Is It Hard To Move QuickBooks or Sage To The Cloud?
Contrary to common belief, migrating your data into the cloud is actually a fairly painless process once you find the best cloud hosting provider for your business needs. Before we dive in, however, let’s get some details out of the way really quickly in case you’re still in the beginning stages of your cloud hosting research.
What Is Cloud Hosting, and How Does It Work?
What first comes to mind when you visualize “the cloud?” A cotton candy-esque fluffy formation of data particles floating in the sky above your head? A collection of hard drives hidden away in some secret, super secure location? Out of the two, the latter is a better, albeit not as exciting, visualization of the cloud and how it works.
The cloud is a method of storing data across (sometimes) multiple servers off-premises, rather than using servers hosted on premise at your home or office. Usually, in a cloud hosting setting, your data – whatever you’ve chosen to host from financial software to photos – is stored within servers that are usually locked away in a data center with multiple levels of security. (But, wait – what is a data center? A data center is an ultra-secure building that holds thousands of company servers, blades, and other hardware - which are typically separated via “cages” - and protects this hardware from unauthorized access, natural disasters, and more.) There are a few different types of cloud hosting, such as shared server hosting vs dedicated server hosting; we’ll be focusing on the latter.
Why Is The Cloud Good For Business?
Cloud computing on dedicated servers can benefit your organization in a few different ways.
- Enhanced remote access: Cloud hosting enables you to use your software and access your data 24/7 from any location, using just about any device. This means you can keep working on tasks and checking in on your business while you are on the go, on-site, at the office, or at home.
- Data backups for disaster recovery: Most QuickBooks and Sage hosting companies maintain backups of your files in the event of a disaster or general data maintenance issues strike. At Summit Hosting, we backup each customer’s dedicated server nightly and retain each copy for 15 days in our secure US and Canada-based data centers.
- Boosted flexibility: Cloud hosting providers are able to customize your dedicated server according to your needs – you can scale up or decrease your resources, including user accounts, as the needs of your organization changes. In a dedicated environment as opposed to a shared server setting, you’re also able to integrate the applications you need to get the most out of your software.
- Reduced overhead costs and increased cost efficiency: When you choose a hosting provider, you’ll experience decreased hardware and IT costs. How? Cloud hosting companies handle IT maintenance, hardware upgrades, data security and more so you don’t have to!
- Stronger data security: Although there are always recommended steps you can take to assist in protecting your data, like running operating system updates as they pop up instead of hitting “remind me tonight,” hosting providers take extra measures to improve data protection. Summit Hosting, for example, provides 24/7/365 data intrusion monitoring and 256-bit encryption, as well as layered logins and more.
Okay, now that all of that’s out of the way, let’s get back to the main topic we are here to cover: is it hard to move to the cloud?
Migrating Company Data Into The Cloud
So, you are interested in cloud hosting for QuickBooks, Sage, or other managed application data, right? And maybe you are on the fence because you’re a little concerned about the process? If that is the case, luckily, there is nothing to worry about. Moving your company’s financial software files from an on-premise environment or even another hosting setting (including QuickBooks Online) into the cloud is straightforward.
Once you’ve decided on the best QuickBooks or Sage cloud hosting provider for your business, it’s a streamlined process. We can’t speak for the steps in all data migrations since each cloud computing hosting company handles the protocol differently, so we’ll use ours as an example.
How Your Data Is Transferred Onto A Summit Hosting Dedicated Cloud Server
After you’ve spoken with an expert hosting specialist and signed up for our QuickBooks or Sage cloud hosting services, all you need to do is:
- - Provide our engineering team with your software company files (or you have the option to purchase a QuickBooks license directly through us).
- - Let us know if you need any additional resources, i.e. more storage or a specialty application, added to your custom-built dedicated server.
- - Wait 24 – 48 hours as our engineers build out your server and install your files.
- - Install your RDP (remote desktop protocol) file attached to your set-up guide, and start working immediately from any device as you normally would.
Pretty painless, right?
Is It Time To Move My Data To The Cloud?
With the New Year and tax season just around the corner, now is the perfect time to reap the amazing benefits of cloud hosting.
If you’re ready to begin hosting Sage or QuickBooks software off-premise, or if you have more questions, don’t hesitate to contact Summit Hosting today: 1-888-244-6559.