hosted environment. Hosted / pretend cloud solutions come with the same limitations as any other server-based application.
There is most definitely a place for hybrid and hosted solutions. But you would hope that the organisations offering those solutions would be upfront with potential clients to say that it is a hosted solution, as opposed to it being a true-cloud solution. Putting the cloud name on something doesn’t make it so.
What benefits does true-cloud bring for the IT and the MIS departments?
Adopting true-cloud software takes the worry away. When everything’s on the cloud, you benefit form automatic backups, multi-server replication, and automatic upgrades. The Microsoft Azure resources will automatically expand as the tenant requires or as the client’s usage expands. It’s all there, built in. There’s less hardware, there’s less firmware, there’s less workstations connected to servers remotely. There’s a lot less issues and connections because you’re not tied to an expensive clunky PC, you can use any device.
How does iplicit’s API help integration?
True-cloud and API connectivity opens up a world of complimentary solutions, integrations, and cost savings. One of the added benefits of adopting true-cloud solutions across the disparate elements of your organisation is the ability for them to easily and seamlessly connect to each other via web API tools.
We will link with all sorts of third-party solutions, even competing solutions because we know that the core elements of iplicit are persuasive enough for many organisations. Modern cloud software is designed to be “API first”, which makes it much easier to integrate and customise than it used to be in server-based solutions.
But we’re also happy for iplicit to extend out into lots of other areas where you want to consolidate your IT stack, and not have so many third-party solutions. For example, there’s a growing number of third-party purchase procurement software on the market that enable you to manage purchase order approvals or invoice approvals via email / OCR etc… Why should you need a third-party software for that? Why not develop it within the core accounting software so there’s always one source of the truth financially? We took it a step further and asked why not have similar workflows for sales, nominal journals, payments, or even updating your budgets? Why not have client specific approval workflows across all your transaction types rather than just limiting it to purchases?
How can true-cloud help a business achieve its sustainability aspirations?
True-cloud lets you reduce the amount of physical architecture you have in your IT room. It challenges you to consider a future without local servers, local infrastructure, UPS, switches, expensive cabling, and rooms full of equipment. Rather than having a service running 24/7 in your office, you have servers and resources that are powered up and down in these minutely controlled and efficient Microsoft Azure environments to get the best out of the technology and the best energy for your buck as well. That’s where we found a lot of client interests coming from the IT side.
Will a customer be as secure on the cloud as on their own server?
iplicit leverages everything Microsoft Azure have to offer, so we couldn’t be in better hands with the amount of security and resilience and performance that’s available to us. No matter how good an internal IT security department an organisation has, they simply don’t have the same resources as the hundreds of IT and security professionals that Microsoft has.
There’s nothing more important than ensuring a client’s system and data is held securely in the cloud. To support this, iplicit lets users configure their system with multi-factor authentication, tailor their own online back-ups if needs be, restrict user domains or IP enforcement, and provides multi-Azure data-centre replications. The system can also be configured to send a warning email whenever a user’s login is used on a new device.
What about the entry-level cloud user who has outgrown their first cloud software?
There’s a huge tranche of Irish business who are already using entry level cloud software. When they outgrow the limitations of that entry level system, in many cases they would either have to go back to a server-based solution or jump disproportionately high to adopt one of the top tier cloud systems because the functionality in the mid-range was just not available (until now).
So not only are highly demanding mid-range organisations looking to migrate from server-based systems to the cloud, the early adopters of entry-level cloud systems, also need to migrate to far more functional and future proofed mid-range solutions as their needs expand.
You’ve said iplicit is a ‘mid-range plus’ offering. What does that mean?
We offer top tier functionality, without the top tier pricing. iplicit has circa 90% of the functionality of some of the very large top tier solutions for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the project deployment time. We want to develop software; we don’t want to be delivering avoidable chargeable services for client’s day-in-day-out if it can be avoided. We make it easy to implement, easy to use, and far less disruptive for our clients.
We noticed that companies coming from highly functional, mid-range legacy accounting software wanted highly functional cloud equivalents, but that didn’t mean they’d want to jump up to the top pay tier, where you’re talking six months implementations and drastically more expensive solutions. They wanted ‘mid-range plus’. And that’s exactly what we’ve developed.
We also move quickly at iplicit – we’re talking weeks to get set-up rather than months. Our consultants don’t want to live with your IT department, they don’t want to live with your accounting department. They want to get you up and running, migrated, trained, and leave you happily in control of your software.
What was the big trigger for cloud adoption in Ireland?
Covid-19 made a huge impact. The rapid shift towards remote working meant that people were connecting in any which way they could to survive. It really sped things up for us. Those that did start dipping their toes into the cloud during this time found that what they thought was just a means-to-an-end became a whole new way of operating. It was kind of a Eureka moment where industry found out what a gamechanger cloud can be.
Did that create a mindset shift when it comes to people’s relationship with cloud?
I think there is a natural acceptance now that there will be an element of cloud in the IT portfolio in any organisation. Maybe it starts with some cloud-based CRM software, and eventually moves to more business essential solutions, such as distribution and accounting, where you physically can’t trade without those solutions being up and running.
I do believe the confidence is there now. Many companies are now actively reviewing the benefits of dispensing with their legacy, on-premise accounting software and moving to a more powerful, true-cloud service.
From a financial viewpoint – if you’re replacing IT every five years, and your aircon is on 24/7 in your server room, then maybe it’s time you have a look and see what else is out there. Look at the facts, iplicit has exceptional functionality, automated data migration, and a public API to link to a plethora of third-party solutions. On top of that, the sustainability savings, the IT frustrations, and downtime savings will without doubt, prove to be persuasively cost effective.
We believe it is what you do with the technology, rather than the technology itself that makes the difference. We are so proud of our award-winning solutions that we love to show them off and discuss how organisations need to evolve.
For more details or to arrange a personal web demonstration please visit www.iplicit.ie
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