While traditional business has slowly been flirting with the idea of remote workers for decades, recent events have forced organizations (of all kinds) to get creative about people working remotely. It’s taken a while for the idea of Cloud computing to take hold with more than 50% of potential users, but the “new economy” may now force 100% of companies to at least evaluate more distributed options.<br
One of the most common (and understandable) objections that people have about SAAS (Software as a Service) or Cloud systems is the lack of control (over both security and data availability). These are legitimate and profound concerns, but sometimes the full context is not well understood. Modern Cloud technology is often far MORE secure than a home-grown network CAN be. In many organizations, the biggest threat is the users themselves–they naturally create back doors that allow hackers and malware through a firewall to wreak their damage on an internal network. Cloud systems have a level of “self isolation” that uses security mechanisms that function much like airlocks in a negative pressure virus containment environment.

Xcellerated Solutions can help with the selection, design, implementation, and integration of an Cloud ERP (accounting and business operating) system:

• The sales pitch of “Any device, any time, any place” has been around for more than a decade, but the supporting technology was lacking a decade ago–the magic that is happening now is uniquely stable and robust. With mobile technology and the (rather sudden) need to work remotely, the need for non-workstation-based connectivity as a business requirement is now fully understood by everyone. Even when things return to “normal”, the need for future disaster planning will remain.
• With traditional on-premise software, the only options for working remotely involved some sort of desktop sharing. With cloud technology and modern devices, any tablet, computer, or mobile device can be used to capture transactions and run reports.
• Working remotely used to be optional, but a strong disaster mitigation strategy needs remote connectivity options.
• Xcellerated Solutions can help with the selection, setup, and implementation of a system that was designed (and perfected) for remote connectivity and work.

• Some attacks are random (like viruses or malware). Other problems like ransom-ware, natural disasters, or social unrest can cause very unique problems. Many businesses have experienced extreme setbacks (or complete failures) when crises hit and preparations haven’t existed. It would be naive to blindly go along with the traditional perception that a firewall and local administrator have better security options than a modern SAAS/Cloud ERP system.
• With widely-adopted security tools like fingerprints, 2-factor authentication, and device registration, a high-level of security becomes practical (not just possible!) In a cloud-based system, your users’ email or web browsing habits can’t infect a cloud server with viruses or malware. The cloud-based solutions reside in data centers with industry (HIPAA, PCI, etc.) compliant security measures and security experts monitoring and mitigating intrusions. In addition to security experts, these data centers have deeply redundant backup and failure-switch-over options.
• Working remotely used to be optional, but a strong disaster mitigation strategy needs remote connectivity options.
• Xcellerated Solutions can work with your current security environment to patch any holes or improve your security options. We assist with backups (local and offsite) and help with testing options and verification to ensure fully disaster recovery viability.

• One of the common fears (a VERY valid one with certain ERP vendors–beware!) about using Cloud-based systems is giving up the ability to use your database the way you could in an on-premise database installation. Although the databases reside in the cloud and are embedded behind tight security, there are options for retrieving a backup and restoring it to a local SQL Server installation for data warehousing and reporting. (If selecting new software, be sure to ensure that you own your data and are allowed to take the data with you in a database format whenever you want!)
• In addition to a full database extract, there are lots of options for interacting with the live data in real time (with proper security…) Whether it’s the ablity to create new data tables, views, and stored procedures using source code and database tools, the ability to use API’s to interact with database elements, or the ablity to use 3rd-party-developed apps and utilities to interact with other systems, there are many exciting options and tools for data management.
• Working remotely used to be optional, but a strong disaster mitigation strategy needs remote connectivity options.
• Xcellerated Solutions are experts in business database systems. We understand database structures, database management principles and practices, and database development. Whatever database system you work with (Cloud, On-Premise, or Hybrid), we can help.

• IT costs for hardware are high, but the employee aspect of managing systems can be extremely costly. With the right team, it is very possible to run a cost-effective but highly potent IT system environment. In many cases, though, the wrong people on a team can cause more problems than they solve or prevent. Sometimes this can be problems with attitude and/or talent/capabilities, but often a changing IT global environment can be enough to cause unforeseen issues.
• Especially when hardware, operating system software, and database management software are installed on a server, costs can be significant. Hiring the right kind of talent to manage this type of environment is also expensive. Remembering to do the types of maintenance that databases and intrusion protection requires can be a problem too.
• Working remotely used to be optional, but a strong disaster mitigation strategy needs remote connectivity options.
• Xcellerated Solutions can show you Cloud ERP software options that remove many of the cost and talent burdens that an on-premise system requires. The cost savings of a single IT employee (required to manage the database server) could EASILY cover the yearly cost of an entire ERP system for the whole company.

• Our Cloud-based ERP options have excellent built-in data recovery (backup and restore) options. Because of the nature of these environments, there is no single server or database failure point for hardware. Between parallel and redundant databases, clustered (shared server resources) processing, tenant isolation, and other state-of-the-art data center capabilities (AWS and Azure), the right Cloud systems are incredibly solid options for business viability. (The cloud servers are also redundantly located on multiple locations on multiple continents.)
• For on-premise and local database and file disaster recovery, PLEASE implement a strategy that includes, local AND Cloud backup options. There are also inexpensive hardware options that are stored off-site at a disaster-proof locations that can be over-nighted to your location (or run remotely as a virtual cloud device) in a local natural disaster situation.
• Working remotely used to be optional, but a strong disaster mitigation strategy needs remote connectivity options.
• Xcellerated Solutions can evaluate and test your current business disaster recovery planning and execution to ensure that you are ready for trouble. We can help fill in any gaps to ensure that you’re back up in running quickly in case of a server failure, natural disaster, or social crisis.