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REVIEW: Online 50. By Nigel Harris

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3rd Jul 2006
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Rather than try to reinvent the wheel, why not deliver an industry-standard accounting suite over the Internet? That's exactly what Online 50 does, offering Sage Line 50 Accountant, Accountant Plus and Financial Controller (versions 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12) as an online service. The software is the normal Sage product, so there is no need to dwell on the functionality of the accounting software itself. The service itself is the interesting part.

The technology is impressive. Online 50 has been available for five years now and has a good track record, availability consistently within its service level agreement. Communications are all made through secure Internet connections using the highest available levels of encryption. Once connected each client's data is securely held in an area that other clients do not have access to.

Online 50 runs the web-based front end on Linux servers and the man applications on Microsoft Servers. This has meant that they have been protected from the virulent internet worms in recent times due to the nature of the implementation.

Importantly, Online 50 only uses the internet to connect to the software, the user actually connects to a Windows program, not a browser-based application using HTML forms as is the case with most online accounting services. This has the advantage of familiarity and ease of use. The user benefits from the processing speed of the host server, so running lengthy reports and printouts is probably faster than running them on an average desktop PC. I tried a 70-page nominal enquiry and it appeared on screen almost instantly. Likewise, there was no discernable delay when I printed a trial balance on my local printer.

Online 50 runs on two data centres which are backed up to each other daily, plus the entire system is backed up on tape each night. If your bookkeeper makes a monumental mistake Online 50 can restore your data for you. As this is a normal Windows application you can ' and should - also take local backups of your data in the usual way. A consequence of this is that existing Line 50 users can instantly move to Online 50 with no disruption, and could in due course revert to offline operation later if desired. None of the other online accounting services can offer this.

Online 50 is very much 'software as a service', and priced accordingly. Financial Controller costs £108.33 per month for a single user and £408.33 per month for six concurrent users. These prices include Sagecover. You do have complete flexibility as access is charged monthly, so if you need to add extra users at your year-end or when the FD is working away, they can be added just for as long as you need them.

The additional cost over hosting Line 50 locally buys you a totally scaleable, managed service. You no longer have to worry about maintaining server hardware and backups. You effectively have unlimited storage capacity, so there's no need to monitor your server's disk capacity, with all the problems (and expense) that entails when you need to add capacity.

The software itself is upgraded for you when Sage releases updates and new versions ' although the roll-out of version updates is usually delayed for six to eight weeks to ensure there are no problems. Your users can access the system from any PC in the world that has an internet browser. Broadband is preferable, but the service works more than adequately even over a dial-up connection.

Like many of the online accounts providers, Online 50 is keen to market its service through accountancy firms and offers a partner package whereby firms can add their own branding and re-sell the service to their clients as a value-added service. Firms have direct online access to their clients' live Sage data, enabling them to offer not just bookkeeping support, but real pro-active management and tax planning advice.

The company also offers hosted Sage Payroll, Sage Job Costing, Sage Financial Forecasting, Microsoft Office and CRM applications. They already host IRIS Accounts Production for some firms and are considering a similar service for MYOB users.

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Nigel Harris
By Nigel Harris
27th Jul 2006 17:14

It's not that expensive
I have been looking into costs and you might be surprised:

Sage line 50 Financial Controller, single user/single company with Sagecover costs £1460 (equivalent to £122 per month).

The same product with Online 50 actually costs less, £108.33 per month!

For 3 users/single company standalone software would cost £175 per month while Online 50 charges £228.33, an extra £640 pa for all the benefits of a fully managed and hosted service.

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