Cloud solutions. What's your opinion?

[v2Media]

I have the same install of myob purchased 7 years go at a cost of $220. The only reason I'd upgrade it is for operating system compatibility. Xero would have cost $4116 over the same period. No business can get by on 5 invoices per month, so the Xero $29 option is bogus. That leaves the $49 option as the first real starter package. Basic bookkeeping in myob only costs $280 today, not $800. Do you really think bookkeeping changes so much that software needs to be upgraded every year?

As for support, the software vendors aren't the only source of support and are usually the most expensive source of support. I have about 8 clients that still use old versions of myob and call v2Media for support - not myob. Only one client has spent more than about $400 for myob support over the past 5 years and that's for their POS system. The only clients that upgrade myob are the ones using it for payroll. What ever way you look at the figures, SaaS is still a larger cash outlay over time, much larger.

Xero is just an example I chose to illustrate my points about SaaS in the cloud. How about Adobe design, development and publishing software. Adobe offers subscriptions from $129 per month for Creative Suite. Full retail, $3400. Some of the programs in CS have a long, long work life. Upgrading is just not essential for 3-5 years, even longer if hardware isn't integral to the software. Hell, I know of newspaper and advertising companies that still use Photoshop 5 from over 10 years ago! Why upgrade something that gets the job done well!

Billions are still being spent on one-time software licenses. That's 'long gone' is it? My dollars will go to traditional software, where the data and software stays on the local network and will still function without an internet connection. I look forward to the rest Dardee. For now, I gotta grab some Z's.

[Dardee]

Ok. Personal choices. I know Xero is an example but one that I know a lot about.

But for reference:

$49 x 12 = $588/yr
$588 x 5 = $2940

MYOB Business Basics or Just Invoices is not Accounting software. They are basic tools to assist with small business accounting. Not the same as a $49/mth subscription to Xero. There are plenty of other products much cheaper than could do the same as those.

[v2Media]

Mate, you're discussion thus far is all personal choices too. This is an opinion based discussion. Thx for correcting my math from the original post, however that correction does nothing to negate the context of my point.

AccountRight Basics is the name of the software you're referring, yes? I can't see a product called "Just Invoices" on the myob website. It not being accounting software is contradictory to Myob's description of AccountRight Basics. It has accounts, invoicing, remittance, bill payments, gst reporting, everything a small business needs (providing you don't need it for payroll or inventory). Whether it has the same features as Xero is moot; but meeting the needs of small business account and tax records is all that's required. Both products meet the requirements of small business.

Unfortunately this thread isn't about Xero or Myob. Xero is merely the example of SaaS in the cloud being tossed around in this thread. Do you have anything to add to the topic besides splitting hairs between myob and and xero features and costs?

[help_from_ingenyes]

Cloud computing means you can have access to multi million dollar infrastructure that is set up and run by teams of professionals with large budgets for backup, security and hardware. Compare that to what is available in even the largest offices/businesses. It's basically outsourcing your hardware AND software to companies that do nothing but make sure you do not have problems and have huge economies of scale. And it is where large and small business are heading. As always, you have to go for reputable vendors and do research but it is hugely safer and more reliable and cheaper than doing it yourself.

Here is a list of online services (in no particular order) that are worth checking out.
dropbox.com
(free) online data storage.
http://mozy.com/
online backup (makes it safe from fire, theft and spilled coffee)
www.xero.com
brilliant accounting software
basecamphq.com
Project software
http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html
Google online business apps of every description
http://www.google.com/analytics/
For measuring your websites performance - and improving it.
http://www.freshbooks.com/
Invoicing software
http://getsatisfaction.com
Online forums for companies. Lets you build a community.
http://aremysitesup.com
Keep an eye on how often your website is down.
http://www.wufoo.com/
Online form mail builder
http://mailchimp.com/
Newsletters for clients/customers

This is just a few. If you have a business need, no matter how esoteric, Google it and see what comes up.

Cheers - Tim from Ingenyes

[v2Media]

Cloud computing means you can have access to multi million dollar infrastructure that is set up and run by teams of professionals with large budgets for backup, security and hardware.

...providing you have a reliable internet connection. Should your connection go down, you have nothing.

[help_from_ingenyes]

...providing you have a reliable internet connection. Should your connection go down, you have nothing.

But I think most businesses would be in trouble if they lost their internet connection. I would freak out if I lost access to my emails for any length of time. And you could say the same about losing electricity.

I think NBN will be the big tipping point where businesses large and small will be moving online whether they like it or not. You would be missing out on to much opportunity and it would cost too much to stay off line.

[v2Media]

Trouble yes, but totally incapacitated? Only if all core systems are online. Electricity is the same as loosing your internet connection? That's a stretch. So what opportunities are you referring to?

To me, cloud systems are all bells and whistles. They should never replace core systems. When they are accessible, the cloud system can provide enhanced functionality. When they're not, the core system is still available. That's the problem you see, little or no redundancy. Google realises this problem with redundancy hopes to employ an off-line (cached) mode for docs calendar email etc. However it's early days and whether they manage to pull it off remains to be demonstrated.

Give cloud systems another 5 years to mature and they may be suitable for core systems. But they most certainly aren't now.

[help_from_ingenyes]

But I think the key is cost, scalability, availability and redundancy. Nothing is perfect. The company I work for is totally cloud based, even emails, even word processing, spreadsheets and calendars. I've never had a problem (except, funnily enough, when the electricity got cut off). The company I worked at before that (which was a large data centre who shall remain nameless) were always having problems with their entirely inhouse systems.

In IT, things move fast. People and companies are taking it up. The companies that service that trend are addressing peoples concerns and moving aggressively to be better and better. Why spend $20.000 (or $2000, or $500) on something you have to replace every few years when you can hire it for $4 a month and it gets upgraded under you constantly?

[v2Media]

Right, so if you loose electricity where you currently work, what happens to your cloud services? No opportunities to speak of if one doesn't jump on-board the cloud band-wangon?

I seriously doubt there's anything worth 20K that you can have for $4 a month, that's ridiculous. There's no cloud service for $4 a month that I'm aware of with much business value. Could you give an example? I challenge you to find a single cloud service that's cheaper to use than a traditional software equivalent for 5 years. Also, what redundancy can any cloud service offer? If you have no access to their servers, the only possible redundancy is an off-line cache. If the service doesn't have a cached mode, you're left with nothing.

[UncomplicatingIT]

If ever there was an industry adept and talking up the "next best thing" it's the IT industry. 22 years this year and yet another year with a "silver bullet" technology that solves eveything.

Jeez...it gets tedious.

This year it's "The Cloud"; a technology that's been around for nearly half a century in one form or another. In plain English for those who don't speak techbabble it simply means that the computer(s) doing the lions share of the hard work and looking after your data is...well...somewhere that you're not.

Anyone reading this forum is essentially using "The Cloud". You're entering and reading data that's being stored somewhere. It's not at my house, and I don't think it's at yours, so where is it? Australia, China, India, US, UK...all of the above quite possibly.

Do you want the cloud? Of course. SmallBusinessForum.com wouldn't exist without it and billions of emails would never get from here to there. Do I want to store my corporate accounts on it. Well now...that really depends. If you store them at home, someone could break in and steal your laptop. Chances are they'll do that for a quick $100 sale and it will be formatted a few hours later and sold on. If they're stored in The Cloud, they could become a target for hackers because hackers like big targets with lots of interesting data to be used.

But companies like Xero, even if they became a target for hackers, use offsite backups that aren't connected to a network, and they have highly detailed disaster recovery policies, so you needn't worry really. And the banks are pretty adept at dealing with credit card fraud these days.

In short, The Cloud is good and it's a useful tool. But then, like all tools, it needs to be used correctly and for the right job.