Category: application hosting

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Cloud for Small Business: Gain Hardware Independence

Small businesses tend to approach their business IT in terms of the tangibles.. the hardware and software they can see and touch.

The desktop PCs where the programs are installed, the server in the back room where the files are stored, and the backup that goes offsite (tapes? discs? usb drives?) is the stuff most small business owners think of when asked about the computing technology they use. This view isn’t very comprehensive when it comes to considering the costs of purchasing and maintaining IT in the business, yet it identifies a major problem with the typical small business IT approach.

The problem is the dependency on the hardware and the reliance of the small business on the operation of individual computers.

The solution to this reliance on on-premises hardware? The cloud.

The solution to the problem isn’t centered on using web-based applications. The real solution to this small business IT problem is cloud platform, like Microsoft Azure. When businesses deploy a private cloud server they get solution that allows them to run all their desktop and network applications and store their data on a virtual platform that isn’t tied to any particular piece of hardware in the office.

Microsoft Azure offers virtual computing resources, managed and secured on Microsoft’s hardware in Microsoft datacenters. Rather than purchasing and maintaining hardware on-premises, business can deploy virtual networks and servers on the Azure platform. This makes the systems far more versatile and resilient than would be affordable to do otherwise. Surprise server hardware failures become a thing of the past, and buying ahead for possible future needs is no longer required because the systems can be upgraded on demand.

Businesses still need desktops where users access their programs and data, but the “desktop” can be a cloud desktop rather than the local PC desktop.

Remote desktops on the cloud server keeps software licensing and business information securely stored on the cloud server rather than being resident on user computers where it is more easily compromised. Users may still browse the internet and do other things with the local PC desktop, but using the cloud desktop for business applications and data means that just about any PC could safely be used for work.

When applications and data are managed on-premises, it makes changing servers or workstations a big deal. 

Changing desktops or servers means that software must be uninstalled and reinstalled, data must be migrated and user profiles and permissions may need to be recreated. When the cloud server is where users get their desktops, computer workstations become interchangeable because nothing is really installed on them other than the connection to the cloud desktop. This is also why traveling laptops and home computers become more secure for business use, because the applications and data are really running on the cloud server and not on the local device.

The cloud platform provides what the business needs without the lock-in to on-premises hardware or SaaS/Web-based software.

Rebuilding servers due to hardware failures, upgrading systems to handle future growth or replacing aging hardware all contribute to the unpredictable cost of managing and maintaining on-premises computer systems. SaaS and web-based software solutions lock-in data and lock-out many future options, yet they don’t address user desktops and the rest of the applications and data the business needs.

Rather than risking outages and lost productivity, businesses are finding that running their systems on a managed cloud platform provides more stability and consistent performance for a reasonable and more predictable cost. Desktop and server software licensing is able to service multiple locations when installed on a cloud server, and workers at home can access the tools to be just as productive as they are in the office (maybe more).

Make Sense?

J

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Strong Passwords and MFA : It’s All About the Bots

Robbie the Robot from movie Forbidden Planet

You may have noticed that more online services are requiring strong passwords – cryptic phrases or letter combinations along with symbols and numbers – and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). The goal is to keep services more secure than a simple password allows.

These service providers have recognized that their services are far more secure when the user has to prove they are who they are, and prove it in more than one way. A password plus a special code texted to your phone, or maybe an email to your backup email account are examples of MFA. This means that the password alone isn’t good enough to gain access; the user must satisfy an additional challenge to confirm their identity.

Why is this additional level of account security a good idea? BOTS, that’s why.

A bot is a software application that is programmed to do certain tasks. Bots are automated, which means they run according to their instructions without a human user needing to start them up. Bots often imitate or replace a human user’s behavior. https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/bots/what-is-a-bot/

Bot (like roBOT) does what you tell it. Give it instructions and it runs. Give it some rules to follow and actions to perform when certain conditions are met and off it goes.

The problem with bots is that not just the good guys use them. Bad guys use them… a lot.

Bots can send emails, engage in chats and help you reset your password. They can also carry out cyberattacks at a pace that no human could match. Bots will search for public IP addresses, they’ll pummel an address with intrusion attempts and logins and may keep trying until they’re either successful or they give up. Bots are very good at brute force, because they have all the patience they need. It’s software, so it doesn’t get tired or bored and it can be programmed to not give up.

This is among the reasons for Noobeh’s strict password policy and why we strongly recommend our clients don’t store their passwords to make connecting to the service faster and simpler. Fast and simple is good but not where security is concerned. Our goal is to not only keep your applications and data available for anytime/anywhere access, we want to keep your cloud environment secure and as safe as possible.

Contact us today to get the cloud hosting platform your business needs, along with the privacy and security features the Microsoft Azure platform can provide. Keeping your systems secure isn’t just about keeping your secret password a secret. It’s about putting in place the best methods possible to ensure that your account doesn’t get compromised because a bot guessed your pet’s name.

Make Sense?

J

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For Accounting Professionals: Private Hosted Solutions and Helping Clients Cope with the New Normal

Accounting professionals have an opportunity right now to help their business clients through the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. With work-from-home mandates and increasingly fluid reporting requirements to support grants, loans and loan forgiveness, business owners need all the support and good advice they can get.

The global pandemic is changing the landscape of business worldwide. Many small businesses in the US have either closed or are on the brink, looking for ways to keep the doors open and employees paid. Supply chains are strained, distribution has slowed, and workers are being asked to work from home if possible.

These are challenging times, but the guidance and support you can provide to your business clients can be just what they need to help keep the doors open and workers producing. Remote access, cloud hosted applications and data, and real-time accounting support and management reporting are the weapons you and your clients will use to fight the conditions that are currently working against you both.

Help your clients deploy cloud hosting services for their entire business.

Running applications and storing data on an in-house network increases the cost and complexity of supporting a remote or mobile workforce, for you and for your clients.

Remote access and supporting work from home requires that users have the means to communicate with each other and to collaborate on the work. Tools to support communication and collaboration are critical when the workforce is distributed, operating from a variety of locations and with whatever device is available. Yet business owners, operators and managers may find that collaboration apps and other online tools don’t provide access to the applications and data required to do all their work.

To address the problem of working on client data, some accountants may install the client software and copy the data to their own in-house networks. This creates a situation where the accountant is paying for computing resources, space and management of client applications and data in addition to their own. This increases the cost of internal operations for the accounting firm and can impact internal system performance while also reducing overall productivity.

More to the point, this model only supports doing after-the-fact work for the client, which results in the data and reporting being outdated and far less useful to the client in supporting daily decision-making. This model also does nothing to help the firm with their own possible work-from-home needs even as IT support and on-site service becomes more limited.

Accounting professionals wanting to provide services to clients proactively rather than reactively must have real time access to the same applications and data that the client uses. The old fallback to remote control solutions is one approach, yet it is not really an optimum solution to the problem.

Remote control, like PCAnywhere, GoToMyPC or LogMeIn expose the professional to more of the client computing environment than is necessary, introducing risk and the potential for blame if something goes wrong. And remote-control solutions are single user, reducing productivity because the client can’t use their system while the accountant controls the computer. RC solutions also rely on the availability and function of the on-premises systems. If the on-prem systems aren’t turned on, up and running and accessible, then the remote user can’t connect.

It may be that online or web-based applications are an option, but for many businesses they aren’t really a viable solution. QuickBooks Online is simplified software and is not appropriate or usable for many businesses. The QBO subscription model is per-company, limiting options and reducing cost-efficiency for businesses with multiple entities. And QBO doesn’t address other business needs, such as working with documents and reports, and it can’t provide any access or support for other business applications. Even the ability to backup and preserve data is very limited without specialized services and tools.

Shared hosting service might be closer to the right answer, yet shared hosting is generally only useful for very small organizations and supports only core QuickBooks functions, so it can be as restrictive QBO. Shared infrastructure used by the shared hosting platforms can also introduce significant risk to every business on the platform because ransomware and malware can easily move through connected file systems and servers.

Compare shared services to a public pool where it is very easy to transmit from one person to another; in these networks an intrusion can end up spreading malware to the entire network and platform, resulting in days or even weeks of outages. Unfortunately, disaster recovery is often limited to recovery of the provider hosting platform and does not always include recovery of all customer data.

The best solution for business is private, managed cloud hosting service delivered on a trusted and proven platform like Microsoft Azure.

Hosting service that takes advantage of the Microsoft Azure cloud  platform allows the business to centralize access to all their important applications and data, making it possible to provide complete application functionality for all users no matter where they are located.

Using the Azure platforms means that security, fault tolerance, scalability and agility are designed into the solution rather than being extras from the hosting provider. Microsoft-managed datacenters and Microsoft-managed hardware means the experts in systems and security are handling the big stuff while the service provider focuses on what the client needs.

The virtualization technology enables the agility to meet changing business needs, scaling systems up or down if necessary. Massively scalable platform allows services to be right sized now without concern for future resource requirements (no buying ahead based on possible future needs). There are no arbitrary limitations placed on the applications or services the business needs to run on the cloud platform, and no fees for running more apps.

Making all the applications and data available to workers, when and where they need them, is the key to promoting higher levels of productivity while delivering the data management needs to support daily decision-making.

Now that you have access, provide pro-active support and help business owners and managers make the right decisions.

Better data and reporting to support business and finance management is more important than ever, especially when having the right information can mean the difference between keeping the doors open and closing shop for good. Whether the goal is to shore up finances to keep employees on staff or to create a cushion to help weather supply chain disruptions, businesses owners need quality financial and performance data in order to make the right decisions for the company.

Once the accounting professional has real-time access to client systems, they can work cooperatively in the data to ensure that the right information is available when it is needed. As business owners seek to take advantage of grants and loan programs available due to the pandemic, the financial and other performance data becomes even more essential in terms of developing qualification and eventually forgivability of the loan.

With timely access, proper reporting tools and regular support and oversight, business owners benefit from a closer working relationship with their accounting professionals. The additional support and proactive service is more necessary now than ever. For the accounting pro, an elevated relationship with client is being developed, where the services provided become more meaningful and the value of those services more evident.

Make sense?

J

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Working from Home: Remote Access Capability to Address Coronavirus Concerns

Scanning electron microscope image of the  coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (blue) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. Image credit: NIAID-RML

COVID-19, as the new human coronavirus is now known, is spreading around the world and that means that individuals and families – and businesses – should prepare.

The Centers for Disease Control has said that it fully expects community transmission in the United States and is asking families to be ready for the possibility of significant disruption to our lives. This shouldn’t be a call to incite panic and doomsday scenarios, but it also isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Business need to consider how they will help keep their workforce working as symptomatic individuals quarantine themselves and others look to reduce their exposure in public.

Being at risk personally isn’t the only reason to prepare. Many will feel that the risk to them is small, recognizing that the disease is quite mild in most of those that become infected. But the primary reason to prepare is to help lessen the risk for everyone. Taking preventative steps to limit the spread of the disease is essential for everyone.

Prevention means doing more of what you should already be doing to help prevent the spread of any communicable disease…

  • Wash your hands
  • Cover your mouth when coughing
  • See a doctor if you’re sick
  • Avoid other people if you are infected or showing symptoms

This means staying home from work if you are even a little bit sick.

Look at what’s happening in Japan, a country known to promote spending long hours in the office as a crucial element to success. Authorities there are urging companies to break with that long-standing belief system. They are encouraging businesses to have their employees work from home to help limit the spread of the virus, yet most businesses aren’t prepared at all to handle a remote workforce.

Panasonic, NEC, and Mitsubishi are among the growing number of firms that have mandated or recommended remote work for tens of thousands of staff. The change is testing the ability of the nation’s companies to embrace a more flexible work style—overturning a workplace culture that dates back decades and values physical presence and endurance of long hours over productivity or efficiency. https://fortune.com/2020/03/01/coronavirus-japan-government-remote-work/

This is where cloud hosting services can be a big benefit for the business. Migrating the desktop and networked applications to a cloud-hosted platform allows the business to continue using the software and systems already working in the business, but to run them from a cloud platform that enables workers to access from anywhere… including from home.

Rather than trying to convert to web-based applications, requiring retraining of employees and conversions of data, businesses find great success in simply moving their in-house systems to an agile, scalable cloud platform that can be accessed via the Internet. Particularly when it comes to enabling remote offices and at-home workers, a cloud hosting approach is the way to rapidly move critical IT infrastructure out of the office, providing a means to support remote workers almost immediately.

Businesses find great benefits from hosting their applications and data in the cloud every day and without the pressures of global disaster and pandemic facing them. When the need to support remote and mobile workers becomes a work-from-home mandate, the business is already poised to meet the demand and still get the work done. It’s just another form of prevention for the business.

Make Sense?
J

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Optimize Costs of Business IT With Cloud Hosting on Azure

Small business owners, like managers of enterprise workgroups, face daily challenges in keeping business information secure yet available to co-workers and business partners. Each type of user has a different need when it comes to applications and data, and users often work from different locations.

For a small business owner, this may mean keeping a set of books at each of several business locations or maybe packing up the information and bringing home the data to work on at night. For a business enterprise it may be the challenge of providing centralized application and data access to multiple branch offices or a distributed workforce.

The problem is in providing affordable secure access to keep people productive. A great solution is moving from local IT to cloud IT on the Microsoft Azure platform with Noobeh.

QuickBooks on Azure from Noobeh

Anytime, Anywhere Access

Managing business data in a distributed environment or multi-location business is very difficult. When data files are stored on local PCs or on multiple servers, the organization may be spending quite a bit of money to backup and protect only some of its information assets. The data that rests on desktops, laptops and tablets is often overlooked and left unprotected.

Noobeh’s cloud service is a better alternative, hosting business applications and data on the massively scalable, agile and secure Microsoft Azure cloud. The service puts the business information and applications users need where they need them, allowing users to work from any location at any time.

Lower Cost of Supporting Productivity and Uptime

The #1 motivator for cloud adoption is cost optimization, according to the Microsoft Survey SMB Cloud Journey 2018. This is especially true for small and midsize businesses who are often running their businesses on lean budgets.

Compared to the costs traditionally associated with owning and maintaining a business network, managed hosting services can represent significant cost savings while improving the stability and security of the network overall.
It may seem that buying equipment and running it until it can’t go any more is the most cost-efficient way to handle business IT, but the real investment gets realized when businesses face the costs of lost productivity, incompatibility with modern technologies or services, and the risks that outdated systems introduce.

No Penalty For Going Back

Perhaps the most important element of application hosting services is the reality that the business aren’t penalized for making a different choice in the future.  Business conditions change and most small businesses want to know that they could return to localized operation if desired, and much more easily than if they had invested in a purely cloud-based or SaaS solution. When a business migrates to an online application, the process of converting back if it doesn’t work out is a daunting and costly task if it can really be done at all.

With the application hosting approach, you continue to use the applications and data you already have investments in… you simply use them from your cloud environment instead of running everything on your local PCs and server.

Application hosting services from Noobeh allow you to continue using the desktop products your business relies on but to also take advantage of modern platforms and cloud service. Noobeh delivers the applications and data from the Microsoft cloud platform, keeping it all managed and working.

But if you don’t want to keep working that way, you can always discontinue the service and pull your data back to your local computers where you simply install your software and keep working.

Noobeh cloud services help businesses get more from their investments in software, associated data assets and personnel training. Users get all the benefits of managed IT service and anytime, anywhere access to their applications and data plus the security of knowing their systems are running on a highly redundant and robust platform. Even with all of that, if the working model is not to their liking, they still have the option of taking their ball and going home.

Make Sense?

J

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QuickBooks changes and enhancements for 2020: My 2 Favorite Fixes and Let’s Talk Cloud Hosting

Accounting professionals and small businesses worldwide use QuickBooks software to manage business finances. Launching Basic and Pro versions in 2000 and increasing market share from 74% in 2004 to boasting more than 94% in 2008, Intuit continues to successfully serve the needs of small and growing businesses.

Over the past few years, Intuit has focused quite a bit on SaaS and online services, promoting QuickBooks Online Edition, mobile payments and full service payroll as solutions that can meet specific business needs and which drive new customer adoption of the products. While customers may initially attach to QuickBooks because of one of these capabilities, it is the richer functionality found in Pro, Premier and Enterprise which often causes the business to run the desktop editions.

Intuit knows that the desktop editions remain hugely popular, which is why they continue to be updated and supported. And this is also why payments, payroll and other functions supported by the product are handled as integrated service rather than software; It’s a great way to make sure customers upgrade their QuickBooks software regularly, even when it sits on the desktop.

qbwordle

The changes in QuickBooks for 2020 aren’t amazing… it seems like they are more tweaks and adjustments than real feature releases. I’ll list a few of the changes below, but first I’d like to point out the 2 changes that I think might make a big difference.

These are my 2 favorite changes with QB 2020

1. QuickBooks Enterprise 2020:  Landed cost

How did you get along without this before? Manual calculation, that’s how. Landed cost capability gives visibility to actual, complete product costs because it adds freight, duties, insurance and whatever other expenses relate to the purchase. Allocate the costs to item bills and you now have a complete view and tracking of the real cost of bringing in the product.

2. It is Now Easier to Reset the Admin Password

Yay! No more 20 questions! The Admin password for a company file may now be reset without having to enter a bunch of information and answer a lot of questions to verify identity.  The process now asks that the user pick their email address from a drop down list of emails registered with the QuickBooks license. A token is emailed to the address to use in resetting the Admin password.  The key here is to make sure your QuickBooks registration information remains up to date so that an email you can get to is used for this process.

Here’s the list of changes in QB 2020.

You can see more on Intuit’s website.

QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, and Accountant

  • Automated Payment Reminders
  • Automatically add customer PO# to Invoice emails
  • Combine all invoices meant for a single customer into one email
  • Find and open your company files with the addition of a file search option
  • Enhanced Accessibility to improve usability for vision-challenged users
  • Collapse columns in reports
  • View detailed status of direct deposit payroll
  • Smart Help: Press F1 for improved content and search experience

QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 20.0

Here are the changes specific to QB Enterprise

  • Complete picking and packing operations as part of single workflow
  • Track product landed cost
  • Manage product vendors with primary and alternate vendor selections

Intuit continues to do a fine job of making QuickBooks desktop the most useful and easy-to-use solution for small business finance, and we make it run best in the cloud.

Where QBO (the online edition) might work for very small businesses and those with very limited requirements, the real work gets done in the desktop editions. My team helps make running the QuickBooks desktop editions easier and even more useful in the cloud.

A quality cloud hosting approach can deliver anytime/anywhere access, greater IT resiliency and faster disaster recovery, but only if done properly (note my favor for private tenant hosting rather than multi-tenant or shared hosting). The wrong platform introduces poor performance, limitations on applications and breaks in processes and workflows, and may even compromise security and complicate recovery when something does go wrong.

QuickBooks desktop solutions are the right fit for many small businesses, and these businesses demand mobility, security and flexibility in their IT systems. Providing this is our way of helping make QuickBooks desktop a little bit better.

jmbunnyfeetMake Sense?

J