What are the Top Considerations for QuickBooks Cloud Hosting?
QuickBooks accounting software has created a lot of buzz around the corner. Its features and functionalities make it even more appropriate for every type and size of business. It is known for catering comprehensive features and functionalities, to manage the day-to-day business operations. Be it cash flow statement, tracking the income generated or revenue, generation of bills or invoices, or any other accounting and bookkeeping activity, QuickBooks can be used for achieving great results without any second thought. QuickBooks accounting software is developed by Intuit and it comes in two different variants, which includes QuickBooks desktop and QuickBooks online.
There are QuickBooks desktop users, who wish to migrate to cloud hosting. The old-style method of installing QuickBooks on the local system has its own limitations relating to the accounting activities. This includes, lack of remote access to inefficient file sharing. Thus, considering all these factors, QuickBooks desktop users try to switch to QuickBooks Online. If you are one of them, then you need to look for the best QuickBooks cloud hosting providers. This requires some thorough research, as any action might have its consequences as well. Need not worry, as we are here to provide you with the comprehensive guide that you need to go through before purchasing any QuickBooks cloud hosting plan. This guide is designed after considering how important is success and productivity for a business.
Things you need to consider for QuickBooks cloud hosting
Before you jump on to any decision, here are some important factors to consider. Let us have a look at those pointers together:
Discuss the requirements of your business
QuickBooks cloud hosting has tons of features and functionalities, but it is not important that all those features work properly for your business concern. Well, every business’s requirements are different from that of others. Thus, it is very much important for a business to discuss the business requirements with the service provider. As the service provider will guide you on whether opting for QuickBooks cloud hosting is even worth it or not.
To have hosted QuickBooks or QuickBooks cloud hosting for enhancing the productivity and accessibility of the business, it is essential to confront the service provider regarding the basic requirements of the business.
Well, to further brief you regarding the meaning of term business requirements, it is used in context to the subscription you want to purchase. In simple words, for how many users, clients, workers, and employees are you planning to buy a subscription. Moreover, the number of users would you think you will be adding in the next 12 months. It is important to discuss with the vendor regarding the details well in advance, to avoid any further mess.
Another important thing worth mentioning here is that QuickBooks Online is a standalone version altogether, whereas hosted QuickBooks service can be availed for multiple editions of the product, which includes QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Enterprise, and QuickBooks Accountant. It is recommended to compare the feature and come to any conclusion.
How Reliable is the Hosting Provider?
If you are using QuickBooks already then you might have worked on QuickBooks and might be well versed with all the essentials facts. Switching to cloud hosting further enhances the skills to speed up the processes. The key role here is played by the hosting provider. A wrong choice of the QuickBooks cloud hosting service provider can turn the tables upside down. Thus, we suggest you choose a renowned hosting provider only. Essentials to consider while selecting a QuickBooks hosting provider:
Managed services
Security policy
Experience
Affiliations
Intuit authorization
Round the clock support
SLA guaranteed uptime
Intuit authorization
Good backup policies
Pay as go option
Regular upgrades
Disaster recovery
Along with these factors, a good reputation is vital for any service provider. The work of a service provider doesn’t end once the hosting is provided, further support is also required. In various events, the service provider should be able to provide instant support.
Research about your QuickBooks desktop
Moving to cloud, involves a lot of effort to choose the appropriate QuickBooks solutions provider. A thorough research is required, when it comes to the service provider, to get the best value for your money. The questions that Thoroughquire an answer regarding research includes the following:
Is this company trustworthy?
Will you get real 24/7 support?
Did you have a conversation with the agents?
Is the service provider professional?
What are their online ratings?
What about the pricing?
Do they have a considerable online presence?
What is the frequency of QuickBooks data back up?
Have you compared them with the competitors?
Are they even certified by Intuit?
Where are the company’s data centers situated?
Who are their target customers?
The list doesn’t end over here, as there can be many other questions as well. Answering these questions is important, as you are planning to trust them with the most precious asset, which is your information. You will be handing over the responsibility to ensure that you get a better outcome.
What would be the impact of cloud hosting on your business?
Well, cloud hosting advances the level of accounting management on QuickBooks. Being a business owner, you would have to consider the benefits that would affect the business and how the features of cloud hosting should be implemented to get the desired result. A basic example of this can be if you move to cloud hosting then you might need to change the employee structure. After incorporating cloud hosting, you might not need more IT professionals to work for you, rather you would need to have more people to access the files. And therefore, the employees might need training on how to navigate the service too.
What are the potential challenges with switching to cloud hosting?
Challenges are often part of the change. Thus, switching to a different software pattern would bring in certain challenges. With QuickBooks cloud hosting, there might be certain challenges, which includes the following:
Ignorance in using technology
User permissions among employees
Switching and transferring files
Things seem easy until they are performed. Therefore, it is very important to have a service provider who can successfully deal with all the challenges on your behalf.
Basic understanding of the working of cloud hosting is a must
It is not expected from you to be a pro at how QuickBooks cloud hosting works, but you need to at least have the basic knowledge. Having the basic knowledge of QuickBooks online is required to take full advantage or use the entire potential of QuickBooks cloud hosting. Moreover, it is not practical to contact an accountant or financial advisor each time you need to carry out any activity. Thus, understanding the basics of cloud computing is recommended. Cloud computing doesn’t involve any rocket science, it just needs the same and easy efforts that you would have applied while understanding QuickBooks desktop.
This will help you to choose the features and functionalities according to the business requirements and also saves from spending too much money than the actual requirement.
Security and protection of data confidentiality
Well, you cannot trust someone who has nothing to do with the security of your accounting and financial data of the business and the truth is that the hosting providers only know how to trick someone to invest money blindly. Investing money blindly is not recommended, especially when it is about the security of the data. Data or information is just like an asset of the company, so it is important to be aware of the safety and security protocols being used by the QuickBooks cloud hosting provider, too to ensure the protection and confidentiality of the data over the internet.
Business data security and protection should be the primary concern before joining hands with any of the cloud hosting providers. There are numerous service providers available out there, so it is recommended to pick the one who puts your data security on top of the priority list.
Data security features for QuickBooks cloud hosting platform
There can be certain data security features for QuickBooks cloud hosting platform, which includes the following:
Detecting and auditing of added devices- One of the major concerns these days can be related to the protection of financial information, which includes the violation of data security and confidentiality or network intrusions from unauthorized network devices. This requires the auditing of network devices and also checking whether the devices are configured properly. These devices include routers, firewalls, etc.
RDP gateways
Malware prevention system- Undoubtedly, malware is a big threat to the system, server, computer network, which is designed in a way to harm the data and hardware integrity. Thus, it is recommended to ask the service provider regarding the kind of malware protection he/she will offer in order to protect the data in the cloud.
File integrity monitoring- This is another feature, where the operating system, the database files of application software are tested and checked by the IT security process to know whether these files or information have been corrupted and accessed properly or not.
End to end data encryption functionality to ensure a better and safe environment in the cloud or internet: End to end data encryption functionality basically ensures safe and secure communication over the internet. Moreover, it is a method that establishes secure communication over the internet that prevents third parties or unauthorized users from accessing the files and confidential information. In this process, when the user transfers the data to somebody on the internet, then the data is converted into an encrypted format and when it is reached to the receiver, then it is changed into the decryption format to read.
Virus detection and prevention: QuickBooks cloud hosting providers provide some of the best tools to detect and prevent viruses. The user needs to ask the provider regarding the process they will opt for in order to detect and remove the viruses.
Functionalities for multiple firewalls to provide security to different zones of users
Security auditing
Configuration change management
Centralized logging
Single sign-on
Service level agreement
Well, a service level agreement is basically a contract between the company and the cloud hosting provider. Moreover, this agreement will have in written every service that the hosting provider will offer. This includes all the relevant information concerning the partnership.
The service level agreement binds the company and hosting provider legally, which makes it important to read it thoroughly.
The document also contains every detail about the service, along with the duration, transition support, and an exit plan. All the decisions are written on the document. Thus, the SLA should be signed considering the team and should be signed in full senses.
Add-ons and version for QuickBooks cloud hosting service
When it comes to QuickBooks versions, all the QuickBooks cloud hosting providers have hosting solutions for all the versions of QuickBooks desktop. This includes QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Accountant. It should be noted that in cloud hosting, there will be various add-ons and plugins to ensure the availability of the features that will assist in carrying out the accounting task easily.
Rechecking the IT infrastructure
As the user might be switching from QuickBooks desktop to cloud, then internet connection might play a vital role. It should be noted that cloud-based services and technologies are completely dependent on internet connectivity. A steady cloud-based internet connection from a trusted service provider is all that you need. In case the user has frequently suffered connectivity issues such as slow connection or poor uptime, then it is better to switch to a better Internet service provider. Moreover, we would also recommend you to ensure that you maintain a proper backup power source, so that any sort of internet issue is not faced. The user can also consider getting a secondary data package from a different ISP that could be used during emergencies when the primary internet connectivity is unavailable.
What makes QuickBooks cloud hosting better?
Well, it is an undeniable fact that when a user switches from desktop to cloud hosting, he/she might be facing certain limitations in QuickBooks desktop due to which he/she is planning to do so. The user might face a lot of issues to keep the accounting and bookkeeping activities running smoothly. These hurdles might include, damaged QuickBooks company files or data, no functionality for multi-user access, no remote access, dependent upon specific devices. All in all, there can be a lot of things that make QuickBooks cloud hosting better than QuickBooks desktop.
Scope and scalability of QuickBooks cloud hosting
Cloud hosting is best as it minimizes all the dependencies that one would have on its desktop, hardware, OS, etc. Moreover, the cloud hosting technologies takes the QuickBooks desktop of different versions to a cloud-based platform, where there is no need to be worried regarding the hardware, protection, customer support, data availability, etc.
Not only this, but QuickBooks cloud hosting also facilitates the flexible platform with multiple functionalities and loads of features to fulfill the business accounting needs and decide objectives. Under the cloud environment, all the features of QuickBooks are enhanced to have better accessibility, security, collaboration abilities, etc. One can have 24 hours access to the data over the internet and also have various other benefits such as cloud backups automatically that too a regular basis, better methods to ensure the security of the confidential data, and a lot more.
To wrap up!
In a nutshell, QuickBooks cloud hosting can be one of the best options and also better than QuickBooks desktop. But before you decide on the cloud hosting service provider, you need to apply the above-stated pointers. Moreover, we can make things easy for you, as we provide round the clock assistance, so feel free to make a call at our QuickBooks support phone number. And we will answer all your queries instantly.
We are a team of technically sound accounting professionals, who work round the clock to provide the best possible support services around the corner. You can contact us for reliable, trusted, and experienced cloud hosting services, and also in case you have any query related to QuickBooks, we will be happy to answer you!