If you have recently started using cloud-hosted QuickBooks in the last few years, you are not alone. The global cloud computing market stood at US$368.97 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a 15.7% CAGR till 2030, says statistics. The decision to migrate your licensed QuickBooks software to a cloud server is growth-friendly. You can do a lot more with QuickBooks hosting than you can ever imagine in a local-hosted IT environment.
Remote access to the cloud-hosted QuickBooks, irrespective of the QuickBooks version, hi-tech security for your QB data, and data backup facility to ensure easy recovery when needed, all this is normally expected with cloud hosting. But are you getting it all? If not, you might have missed a crucial step before switching to the cloud, and that is a careful selection of a QuickBooks hosting provider.
You might have already done the required research to find the best QuickBooks hosting solutions. But if you are still not getting the least benefits of the cloud, it’s time to make a bold decision – switch to some other cloud hosting provider.
Cloud solutions aren’t only meant for big businesses but have now been democratized for all. This has also come up as a business opportunity for many cloud service providers who claim to have it all but do not offer any substantial benefits.
Like separating the wheat from the chaff to get to the cereal, you need to dig deeper to find who’s offering the best QuickBooks hosting services. Let’s get started.
What to Consider While Selecting a QuickBooks Hosting Provider?
Service quality highlights
You searched for an online Internet service provider and found bad reviews about connectivity, cost, and support services. Then you heard one of your peers talking negatively about the service quality. Will you still go for that service provider? Will you continue to look at the pricing structure to find out if there is any plan for you?
Similarly, when you are searching for QuickBooks hosting solutions, you cannot decide with closed eyes. If you are now wondering what had gone wrong earlier when you switched to QB hosting, you might haven’t considered the pros and cons of cloud service quality carefully.
All the features and benefits of cloud-based accounting applications may seem to fit seamlessly into your business scene. They may look exactly like you want them to be. However, it makes no sense to select a hosting plan randomly. Hence, you must select a cloud solution provider after proper research.
Company reputation
Extending the same example shared above here again –
The Internet service provider who is well known amongst the masses often becomes the first pick for most individuals and even businesses. Ever wondered why? It is because of the trust factor that has been developed over the years in the customers’ minds. Many of them would want to continue with the service provider even if the service cost increases. The reason – Same, i.e., consumer’s trust in the brand reputation.
If you now realize that you hired a cloud service provider in a hurry earlier, it can be because you couldn’t find such a trustworthy provider. But this does not mean you shouldn’t look for it now.
Take the case of Ace Cloud Hosting – a leading QuickBooks hosting provider that has 14+ years of experience in providing glitch-free, highly secure cloud solutions. They have also been awarded the High Performer Summer 2022, Expert’s Choice 2021, and K2 Enterprise Quality Award. All these awards indicate the level of trust they have built among their clients.
Hosting plan pricing
If you have already done the hard work of looking at the pricing pages of different cloud solution providers, you might have already seen the differences. Many of them offer competitive, closely-related hosting plans at a price that’s hard to compare.
For instance, you may find it easier to compare two QuickBooks hosting plans, one of which is priced at $40 while the other costs $80. But it is not so easy to compare plans that have a slight price difference. How about comparing two plans priced at $38.99 per user per month and $39.99 per user per month respectively?
This indicates one crucial aspect – that pricing alone cannot determine the selection of a cloud hosting provider.
Hence, you must compare multiple cloud hosting plans based on both pricing and the corresponding quality of cloud solutions. Paying even a slightly premium price for good quality service is much better than selecting a hosting plan that does not even worth a lower cost.
Read More: Top 6 Benefits Of Using QuickBooks For Your Startup
Certifications and licensing
For a service provider that offers cloud solutions, certifications and accreditations hold significant value. They act as a badge that justifies the trust clients put into the solutions and the actual service benefits.
Here’s a fact that you need to turn your attention toward – renowned agencies offer awards and certifications to different types of service providers based on their stringent criteria. It also means that if a cloud solution provider does not hold any certifications or awards, they might not be assessed in the first place.
This is what makes certifications and licensing a crucial part of the QuickBooks hosting provider comparison. Wondering what you should check in this regard? Consider the following pointers:
- RDS CAL certification
- PCI-DSS certification
- HIPAA compliance
- Collaboration with SSAE-16 Tier 3 and Tier 4 data centers
- Intuit authorized commercial host
These specifications will be enough to switch to the right cloud solution provider.
Cloud performance and reliability factor
You want a cloud hosting provider for QuickBooks software and found many options. You see each of them talking about the highlights of their services and what they do better than their peers. The question that arises at this stage of selection is –
Can you believe what they say about their service qualities?
For example, if they say that they offer uninterrupted cloud server access to support your business, what’s the proof? And what can you do if they do not provide what they say about the hosting services?
This is where Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for cloud hosting solutions come into the picture. Renowned QuickBooks hosting provider offers an SLA-backed server uptime guarantee that can be as high as 99.999%. This ensures that they are legally liable to deliver what they say about their cloud solutions. It also offers legal protection and you can check the terms before you agree to the terms mentioned in the SLA.
Deployment of security measures
Another crucial aspect that matters a lot while selecting a Quickbooks Pos hosting provider is the level of security provided. Ideally, you expect cloud solutions to ensure the utmost security of data and applications hosted on the server. But knowing how any service provider makes this possible can make a whole lot of a difference.
As a recommendation, simply go for the one that offers total security from unwanted breaches and cyberattacks via mechanisms like firewalls, Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS), and multi-level authentication, to name a few. It has also been found that cloud providers offering unmatched data protection also have legalized data management policies for your benefit.
The bottom line
Realizing the mistake of hiring an unreliable hosting provider can take you a step closer to correcting the same. Make sure you consider various facets of selecting the QuickBooks hosting services mentioned above for better results.