You hear a constant whirring or beeping sound when you walk past the server room that may be just annoying. Or it might indicate that something is failing. Or maybe you’re feeling the pain of having been told that it’s time to upgrade the server again in order to continue running your Sage software, and you ask yourself: “Didn’t we just upgrade that server a few years ago?” There is a chance you have been tempted to move everything to the Cloud, or maybe you’re being forced to because of changes to the work environment. Now is as good a time as any to make the switch for your Sage 100 software. But how do you know where to begin - or whether this solution even makes sense for you?
Bennett/Porter realized years ago that it was better to present our clients with options that allow them to make smart decisions about their accounting software. We built out a cloud infrastructure nine years ago specifically to accommodate Sage 100 (MAS 90/200 at the time) because we knew that not everyone wanted to continually purchase and maintain servers. Since we have been at this for a while, we have had the opportunity to expand our offerings, improve and tweak the infrastructure, and combat specific issues that impact Sage, which can come up from time to time in a cloud environment.
You have probably seen the Sage marketing piece offering the opportunity to “Host your Sage 100 on the Sage Partner Cloud” (or even received a phone call from Sage about moving to the Sage Cloud). You should know that Sage is just playing catch up here! Yes, it’s true that you should seriously consider moving your software to a hosted environment – but there are many more considerations to be aware of before deciding where exactly that should be.
Sage wants you to move your software to Azure – which is the cloud platform owned by Microsoft. Without getting too nerdy, there are many configuration options that need to be considered, including how much space is needed, how much data you anticipate you’ll use over the course of a month, and whether or not your server is backed up. Sage doesn’t help with these configurations but instead relies on your reseller to do it for you. All of these options cost money and typically come à la carte. Additionally, alterations occasionally need to be made to the Cloud environment – whether it’s an operating system requiring updates or an underlying Sage compatibility issue with the Cloud server that hosts it, and the list goes on and on. Someone will still need to manage your cloud environment, just like they manage the physical server that’s in your office.
Luckily for you, we’ve done our homework over the last decade and built all of those services into our BP Cloud offering. Our team of IT and Sage technicians will work together to move your on-premise software to the Bennett/Porter hosted environment and ensure that it works for you – whether you’re working from home or in the office. Backups are taken every hour and are included in your monthly cost. Antivirus, monitoring, server maintenance, remote connection installs, and troubleshooting are also all included in the same monthly fee. Concerned about remote printing? We’ve got you covered there too. The point is this: We have thought about all these issues because we have worked through all of them over the last decade.
Last, but certainly not least, is price. You might expect the BP Cloud to be much more expensive than the Sage Partner Cloud, since there are so many advantages to having your software on a carefully managed private cloud. Nevertheless, our prices are competitive and are, in fact, many times less expensive than the Sage Partner Cloud offerings. You certainly get more bang for your buck with Bennett/Porter’s Cloud.
Taking those first steps to transition your Sage software away from the loud server room is scary because there are so many unknowns. Will it be slower than it is now? Is it safe in the Cloud? What happens if my Internet goes down? What if I need to restore a module from last week? Can I print checks to my local printer from Sage in the Cloud, and how does that even work? We have the answers to all these questions and the expertise to make this transition seamless for you. Just contact our office and we’ll be happy to discuss your Cloud options!