Category: quickbooks

Posted on

MISys Manufacturing Leverages Microsoft Azure Cloud with MISys on Azure

MISys Manufacturing software is designed for small to medium sized manufacturers, providing low cost of ownership and a flexible, modular design. When a business needs to add inventory management, purchasing, MRP, forecasting and scheduling, MISys is the solution that delivers the functionality. Noobeh cloud services has always provided hosting and managed services for MISys and MISys EXT on the Microsoft Azure cloud. Now, MISys Manufacturing has new options to take even more advantage of the power and flexibility of the Microsoft Azure cloud platform:

MISys on Azure

The new cloud deployment options for MISys Manufacturing provide direct support for Microsoft Azure databases and app services. Customers can use their own self-managed Azure subscriptions and the MISys installer can provision the app and database to get it all going. Noobeh helps businesses get started with the Azure cloud, assisting with the setup and deployment of services on the most secure, scalable, and agile platform available. Noobeh services delivered on Microsoft Azure take full advantage of the Microsoft cloud platform and all it has to offer.

While the primary focus of MISys releases starting with v6.4.5.0 have been to have an installer-assisted deployment with Microsoft Azure, the complexity of Microsoft and Azure account and subscription setup can be daunting for even experienced technicians. Noobeh simplifies these processes by assisting businesses with the creation of the accounts and the provisioning and preparation of the services necessary to support a MISys on Azure installation.

Each Noobeh MISys on Azure customer gets their own absolutely private Azure tenant account, which ensures that there is no co-mingling of resources and no possibility of interactions between customer accounts. And Noobeh deploys services with the resources necessary to deliver the right solution for each business client, knowing that adjustments can always be made as business needs change.

MISys Manufacturing can be implemented in a variety of configurations, allowing each deployment to meet the specific needs of the client. Noobeh helps companies deploy MISys Manufacturing software in all its forms, handling the installation and technical configuration whether on-premises, exclusively cloud-based, or hybrid.

Cloud Server | Cloud Database | Cloud Desktops | Cloud Everything

With Noobeh and MISys, you can choose from configurations that keep the desktop/client software local or cloud, have your database on your cloud server or just have a cloud database, or combine the benefits of managed desktops and data by putting the entire system in the cloud.

No matter what accounting solution you use with MISys, Noobeh has an answer for that, too. We’re specialists at hosting QuickBooks and Sage desktop products, and work with businesses using QuickBooks Online, Sage Intacct and other web-based solutions. You need your MISys installation and your accounting software to work together? We’ve got that delivery model.

With MISys on Azure and Noobeh, business owners have the assurance that their software can be deployed in a model that meets with their specific needs and budget, and with the flexibility to change and grow along with the business.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

Posted on

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 2024 Security Improvements: Now with 256-bit encryption

Intuit’s release of QuickBooks Enterprise and other desktop editions for 2024 have a variety of new features, and among them is an improved level of security for your business data. Upgrading from 128-bit encryption, QuickBooks Desktop 2024 now has AES 256-bit encryption.

256-bit encryption is the strongest and most robust encryption standard commercially available. It’s widely used because it’s virtually impenetrable to brute-force attacks. 256-bit encryption is an encryption technique that uses a 256-bit key to encrypt and decrypt data. Plain text is converted to a cipher, and the encryption key is required to decrypt the data and return it to readable plain text.

256-bit encryption is used in most modern encryption algorithms, protocols, and technologies, including AES in wireless security, processor security, file encryption, and SSL/TLS.

According to Intuit, “You can be confident your data is protected with our enhanced security using industry-leading AES 256-bit encryption. QuickBooks safeguards your reputation by protecting critical customer and vendor data, such as business financials, banking information, and credit card details.

This means we translate your information into a code that only we can read to make sure only you and Intuit have access to your information. The type of encryption we use is called AES-256 (Advanced Encryption Standard with 256-bit keys) and it ensures the highest level of cryptographic security.”

With a series of robust security steps and a complex 256-bit decryption key, AES 256-bit standard is nearly impossible to break using brute-force methods and has been approved for the handling of confidential data by the U.S. Government.

A brute force attack is when a hacker tries different combinations until they arrive at the correct combination – the key. The larger the key size, the more difficult it becomes to break the encryption. We’re talking about 256-bit keys. There are 984,665,640,564,039,457,584,007,913,129,639,936 (that’s 78 digits) possible combinations. Even if you use Tianhe-2 (MilkyWay-2), which was the 4th fastest supercomputer in the world in 2022, it will take millions of years to crack 256-bit AES encryption.

In case you’re interested: The fastest supercomputer in the world, ranked in June 2023, is Frontier, an HPE Cray EX system run by the US Department of Energy, Frontier incorporates 3rd Gen AMD EPYC™ CPUs representing 8,730,112 cores that have been optimized for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI with AMD Instinct™ 250X accelerators and Slingshot-11 interconnects. Its HPL benchmark was 1.194EFLOPS (EXA – 1 quintillion – floating point operations per second). (via networkworld.com). Frontier is faster than Tianhe-2, so breaking the key could take a little less time.

Breaking encryption with no known flaws is kind of like guessing a password. If you make enough guesses, you might eventually get the password right. With strong encryption, this can take a long time. AES-256 is the most secure version of AES and is virtually unbreakable by brute force based on current computing power. It’s also considered quantum-resistant, which means that quantum computers aren’t expected to crack the cipher.

How long would it take to crack 128-bit encryption using a brute force attack? Most security professionals would answer “1 billion years”, but that’s just an estimate. A machine that can crack a DES key in a second would take about 149 trillion years to crack a 128-bit AES key. According to researchers, with the right quantum computer, AES-128 would take about 2.6110^12 years to crack, while AES-256 would take 2.2910^32 years. For reference, the universe is currently about 1.38×10^10 years old, so cracking even an AES-128 encryption with a quantum computer could take hundreds of times longer than the universe is believed to have existed.

While Intuit is improving the security of the information it stores and transmits between its systems, your company should be equally concerned with the security and protection of all your business applications and data. Using strong password policies, multi-factor authentication, and SSL for secure web app access, Noobeh’s QBonAzure services provide layers of protection on top of the $20Bn in security investments made by Microsoft.

We take data security seriously, providing solutions to address access, security, privacy and protection for business applications and data. When your QuickBooks Enterprise deployment needs a solid foundation that offers agility and performance as well as strong platform security, we have that.

Visit MendelsonConsulting.com/cloud to learn more.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

Posted on

When a Business Outgrows QuickBooks Enterprise

Small and midsized businesses use QuickBooks software to manage finance and operations. Since growing past 90% market share in 2008, Intuit QuickBooks proved over the years that businesses adopt accounting and finance software if it is affordable and easy to use. While Intuit’s focus today may be on gaining market share with the web-browser-based QuickBooks Online edition, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise continues to serve the needs of companies requiring more robust functionality than QuickBooks Desktop Pro/Premier or QuickBooks Online editions offer.

Over the years the QuickBooks product line has grown to support larger businesses, with the Enterprise edition scaling to 40 users and boasting a load of features that fully support operational processes. Inventory management, order processing workflows, construction management, and other features give encouragement to businesses needing support for more complex processes. QuickBooks Enterprise allows the flow-through of product use knowledge, stored data and integration with other business solutions to be seamless and consistent when moving up from QuickBooks Desktop Pro or Premier editions.

When a business finds that it may be outgrowing the capabilities of QuickBooks, it does not necessarily have to abandon the product line in lieu of a larger framework such as with alternative ERP systems. While the larger web-based systems may boast greater capabilities, they often come with much greater cost of service and implementation.

For businesses invested in QuickBooks Enterprise, it makes sense to look at alternative technical or platform solutions to address certain operational needs rather than shifting to different finance and operations software. The cost and complexity of an entirely new ERP software implementation is often more burdensome and costly than is needed to meet the real business demand. Also, the value found in business data can be lost when converting from one solution to another, and the cost of change is often so burdensome that many businesses simply abandon their projects if they even get started.

When using QuickBooks, at times it is the platform — the local network, computers and server — that is not geared to handle more users, processes and applications working with QuickBooks and a more robust and agile situation is required. Businesses should also explore integrations or extensions that can address the functional requirements, supporting advanced and complex workflows with greater agility while retaining the full value of the historic data.

Some challenges with QuickBooks may indicate a business needs a more robust and scalable solution, but that does not necessarily indicate that the business has truly outgrown QuickBooks. Instead, it may be a situation best handled by extending QuickBooks through application integration with a more robust subsystem to address specific business needs, to add scalability, and to build on the existing history and business intelligence previously developed in the enterprise.

Large transaction volume, extensive inventory management, or performance issues can easily create the impression that a business has outgrown QuickBooks Enterprise. In most cases, these conditions are overcome by extending QuickBooks with solutions geared specifically to handle the complexities and volume of heavy inventory management processes. These solutions not only address the in-depth functionality required, but also tend to utilize more agile and robust database structures that can scale far beyond the capacity of any QuickBooks edition alone.

Some businesses wishing to provide more advanced reporting and analytics, along with delivering realtime insights, may initially consider QuickBooks reporting to be insufficient for their needs. Yet there are integrations available which make QuickBooks financial and operations data as accessible and usable as the most robust enterprise applications. Satisfying the need for highly customized reporting and analytics far beyond QuickBooks standard reporting, these solutions create visibility and give meaning to QuickBooks data in ways that cannot be accomplished within the application alone.

Mendelson Consulting understands how businesses can outgrow the core functionality of QuickBooks and provides the tools and solutions to address growth in practical ways that do not diminish the value of data, training and operational intelligence that has been so costly for the business to acquire. We help businesses expand their capabilities and improve efficiency without losing their investment in QuickBooks, addressing the needs of growing and complex businesses without forcing the change to more extensive and expensive solutions.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

Posted on

QBonAzure: QuickBooks on Microsoft Azure Delivers Great Success for Small Business


For any business, the resilience and agility of IT systems can mean the difference between performing adequately and performing with great success. When a business elects to run their QuickBooks applications and data on the Microsoft Azure cloud via QuickBooks on Azure (QBonAzure) from Noobeh, they gain numerous advantages not available with locally installed IT.

Microsoft Azure is a highly available platform, meaning that it has built-in redundancy to ensure that applications and data are always accessible, even in the event of a hardware failure. Businesses running on the platform never have to worry about whether or not their server is aging and may fail due to hardware issues.

The platform also allows Noobeh to easily scale each client’s system up or down as needed, without the need for additional installation work. This allows each client business to quickly respond to changes in demand and grow their operations as needed.

With Microsoft Azure, Noobeh can provide from a broad range of security features that are built-in as well as enhancing protection with advanced features and services from Azure, Microsoft 365 and more. This all goes to help protect against data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Azure has a global footprint, with data centers in multiple regions around the world. Noobeh provides services from all US-based Microsoft Azure regions, allowing businesses to host their QuickBooks in the location closest to their users, reducing latency and improving performance.

Azure also offers a wide range of services that may be integrated with QuickBooks or other business data, such as analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. This allows businesses to gain deeper insights into their financial data and make more informed decisions.

For businesses focused on compliance, Azure meets a wide range of industry standards and regulations, such as HIPAA, SOC 2, and PCI DSS. This can help businesses meet their compliance requirements and avoid penalties.

Overall, hosting QuickBooks on the Microsoft Azure platform can provide businesses with high availability, scalability, security, global reach, integration, and compliance advantages that can help them run their operations more efficiently and effectively.

Noobeh cloud services and QuickBooks on Azure utilize only the Microsoft cloud for their client deployments so that each business client has the benefits of big enterprise technology without the big enterprise price.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?
J

Posted on

Web-based, Hosted and Cloud: The Confusing Journey to Transformation

There is no doubt that businesses of all sizes and types are moving from analog and paper-based to digital and electronic systems. Moving from postal letters to email, “PDF-ing” instead of printing, and EDI rather than manual order entry, businesses are taking on the challenges of transforming their processes one by one.

Cloud computing and virtualization have had a great impact in these areas, providing the foundations for process improvements and higher business intelligence than ever before. Increasingly, businesses are looking to “cloud” to help them do more with their businesses, and to do it better and more profitably.

In looking at cloud – applications, platforms, and services – it is important to understand that different approaches aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. Many businesses implement a combination of technologies and services, creating their own hybrid approach to doing business the way it works for them.

Web-based, Browser-based

When most small business owners think of implementing “cloud” in their operations, the things that initially come to mind are web-based/browser-based applications. Due in large part to how these products are marketed, web-based apps are among the most widely recognized “cloud” type of service.

QuickBooks Online edition is an example of web-based/browser-based application service. It was built to run in a browser, and you access it over the Internet. These types of applications are often referred to as “net native”, because the only exist as Internet-based service. Other examples are NetSuite and Intacct.

The key with these types of application services is that they aren’t just applications; they are subscription services that include the infrastructure and data storage as part of the solution. You access by going to a web URL in a browser, and login and use the system. You own nothing of the system – not the servers its running on, not the application itself, and (if you don’t pay your bill or export your information) not the data.

What makes these systems “cloud” is that they are running on servers – application servers, network server, data servers etc. – that are all meshed to work closely together. You do not have to worry about (in fact, you often won’t even know) exactly where in the world your system is located, and you have no direct contact with or interaction with the infrastructure on which your application and data are running. As far as users are concerned, their application and data exist “in the cloud” … somewhere.

Hosted applications can also be Cloud

Cloud or not cloud really doesn’t have anything to do with whether the software is browser-based versus disk-based (desktop). Cloud really refers to having a ubiquitous network of connected resources which allows for the creation of dynamic, agile, scalable infrastructure. Google Compute, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft Azure are the 3 primary (publicly available) cloud platforms.

Online application services generally use cloud platforms and infrastructure to support their software and data, enabling the delivery of services to large numbers of users regardless of where they are located.

Desktop applications can also be run on cloud infrastructure, enabling businesses to access and use their applications and data regardless of location or device, but to retain all the functionality and capabilities of the more mature desktop solution.

For example, NOOBEH cloud services deploys managed QuickBooks and other desktop applications from the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. With Noobeh’s approach, customers can retain essential control of their infrastructure (Noobeh manages it for them, but it is the customer’s private system), allowing it to be configured to be exactly what the customer needs.

NOOBEH Azure hosting is provided as a subscription service and can be changed or adjusted at any time with just a restart of the system. This agility gives businesses what they need now, but also allows the platform to be adjusted to changing business needs. Not having to purchase or invest ahead of needing new resources, as well as reducing the system size if less is ultimately needed, are among the many benefits of using a true cloud platform. Migrating applications and data from on-premises to cloud platforms allows businesses to reduce or eliminate their reliance on locally installed servers and network systems, which is another step in transforming the business and its capabilities.

When a business elects to migrate from desktop to web-based applications for only some functions, the result is often that other applications and data remain active on the local systems. This forces the business to retain their expensive computers, networks and local IT management services and reduces much of the value of a cloud transformation.

On the other hand, if the business elects to migrate to cloud infrastructure it allows them to migrate all their applications, data, and processes immediately, delivering immediate business benefit and providing the right platform for further improvement.
For most small and growing businesses, it is the elimination of concerns about hardware failures, not having to purchase ahead for possible future needs, and having up-to-date secure and compliant systems that deliver the full value and capability of the cloud.

Business transformation starts with the foundation, and a strong information technology platform becomes the base upon which smarter and more efficient processes are built. Whether your company is just beginning its transformation journey or is well on the way, cloud applications and platforms are integral to helping your business keep moving forward.

jm bunny feetMake Sense?

J

Posted on

Keeping Your Financial Software Updated: Annual QuickBooks Desktop Service Discontinuation

It’s time again for the annual QuickBooks Desktop service discontinuation notice, which does not mean in any way that QuickBooks Desktop is being discontinued. Rather, Intuit (the makers of QuickBooks) take this time each year to encourage customers to change to QuickBooks Online edition instead of desktop, or for existing desktop users to {sigh} update their desktop software to keep it working fully.

The features and capabilities of QuickBooks Desktop have evolved over time and through a great deal of usage, making the market-leading accounting software for small businesses something that not even its online counterpart can compete with. While QuickBooks Online edition adoption continues to grow, businesses with more mature and complex requirements continue to rely on the tried-and-true capabilities of the QB Desktop editions.

Yet, as technology and business models evolve, so must certain aspects of the beloved QuickBooks Desktop products. Many of these evolutionary changes center on services delivered within the QuickBooks product or as add-on benefits of a particular license type. With identity, license and service management now being handled, at least in part, via web services, QuickBooks is ever-more reliant upon the Intuit.com account and the ability to validate users, roles, license, and services. It is in these areas that service discontinuations tend to focus as older versions of the product no longer support the new methods.

Here is the information Intuit provides regarding service discontinuation for older versions of QuickBooks Desktop (sans the “migrate to QuickBooks Online” messaging).

When does service discontinuation happen and what does it mean?

Access to QuickBooks Desktop add-on services, live technical support, software updates and security patches are all discontinued after May 31, 2023 for QuickBooks Desktop for Windows 2020. This includes all 2020 versions of QuickBooks Desktop Pro, Premier, and Enterprise Solutions (v20). Versions of QuickBooks Desktop earlier than 2020 were discontinued previously, as this is an annual occurrence.

Here is Intuit’s statement regarding service discontinuation:

“Your access to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Services, Live Support, Online Backup, Online Banking, and other services through QuickBooks Desktop 2020 software will be discontinued after May 31, 2023. This also means you won’t receive critical security updates starting June 1, 2023. If you receive any security updates before this date, install them.

Products affected by service discontinuation after May 31, 2023.

  • QuickBooks Desktop Pro 2020
  • QuickBooks Desktop Premier 2020 (General Business, Contractor, Manufacturing & Wholesale, Nonprofit, Professional Services, and Retail)
  • QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions 20
  • QuickBooks Premier Accountant Edition 2020
  • QuickBooks Enterprise Accountant 20
  • QuickBooks Desktop for Mac 2020”

Keeping your software up to date is important for a variety of reasons. Not only are new features introduced and software bugs patched or fixed, but security enhancements are introduced regularly to keep your data and accounts safe. Further, regulatory and compliance factors play into some of these updates, as is often the case with online banking service and the like.

Securely connecting to bank feeds, email systems, identity management services and other aspects of software functionality and integration are among the reasons for making sure your accounting software is being updated.

For businesses that don’t use or rely on any of the above services for QuickBooks, the software will continue to work. But, even if the software works after the May 31 date, it might not be a great idea to stay on an older un-updated un-patched and semi-functional version of financial software that you run your business and manage your finances with. Just sayin’.


jm bunny feetMake Sense?
J