Spire Systems released Spire version 3.0 in October and presented it to Spire partners and end-users at the 2018 Spire Conference. Here are the interesting Spire 3.0 enhancements:

Security:

  • User security now reside in the PostGreSQL system database (good) rather than the Spire company database (bad).

This means you log into Spire first and see your list of companies second. Companies you should not see are hidden.

  • Enhanced password complexity, expiration and failure lock-out.

Passwords can now be long “pass phrases” (strings of separate, English words), rather than short passwords. Pass phrases are more secure than passwords and easier to remember. Passwords can expire after X days. And User accounts can be locked after Y failed log in attempts. These measures are the depressing reality of working on an open internet.

  • Spire API 2.0.

Big improvements in the Spire API with API version 2.0. API is what developers use to integrate programs with Spire. But the Spire API is not just for external developers. It is used internally by Spire as well. The API code that I use to, say, add a customer to Spire, is the same code that Spire uses internally to add a customer.

Other technology enhancements

  • Spire is now written in Python 3 (up from 2) and uses PostgreSQL 10.5 (up from 9.3).

Spire stays current with development technology, another encouraging sign.

Features – General

  • Bar Code scanning added to Spire in useful places.

If you sell bar coded things with bar coded serial number and/or lot numbers, you can buy and sell these things very quickly by scanning them. We have a “scanning” button in order entry, PO entry and POS. Speed!

  • “Vector” searches.

Spire has this incredible search tool. If you know any bit of information about what you want to find, Spire finds it instantly. The magic behind this trick is something called a PostgreSQL “vector” search., PostgreSQL (the Spire database) indexes everything, Spire submits your search string and the vector index in PostgreSQL finds all matches instantly.

  • Inventory kits, accessories and macros

Spire now has four way to group inventory items in sales, purchasing and production. We have BOMs (bills of material) for manufacturers, kits for assemblers and group sales, accessories (“Do you want fries with your hamburger?”) for optional, add-on sales and a new thing called “macros” which are key stroke savers. You can build orders much faster now than before and, with kits, indent them and show or hide the kit contents as you wish. You need to see this one to appreciate it.

Promises!

Spire Systems promised us some new things. I do not like selling “vaporware” so you can take this or leave it. So far, Spire has delivered on previous promises, so I am optimistic.

  • New POS (Point of Sale) module on the horizon.

The current POS module is ok for light POS use. The new one is supposed to be better and will run remotely on detached devices which seems to be the way POS is headed.

  • Avalara Sales Tax solution for USA sales tax.

USA sales tax is a massive headache for USA retailers and getting worse after the recent South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. Supreme Court of the United States decision. All of us Spire USA partners agree that Avalara is the best solution and Spire has promised to integrate Avalara into Spire, but not yet.

The complete “Release Notes” list is here: spire-release-notes-3-0-0

There is quite a bit that I did not cover here.

What is the Spire 3.0 bottom line?

Spire remains an excellent choice for most SBT VisionPoint, SBT Pro Series, ACCPAC Pro and Sage Pro ERP users who are ready to upgrade. Spire 3.0 makes Spire even more compelling than previous versions and the Spire Conference 2018 makes me even more confident I have found a good, new home for many of you who are on my large list of clients.

-Matthew Lefkowitz

P.S. Ready to look at Spire? Contact me here.