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IT Inside Out (ITIO) have been providing the Online<>50 Application Service for over two years already, enabling accountants and small business owners and managers to share access to the same ‘Live’ accounting system over the internet. This focus has been because of the need for specialist outside advice that most small firms have when it comes to accounts and compliance.
However, as a Microsoft Certified partner ITIO have also been offering Microsoft Office, Exchange and CRM software on our ASP platform using thin-client technology. This combination enables any business to run a Virtual Office, allowing collaboration with other parties and giving access to enterprise class software and infrastructure for a predictable monthly fee. This is entirely scaleable and comes without the need to ‘buy in’ additional staff or technical infrastructure. In an increasingly hostile cyber-world of viruses, hackers and spammers the ability to outsource systems management to specialists with the skills and the infrastructure to minimise risk and ensure business continuity is an attractive option. Couple that with the benefits of greater flexibility, anytime anywhere access, and pay as you go pricing and it’s not difficult to see why the ‘war’ is being waged in this arena.
Online<>50 business partners requiring further information about providing the full range business application service to small business clients please contact your Account Manager on 020 7536 7736.
Small Firms Are Providing More Diverse Services
In a recent article in Accountancy Age (Small firms in unqualified success story shock, 27 Oct 2005) it was revealed that “since the government first announced its plans to remove tens of thousands of companies from the statutory requirement to have an audit…the number of audited accounts filed at Companies House had dropped by 89,000 since 2003 – almost a third more than the 69,000 SMEs the government had predicted would be affected by the threshold hike to £5.6m.”
These changes were met with some trepidation by many firms, particularly small practices, when they were introduced. Production of audited accounts for many was the prime source of revenue, but “despite what could have been a body blow to small firms, there has barely been a murmur from the profession.”
While an audit may still be required by stakeholders, the trend has been for small practices to move from audit work to ongoing advisory work, providing a personal service rather than satisfying a regulatory requirement. While this change in regulatory requirements may have acted as a catalyst, the tendency for small businesses to 'outsource' to accountants was already well established.
Developments in technology have been a greater catalyst for the trend to outsource. Low cost telephone services, email and the widespread availability of broadband, are the most significant factors that has led to the dramatic increase in outsourcing in our market. The recent announcement by Microsoft of a shift towards software services recognises a fundamental shift in the way businesses are operating. Software services enable businesses to focus on core activities. They can access external expertise and markets efficiently and cost-effectively regardless of geography. The software service in itself relieves a business of the need for an IT department and network infrastructure.
From the software vendor's point of view it is a way to control licensing and to reduce piracy, a factor which must weigh heavily in any decision on how software products will be delivered in years to come.
ITIO’s business model for the Online<>50 service was built on the premise that internet technology is an efficient enabler. Our particular technology and service allows business owners and managers to outsource part or all of their accounting function to specialists without losing control or access to their data. It is focused on the delivery of hosted accounting software because it is an area where SME's are reliant on external service providers and where the most significant business benefits are to be found.
However, ITIO provide a fully outsourced IT solution, incorporating Microsoft Office Professional, Microsoft Exchange, a choice of CRM and accounting applications as well as website hosting. Forward looking accountants, therefore, can already offer their clients a complete ‘Virtual Office’ giving them anytime anyplace availability with the comfort of enterprise class systems, security, data back-up and help desk facilities.
For more information please contact your Account manager or ITIO sales on 020 7536 7736
Breakthrough Access Service Announced
PDSL - Prioritised DSL - is a new Internet connection service designed by ITIO to optimise performance for online interactive services. The service has successfully completed trials and a commercial launch is expected shortly.
With the prevalence of broadband most Internet users are now using these always on connections. Users of the Online<>50 service are also increasingly using broadband for fixed cost always on connections. However one of the issues our users face relates to the increased use of the connection for other Internet services.
When a connection is busy information to be transferred is queued and this can result in delays. For most services, such as downloading a web page or sending an email, this delay is often not noticed and is accepted as part of the user's normal experience. However, for an interactive online service such as Online<>50 this delay can seriously affect the user. The Online<>50 service does not need particularly high bandwidth as it does not transfer large amounts of information - but it does need a connection which transfers information with minimum delays in each direction.
A solution to this problem was designed some time ago by the ITIO systems architects. The solution requires that the information to be transferred is properly prioritised to ensure that the Online<>50 information 'jumps' the internal queues so that it is transferred with the minimum possible delay. Since traffic is queued in both directions, both from the customer to the service, and from the customer's ISP back to the user, it is important that the information is properly prioritised end to end. Despite assurances from a number of vendors that their equipment supported the necessary features to support this operation none of the ISP's we approached were able to implement a working solution.
Undeterred we continued investigating possibilities and we have now completed trials with equipment from 1st Network Limited, a specialist UK network provider with experience in building private ADSL networks for the retail sector. Initial results show that even under very heavy load the user maintains a consistent experience with the Online<>50 service.
Rob Lambden, Managing Director of ITIO
comments: "The launch of this service demonstrates the level of understanding that ITIO have in terms of providing a hosted software service and ensuring a high quality service is maintained at all times. Most of the work that is undertaken by our engineers is invisible to our customers, and rightly so - they just want to use the service."
The Online<>50 team are constantly contacted by people who have tried to implement their own system and failed to achieve satisfactory operation. Our level of technical leadership allows us to continue innovating to provide enhanced services to our customers. (Interested readers can revisit previous newsletter coverage in Under the Bonnet - the Online50 Hosting Platform).
One of the factors that has enabled this service is the awarding of LIR status as mentioned in our September Newsletter. Users who think they may be affected by link saturation problems should request further information from the Sales desk, or speak to the help desk to understand more about the service and determine if it is a correct solution for them.
Sage Announce "Hosted Solutions"
At the Sage Equal Partners event on 15th November 2005 in London Sage announced a service offering hosted Line 50. This service, called "Sage Hosted Solutions - Line 50" will offer end users the ability to access Line 50 running on Sage servers in Atlanta (and in their second site in Dublin when this becomes operational) in much the same way that ITIO's Online<>50 service does today. The announcement followed presentation of market research that claimed that over a third of respondents would be interested in such a service.
Line 50 has been available online under a valid license since the Online<>50 service was commercially launched by ITIO in September 2003. With over 4 years of operation (which includes the commercial trials) and a growing base of accountancy partners and end users the award winning service has attracted a great deal of interest.
The Sage service is still in its early stages and will not be commercially launched for some months. Current information indicates that Sage will initially only host Line 50. In his keynote presentation at the Sage Equal Partners event Paul Stobart indicated that it is Sage's intention to provide more software online in the future.
This announcement is the move many have been expecting for some time. It comes more than four years after ITIO began trials of the Online<>50 service, more than two years after the service was commercially launched, and a year after Sage announced a rental pricing model with Barclays Bank. (see: Sage Provides Rental Model in the November 2004 edition of our newsletter.)
Rob Lambden, Managing Director of IT Inside Out, who provide the Online<>50 service, comments: "We see the entry of Sage into the hosted software market as validation of the hosted software business model. Their decision to offer their software in this manner confirms that this is clearly now mainstream. As a multi-vendor independent provider with a commercially tried, tested and fully secure solution we are well placed to service accountants and their clients. As interest and demand in this market further increases our existing Online<>50 bureaux are well placed to benefit by providing online accounting services to their clients under their own brand and control."
ITIO's Online<>50 service offers software from multiple vendors and is not restricted to just Sage software. It also offers complementary products to Line 50 such as Microsoft office, CRM and Payroll. For more information on the range of software available please contact on the Sales desk on 0800 195 0835.
Sage Recommit to the Accountants Channel as Equal Partners
Paul Stobart, head of Sage UK, pledged Sage's continued commitment to the UK Accountants community at the first conference for accountants in the UK hosted by Sage Accountants Division. At the event, entitled 'Sage Equal Partners - You talk, We Listen' Paul Stobart admitted that Sage had made mistakes in its relationships with accountants in the past, and that they had been 'arrogant and dismissive'. He summed up by saying that relationships with accountants 'drives their business' and that they 'are committed and will remain committed' to the accountants community.
In other presentations Sage invited accountants to 'leverage Sage's extensive and strong position' in the marketplace, presenting figures summarising their existing user base and showing that they have one new customer every 3.5 minutes. Various products were covered, including the new strategy for their Practice software. After £12 million of expenditure, and with promises of £15 million more, the first instalment of Sage's new practice software is expected to be available before the end of the calendar year, with further instalments on the roadmap for release through to 2007.
Also presented were summaries of Sage's survey looking at the range of services clients take from accountants. They presented an article from Accountancy Age regarding the loss of statutory work following the reduction in the audit threshold, but interestingly the Accountancy Age follow up to this article showing no loss of fees was not mentioned
(see Small Firms Are Providing More Diverse Services).
Sage is clearly very important to the UK Accountant's community, with an 'extensive and strong' position in the UK accounting software market. This event has been an attempt for them to recapture the hearts of members of the community. As other vendors are increasingly looking to work with accountants it seems that renewed focus by software vendors on the accountants channel is inevitable. This must inevitably lead to increased choice which is a good thing for the accountants community, and for the clients that we serve.
