What is QuickBooks hosting?
Simply put, it is when your QuickBooks Pro, Premier, Enterprise or Accountant software and company file(s) are installed on a server provided by a Cloud Service Provider instead of your own office PC or server.
With remote desktop technology, such as Citrix Workspace or Microsoft RDP, multiple users can then access and use QuickBooks anytime, anywhere, from any Windows, Apple, or Android device by logging onto their QuickBooks “cloud desktop” through any internet browser. Once logged in, QuickBooks will work for each user just like it is installed on their local PC.
Additionally, some QuickBooks hosting providers allow additional applications to be installed alongside QuickBooks. Concero, for example, pre-installs the full suite of Office 365 applications onto each users’ cloud desktop and allows you install other Windows 10 compatible software needed for day-to-day business operations. Essentially, users are provided an office PC in the cloud!
What are the benefits of hosting QuickBooks?
1. Staff is more Productive
Hosted QuickBooks allows workers to manage their time and energy by giving users the ability to work from home, at the office, or on the road. This anytime, anywhere, any device access users get to their office apps and files naturally leads to more productivity.
Multi-user versions of QuickBooks already provide productivity gains through collaborative cloud accounting features. But these gains are multiplied by hosting QuickBooks in the cloud where users can collaborate with real-time data.
Multiple users can login to their QuickBooks cloud desktops at the same time and use the same customer file in multi-user mode with full features and real time updates. Both online and desktops versions of QuickBooks support collaborative accounting, however features are very limited when these QuickBooks versions are accessed and stored on a local network.
Through QuickBooks cloud desktops users get anytime access with all the features QuickBooks has to offer and other businesses tools like Office 365, printing, and file storage can also be added the cloud desktop. Each QuickBooks cloud desktop is individually set up and administrators can have complete control over the files each user can see or use.
2. Financial data is more secure
Security is also greatly improved when QuickBooks is hosted on a cloud server. For example, at Concero, each customer is assigned a private server with dedicated compute, storage and network resources and not shared with any other customer.
The private server runs on an enterprise-grade cloud computing platform in a top-tier data center behind multiple layers of physical and network security.
Safeguards include, but not limited to:
- A SSAE 16 SOC 2 certified data center
- Network intrusion detection systems
- Multiple layers of firewalls
- Multi-factor user authentication
- Nightly backups with system-level or granular file-level restores.
Extra security also comes from isolating your business-critical QuickBooks data from your local network and computers. If there is a fire, flood, or other disaster at the office or a staff member loses their laptop, your finance data will remain safe and accessible in the cloud. This is because only pixels leave the data center, not applications or files. Even if a user connects with a device infected with a virus or ransomware, your QuickBooks application and data will remain safe.
3. Saves money in IT Costs
The cost of implementing and maintaining IT services in-house continues to rise. The infrastructure and IT expertise needed to run and operate hosted QuickBooks is far beyond the scope of small and medium sized businesses. Therefore, small and medium sized businesses turn to QuickBooks Hosting service providers.
By subscribing to a hosted QuickBooks service, you get a fully managed server loaded with all your business-critical applications, files, and data for a low monthly user fee.
The Service Provider Handles:
- Set up
- Data migrations
- System and file level restores
- OS and application updates
- Troubleshooting
All included in the flat rate of the monthly subscription.
This is far more affordable, and secure, than trying to set up QuickBooks hosting on your own. At Concero, all customers get a free 30 days trial and then pay a small monthly, per user fee. The number of users can be adjusted at anytime, so customers only pay for what they use.
It is important to consider the expertise of your QuickBooks hosting provider. Providing QuickBooks cloud desktops is not a simple exercise.
It demands world-class hosting services, large investments, and expert support. At Concero we many years we have many years of troubleshooting and customizing QuickBooks cloud desktops in a variety of business environments.
