Australia’s leading developer of management software for the horticulture industry has just announced a major leap forward, implementing cutting edge technology.
For the past six months the GrowData team has been working with a number of ‘techsperts’ to enable GrowData clients to move their software out of the grower’s computers and into a ‘cloud environment’.
Managing director Brian Riordan said that the move would enable GrowData Developments to remain a leader in the industry and continue to deliver the best possible speed, usability and functionality to their many clients.
Cloud technology resolves many grower problems
Mr Riordan added that many growers and larger horticultural companies were becoming frustrated with the amount of time required to reinstall software when computers crash or have to be replaced.
There have also been issues with managers wanting to enter data or read reports from various locations which can be problematic unless their computers are all networked.
“Using the latest cloud technology resolves all these problems as the software is located on powerful servers which can be accessed via the internet from any mobile device,” Mr Riordan said.
“Having everything located on a remote server enables GrowData to create a protected environment which is not subject to the many variations encountered on individual computers.”
Mr Riordan said that with all the best intentions in the world, growers tend not to back-up their data regularly, resulting in many calls to GrowData from clients saying they have lost some or all of their data through a power surge, hard drive crash and even theft of their computer.
Data secure
“Data on the cloud is extremely secure which is why many of the world’s leading businesses are moving to the cloud space,” he said.
“Data is regularly backed up and stored in multiple locations. GrowData clients can download their data back into their computer for an additional sense of security.”
Speed not an issue
According to Mr Riordan, speed is not a problem.
“Even in areas with very slow broadband the process of entering data and retrieving reports via the cloud has been exceptionally quick,” he said.
Mr Riordan added that feedback from user acceptance testing, clearly showed that locating GrowData software in a powerful server environment such as the cloud, rather than on a conventional website, made a huge difference to the speed.
Transfer to cloud begins
Existing GrowData clients are being contacted so that the transfers to the cloud can commence.
New purchasers of the software will now be able to pay a small amount monthly, rather than having to pay an up-front fee.
All GrowData clients should have received an email advising them of the move to the cloud.
For information and contact details, see the July 2012 Tree Fruit.
