Is Your Cloud Technology Helping You Win Gold?

You could almost feel the world gasp as Oscar Pistorius complained that he had lost the 200m final to Alan Oliviera because of technology - allegedly longer running blades in this case.

Across the globe, businesses are looking for ways to win against the competition and many if not most are looking to Cloud technology for that advantage.

Online50 is perfectly positioned to offer Cloud technology advantages to businesses looking for better, faster or more efficient operations.  Please don't hesitate to make contact if you would like to find out more.

In This Issue:

Your Data Belongs to You - Reason 7 to Choose Online50

Most users of Online50 have Sage 50 and increasing numbers have other software integrated with Sage 50.  Whatever software is used, it is important that the data created belongs to the customer.

Your Data Is Yours

Most companies spend hundreds of hours (for many significantly more) capturing their financial data into accounting software.  Where companies use CRM systems, millions of interactions and conversations could be recorded, many of which constitute the commercial arrangements made, sometimes over the life of the business.  This data is valuable and important. 

Some companies charge a fee to users who want to retain a copy of their data locally.  Online50 believe that if you decide to leave for any reason you should be able to easily take your data with you. 

Save Pennies Waste Pounds

Even if you can get the data out, unless it can easily be uploaded into a different system, it is of little use.  Some business owners have selected software with the goal of saving a few pounds but have ended up paying a considerable sum to have it migrated into a new system.

How We Help

By using industry leading software, most people can easily get copies of the software locally if they need it.  Data can therefore be copied or uploaded from your system to ours and you can carry on working.  If you want local copies, you simply copy the data back onto your system using our special File Manager software.  If you want your finance data, you simply back up for example Sage and it can easily be moved onto your local machine.

If you believe your data should always belong to you, choose Online50.

Are Your Servers Old and Unreliable?

Have you thought about how a server in 'the Cloud' could help?

We get a lot of enquiries from businesses whose:

• Servers are old and increasingly unreliable.  They want to avoid the capital expense of replacing them and are wondering how virtual server rental could benefit their business.

Online50 provide a range of Cloud solutions that can help your business take advantage of Cloud technology in a way that suits you.

Rent Server Hardware As Needed

Online50 Ltd have been offering the Elastic Computing Platform (ECP) for almost 4 years.  The ECP is a virtual server that can be rented on monthly terms for as long as it is needed with a minimum of one calendar month.  Servers can be upgraded or downgraded* within minutes as the needs of the business change.

Rent Software or Load Your Own

All the software offered on the Online50 platform can be made available on the ECP on calendar monthly terms.  Any additional software can be added as needed and the servers can be configured as your businesses requires.

The ECP Can Interact With the Online50 Platform

The ECP can interact with data held in the Online50 platform.

For example:

• an accounting firm can run accounts production software on the ECP, and their clients can access their Sage 50 accounts using Online50.  The accounts production software has access to the datasets in real-time.
• ECP users can make use of our Hosted Exchange accounts to manage emails, calendars and contacts across the business avoiding the need to setup and manage an Exchange server.
• SQL databases can be setup on our fault tolerant SQL clusters, avoiding the need to install and manage an SQL server. 

Self Managed Software

The Online50 platform is fully managed by our engineers.  In contrast, the ECP product allows you to manage the server as you see fit (terms and conditions apply).  Host whatever software your business prefers.

For More Information

Find out more about how Online50 Ltd could help your business move into the Cloud.  Contact the Online50 Sales Desk on 0800 195 0835

* ECP services are charged for on a calendar monthly basis with a one calendar month notice period.  This means that an immediate downgrade of your ECP server may not see an immediate reduction in your costs.

Multi Site Business Benefits From Sage 50 Online

An accounting partner told us:

"We fully expect our client to achieve their growth targets as a direct result of providing the data online in real time across the business"

Naturally we were delighted and so asked for more details.

The business had five offices and was running a local copy of Sage 50 in each office.  At the end of each month, they backed up their data and sent it to the head office where their accountant would collate it.  There were inevitably delays in receiving the backups which delayed the reports.

The managers in each office found it very difficult to effectively manage the business with such outdated information.

The Online50 platform provides the opportunity for users in different locations to work on the same data in real time using standard software - Sage 50 Accounts, Microsoft Office, and others. 

Moving to Online50 enabled all users to access up to date information, and eliminated delays.

The accountant told us recently:

"This business was struggling to grow because of their fragmented financial data.  With the ability to bring all the data together across the business, the managers and owner are now making better and more informed decisions.  We fully expect to achieve the growth targets as a direct result of providing the data online in real time across the whole business."