A soft approach
The latest version of yacht management software has been released by Deep Blue Soft, offering a ‘revolutionary’ software solution designed to facilitate the administrative workload of captains, management companies and owners. SuperyachtNews.com asks what makes it unique and discusses whether such products are a growing trend in the industry.…
The latest incarnation of superyacht-specific management software has been released by Deep Blue Soft, offering a ‘revolutionary’ platform designed to ease the administrative workload of captains and crew, management companies and owners by using tailor-made tools to deal with all aspects of daily yacht operations.
With the release of Version 1.1.3, Deep Blue claims to have already installed the software on over 40 yachts and with several yacht management companies. “Deep Blue not only deals with accounting, but includes 14 modules which apply to all the needs of yacht operators,” explains founder Benoit Faure. "These include dedicated modules for human resource management, crew and yacht document listing, yacht maintenance and log book, yacht technical documentation, yacht inventory, accounting and financial reports and charter accounting and reports."
In issue 142 of The Superyacht Report, we investigated some of the latest superyacht-specific software solutions available on the market. This began with the accounting software, Latitude365, developed by Dasha Grupman and aimed at solving accounting headaches that captains face every day. The investigation also looked at other software solutions that were being developed in the market, noting that it was reflective of the increasing reporting requirements and need for fiscal transparency.
SuperyachtNews.com contacted Grupman to discuss Deep Blue’s new software and ask what makes it a unique product to the market. “When it comes to superyacht management there are three key components that a software needs to have; it has to be customised to the yacht process and be customisable on a per-yacht basis, be very easy to use and be cloud based, while still allowing to work offline,” she explained. “Deep Blue is unique in a way that it offers many different modules in one software. We haven’t seen the software overall so it is hard to comment on all the modules and how well they are done. It took us three years to build the accounting module alone, and requests for new features keep coming in, so we chose to focus and offer the very best in that area."
"Other software also exists on the market," Faure said, when asked to explain what makes Deep Blue stand out. "But mostly it is software which has been developed 10 or 15 years ago with technologies which are not used on modern platforms anymore, and by mass-market users. The complexity of this software discourages users and can quickly be abandoned. Deep Blue is user friendly and developed with a keep-it-simple approach."
Where other software solutions on the market may choose to specialise in one area of yacht management, Deep Blue is innovative in that aims to encompass all aspects of yacht-management administration under one umbrella. While the software is yet to be fully tried and tested by the market as a whole, the development is a reflection on the growing demand for solutions in an industry that is facing increasing administrative and regulatory expectations.
“The superyacht industry really needs good software solutions more than any other industry, especially when it comes to superyacht management,” Grupman concluded. “People involved in it come from many different backgrounds and often assume many roles within one job. Take a captain for example - it becomes virtually impossible to be professional in performing every role needed and this is where I see a good software solution can help. In addition, yacht management companies face fierce competition and are realising more and more that the only way to stay competitive is to automate their processes so the time of their employees can be spent as efficiently as possible.”
With the release of Version 1.1.3, Deep Blue claims to have already installed the software on over 40 yachts and with several yacht management companies. “Deep Blue not only deals with accounting, but includes 14 modules which apply to all the needs of yacht operators,” explains founder Benoit Faure. "These include dedicated modules for human resource management, crew and yacht document listing, yacht maintenance and log book, yacht technical documentation, yacht inventory, accounting and financial reports and charter accounting and reports."
A screenshot of Deep Blue's latest yacht management software.
The software is marketed as allowing a continuous flow of information in
real time between the yacht and the management company, in full
transparency and with professional accuracy, allowing captains and
managers to significantly reduce the administrative workload and also to
make sure that the yacht and the crew are in line with regulations.
"Deep Blue is a full web-based solution hosted on secured servers, accessed from PCs, Macs, PDAs and iPads, with 24-hour access to all authorised users wherever the location," adds Faure. "A
secondary server can also be installed on board the yacht to allow
permanent access even when not connected to the internet. This secondary
server then synchronizes with the main server when internet connection is
re-established."In issue 142 of The Superyacht Report, we investigated some of the latest superyacht-specific software solutions available on the market. This began with the accounting software, Latitude365, developed by Dasha Grupman and aimed at solving accounting headaches that captains face every day. The investigation also looked at other software solutions that were being developed in the market, noting that it was reflective of the increasing reporting requirements and need for fiscal transparency.
"Yacht management companies face fierce competition and are realising more and more that the only way to stay competitive is to automate their processes so the time of their employees can be spent as efficiently as possible.”
SuperyachtNews.com contacted Grupman to discuss Deep Blue’s new software and ask what makes it a unique product to the market. “When it comes to superyacht management there are three key components that a software needs to have; it has to be customised to the yacht process and be customisable on a per-yacht basis, be very easy to use and be cloud based, while still allowing to work offline,” she explained. “Deep Blue is unique in a way that it offers many different modules in one software. We haven’t seen the software overall so it is hard to comment on all the modules and how well they are done. It took us three years to build the accounting module alone, and requests for new features keep coming in, so we chose to focus and offer the very best in that area."
"Other software also exists on the market," Faure said, when asked to explain what makes Deep Blue stand out. "But mostly it is software which has been developed 10 or 15 years ago with technologies which are not used on modern platforms anymore, and by mass-market users. The complexity of this software discourages users and can quickly be abandoned. Deep Blue is user friendly and developed with a keep-it-simple approach."
Where other software solutions on the market may choose to specialise in one area of yacht management, Deep Blue is innovative in that aims to encompass all aspects of yacht-management administration under one umbrella. While the software is yet to be fully tried and tested by the market as a whole, the development is a reflection on the growing demand for solutions in an industry that is facing increasing administrative and regulatory expectations.
“The superyacht industry really needs good software solutions more than any other industry, especially when it comes to superyacht management,” Grupman concluded. “People involved in it come from many different backgrounds and often assume many roles within one job. Take a captain for example - it becomes virtually impossible to be professional in performing every role needed and this is where I see a good software solution can help. In addition, yacht management companies face fierce competition and are realising more and more that the only way to stay competitive is to automate their processes so the time of their employees can be spent as efficiently as possible.”
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