Once you have decided to move your QuickBooks desktop application to the cloud, the most important step is selecting the right hosting service provider. It is vital to assess the reliability and capability of the hosting provider that you are going to choose to host your QuickBooks accounting application and data.
The QuickBooks cloud hosting market is vast, and plenty of providers are offering many cloud hosting services. So how do you select the right hosting provider from these many options?
There are many factors such as security, pricing, performance, support services, and your unique set of needs that help you choose a right hosting provider. However, one thing that one must look into a provider is the provider’s legal authorization to host QuickBooks software and data.
What Does Intuit Hosting Program and an Authorized Host Mean?
A few years back, Intuit – the maker of QuickBooks, has introduced a legal hosting program for the cloud service providers that means, Intuit entered into a written agreement with these providers which legally authorizes them to remotely host certain versions of QuickBooks software such as Pro, Premier, Enterprise, Accountant, etc.
The Intuit hosting program allows users to have their licensed copy of QuickBooks Desktop version such as Pro, Premier, Point-of-Sale, etc. installed on data servers of an authorized hosting service provider. This means that users can access their QuickBooks software and data on their computer system, laptop, or even mobile devices via a secure login password.
An authorized QuickBooks hosting provider means that the company has been legally authorized by Intuit to host QuickBooks desktop software for users, and specializes in secure, superfast, and scalable cloud hosting solutions.
If you have your QuickBooks hosted with an authorized commercial host, they should be your initial point of contact for any needs related to hosting setup, installation, troubleshooting hosting issues, and other basic customer support needs.
Commercial Hosting Provider vs. Standard Hosting Provider
There are two kinds of QuickBooks authorized hosting provider – commercial host and standard host. It’s important to understand the difference between a commercial QuickBooks hosting provider and a standard hosting provider while making the right choice.
Commercial hosting providers have the ability to host licensed copies of QuickBooks software on the cloud and provide subscription services for new QuickBooks licenses, procured directly from Intuit, on a monthly rental basis.
On the other hand, Standard hosts only have the ability to host licensed copies of QuickBooks software and cannot provide subscription services for new QuickBooks licenses.
What Can Authorized Commercial Providers Host?
An authorized commercial hosting provider can host the following products –
- QuickBooks Desktop Pro
- QuickBooks Desktop Premier
- QuickBooks Accountant Desktop
- QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Solutions
- QuickBooks Desktop Point of Sale (US only)
What Benefits Can You Expect From Authorized QuickBooks Hosting Provider?
Below are some top benefits that you get with hosting from an Intuit authorized hosting provider:
➟ Anytime Anywhere Access: You get remote access to your QuickBooks software and data so that you can work anytime, anywhere, even from your home or on vacation. It also updates data in real-time so that you always work on the latest and up to date QuickBooks data files.
Your clients and office staff all can view, access, and work simultaneously on QuickBooks file, which results in better results, collaboration, and productivity.
➟ Superfast Hosting Services: Authorized hosting providers ensure that you get superfast access to your QuickBooks data and software at a guaranteed service uptime, such as 99.99%.
➟ Secure Hosting Services: Firewall protection, multi-factor authentication, anti-virus and anti-malware software, user access control, and permission are some of the key implementations that authorized provider takes to ensure safety and security of your QuickBooks data and software.
➟ Easy Upgrades: Only authorized hosts gain early access to the latest software releases so that you can work on the latest version when you wish to upgrade.
➟Scalable Resources: QuickBooks hosting provider enables you to upscale or downscale resources like RAM, number of users, and storage space as per the business requirements.
➟High-Performance Computing (HPC): The QuickBooks cloud hosting provider offer SSD-based high-performance computing servers for parallel processing and better working experience.
➟Automatic Backup: You get regular data backups that are stored at offsite data servers and can be retrieved in case of any data loss.
➟ 24×7 Customer Support: You can call, chat, or email an authorized provider to get assistance regarding QuickBooks Cloud Hosting services.
➟ Business Continuity: Some authorized hosting provider such as Ace Cloud Hosting also offers built-in business continuity and disaster recovery service with their hosted QuickBooks service. This ensures that your business and QuickBooks data are always available even in case of a disaster or man-made mistake so that your business health and reputation never go negative.
➟ Time and Cost Saving: With hosted QuickBooks service, you save money without any extra local hardware or server on your local premise. You also save your time and efforts as your hosting provider manage the cloud work – application setup, installation, backups, maintenance, etc. for you.
Another cost benefit offered by cloud hosting providers is pay-as-you-go pricing plans so that you only pay for the services you are using.
Why Ace Cloud Hosting?
Ace Cloud Hosting is an Intuit authorized commercial hosting provider for QuickBooks software.
Ace Cloud Hosting is an absolute lock at the top of QuickBooks cloud hosting due to its superfast services with 99.99% uptime guarantee, unmatched round-the-clock customer support, highly secure and easy to use cloud hosting, 45-Days rolling data backup, and built-in disaster recovery solutions that have made it the User Favorite Application Hosting Provider in Accountex USA conference 2016, and winner of the awards – Great User Experience 2018 and K2 Quality for Customer Satisfaction in 2019.
To know more about hosted QuickBooks and how Ace Cloud Hosting can help, connect with our solutions consultant.
Comments (1)
Completely agreeing with you, Deepanshu! An authorized host always guarantees for supreme services and chances of getting correct advice at the time of trouble are better.
Firstly, thanks for enlighting us with this piece, Deepanshu! Secondly, I wanted to ask, is there any fixed base price authorized host have? And are they costlier than non-authorized host?
I am glad you liked it, Peter!
There is no fixed base price. Pricing plan depends on the service provider. Other than that $5 Intuit hosting charge is fixed that the provider takes from the user while providing services.
I would say, an authorized host is not costlier than a non-authorized host. Although they cost additional $5, eventually it proves to be the beneficial and affordable option as it offers automatic application upgrades and direct intuit support that lacks in non-authorized hosts.