Get the complete information on QuickBooks hosting…. don’t believe everything you hear.

Get the complete information on QuickBooks hosting….

And, don’t believe everything you hear.

With the inception of the Authorized Commercial Hosting program for Intuit QuickBooks, a great deal of competitive messaging was introduced to the market.  Various hosts and providers are marketing for your business, and the same caveats that exist elsewhere in the market exist here in no lesser degree: let the buyer beware.  Due diligence is key to getting the service you really want, and you should listen carefully for the clues that may reveal the underlying truth about the service or provider you’re looking at.

At the Intuit ISP Summit, for example, there was a lot of information floating about regarding “the one and only host for QuickBooks Enterprise”.  Generally, this type of obfuscation by the provider’s marketing department wouldn’t bother me (I see it all the time), but in this case, it is not good information and leaves a lot of channel participants wondering what their realistic options are.  ISPs in particular need to understand their options for delivering QBES products, because that’s the lifeblood and revenue opportunity for the channel.  Selling the solution direct-to-market competes with the channel, and reduces options for implementation and long-term product support.  The hosting community can be a valuable partner in the business model, but it’s important to partner with a provider who understands your motivations and concerns, and who has aligned their service model to your greatest benefit.

My suggestion would be to vet out your potential providers, and ask them about their position or placement in the market and in the Intuit hosting program, as well as doing the necessary investigation into their delivery model, protections, and application and support offerings.  If they tell you that they’re the only ones who can do this… be wary.  You don’t want to start off an important business relationship based on half-truths.  It doesn’t bode well for the long-term.

Truth Number One:  NO Intuit-authorized provider has allowances or grants beyond any other.  This means that each and every hosting company authorized by Intuit as a Commercial Host for QuickBooks can lawfully offer:

1. hosting for QuickBooks Pro and Premier Editions, supported versions only
2. hosting for QuickBooks Enterprise Edition, supported versions only
3. subscription rental (some call it lease) licensing for QuickBooks Pro and Premier editions

Truth Number Two:  Intuit’s website lists the authorized providers and the program general guidelines.

1. The listing can be found at www.quickbooks.com/franchisesolutions  and then linking to the “Intuit Hosting Program” tab
2. Authorized QuickBooks hosts, as listed by Intuit, are:

• Right Networks. Telephone: (888) 417 4448
• InsynQ, Inc. Telephone: (866) 206 1781
• Uni-Data & Communications, Inc. Telephone: (718) 445-5600 x3180
• Xcentric Telephone: (678) 297-0190
• Cloud9 Real Time Telephone: (888) 869-0076
• Coaxis International, Inc. Telephone: (850) 391-1022
• myownasp. Telephone: (800) 521-7322
• NovelAspect.com. Telephone: (888) 228-0143
• Swizznet. Telephone: (888) 794-9948
• Awensa. Telephone: (888)390-5423

Truth Number Three: Intuit has selected a “private label or co-brand” partner to offer limited QBES hosting services under Intuit’s brand.

1. The partner, Right Networks, offers QBES hosting direct to market as a service branded and priced by Intuit… many say in direct competition with the ISP network and reseller channels.
2. Hosting of QuickBooks Enterprise editions is NOT limited to this provider.

Got it?

QuickBooks in the Cloud 101 – an entry-level introduction to working with QuickBooks clients and users

Cloud computing, online applications and Internet services are changing how we do business.  Interaction is real time, and the market demands that data be real time, too.  Accounting after-the-fact for business activities is helpful, but doesn’t provide the business owner with the information when and where it is most useful: here and now.

Learn about cloud computing approaches as they apply to working with QuickBooks software and clients using QuickBooks, and get the foundation you need to start using the right solutions to solve the variety of bookkeeping and workflow problems you and your clients face each and every day.

This free one-hour webinar is provided by The Sleeter Group, presented by Michelle Long, and features Joanie Mann of InsynQ CPAASP, a leader in the application services market and the first company authorized by Intuit as a commercial host for QuickBooks.

At the end of the webinar, we’ll also be making an exciting announcement which will bring new value and opportunity to QuickBooks consultants everywhere, so make sure to reserve your place today!

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.  Let us help you understand your “cloud” options, and fill your toolkit so you have what you need to address the variety of issues each of your clients delivers to you.

QuickBooks in the Cloud 101 – an entry-level introduction to working with QuickBooks clients and users online.

October 27, 2011 at 11:00 Pacific/2:00 Eastern - register now to reserve your place.  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/729816024

Placement is limited, and you don’t want to miss out.

Software vs Service Provider – why you aren’t running your apps in the cloud (yet)

article originally published in 2007 on Joanie’s Accounting and Business Technology Blog

When a user logs in to a virtual desktop, and all their valuable and beloved applications are available to them, fully functional and integrated as they are on the PC, with all their data available to them as well, the reaction is almost always one of excitement, empowerment, and – ultimately – bewilderment. “Why”, they ask, “doesn’t everyone do this?”

Good question.

At least part of the answer is due to the way software companies license and sell their applications. Now, if you can continue to produce your product in the same way you always have, distribute it using your known distribution channels (which deliver predictable performance), and realize revenue in the manner to which you have become accustomed, why would you actively seek to create disruption in the “normal” flow of things? Especially when status quo seems to be working pretty well.

Another good question.

The adoption of virtual computing (in this case, hosted desktops and the applications associated with them) is pretty much in the hands of the application software companies. It’s certainly not the platform that we are waiting for. The base technology is already proven on the hardware side, with blade servers and other high-density configurations available. And the software has been proven in a variety of deployments, as demonstrated by Microsoft Terminal Services, Quest Software, VMWare, Citrix,and others.

So – the software companies are part of the barrier.

And so it comes down to the application software manufacturers. These guys seem to fall into two main camps when it comes to cloud-ifying (my new term) their applications: (1) redevelop the app with a web framework and deliver a browser-based solution, or (2) pick a single delivery model from the above list of platform software providers, and eliminate any true integration capability. In short – webify or segregate. Either way, it creates severe limitations in the way the software can take advantage of integrations with other applications. And, for most desktop software vendors, integration with other desktop applications is frequently one of the key benefits of the product.

The web-based applications have already come to grips with this reality. Where a download of a document to your favorite word processor was once just fine, the market now demands data re-use and expanded business process integration, forcing the web applications to open themselves to outside integration and 3rd party developments. Just look at the developer network Salesforce.com has built. If that doesn’t prove that no app is an island, I don’t know what does.

But the desktop apps who have chosen to “webify” using application publishing and delivery tools have evidently forgotten that one thing: integration is part of what makes their apps popular. No business process is an island, and the data rarely stands alone. Would ACT! be so popular if it couldn’t integrate with your Outlook email client, or with your MS Word word processor? Would MS Excel be so popular if you couldn’t push almost anything to a spreadsheet file? The answer is no. This is why the integrations were developed in the first place – greater functionality and an improved value proposition, resulting in increased use and user productivity.

Too many options?

To complicate the problem, there is not just one delivery method that works for every application, business model, or user. With the variety of technologies available, independent software companies have hard choices to make in determining how their cloud’d products might be offered, and additionally by whom they might be sold. As of today, though, many software companies have approached the problem alone, where opting to use their “hosted” editions frequently eliminates the option of integrating on the desktop with other locally-run applications.

Not only does the software maker have to find the best technology/platform fit for the delivery and for their market, but they must also then consider their distribution channel – the “food chain”of delivery of the product or solution. Often this “who” that can offer the product is just as big a problem as “how”.

The maker of a given software package is in the business of selling their software, not other peoples’ software. While integration with other products is exceptionally important to the product’s value in the market, the software maker is fundamentally concerned with only the sales of their own solution. They tend to promote sales through resellers and consultants who can not only provide the software but offer install, training, and ongoing support as well. Designating sales organizations which are “authorized” to represent a product is a typical software company approach.

Many of these authorized resellers are focused exclusively on selling the software solution, not the ongoing support of the platform. These resellers are often highly skilled at working the specific software application, but may lack in-depth understanding of the platform upon which it runs.

Some authorized resellers are actually integrators – companies who sell products from a variety of sources and combine them into “solutions”. Historically, integrators have been key players in creating successful markets for certain products, providing the support and other services necessary to keep the products entrenched in the user community.

In many cases, the integrator makes their money on the support element on the arrangement, not necessarily on the product. In these situations, the platform and ongoing maintenance and support are the key revenue drivers, and the integrator may be loathe to recommend a solution to the client that cuts into their involvement and revenue stream. And hosted, managed, cloud-based application services can certainly do that.

What is the answer? Well, there isn’t just one that jumps out.

One element in the solution is recognition by software companies that their products need to be available in a hosted model. Consumers require choice in terms of their involvement with the business IT infrastructure. Some folks want to control it, others simply need access. The business of hosting applications is growing, but many of the software makers in the market aren’t behind the movement.. they are unwilling participants who leave it up to the service providers (the integrators in the datacenter) to make things work. In some cases (I will refrain from naming names herein) end-user licenses are even written to make hosting the software an illegal event.

Another element, equally if not more important, is the service provider community. With the wide variety of technical standards out there – the different technologies, different approaches, different levels of consideration, and different market sensitivities – it is no wonder that fear and doubt are prevalent in the market.

And then there is the distribution channel and method of selling licensing. Many software companies work exclusively through their authorized reseller channels. While this may benefit the user from a product knowledge standpoint, it creates difficulties with the new delivery model and frequently puts the software sales channel in direct competition with the platform providers.

The tweener gets you from here to there.

While the concept of cloud-ifying desktop and network applications may seem to be “fraught with peril”, it can be done well and deliver significant benefits to the company. By simply changing the way employees access and interact with their applications rather than changing the apps themselves, businesses can introduce an entirely new range of business benefit and capability. Outsourcing the business IT can also represent cost savings and, more importantly, allow you to focus personnel and financial resources on your core business. And, for those who see online application services as the future, this “tweener” step gets you divested from localized technology and helps to embrace the flexibility and freedom that virtual and mobile computing can deliver without forcing radical change.

Now, if we can only get the software makers on board.

Learn more about hosted applications and why Outsourced IT services, Cloud computing, and working at any time and from anywhere makes a lot of business sense.

Business Desktops in the Cloud: Benefit from managed service and online access for the applications you already use

The term “Cloud Computing” is most frequently used as another way to refer to outsourced information technology management – the servers, the applications, and the data are located and managed at a location other than your own  – usually by a commercial service provider.  SaaS, or Software as a Service, is another name used for this type of computing approach.  “Cloud” solutions, which can also include managed application service and SaaS, are accessed via the Internet, rather than being installed on your own computer.

Application hosting is essentially the same thing as Cloud Computing, where the servers/applications/data are provided and managed by a 3rd party (outsourcer).  Application hosting is different from Cloud computing or SaaS primarily in that you may purchase your software licensing rather than get it as part of the service.*  This also means that you could end your online hosting arrangement, and install the software on your own computers (“take your ball and go home“).  This capability does not exist with most pure “cloud” or “SaaS” solutions.  For example, you could not install Google email on your own servers and run it in your own network.  It only exists on Google’s servers.

The most evident benefit of “cloud” computing is anytime, anywhere access to applications and data and valuable business information.  These solutions allows users to access resources and be productive even when away from the office.  Cloud computing provides solution for mobile workers, or users in remote offices, too, and enables “home sourcing” (using at-home workers) or use of outsource companies or 3rd party contractors.  Cloud computing can also solves issues around having multiple business locations.

“Cloud” computing, SaaS, and application hosting can reduce or eliminate the complexity of information technology, and can reduce the cost of implementing and maintaining IT in a business.  Purchasing and installing servers and networks is no longer a requirement.  Maintaining, upgrading, and repairing all the hardware and systems is the job of the service provider.  Installing and updating application software is done by the service provider, and managing and protecting the data is part of the solution.

InsynQ‘s application hosting service is similar to cloud computing in that it offers many of the benefits of SaaS, but without the service or vendor lock-in. Our application hosting services allow the business to maintain the option to select additional (or alternative) applications or solutions for hosting, even extending or integrating hosted applications with other solutions that may be SaaS or cloud-based.  One of the biggest benefits of application hosting is that it allows a business to retain the option to return to localized technology – installing products on the local PC or network and ending the hosting service arrangement.  In short, application hosting services can help a business move to a cloud computing strategy without having to retrain users, convert data, or reduce future software and systems options.

Outsourced IT services and managed application hosting can reduce IT costs (or, at minimum, create predictability in IT costs) while at the same time delivering improvements in security, productivity and performance.  Application hosting services allow the business to implement new and complex solutions without the high upfront investment in hardware and networking infrastructure.  And most application hosting services include all system administration and management, so ongoing costs of managing and maintaining the systems is part of the monthly service fee.

• Break/fix is no longer a “surprise” IT cost, because the service provider takes care of that.
• Productivity losses are reduced due to high availability of systems and reduced down-time. Protection of data reduces potential for loss, avoiding the need to rekey or recreate.
• Services can be scaled to deliver as much or as little as the business requires.
  End-user technical support is typically included with the service for no additional cost.
• Moving to cloud computing via a hosting service allows you to improve your IT without retraining users or converting data because you can continue to use the software solutions you already use.
• Quality application hosting providers give you high levels of disaster recovery and can help with business continuity in the event of a disaster.

With InsynQ‘s hosted application services, the business is no longer dependent upon a single physical location because services can be accessed from almost anywhere.  Services are also no longer tied to a specific computer or device, and can be accessed from just about any Internet-connected computer.  InsynQ services are delivered with high levels of redundancy in the datacenter to help keep systems running, and tiered backups and strict data management helps protect against data loss.

How might your business benefit?

Looking for Application Hosting Solutions for business in Canada?

QuickBooks and Simply Accounting are available for delivery from Canadian-based data centers. Find out more

Home-sourcing, Crowd-sourcing, or just Partnering: Outsourcing Can Increase Efficiency and Improve Profitability

out·source (outsôrs, -srs) tr.v. out·sourced, out·sourc·ing, out·sourc·ers. To send out (work, for example) to an outside provider.

Outsourcing certain non-core business functions has become recognized as one approach to improving business process efficiency in terms of cost and personnel productivity. Through outsourcing non-core business processes, many organizations find that they are able to focus their energies, and their financial resources, on building the business rather than facilitating internal business processes. Perhaps outsourcing can provide a similar benefit to your practice – outsourcing IT operations and/or outsourcing mechanical bookkeeping and similar work.

Enabling technologies keep it all under control.

Enabling technologies and services, such as online application services and application hosting from InsynQ, help businesses work closer together in strictly controlled, secure environments. When your outsource partners and providers utilize the same platform that you do, it helps to ensure that client data is secure and well-managed, and keeps all applications and data available to the accountant and client business at all times.

Similar in nature to the information technology outsourcing model, the “e-Accounting” outsource model was created to deliver significant value to the professional accountant, or top-level provider. Understanding that the value of the business relationship is held by this trusted advisor, all supporting services must first deliver value to the accountant.

read the rest at Cloud Accounting 4 Canada

Delivery options for hosted QuickBooks: DirectConnect makes it simple

Would having a desktop icon to click on make it easier to migrate desktop QuickBooks users to the cloud?

A long time ago, when the ASP industry was just being formed, many solution providers recognized the value of the “virtual desktop” delivery.  This service offering allowed businesses to remotely access a Windows desktop environment (accessed via the Internet), and have their applications and data fully available to them.  Being able to operate their needed business applications from any computer or location, and knowing that the data was secured and backed up regularly, was a boon for small business owners and their accountants alike.

The virtual desktop service continues to be a leader when it comes to “cloud enabling” small businesses, as it allows the user to have access to a wide variety of applications and services, all integrated on the virtual desktop just as they would be on a local PC.

However, there is a type of user which might be better-served with direct access to a hosted application, rather than with a virtual desktop delivery.  This type of user tends to be very non-technical, with a limited understanding of the PC platform, but with enough knowledge to open and run the application(s) which are used by them on a daily basis.  As an example, let’s consider a small business owner who uses QuickBooks and, possibly, Microsoft Office.

A virtual desktop delivery for this user often means that the user must access a website or portal system somewhere, login to the portal, and then launch their virtual desktop service.  Once the service launches, the user may then launch their QB application and open their data file.  The desktop interface is exactly like a Windows PC interface, so learning how to run the QB app, save a file, or print a document isn’t difficult.  It’s essentially the same functionality as on the local PC.

For this type of user, where a single (or just a few) applications are required, might it not be a simpler and even more familiar delivery if the user could click on a QuickBooks icon on their local PC desktop, and launch directly into the hosted QuickBooks app?  The same may be true with Word or Excel… if the user had those icons on their local PC desktop and could run those applications from the local desktop, each application opening in its own window on the PC… wouldn’t that perhaps be more “normal” for the user?

InsynQ’s DirectConnect services for QuickBooks and MS Office 2007 offer just this capability.

Delivered from the same enterprise class infrastructure as the InsynQ virtual desktop and hosted applications, DirectConnect services provide an ability to integrate the hosted applications directly into the user’s local Windows PC environment.  As soon as the PC starts up, the icons for the DirectConnect applications are placed on the desktop and start menus, allowing the user to simply click on the icon to launch the hosted application.

The application is still running on the host computers, and the data is protected and managed on the host.  But to the user, the appearance is that the application is running on the local PC.  The app window can be moved, resized, relocated to a second (or third or whatever) monitor screen – all the flexibility you have with arranging open application Windows on your PC now includes the hosted applications as well.

Business users like working with what they know.  Using new applications can be frustrating, and trying to take advantage of new technologies is sometimes a daunting task.  Advisors, consultants, bookkeepers and accountants can now offer a simple alternative to virtual or remote desktop service, providing the client with the applications and data protection they need, but delivered in a better way for that user.

Get more information on DirectConnect hosted application services from InsynQ, or view a video here.

Neat huh?  And, it makes sense.

from the Bookkeeping in Bunny Slippers blog

Extending access to QuickBooks data without using QuickBooks

How many times have you wondered about giving team members and other users in your business access to QuickBooks, so they can get customer contact information for sales or support purposes, or to handle various business functions which aren’t really accounting functions?  The problem with using your accounting software to handle business operations is that you may have a hard time limiting users only to the data they need to do their jobs.  Sales people don’t need to see the financial statements, they need access to customer and product information.  Support personnel shouldn’t have access to payroll, but they need to know who the customers are and what they have so support can be provided.

In so many cases, businesses find that they need specific functionality to support the business, and naturally tend to look first at the accounting system to see if the functionality is there.  However, providing  direct access to the financial systems isn’t generally the best approach to enabling the rest of the workforce.   Rather than looking at expanding the accounting solution to service business operations, perhaps an “extension” to the accounting solution is in order.  A great example of such an extension is Method Integration.

read the rest of the article on Bookkeeping in Bunny Slippers

Your Private Cloud: Avoid the Hype and Focus on Reality

Your Private Cloud

• All the apps you want so you can do everything from anywhere
• As much data as you can accumulate
• Perfection by subscription
• It never breaks and you can’t outgrow it
• Get it all for just $1

Yeah, right.

Hype?  You bet it can be.  According to Gartner research, private cloud computing has moved into the “Peak of Inflated Expectations”.  This comes from the Gartner 2011 Hype Cycle Special Report, which offers assessments of the “maturity, business benefit and future direction of over 1,900 technologies”.  The entries are grouped into 76 different “Hype Cycles”, revealing the similar patterns of “over-enthusiasm, disillusionment, and eventual realism” that comes with every new technology or innovation.

The purpose of the report is to provide guidance to business IT decision makers, providing information on when businesses should consider adoption of a technology or IT model in order to achieve the maximum potential value.

Part of the problem is the confusion in the market, where there are multitudes of definitions being offered for cloud computing models.  Different service providers offer their solutions with varying levels of service and capability, so there is really no way to compare one Private Cloud service to another.

Read the rest of the article on Bookkeeping in Bunny Slippers

CFO versus CIO: IT Procurement in the Cloud

CFO versus CIO: IT Procurement in the CloudFor as long as there has been technology, there has been a struggle for power between the enterprise CFO and CIO.  The reasons aren’t at the level of rocket science… they’re actually pretty straightforward.  The CFO simply wants to know what the expected return on the investment will be.  The CIO knows there is not always a straight line to be drawn between an IT expenditure and a near-term positive business outcome.  Sometimes it takes a while to reap the benefits of an IT project… and sometimes it’s necessary to spend the money just to maintain status quo.

There is evidence, however, that things may be changing a bit – evidence that the CFO’s influence in the enterprise may be extending more into the areas where the CIO traditionally ruled, and it’s due – at least in part – to SaaS and the Cloud.

A survey performed by Gartner and Financial Executives International revealed a number of interesting results which indicate that the balance of IT procurement power may be shifting within the enterprise.  344 senior financial executives were surveyed, and they revealed that:

• in 45% of organizations, the CFO makes or leads IT investment strategy
• about 75% of surveyed CFOs said they have little confidence in their own IT departments

A CFO.com article on the subject also mentions a KPMG study from April, in which it was reported that “73% of CFOs identified IT as the greatest risk to finance meeting its objectives”.

read the rest of the article on Bookkeeping in Bunny Slippers

An Update for Your Software is Available: Do You Really Want It Yet?

Most businesses who rely on commercial software to manage their business information recognize that keeping their software up to date is generally a good thing.  Bug fixes and feature enhancements are often delivered to licensed users in the form of interim or point releases, allowing users to benefit from recent developments immediately rather than waiting for an entirely new version to be released.  More frequently, software developers are using the Internet to provide real-time notifications to customers that program updates are available, and many software products even encourage the user to download and install the updates as soon as they become available.

In previous years, when the Internet wasn’t quite so available and useful, software companies distributed their products on CDs and disks.  Technical people would usually manage the software installations, because the process wasn’t necessarily simple or straight forward, and end-users were not really involved.  This usually gave the business at least some foundation to recover from a bad software update – by performing the initial installation on test systems, creating system backups prior to update installation, and other methods.  Today, the end-user is often among the first to know about an available software update, and may even be the one who obtains and triggers the update installation (often without IT involvement).

read the rest on Bookkeeping in Bunny Slippers