Check out this presentation that outlines the benefits of cloud computing and shows you what InsynQ virtual desktops look like. If you use QuickBooks, chances are you could benefit from moving your applications and data to the cloud for anywhere, anytime access, improved security and an affordable IT solutions that gives you the power of the cloud.
Learn more about virtual desktops and how you can move applications like QuickBooks to the cloud at www.insynq.com/about.html.
CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers and other financial professionals often have specific and unique needs when it comes to the software and applications they use. Although many online solutions are accessible through websites and portals, it becomes difficult when you need to login at many different locations just to complete one task. With app virtualization, providers are able to create solutions that are customized to meet your needs, all under one roof.
One popular solution customized with apps and tools created with accountants in mind is InsynQ’s Accountant Desktop package. This service provides you with the ability to use any of your supported versions of QuickBooks in the cloud. It also comes with the ability to use or add a number of popular apps like Bill.com, SmartVault, SpringAhead, BigTime and more.
Aside from being able to work with, and share documents and files online with tools like DataLocker and Session Shadowing, another great reason for accounting firms and bookkeeping practices to work in the cloud is tiered permission structures. A CPA, for example, can have access to each one of their clients’ financial data, while the client is restricted to only being able to access their own data. This type of permission structure is what allows a firm to easily work with a great number of clients online in an organized manner. It also gives them the ability to manage and restrict employees by assigning bookkeepers to specific clients and only giving them access to the data files they need.
The icing on the cake with a package designed for accountants is that you can add anything from tax prep software to Microsoft Exchange hosting, making your virtual desktop the only thing you need to work online. Moving your apps and tools to the cloud has obvious benefits. When you make your move to the cloud with a QuickBooks solution like the InsynQ Accountant Desktop, you give yourself the additional perk of having all your apps and data in one location…accessible with one login.
Whether you’re moving just QuickBooks to the cloud, or other apps as well, be sure to follow these basic steps to make the transition a success. And remember, with all the cloud computing solutions out there for QuickBooks accounting software, it’s important to do your research. Knowing the right questions to ask can be the difference between successfully using the cloud to better your business or wasting your time.
Original post at http://www.insynq.com/blog/setup-the-cloud.html
The market for QuickBooks cloud hosting is growing. Cloud services in general are being adopted by more and more businesses and organizations in an effort to gain infinite agility, reduce IT spending and streamline growth. Businesses and financial professionals need to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to the ever-changing needs of their company and clients. When working in the cloud you are utilizing a subscription-based service which means that not only will the up-front cost of installation by eliminated, but companies will also be given the ability to adapt and change the applications they use in the cloud as need be.
Adding users and programs is incredibly simple when using a hosting provider such as InsynQ. This gives financial professionals and businesses alike the ability to add a software suite such as Microsoft Office or Intuit’s QuickBooks to their cloud whenever it is needed. The list of hosted programs doesn’t stop there, as InsynQ currently hosts over 300 applications. The possibilities this flexibility offers companies is limitless and also incredibly affordable. No longer must a business drop gigantic sums of money into software and in-house IT services.
Mobile computing is currently growing faster than any other platform or tool has in the history of technology. Morgan Stanley estimates that by 2015, mobile web will be bigger and more widely used than typical desktop internet usage. What does this mean for financial professionals using programs such as QuickBooks to best assist their clients? It means that they need to be able to access the files and information stored in their QuickBooks software from the road in order to best assist their customers. With QuickBooks in the cloud this becomes instantly and easily possible. Subscribers are able to instantly access their software and data from the road using any computer or device connected to the internet including laptops, desktops, smartphones or tablets.
This is quickly becoming the norm, and accountants who choose to ignore the cloud are finding that more and more of their clients are seeking other financial professionals who are utilizing a hosted QuickBooks service. To better illustrate this point, one needs not look further than the current statistics and projections of the cloud computing industry itself. In 2010, Gartner estimated the cloud computing market to be at roughly $54 billion, escalating at a rate that would have the industry pushing $150 billion by 2013. So far, the estimates are well on their way to becoming a reality. This is due to the fact that businesses are quickly realizing the benefits of managed IT services. As the cloud continues to rise and QuickBooks hosting becomes the norm, it is increasingly important to consider adopting your business to this growing trend.
Intuit has released new editions of QuickBooks 2013 including Pro, Premier and Enterprise, each of which are currently available to be hosted on InsynQ’s cloud computing platform. QuickBooks 2013 adds an entirely new user interface as well as numerous functional enhancements. Each of these improvements were added with the intention of saving financial professionals time by simplifying workflow navigation. Intuit refined QuickBooks 2013 by giving accountants the ability to batch-enter transactions such as deposits and credit card charges while also integrating a variety of other new time-saving features.
QuickBooks 2013 Leasing Available
It’s now easier than ever to get started using a hosted version of QuickBooks 2013. Financial professionals seeking to reap the benefits of moving QB to the cloud can choose to lease the program and get started immediately with no upfront costs. QB 2013 Pro and Premier licenses are currently available in the US, and Canadian financial professionals can also rent QB Enterprise 2013. This provides accountants and businesses that upgrade their version of QuickBooks each year with an incredibly affordable way to upgrade to the newest version.
Why Move Your QB to the Cloud?
With the popularity of QuickBooks hosting projected to continue growing throughout 2020, it’s no wonder that moving 2013 versions of QB to the cloud is already a popular choice among financial professionals interested in saving time and money. The ability to access and edit QuickBooks data over an internet connected device offers many advantages. Hosting with an Intuit authorized provider offers increased levels of security. Plus, with the option of being able to use your QuickBooks add-ons on a hosted platform, moving your QB to the cloud is an easy choice to make.
Learn more about moving your QuickBooks to the cloud and see how much hosting other applications will cost at www.insynq.com.
Moving your desktop version of Intuit’s QuickBooks to the cloud so you can access it online has obvious benefits. The application was made for, and is needed by, people that are geographically separated but still require access. Aside from that, generally working in the cloud has also proven beneficial for a variety of reasons. It saves money, time and helps businesses be more productive and function more efficiently. But if you still haven’t heard enough about QuickBooks hosting to make you move your desktop version to the cloud, here are some facts about cloud computing that might motivate you to take action.
With so many benefits, it makes sense to move your QuickBooks to a hosted platform. Be sure to look for future articles that help businesses and professionals move to the cloud with a provider that offers the hosting services that they need. When it comes to reviewing QuickBooks hosting providers, knowing the right questions to ask is key.
(Data provided by Cloud Computing Outlook, Cloud.com & http://www.quickbookshostingexperts.com)
When generally-available broadband and Web-based applications emerged, some enterprise-level software developers envisioned a world where users would not interact with specific applications, but would instead interact with data in a view and context relevant to their processes or functional requirements. Data would potentially reside in different locations or environments, but the “framework” would provide a means to define, access and integrate data throughout the enterprise. This concept, referred to as Service-Oriented Architecture, is defined by Wikipedia as “ a set of software engineering principles and methodologies for designing and developing software in the form of interoperable services. These services are well-defined business functionalities that are built as software components (discrete pieces of code and/or data structures) that can be reused for different purposes.”
It sounds logical, and in the world of enterprise computing it makes sense to develop a means to provide each user with a relevant interface and relevant information. So how does a small business take advantage of a similar approach, and provide for each of their team members the information and application functionality they need to efficiently and effectively get their jobs done? It’s not so difficult, and it’s called the Cloud. Today, the Cloud is delivering SOA for small businesses.
The Cloud isn’t a place or a product, it’s a platform. (I realize that definitions vary, but when it comes to small business use of the internet, the term “cloud” is essentially interchangeable with the web, so we’ll run with that.) This platform offers quite a lot to business users, in terms of subscription-based applications, data management, communication, and other tools. As these tools and services have matured, standards-based connections and integrations have been created. Standalone applications and separate pockets of data are now communicating with each other in the background, in the cloud, allowing small businesses to enjoy many of the benefits of the enterprise SOA approach.
Consider a simple example using QuickBooks desktop editions and the Bill.com solution. Bill.com allows a business to manage their bill payments, vendor information, and other data in a web-based solution. Bill.com also seamlessly integrates its data with QuickBooks desktop editions. Using this capability, accounting professionals are able to provide their clients with a direct means of approving and managing bills and payments, and the accounting pro gets the data when and where they need it – in the accounting system. The business owner isn’t a user of QuickBooks, and isn’t exposed to other functionality or data that is not relevant to what they need to accomplish.
Another example of this approach is using Freshbooks.com, a great solutions for small businesses who want to invoice customers, receive payments, and even track time and invoice from it. Freshbooks gives a small business owner direct access to the functionality they need to get their work done, but it doesn’t force them to work within a full checkbook or accounting solution. With the integration between Freshbooks and QuickBooks, accounting and bookkeeping professionals can bring in the data and do the necessary work for the client, but in the program that works best for them.
For accounting and bookkeeping professionals, this cloud-based reality suggests that a new approach to the delivery of back-office support to businesses should be adopted, allowing for a more meaningful level of involvement by the client, and by defining and implementing the necessary controls to ensure integrity of the data.
There is an age-old problem when it comes to small businesses and technology: small business owners have a hard time finding value in paying for IT services to support their businesses, and they spend a lot of money not addressing the issue. For a wide variety of reasons, small business owners just seem to have a hard time justifying the costs of outsourced and/or managed IT services. Strangely, many business owners end up spend more money and time trying NOT to outsource – they just won’t acknowledge this reality.
Let’s consider that a business has been operating for a few years, and maybe has revenues approaching $1M annually. A million dollars in annual revenues isn’t anything to sneeze at. Now let’s also consider that this small business has a small computer network which supports their operations. This network is likely made up of older machines, legacy desktop software, and a few random little applications or software constructions they’ve acquired over the years. Is this business focused in properly securing the network with firewalls and security software, and is this portion of the network monitored regularly? How about data management and backups? Does the business frequently back up data offsite, and then test those backups to verify that the data can be properly restored? Is the system protected from virus or intrusions? Is it monitored? Is it tested? Is someone actually responsible for all of this stuff? If this business is like most small businesses, the answer to most of these questions is “no” or “not really”.
It’s not unusual for small business owners to fail to fully recognize the real value of their business technology (as opposed to the purchase price), and the necessary costs to manage and maintain it properly. There’s an old saying in the IT world that there are only two types of business – those who have lost their data and those who will. The business who has lost their data understands the value of IT management, because they have had to bear the cost of repairs, replacements, lost productivity, and lost revenue. Once they realize the cost, they understand the value of mitigating that risk. Unfortunately, it often takes just such an experience to get the small business owner to really recognize that not spending on IT management is actually a decision to spend more later when bad things happen. And bad things will happen. Count on it.
Now, let’s talk about the ability for that business to have their IT solutions hosted and delivered to them as a subscription service. The security, including firewall monitoring and virus protection are part of the service. Regular data backups are part of the service, as is technical support. While the business still pays for (and owns) their software license assets, the rest of the system – the engineering and technical labor, the platforms, the network – are all part of the subscription, and are under the care of skilled engineering and technical personnel. As an example, InsynQ QuickBooks hosting solutions are priced at around $50 (ish) per user per month, depending on service, and provide a comprehensive managed IT approach for small businesses. For a business owner who knows that they will spend (lose) far more if their systems are out of service, or if their paid workers aren’t able to work, that 50 bucks proves to be a pretty small price to pay.
Hosted Applications: Public, Private and Shared Services
When managers and owners begin to look at managed services, application hosting, and cloud solutions for the business, how do they know which “flavor” will best suit their needs? If they don’t really understand what the terms mean, they may not end up with the delivery they intended. Because there are so many and varied definitions of what “cloud” is, even the terms like public, private, and shared may take on various meanings. So, in order to try to be as clear as possible, I’ll focus on the application hosting model, and the approaches taken by the community of providers recognized by Sage and Intuit as Commercial Hosts for those respective solutions.
First, a brief description of how the application hosting services generally work:
Your PC becomes the rough equivalent of a “dumb terminal”, which connects to the host servers via the Internet. On the host systems is where the applications run and the data is stored. The host computers serve up your “desktop” and/or applications, and store the associated data.
When you connect to the host systems, you might be connecting to a single desktop/application server, or you may be able to connect to multiple eligible systems.
If you can connect to one or more servers with a standard set of applications or services, and if different users from different businesses also connect to these servers, then the solution is generally referred to as being “shared” or “public”.
If you may only connect to the server or environment which has been customized for your organization, then you have what is referred to as a “private” or custom solution.
Generally, “shared” systems are simply servers with a consistent set of applications and services available on them. Possibly part of a “load balanced” series (where each user is directed to the least-busy server upon login), these shared servers often deliver the services most frequently subscribed or the applications which are most frequently used by the customer base. Shared services may offer the highest levels of fault tolerance, because there are multiple eligible systems the user can log in to. If one system becomes unavailable for whatever reason, users may be reconnected or “balanced” to the other servers in the pool, virtually eliminating (or at least significantly reducing) downtime.
Custom deliveries, often referred to as “private”, are really just systems which are designed to carry a specific set of users, applications, services, or some combination of those. Customers who desire to have a unique mixture of applications hosted, for example, will subscribe to private cloud services, where they can have their selection of solutions implemented without concerns of interactions or interference from other businesses, user groups, or product installations. Once a business has a “private” environment, it is usually easier to then continue to add customized or new applications to the mixture, as the only community being impacted is the subscriber of the environment.
Regardless of whether or not your desktop and application servers are shared, your subscribed data storage facilities may be positioned differently. Much of this is due to the requirements of the applications. Some applications use standard database server environments, such as Microsoft or Pervasive SQL, while others may use more proprietary database or data formats.
The various data service requirements will often be handled by different servers or machines in the network, so your data could easily be distributed amongst a variety of machines, each handling the data requirements for specific data management services or platforms.
Whether or not your data is stored on “shared” servers or systems, it is generally secured and “virtualized” for your organization to prevent visibility and/or access by others. Centralized storage and management of data is essential to the service provider, and allows for backup, virus protection, data security, and other areas to be addressed efficiently and effectively. There are other issues, however, which must be weighed against management efficiencies and resource utilization in order to deliver a quality and consistent experience for the customer.
How data is managed by the service provider is key to understanding what fault-tolerance and recovery options you can expect. Other issues which may impact fault tolerance are revealed in the various methods of approaching data management on the host. As an example, running multiple SQL database applications may suggest that the service provider should consider using an Enterprise SQL Cluster to increase fault tolerance, density and performance of all hosted SQL databases, rather than approaching each database environment as an individually managed object. When economies of scale can be developed to increase the overall capabilities, it delivers a more robust experience for the customer and increased efficiencies in the technical environment.
Alternatively, some situations may warrant more, not less, distribution of data services. The QuickBooks database manager (Sybase) is a great example of an application driving this need. Because there are a number of issues with the QB database managers, it may make sense for the service provider to have a number of different data silos for QB data, rather than a single large facility. The effects of database manager crashes and stalls might be mitigated if users are segmented across multiple DB managers. Distributing the base across multiple DB managers allows for most customers to remain unaffected in the event of failure or crash of one of the DB managers, but also increases the data management requirements and costs for the service provider.
The truth is that there is no single correct approach for delivering hosted/managed application services. The market, users, and applications, coupled with platform and delivery system factors, provide enough variables that there is not and cannot be (at least, in the foreseeable future), one size which fits all. There are, however, approaches which deliver consistent and fundamental capabilities to broad market and user bases. The applications businesses need, and the specific weird and unique requirements of those applications, will continue to drive the varieties of delivery modes and methods which service providers will continue to offer to their business customers. This is where the trust and experience of the provider becomes essential in understanding how best to craft the underlying technical delivery for each application and customer requirement.
Get more information on hosting solutions for QuickBooks, Sage 50 and more at www.insynq.com
Intuit-authorized Commercial Host for QuickBooks in the US and Canada; Sage-authorized Hosting Partner for Sage 50 Accounting Solutions in the US and Canada; authorized Sage ACT host; Microsoft SPLA hosting provider with Datacenter facilities in the US and Canada.A recent article on itp.net reveals that businesses in the Middle East are now more frequently seeking out high value solutions for business accounting, such as Intuit QuickBooks, rather than purchasing “premium brand” solutions… and the reseller channel is feeling the pinch. The issue is largely one of brand-recognition, and it’s a tough issue to fight. As the article says, “..when potential customers realize that one-third of all US SMEs run their businesses on Intuit’s QuickBooks software, they begin to appreciate the value of the software”.
It’s also possible that cloud-hosted QuickBooks have made the solution much more available and recognized in other markets… particularly since many of those markets are on the forefront of providing outsourced processing services for US-based businesses.
“Value enterprise publisher Intuit is stealing market share from its more established rivals, as businesses in the region look to cut unnecessary costs, its master partner in the MENA region has claimed.”
“Speaking about the state of the market, managing director of TransNational Computer Middle East, Vijendra Singh said that every week, more and more companies in the region are switching to Intuit-based solutions.”
“More and more people are becoming price sensitive,” he revealed. “Even some of the biggest companies in the market are looking at their bottom line and asking ‘do we really need this premium brand?'”
read the rest of the article on itp.net
Particularly with the ability to have Intuit QuickBooks hosted in the cloud by authorized providers, and with the plethora of integrations available to extend the solution, larger businesses are finding that QB actually can do the job for them.
It’s not always about the superiority of the solution… sometimes it’s simple inertia in the market, momentum that has built up over many years and which extends from software developers to consultants and trainers.
It’s also important to consider that tough economic times force folks to sometimes go for less than they may need just because it’s more affordable. I wouldn’t imagine that the Middle East is immune to economic issues, eh?
Running QuickBooks in the Cloud 