Month: November 2013

Accountants and financial services firms that are located in or that serve rural areas can reduce their costs and increase their productivity by signing up for QuickBooks Hosting from IronOrbit.

Hosted QuickBooks, unlike a locally-installed version of the accounting software, is deployed off-site on the servers of a hosting company like IronOrbit and is accessed via the Internet. We can host any version of QuickBooks (QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Enterprise, etc.), and all of our QuickBooks Hosting solutions are the same as the locally-installed versions of these applications, with all of the same features and capabilities. In addition, 24x7x365 all-inclusive technical support, an advanced data security system, and automated data backups are included by default with each IronOrbit QuickBooks solution.

Benefits of selecting IronOrbit Quickbooks Hosting Solutions by the rural accountants include:

• Lower IT costs. Rural accountants don’t have to purchase any servers or hire any onsite IT personnel when they sign up for IronOrbit QuickBooks Hosting solutions. In addition, our Hosted QuickBooks can be accessed from any Internet-connected device, including low-cost thin clients and tablets, so accountants don’t have to purchase and maintain expensive PC workstations to just to fulfill the minimum technical requirements of the software.

• Less distractions. IronOrbit QuickBooks solutions are protected and maintained around-the-clock by our knowledgeable and experienced personnel. We also provide 24x7x365 all-inclusive technical support with our QuickBooks solutions, meaning that we’ll not only resolve Hosted QuickBooks-related problems, but also any problems with the client’s local hardware and software. Accountants that sign up for IronOrbit QuickBooks Hosting therefore never have to worry about troubleshooting any hardware or software on their own or hiring an IT services provider (an option that may not be available in some rural areas).

• More accessibility and reliability. IronOrbit Hosted QuickBooks is a web-based solution that can be accessed from anywhere with any Internet-connected device. This allows rural accountants to access their Hosted QuickBooks even when performing onsite financial services for clients in remote locations. In addition, IronOrbit QuickBooks solutions are as fast and responsive as locally-installed versions of QuickBooks—even when rural users are accessing them from low-bandwidth Internet connections—thanks to Atomic Speed Technology, which uses network algorithms and packet optimization technologies to ensure that our solutions maintain a high level of performance regardless of the situation.

With IronOrbit Hosted QuickBooks, rural accountants don’t have to waste their time and resources purchasing and maintaining PC workstations; protecting and troubleshooting their QuickBooks installations; and not being able to access their QuickBooks away from the office. They can sign up for QuickBooks Hosting solutions (or other Financial Application Hosting solutions such as Hosted Sage 50 and Hosted Microsoft Dynamics) by contacting us at (888) 753-5060 or [email protected] today!

One of the main reasons that many businesses sign up for IronOrbit Hosted Applications is that our Application Hosting solutions reduce the costs and eliminate the hassles of managing and maintaining an onsite IT infrastructure. IronOrbit Hosted Applications don’t require the purchase or maintenance of any complicated onsite IT hardware and are monitored, protected, and managed by around-the-clock by our knowledgeable and experienced personnel. As a result, it’s often unnecessary for businesses to have any on-premise IT support personnel when they migrate their complete onsite IT infrastructure to an IronOrbit Hosted IT Infrastructure.

Even when IronOrbit Application Hosting solutions don’t cause businesses to downsize or eliminate their IT departments, however, they still assist and reduce the workload of on-premise personnel, allowing them to manage the company’s IT infrastructure more efficiently and effectively and focus on more complex and valuable tasks than simply monitoring and protecting the infrastructure.

How IronOrbit Hosted Applications assist the on-premise IT personnel?

• Included hardware maintenance. We monitor and maintain our servers 24x7x365. We will also take care of repairing or replacing them when they malfunction.

• Included technical support. We provide 24x7x365 all-inclusive technical support with our Application Hosting Service. We can help our users with any problem at any time—including problems not directly related to our hosted solutions that involve local hardware (thin clients, desktops, monitors, printers, scanners, etc.) and locally-installed applications.

• Included patch management. With IronOrbit Hosted Applications, which are updated automatically, IT personnel don’t have to go the trouble of updating applications installed on the hard drives of onsite PC workstations or the centralized applications of onsite terminal servers.

• Included data backups. IronOrbit Hosted Applications are backed up daily.

• Included security measures. IronOrbit Hosted Apps are protected by our Orbital Security System’s firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDS/IPS), antivirus software, and spam and content filters.

• Centralization. Each IronOrbit Hosted App is a multiuser deployment that can be expanded to support an infinite number of users. The data from our Hosted Applications also never leaves our servers, which fulfill all of the processing and storage requirements of our App Hosting solutions. With all of the files associated with a specific application bunched together, it’s much easier for IT personnel to protect and organize these documents. The centralization of our Hosted Applications is also helpful for when businesses want to switch to a different application.

Businesses should sign up for Application Hosting solutions from IronOrbit like QuickBooks Hosting and Microsoft Exchange Hosting to add to the effectiveness of and reduce the workload of onsite IT support personnel today!

The managed services that are included with all of Ironorbit’s hosted solutions (like Hosted VDIs, Applications Hosting Solutions, and Hosted IT Infrastructures) include 24x7x365 technical support, IT security, and managed data backups. Though it’s common for hosting providers to offer managed services like these, only Ironorbit includes all of these managed services with all of our hosted solutions by default. In addition, even with managed services included with our hosted solutions, they still cost only a low, flat monthly fee; other hosting providers, in contrast, view managed services as add-on features and often charge for them on a per-use basis (x amount for every minute of technical support, y amount for every megabyte of data backup, etc.).

One of the reasons that we include managed services with our hosted solutions by default is because hosted solutions, to perform as well as possible, need to be continually managed and supported. Another reason we include managed services is that we want our clients to not have to worry about anything when they sign up for our Hosted Virtual Desktops, Application Hosting Solutions, Hosted IT Infrastructures, etc.—since our managed services protect businesses from security breaches, data loss, and downtime, and our knowledgeable and experienced technicians can resolve any IT problem at any time.

Reasons why Ironorbit is able to provide Hosted Solutions at low, flat monthly fee are:

1. We’re experienced, proficient, and efficient, having provided both hosted solutions and managed services since 1997.
2. Our solutions, though hosted on moderately-priced servers, are as fast and responsive as solutions hosted on much more expensive hardware (a feat accomplished by our Atomic Speed Technology-based architecture)
3. Ironorbit is better positioned than any public cloud hosting company to provide managed services efficiently and cost-effectively, due to the fact our personalized setup process gives us a greater and more intimate understanding of our clients and their IT infrastructures
4. We are uniquely and intensely committed to providing hosted solutions that fulfill all of our clients’ IT requirements and preferences (precluding them from having to perform any IT management tasks or hire anyone to do them) without sacrificing affordability

Contact Ironorbit at [email protected] or (888) 753-5060 to sign up for fully-managed hosted solutions like Hosted VDIs and Hosted IT Infrastructures today! Businesses can also contact Ironorbit at any time to sign up for a free demo of our any of hosted solutions, including our Hosted Virtual Desktops and Application Hosting Solutions.

IronOrbit Hosted Desktops perform better and are more cost-efficient, flexible, secure, manageable, accessible, reliable, and convenient than a traditional onsite IT infrastructure. It’s always been the case that businesses of any size, in any industry, and with any budget would benefit from switching to our Virtual Hosted Desktops; however, due to recent innovations and trends in both IT and the global economy as a whole, it’s actually more beneficial than it’s ever been to sign up for IronOrbit Hosted Desktops.

Reasons for signing up for IronOrbit Hosted Desktop include:

• The mobility trend. An increasing number of businesses either provide their employees with company-issued mobile devices or allow workers to bring their personal mobile devices to the office. IronOrbit Hosted Desktops, which can be accessed from anywhere with any Internet-connected computer, tablet, or smartphone, provide mobile employees with access to fully-functional desktop versions of the their applications.

• Globalization 2.0. Yesterday’s globalization—which mainly took the form of the outsourcing of low-skilled jobs in the West to non-Western countries—is very different from the globalization of today—which involves the nascent middle classes of countries like China, India, and Brazil demanding better jobs to reflect their improved skills and education and importing and purchasing products instead of manufacturing and exporting them. IronOrbit Hosted Desktops enable businesses to hire employees or establish offices in these countries without also having to make any on-the-ground investments in IT hardware or IT personnel.

• Wilder weather. Between 1970 and 2004, reports of natural disasters increased by over 400 percent, and of this 400 percent, only one-third of it is attributable to advancements in storm tracking and reporting, according to Ker Than of LiveScience. Meanwhile, onsite IT infrastructures, because of the sensitivity and brittleness of IT hardware, are unlikely to survive any kind of severe natural disaster, whether it be a hurricane, flood, tornado, earthquake, blizzard, or wildfire. IronOrbit’s three datacenters, however, have raised flooring and climate-control and fire suppression systems; are located in areas (Southern California and inland Virginia) where the possibility of a severe natural disaster occurring is low; and are geographically-separated to prevent our clients from suffering outages or losing data as a result of a single storm.

• Permanent temps. According to Christopher S. Rugaber of the Associated Press, the number of temporary workers in the United States has increased by 50 percent since 2009. Temporary workers (including freelancers, contractors, and consultants) now account for almost 17 million, or about 12 percent, of all employed workers in the United States. According to Elizabeth G. Olson of Fortune Magazine, some economists think the rise in temporary workers is cyclical and connected with the Great Recession, while others theorize that it’s a result of an enduring shift in the economy away from permanent employment. With IronOrbit Hosted Desktops, businesses can provide their temporary workers with fully-functional desktops without having to purchase or maintain any physical PCs. Businesses also avoid having to make any long-term investments in IT hardware or personnel when they sign up for our Virtual Hosted Desktops. Furthermore, the setup and deployment process of our Hosted Desktops is quick and easy.

Businesses can put themselves in a position to take advantage of these trends and conditions by contacting IronOrbit at [email protected] or (888) 753-5060 and signing up for our Hosted Desktops or Hosted Applications today!

A terminal server is a server that’s set up to run Windows Terminal Services, which is a technology that allows multiple users to access centrally-hosted applications in an environment that closely resembles a Windows desktop operating system. Terminal servers eliminate the need for expensive, well-maintained PC workstations (enabling them to be replaced by low-cost thin clients and used or refurbished PCs) because they process and provide data storage for their applications without transferring any of their workload to end-user devices.

Additionally, applications are easier for IT administrators to manage, monitor, and secure when they are centrally hosted on a terminal server; they and their files are also easier for employees to access, which will help businesses to maintain the consistency of their software, documents, and records.

Even more cost-efficient than an onsite terminal server, however, is a Hosted Terminal Server from IronOrbit.

Reasons that IronOrbit Hosted Terminal Servers cost less than onsite terminal servers include:

• IronOrbit Hosted Terminal Services doesn’t require the purchase of any additional servers. An average server costs more than $3,000. Additional upfront costs of purchasing a server include the cost of shipping it (if it’s purchased online) and the cost of paying an IT specialist to install and set it up. Also, be prepared to buy a new server for another $3,000 every 3-5 years, which is as long as a typical server can be expected to last. Meanwhile, IronOrbit Terminal Server Hosting solutions cost only a low, flat monthly fee, and our users aren’t charged anything extra in the event that we have to replace one of our own servers.

• Our Hosted Terminal Servers are managed, monitored, and maintained by our personnel. The average salary of an IT professional capable of managing and maintaining a terminal server is about $50,000 per year. IronOrbit Hosted Terminal Servers, however, are managed and maintained 24x7x365 by our knowledgeable and experienced personnel. These IT management services are included with our Terminal Server Hosting solutions at no additional cost, as well.

• Our Terminal Server Hosting solutions come with (at no additional cost) 24x7x365 technical support, comprehensive IT security, and managed data backups. Meanwhile, it would cost a business with onsite terminal servers $50,000 per year to hire an onsite IT support specialist or $100 per hour to get technical support from an IT services freelancer; and implementing an IT security infrastructure on par with IronOrbit’s and orchestrating daily offsite backups of a complete terminal server would cost tens of thousands more.

• IronOrbit Hosted Terminal Servers are scalable. Businesses can add users and storage capacity to Terminal Server Hosting solutions without having to pay for an additional server. Companies with onsite terminal servers, on the other hand, would have buy a new $3,000 server anytime they want to add IT resources beyond the capacity of their current hardware.

To dramatically lower their IT costs, businesses should contact IronOrbit at [email protected] or (888) 753-5060 to switch from onsite terminal servers to Hosted Terminal Services today!

Virtualization makes it possible to take a single physical server and turn into multiple independently-functioning virtual servers. These virtual servers are as secure and private as dedicated physical servers, and though by definition they share a physical server’s resources with other virtual servers, each virtual server has its own allotted pool of resources that it doesn’t share with its fellow tenants. Virtual private servers bring together the flexibility and cost-efficiency of non-partitioned hosted servers and the security and reliability of dedicated hosted servers, and as a result there’s no more popular or widely-offered hosted solution than VPS hosting.

Why Businesses should select IronOrbit VPS Hosting Solution over other hosting providers?

• Security. Our Virtual Private Servers are protected by our advanced and comprehensive Orbital Security System. Our Orbital Security System includes physical (24x7x365 alarm monitoring and closed circuit video monitoring at our datacenters), operational (ISO 17799-compliant access control and change management), and logical and system (firewalls, IDS/IPS, patch management, gateway antivirus, and content filtering) security measures. Orbital Security allows our Virtual Private Servers to comply with data security regulations such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX, and GLBA.

• Support. Our Virtual Private Servers come with around-the-clock monitoring and maintenance and 24x7x365 all-inclusive technical support (“all-inclusive” meaning that IronOrbit will not only help businesses to fix problems with their hosted servers, but also help them troubleshoot any problems with their local IT hardware and software).

• Cost. IronOrbit Virtual Private Servers don’t require the purchase of any additional onsite servers or the hiring of any additional on-premise IT personnel. In addition, they (and the Orbital Security, 24x7x365 technical support, around-the-clock monitoring and maintenance, and data backups they come with) cost only a low, flat monthly fee.

• Performance. IronOrbit Virtual Private Servers, unlike the Virtual Private Servers of other hosting companies, are as fast and responsive as onsite servers. The difference between our Virtual Private Servers and theirs is Atomic Speed Technology—an exclusive blend of protocols, best practices, and technologies that utilizes intuitive, trend-based disk I/O caching and prevents slow and low-bandwidth networks from dragging down the performance of our solutions.

• Customization. We can build our Virtual Private Servers according to our customers’ exact specifications. Alternatively, if customers aren’t sure of exactly what kind of Virtual Private Server they want, we can build a hosted sever based upon an evaluation of the client’s current infrastructure as well as their IT requirements and preferences. Our Virtual Private Servers are also scalable, so any amount of users and storage capacity can be added to them at any time.

Sign up for VPS Hosting from IronOrbit today by contacting us at [email protected] or (888) 753-5060. Businesses can also learn more about our other Managed Server Hosting options by visiting the Terminal Servers, Citrix Servers, and Compliance Servers pages of our main site.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requires businesses to properly store and protect the credit card information of their customers. The PCI DSS is devised and enforced by the five largest credit card companies in the country: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB. The main financial penalty for failing to comply with the PCI DSS is a fine of between $5,000 and $100,000 per incident. Last week, the newest version of the standard, PCI DSS 3.0, was released, and will go into effect on January 1, 2014.

Requirements introduced in the new version of the PCI DSS include:

• Penetration testing. Test if it’s possible to break into the system containing customers’ credit card data.
• Physical security. Guard against unauthorized physical access to the IT hardware with the credit card info on it. Also, inspect point of sale (POS) devices for signs of tampering.
• User differentiation. Prevent sharing of credentials and/or devices so that individual users of the system can be identified and tracked.
• Adaptable malware protection. Implement a flexible antimalware system that can be adjusted according to the evolving methods of hackers and malware developers.

Businesses can dramatically reduce the amount of work they have to do to comply with PCI DSS 3.0 by signing up for Application Hosting from IronOrbit. Our Hosted Applications like Hosted QuickBooks and Hosted Sage 50 already have enough security measures in place to comply with most of the requirements of PCI DSS.

The ways we protect our Application Hosting Solution include:

• Physical security. We prevent unauthorized access to our datacenters with biometric palm scanners and 24x7x365 alarm monitoring and closed circuit video monitoring.
• Operational security. IronOrbit personnel can access clients’ Application Hosting Solutions only when they have been authorized to do so. For auditing purposes, access by our personnel to the Application Hosting Solutions of our clients is always tracked and logged. Our access control and change management methods and policies comply with ISO 17799 information security guidelines.
• Logical and system security. We use firewalls, IDS/IPS, antivirus software, patch management, and content filtering to protect our Application Hosting Solutions from malware and hacking attempts.

For aspects of PCI DSS 3.0 that businesses have to take care of by themselves (like protecting POS devices from tampering or inappropriate access), we can use our knowledge and experience from prior instances of achieving PCI DSS compliance to provide them with exact instructions on how to do it. If necessary, we’ll also be glad to provide our clients with documentation outlining our security policies and procedures.

Signing up for Application Hosting Solutions like QuickBooks Hosting Solutions eliminates the hassles of complying with PCI DSS 3.0 using internal resources and personnel. In addition, IronOrbit Hosted Applications also perform better (because of Atomic Speed Technology), cost less (we charge only a low, flat monthly fee, even with all of the aforementioned security measures included), and are more reliable, better-maintained, and better-supported (all of our solutions come with around-the-clock monitoring and 24x7x365 technical support) than applications installed on local servers or the hard drives of PC workstations.

Contact IronOrbit at [email protected] or (888) 753-5060 for Hosted Applications compliant with PCI DSS 3.0, and also for solutions compliant with other data security standards such as HIPAA, SOX, and GLBA.

IronOrbit’s Hosted Desktops are an ideal IT solution for small businesses because of their cost-efficiency, security, ease-of-use, and anywhere-accessibility.

Case in point, the National Small Business Administration recently released its 2013 Small Business Technology Survey.

One of the questions that the more than 800 small business owners that were polled were asked was what they felt were their businesses’ biggest challenges in their use of technology.

Tellingly, small businesses that sign up for IronOrbit Hosted Desktops never have to worry about what small business owners in this survey identify as their top concerns, which include:

“Cost of needed upgrades to technology” (44% of business owners in the survey identified this as a significant challenge)

IronOrbit Virtual Hosted Desktops don’t require the purchase of any on-site servers, storage devices, or PC workstations (users’ devices don’t have to handle any of the processing or storage requirements of our Hosted Desktops, so the age or condition of them doesn’t matter). The only upfront costs of an IronOrbit Hosted VDI are a one-time setup fee and the monthly cost of the solution (a low, flat per-user fee).

“Security issues” (42%)

All IronOrbit hosted solutions—among them, our Hosted Desktops, Application Hosting Solutions, and QuickBooks Hosting Solutions—are protected by our Orbital Security System, which includes 24x7x365 monitoring, firewalls, IPS/IDS, antivirus, spam filtering, patch management, and content filtering. In addition, it doesn’t matter if a user’s device is lost, stolen, or hacked, because the data of our Hosted Desktops isn’t stored locally—instead, it always remains securely on our servers.

“Time it takes to fix problems” (41%), “Cost of maintaining technology” (36%), “Breaks in service” (30%), and “Response time from external technology support company” (18%)

IronOrbit Hosted Desktops come with 24x7x365 all-inclusive technical support. Not only does this mean that our personnel can resolve any issues with our Hosted Virtual Desktops at any time; it also means that we can help troubleshoot our clients’ IT hardware (computers, printers, scanners, monitors, tablets, smartphones, etc.) and applications, as well. We also monitor and maintain our Hosted Desktops around-the-clock. Furthermore, 24x7x365 technical support and monitoring and maintenance are included at no extra charge with our Hosted Virtual Desktops. Lastly, our Hosted Desktops also come with a 100% uptime guarantee.

“Lack of expertise” (26%)

It doesn’t require any technical expertise to sign up for or use IronOrbit Hosted Virtual Desktops. Our personnel take care of all of the technical stuff (the setup, technical support, and maintenance). IronOrbit Hosted Desktops are also easy-to-use for anyone that has ever tried out a Windows desktop operating system, since our Hosted Desktops appear and perform just like a Windows desktop OS.

“Location of my business (I am in a very rural area)” (9%)

IronOrbit Hosted Desktops can be accessed from anywhere with any Internet-connected computer, tablet, or smartphone. In addition, our Atomic Speed Technology ensures that our Hosted Desktops perform as well as local desktops regardless of how slow the Internet is in the user’s area.

To overcome the technological challenges of high costs, lack of security, complicated and expensive maintenance requirements, unreliability, lack of internal technical expertise, and being located in a technological backwater, small businesses should contact IronOrbit at [email protected] or (888) 753-5060 to sign up for our Hosted Desktops today.