Testimonials from Ostendo Consulting Partners

“Essentially the main key for me with Ostendo was its integration with an entry level accounting system. At the time I was about to jump head first into a full ERP system to lift me out of the entry level accounting consulting market. I then discovered Ostendo which gave me the ability to consult and promote a product which reached clients in the mid level gap product range without the need to embark on an expensive and long winded training program to learn a full blown ERP system. Ostendo has so many great features and for me the job costing, work in progress or WIP management and job report flexibility is just fantastic. I like the fact that Jeff Keith is the owner and he is passionate about the product and personally trains consultants in the product. I also like having access to unlimited training opportunities with Bob in the consultant support centre. We are now able to approach clients who we have not had a solution for in the past. The processes in Ostendo are adaptable to any market as the product flexibility allows users to customise the product to fit their systems. I researched about 30 other add on solutions from both MYOB and Intuit (QuickBooks) and Ostendo ticked nearly all the boxes when it came to meeting my clients needs.”

Michael Graham (Director). Cutcher & Neale, Australia
Email: michael.graham@cutcher.com.au
Website: www.cutcher.com.au

“The Ostendo software is comprehensive in business features for ‘distribution’, ‘manufacturing’ and ‘jobbing/contracting’. It has flexible report writers and scripting options to give good business advantage. There is a simple business model to deal with and sound documentation to backup the software. The Ostendo software has more advanced features and operational flexibility than other products in the mid range New Zealand market and allowed us to achieve real business advantage for our clients. Our first implementation is achieving the business advantage for our client and the software is stable across a network and easy to install. The Ostendo support from Development-X has been excellent.”

Michael Jamieson CA (Business Improvement Manager). UHY Haines Norton (Auckland) Ltd, New Zealand
Email: mjamieson@uhyhn.co.nz
Website: www.uhyhn.co.nz

“Ostendo has excellent functionality in all of the operational areas that the off the shelf and mid tier accounting packages don’t. It really allows the user to perform the day to day tasks that matter to them. There is great flexibility in that there is a large range of functional areas that are covered, e.g. job costing and over the counter POS sales combined with a report writer.

With Development-X recommendations for enhancements are taken on board and enacted quickly, with a regular update release schedule throughout the year. Support response time is generally very good. They do not charge ridiculous prices to become and continue to be part of the partner network.

In our market which is rural and primary based there was an obvious potential for businesses who were generally happy with there financial reporting, but wanted the tools to do their day to day job with out leaping into the next tier technology and associated expense. The fact that as accountants we could still bring a copy of the accounting software (MYOB or QuickBooks) into our office for our purposes was also an attraction.

We have been able to bring a much more balanced solution to our clients. Previously with many clients the solution options were largely based on accounting but did not take into account the operational aspects of the business. Now we are able to focus on both which are equally important.”

Blair McCallum (Client Manager, Business Computer Services). Staples Rodway Hawkes Bay Limited, New Zealand
Email: BMcCallum@stapleshb.co.nz
Website: www.staplesrodway.com

“Ostendo is an extremely functional software program and my clients are continually amazed by what it is able to produce, from simple things like the customized screens (by user) to the use of desktop views (very powerful implementation tool) but most importantly how the clients processes can be accommodated in the software without the client having to completely redesign their work flows. In essence you are able to meet and exceed the client’s expectations which is a huge benefit … they get what they want and more! Being from Western Australia technical support can present a problem if it is delivered from anywhere else in Australia. You would expect this problem to be exacerbated if it was coming from New Zealand. It is the exact opposite. I cannot speak to highly for the support provided from the team at Development-X. Nothing is too much problem – two 1-2 day training sessions conducted by Jeff the Managing Director in the last two years (with only the venue costs having to be paid), internet based training sessions conducted by Bob in the Support Centre – too many to remember, quick practical responses to day to day queries that are raised. Prompt and appropriate client interface from Development-X with needy clients – license keys, etc. Consultant based internet problem solving. I could not ask for more. The software is easy to install and updates can occur with a minimum of fuss. There is excellent documentation relating to implementation, functionality, tutorials. If you are in the business of meeting clients’ expectations, providing creative solutions then Ostendo is the answer. For your part you get a huge amount of job satisfaction. At the same time you can maintain attractive charge out rates and the client can see value for money.”

Alan McCamish CPA. Business Edge WA, Western Australia
Email: alan@businessedgewa.com.au
Website: www.businessedgewa.com.au

“I like primarily the depth of functionality within the Ostendo product. This enables the product to be used in a huge variety of businesses from Manufacturing to Service to Distribution. Ostendo can be configured in a number of ways to best suit the business using it. Its flexibility and reporting capabilities are second to none. Standard functionality within this product far exceeds some products that are priced much higher. Its open and robust database allow for easy importing and exporting of data. A significant benefit of using a database like Firebird is its ability to retain rules and triggers within the database rather than the application, therefore leading to far greater integrity than some others packages.

I like the fact that Development-X is local – NZ based and focused. There is good communication and commitment from Jeff Keith and the team at Development-X. They provide good training provide to consultants. They have responsiveness to end user concerns / demands, etc. There is a positive pricing model for consultants from Development-X. I also enjoy Development-X’s positive approach to consultants to provide a ‘win – win’ scenario.

Ostendo provides me with another ‘tool in the box’ to offer clients. Ostendo provides me with the ability to deal with more substantial types of business. I have broken away from the ‘Ma and Pa’ type business. These higher value type clients give me the opportunity to ‘add substantial value’ to their businesses by introducing Ostendo initially, then further down the track allowing me to add further value with KPI management, custom report writing and now, scripting.”

Ian Flynn. CAD Partners, New Zealand
Email: ianf@cadpartners.biz
Website: www.cadpartners.biz

“I spent a lot of time exploring a range of software packages and Ostendo came out streets ahead in terms of value for money in respect of the needs of an End User looking to update and upgrade their Accounting software which incorporated flexibility, Personalised User interface and comprehensive coverage.

There are a number of factors that have near equal status as best features in Ostendo. But for me, the fact that it can act as a stand-alone Production oriented software package, or be integrated with other Accounting software (MYOB or QuickBooks) is the most significant. Other things I like about Ostendo include:

• Flexibility of User oriented screens actually does more for User friendliness than many initially realise.
• Time has shown that Development-X is continually bringing out upgrades to the package which reflect majority User feedback.
• The ability to easily modify the existing Reports, together with the option to create User designed reports.
• Unlike some packages, the design of Ostendo is economic in the use of Disk space. This has the double benefit of speedier access to data as well as less disk space requirements.

With Development-X there is good support provided, including some specific hands on training via webinar, where needed.”

Philip Ward. Ward Accounting Services, New Zealand
Email: pmward@ihug.co.nz

“Ostendo’s main strength is its flexibility. We have sold it to a number of very diverse types of businesses such as welding companies, furniture manufactures, signage companies, drilling companies, office furniture suppliers, security installation companies, netting manufacturers and lens manufacturers to mention a few.

The custom scripting functionality allows even greater flexibility and variety of use. As an example of this one of our customers can import a BOM with over 900 components and subassemblies from a spreadsheet into Ostendo within a few minutes! Another strength of Ostendo is its ease of installation and use. Most of our customers start using it within a month of installation. It is used equally easily from shop floor staff to management. The comments we get all the time from users is that it is truly ‘USER FRIENDLY’. South Africa is a strange mixture of first and third world skills so this is an important feature of Ostendo. As an example we have a customer who has trained a gardener to become a Storeman using Ostendo for incoming and outgoing stock. Ostendo provides full business functionality such as Inventory Control, MRP and service management. It has a powerful report writer which caters for the endless variety of user’s requirements.

R and R Solutions cc market and support a large ERP package in South Africa and found a need in the marketplace for a smaller, yet still highly functional and flexible package which was cost effective and easy to implement. Ostendo definitely met these criteria.

We are a long way from New Zealand and there is a ten hour time difference between the two countries which makes speed of support very important. The Development-X team has not let us down. They respond to all our queries within 24 hours and give us excellent advice and support. The Development-X team is very receptive to customer software enhancement requests, which is unique feature for software developers. We appreciate that Development-X understand South Africa’s and Africa’s market conditions and are prepared to offer competitive pricing structures of the software to meet these local conditions.”

Claudia Ruis. R & R Solutions cc, South Africa
Email: claudia@rrsol.co.za
Website: www.rrsol.co.za

“We have finally got a program that delivers to the market in the right level at the right price. There was a gap there and Ostendo has filled it beautifully. Ostendo is flexible enough to fit into most environments and with scripts can be adapted. I have seen what putting Ostendo into client’s sites has done for their management of work and performance. The Ostendo flexibility is good. Sometimes it takes a bit to work out the best way of doing something but when in doubt the Development-X support team is great and helps to sort out the tricky spots. The Development-X staff are easy to work with and very helpful. Even though they are very busy they always find time to help out. The partner programme is very good value and has provided good training and support. The best part of all is that the Development-X staff is accessible and always has an open mind on changing some aspects of the program to help it to fit into the environment that you are looking at.”

Maree Ward. 2Assist Limited, New Zealand
Email: maree@2assist.co.nz
Website: www.2assist.co.nz

“I like Ostendo’s versatility, its suitability to many markets, its breadth and depth of functionality and the excellent quality of the delivery software. Ostendo comes with an excellent good set of support tools (report writer, screen developer etc) which makes it easy to work with and extend beyond the out of the box configuration. Development-X staff are great to work. They are friendly, helpful and honest. Development-X is interested in helping me sustain and grow my business to the benefit of us both. Being a consultant partner with Development-X helps keep my business in business. Because Ostendo is well suited to NZ mid-sized companies it has enabled me to pursue larger prospects that I might otherwise overlook and as a result has helped to increase my business software consulting activities. It is an excellent product representing good value for money. It can be implemented into a large number of industry sectors and will enable you (the prospective Ostendo Consultant) to provide effective solutions to your client’s business issues.”

Alistair Betts. Summit Solutions Limited, New Zealand
Email: alistair.betts@summitsolutions.co.nz
Website: www.summitsolutions.co.nz

“Ostendo is a good solution for small to medium sized businesses requiring robust operational functionality in the areas of: Manufacturing, Distribution, Maintenance and Point of Sale. Server and client installation is straightforward relative to many systems. Ostendo has the ability to provide a solution which MYOB users and QuickBooks Qbi users who need more operational functionality can step up to. There is a powerful report writer and view developer which is an integral part of the product and not an add on solution. It has strong jobbing functionality and the ability to manage projects. There are good features for allowing customisation of the information displayed by user. It’s a good fit with most small to medium sized businesses. Development-X is Auckland based and responds quickly to any urgent issues with in depth technical understanding of Ostendo and implementation options that are available. There is good sales and technical support available where appropriate.”

Kevin Whitehead. Solution Management Limited, New Zealand
Email: kevinw@solutionm.co.nz
Website: www.solutionm.co.nz

“I became an Ostendo consulting partner because of my belief that there are many MYOB Premier and Premier Enterprise users in Western Australia that need to get more from their application and are not prepared to go the next level up to applications such as MYOB Exo (formerly Exonet). Ostendo offers a lower cost solution with at least 80% of the functionality and in some cases improved functionality on applications that are 2 times the price – with less cost to implement.

Working with Development-X I receive Ostendo prospects, support and electronic marketing materials. I would recommend Ostendo to other overseas consultants as with technology today, implementation staff can be trained online, support can be administered remotely and I would anticipate that clients overseas would have the same requirements as those here in Australia.”

Cameron Gill. JobcostWare, Western Australia
Email: cameron@jobcostware.com
Website: www.jobcostware.com

“Ostendo is easily tailored to meet the needs of clients, this includes the custom forms, reports, additional fields. Features such as tracking codes and pivot tables are also very important to clients. There is excellent communication with the design team. I like the ability to enhance the product when necessary. There are regular updates which include new features and a steady stream of prospects. I decided to become an Ostendo Consulting Partner because the product appeared to have enormous potential given the MYOB link. Past products developed by Development-X provided a track record of sound and innovative product development. We now can sell a very cost effective solution to clients from one to 40 users in a range of industries. Our business is totally based on Ostendo and the flexibility of the product enables us to focus on the industries we desire. Our experience is that Ostendo meets (in most cases exceeds) the clients requirements at a cost they can afford. The Ostendo features make it applicable in a number of industries. The range of Ostendo features enables the product to provide a total solution to clients where comparative competitive products seem to have significant gaps in their functionality.”

Mr Chris Hales. Hamagi Business Solutions, Australia
Email: chris@hamagi.com
Website: www.hamagi.com

“We have been dealing with Development-X for a number of years and were introduced to Ostendo through our association with Development-X. Ostendo fits a unique market place segment in that it offers powerful operational software while integrating with popular accounting software like MYOB and QuickBooks. It offers the small to medium business the functionality of much more expensive software at a realistic price without having to throw out their accounting software. Development-X has always been responsive to their Partners and to their Partners Clients requirements. We have always received a prompt response to any issues that we have raised; either for ourselves or for our clients and this in turn allows us to provide better service. Having dealt with the staff at Development-X for over 10 years we were completely confident that they would come through with the product and the support we required to run a successful business supplying and installing operational software.

Ostendo with its broad functionality has given BRW Business Solutions the ability to market to a wide range of industries, with clients from straight manufacturing, i.e. bus seats to pure distribution, i.e. medical products. It is a stable, well supported product which offers functionality only found in far more expensive software products and because of this functionality allows Ostendo to be marketed to a wide range of industries. The underlying scripting language allows very powerful functionality and has been used to interface to CAD, PDA devices, bar coding systems, automate the generation of invoices electronically and import complex price lists to name a few.”

Bob Mudge. BRW Business Solutions Pty Limited, Australia
Email: bob@brwbusinesssolutions.com.au
Website: www.brwbusinesssolutions.com.au

“What I like about Ostendo is that was designed as an add-on to MYOB from the start. This allows us to have a ready market for the product as many MYOB clients have nowhere to go once MYOB Premier and MYOB Premier Enterprise is stretched in terms of its capabilities. It concentrates on the area in which most small business operate within Australia– jobs, distribution, manufacturing and POS. I like the leads we receive from Development-X. The product is constantly evolving with changes suggested by users / consultants being taken on board and implemented. Updates are frequent. I chose to become an Ostendo consulting partner because I could see the potential of the product for MYOB customers. As the product improved I have dropped selling any other products. I can now concentrate on one product and do a great job on it for my clients. There is sufficient demand to be able to grow ones business. I would recommend Ostendo to other overseas consultants because I have seen how it affects my own business in providing income. Ostendo has enough features to cater for 80% of all businesses and it interfaces with the two leading packages – MYOB and QuickBooks.”

Brian Meth. Gumboot Solutions, Australia
Email: bsm@gumboot.com.au
Website: www.gumboot.com.au

“Ostendo Software is user friendly and practical functionality for business operation. As a consultant, I just need to configure the software to suit the need of an end-user. We can now offer a better business solution or wider range of products for some demanding customers for their operation with an affordable price. Ostendo is a configurable and feature rich software for everybody and easy to implement as compared to other ERP programs. I am confident that there will be more and more good features being released in the future.

The Development-X support centre is accessible and very helpful to our team of consultants. The consulting partner programme represented good value for money by including training and support. We chose to partner with Development-X and recommend Ostendo Software because I could see that Ostendo Software would produce major cost savings for my client’s business and good services revenue for me. I wanted one software system that could run my client’s whole business while leaving the financials on MYOB for the Accountant. Finally, I can’t find better software as a standard ERP for the business operation. We can now offer a better business solution with a wide range of functionality for those complex customers for their business operations with an affordable installed price.”

Ng Kit Fu (General Manager). E Link Business Solutions Sdn Bhd, Malaysia and Singapore
Email: nkf@elink2u.com.my
Website: www.elink2u.com.my

“Ostendo does everything no other product in that price class does and because it is developed by a highly knowledgeable and motivated team response to feedback from the field is swift so the program gets better and better all the time. I also like the idea that the developers work on the areas they are good at and let financial and accounting technical issues to other programs to deal with by interfacing to them, e.g. QuickBooks, MYOB and other accounting programs.

The Development-X support centre is accessible and very helpful. The consulting partner programme is good value for money for sure by including training at just about any time during the year. They are very responsive to software change requests and I very much appreciated their support when a customer got a bit edgy during the first QuickBooks Qbi integration in 2008.

I chose Ostendo because I really liked the idea of using the best of available accounting packages like QuickBooks and providing the customer with a package that linked into this that could do everything they needed and more without costing the earth. I also saw the potential for good continuous service potential for myself and finally I had confidence in Development-X because of what I had seen in the Ezijobz Software product range. I certainly would recommend Ostendo because it is by far the best value for money for the most number of requirements it fulfils in comparison to other software that costs many, many times more.”

Jim Kloeg. Miqveh Enterprises Ltd, trading as Personal Computer Support Services (PCSS), New Zealand
Email: jkloeg@pcss.co.nz
Website: www.pcss.co.nz

“I like the extra functionality for inventory and job tracking with Ostendo. I also like the ability to do landed costings. I like the speed of developing new reports. I have been very pleased with the training programs, both via internet and in person. I like the frequency with which new features are released and the excellent support material that comes out with the new releases. I can offer a much more comprehensive solution to clients needing job tracking and or inventory at a reasonable price. Ostendo offered such great value for money, that I could see that it would fit into a MYOB user’s budget and that it covered so many areas that MYOB just couldn’t provide. So frustrations with the limitations of MYOB made me take up Ostendo.”

Pam Pitt. Look and Learn Computer Training, Australia
Email: pam@lookandlearn.com.au
Website: www.lookandlearn.com.au

“There are many things I like about Ostendo. These include: Wide range of applications, flexibility of scripts, great reporting, easy to use (in most applications!!). Ability to track serial numbers, batch numbers, use by dates, ability to job cost, ability to determine landed costs, multi currency etc. It is a good product, has a wide range of applications, very flexible with great reporting.”

Rob Barrett. RNA Solutions Pty Ltd, Australia
Email: rob@rnasolutions.com.au
Website: www.rnasolutions.com.au