Viewpoint stays on point with Infor

Viewpoint Housing Association has extended its investment in Infor SunSystems and upgraded as part of an ongoing programme which aims to ensure the association delivers optimal value for money by achieving maximum efficiency.  

Hosted by Infor partner Kick ICT, the application will ensure Viewpoint can use the most up to date functionality and benefit from faster, easier upgrades and integrations with existing third-party systems. As a hosted solution, it will also make fewer demands on IT staff, who can now be redeployed onto higher-value tasks. 

The upgraded version of Infor SunSystems also included Infor Dynamic/Enterprise Performance Management (d/EPM) to help improve Viewpoint’s budget processes. The upgrade will also help improve remote working by delivering tighter workflow approvals and stronger supplier security. 

Alongside the Infor SunSystems upgrade, Kick ICT migrated Viewpoint’s server environment and key applications, including Infor SunSystems, into their datacentre. This will provide a modern, secure and accessible hosting solution, enabling business continuity if physical office access is interrupted. 

Viewpoint Housing Association is based in Edinburgh and operates three care homes and over 1,300 properties throughout Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife. The finance team processes approximately 13,000 invoices per year across 75 suppliers.  

Mike Gibson, Head of Finance for Viewpoint Housing Association, said: “This upgrade has yielded an array of benefits. Not only can we be confident we are on the most up to date version of the software, but the new functionality has meant less time processing transactions and more time looking at what they tell us instead.  

“We are now better positioned to spot fraudulent activity and improve our governance as we now support a remote workforce. Looking to the future, we will be aiming for continuous improvement to reduce money and time spent on invoice processing, so the ability to add RPA and AI is of real interest.” 

Tim Truesdale, Product Director for Infor SunSystems, said: “The flexibility of cloud-enabled business software is now becoming a source of real competitive advantage, be it continually refined processes, improved security or a base for future capabilities. Combined with local delivery partners, and our deep domain expertise in this sector, housing associations can realise both short-term process improvements and better positioning long term whether they choose cloud, hosted or on-premise deployment.” 

Paul Sutherland, Head of Infor Sales at Kick ICT, said: “Viewpoint were acutely aware of the need to upgrade their finance applications and to do so using modern, safe and secure hosting facilities. This project to both upgrade Infor SunSystems and migrate Viewpoint into our datacentre was undertaken throughout lockdown and completed via remote tools.  

“We are very proud of the fact that – as a care provider to so many vulnerable people throughout Scotland – Viewpoint did not lose service at the care homes, during this project.”