Author Archives: CLASPdev

Is Now the Right Time to Invest in IT?

Making the most of financial downturn and meeting the challenges of work from home.

Of course the answer to the key question here depends on your business. However, businesses who invest in technology now are more likely to grow, according to research from SMB Group. So now might be the right time to invest in IT.

About 41% of midmarket businesses in the U.S. reported declining revenue between March and July last year due to COVID-19, according to survey results SMB Group. Adding to that, many businesses had to pivot to remote work and change their business model overnight.

Now more than ever technology has become critical to business success, not only to meet the minimum requirements of teleworking, but to make a business more agile and drive strategic management.

“Even before the pandemic, the role of technology was increasingly intertwined with business success,” said SMB Group. “As what’s ‘normal’ recedes into the rearview mirror, we don’t know exactly what the next ‘normal’ will look like. Midmarket firms should consider the shifts already underway, how they are evolving, and what new trends are emerging at macro, regional or industry levels.”

Increasing work from home opportunities

82% of midmarket businesses had to implement or expand work from home capabilities in 2020.

While cash reserves remain depleted for many businesses, emerging challenges and opportunities suggest that now is a good time to think about investing in technology. Businesses that have accelerated their technology investments over the last year are 77% more likely to increase revenue, according to SMB Group’s analysis.

Technology Investments

Luckily, we live in the era of cloud and subscriptions licensing. This means businesses don’t have to invest loads of capital upfront to implement new solutions to new challenges.

Extreme value of The Cloud

86% or more of survey respondents rated cloud solutions as extremely or very valuable in helping them to weather the COVID-19 crisis.

Meeting Challenges of Work from Home

The challenges of working from home are not exactly a secret: communication gaps, limited accessibility to business systems, security vulnerabilities and strained internal IT teams. Here’s how to meet these challenges.

Virtual Desktop Hosting

There’s probably no other solution that is more important than desktop virtualization for making teleworking successful in your back office operations.

For desktop virtualization there are three main options: VPN, VDI, and RDS. You can learn more about the differences between these options here: VPN vs. VDI vs. RDS. But in short, Virtual Desktop Integration (VDI) tends to be the most robust. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are a bit outdated in terms of performance and security. Remote Desktop Services (RDS) falls somewhere between.

Desktop virtualization, especially VDI, gives your team a seamless experience and allows them to access the tools they need to their job from anywhere there is an internet connection. Learn about the benefits of Desktop Virtualization here.

Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and virtual desktop hosting are methods for virtualizing your desktop by outsourcing the hosting maintenance to a third-party hoster.

How Virtual Desktop Hosting Helps

As we mentioned above, many businesses are facing shrinking revenue and reduced operating capital. Building a virtual desktop environment in-house requires major upfront capital spending on hardware (servers). Maintaining them requires specialized IT staff and can be costly and difficult. Going through a third-party will not only be more practical financially, it will likely be more successful because it allows your internal IT team to focus on mission critical and customer facing technologies. Perhaps more importantly, a private cloud hosting provider’s core business includes expertise in the following:

Keep in mind that your system availability and security is the priority for any cloud hosting solution provider. Their entire business depends on their ability to deliver these.

Critical Application Hosting

Similar to virtual desktops, a cloud hosting provider can deliver your existing systems in the cloud. For example, if your accounting team is using an Enterprise Resource Planning solution, you don’t need to implement a brand-new solution to go cloud. A private hosting provider can move the system to the cloud. The right provider will also allow you to keep your current software integrations, such as Customer Relationship Management, Expense Management, Payroll and more. Some of the key benefits of using a hosting provider for your critical back office apps include:

What to Look for in a Hosting Provider

Not all hosting providers are created equal. First and foremost, you want a hoster who can deliver expert support. Other key things to look for include:

 

Curious About Private Cloud Hosting? Check out how affordable CyberlinkASP is for you.

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Managed Cloud Hosting: What, Why and How It’s Good for Software Users and Providers

Tailored services and strong partnerships—It’s a win-Win.

The benefits of going cloud are pretty well hashed out at this point–mobility, security, outsourced maintenance. For business users and their software providers, a private managed cloud hoster is often the best option for going cloud.

What is Managed Cloud Hosting?

A 3rd party or outsourced hosting provider is a managed service provider who specializes in tailoring cloud infrastructure and security for their clients. Usually for a monthly subscription, they host your business software in a secure cloud environment on servers they monitor and maintain, making it accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. A managed cloud hosting provider delivers a higher level of service than Azure, AWS and other large cloud service providers. Plus, private hosters can tailor cloud environments to integrate with systems in those larger clouds.

Why Managed Cloud Hosting?

For many businesses, going cloud through a cloud hosting provider spares them the up-front capital expense of building out their own server environment to move their back-office applications to the cloud. It also frees up time and resources that would be needed to support, maintain and monitor in-house cloud. At the same time, many businesses want to maintain a level of control over certain types of systems like accounting software and data. A private hosting company gives them the best of both worlds. Additionally, software providers often partner with a managed cloud hoster to deliver their solutions because it helps them provide better service to their clients.

Your software service vendors are focused on providing implementation, customization and configuration services for your business software. But cloud architecture isn’t necessarily their area of expertise. Many vendors often partner with a 3rd party hosting company to deliver solutions via the cloud. This generally turns out to be a win-win for users and providers. Here’s why…

Why Managed Cloud Hosting is a Win-Win for Users and Software Providers

Value added resellers and independent vendors are experts at delivering software that is tailored to your needs. Their intellectual property is what makes their solutions work. The more resources they can leverage to innovate with their client-facing IP, the better their solutions are able to meet your changing needs. Partnering with a private hosting provider means your solution provider doesn’t have to expend resources building and maintaining cloud infrastructure, so they can focus on delivering cutting edge solutions.

With a cloud provider who’s 100% focused on cloud security and performance, users get more reassurance their systems will be secured with backups, monitoring and maintenance included to ensure your software and data are always available.

“An ideal option for businesses that are scaling up, down, or into new geographies.”

 

Through this type of partnership, the user gets the best of both worlds. They get to go cloud, they get expert software guidance, expert cloud and security service and they get a personalized service experience from both.

“The cloud market is very fragmented resulting in solution gaps, unclear accountability structures, and complexity,” said Strickland Jones, Managing Partner for Global Technology Market (GTM). “Cyberlink’s offering is simple and comprehensive, therefore easily understood by our MSP partners and clients.”

CyberlinkASP recently teamed up with GTM to deliver managed Dekstop-as-a-Service to GTM’s clients. Read the Press Release

“Cyberlink’s DaaS can serve up any application, legacy or SaaS-based, through a single secure interface,” Jones said. “There are also no variable consumption costs making it easy to invoice and an ideal option for businesses that are scaling up, down, or into new geographies.”

The strength of these partnerships makes for a win-win for both vendors and the software user. That’s why more than 70% of CyberlinkASPs users were enabled by similar partnerships.

“Our partnership with Global Technology Market is a direct reinforcement of our belief in the channel and the increasing value of DaaS in this time of remote work and cybersecurity,” said CyberlinkASP’s Chief Revenue Officer, Brian Kirsh.

When a managed cloud hosting provider delivers combined cloud and IT support, it allows the partner to focus on the strategic elements of the relationship while having a trusted partner deliver both the platform and support. This translates to better service for the user on both fronts.

 

CyberlinkASP provides secure, reliable hosting services for all of your back office apps.

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GTM Chooses CyberlinkASP for Its Managed Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) Offering Cyber Attacks by the Numbers and How to Defend Your Small Business

Latest cyber security research, Florida water service breached and securing your systems.

The number of cyber attacks on small businesses is growing. About 28% of U.S. breaches in 2020 targeted small businesses, according to research from Verizon. In this post we will share some other statistics around data breaches and look at ways small businesses can secure their data and systems.

Cyber Attacks by the Numbers

Cyber attacks on web apps doubled in 2020 over the previous year, according to Verizon and almost 90% of breaches were financially motivated.

While the number of attacks made via web apps doubled last year, it is also important to remember that the number of web apps is growing a staggering rate. These attacks are largely on new and under secured applications. The numbers don’t necessarily reflect attacks on web applications from reputable providers like Microsoft.

How to Protect Your Small Business Against Cyber Attacks

  1. Train Your Team – Put in place basic security practices and policies. Include internet usage guidelines and email usage guidelines. Educate your team with the latest updates on common threats.
  2. Protect Your Resources – Install the latest security software and keep apps up to date with the latest versions. This includes web browsers, email, web apps and operating systems. Scan software updates through your antivirus software.
  3. Monitor and Firewall Your Network – Protecting your network behind a firewall seems obvious at this point but it’s still important to mention. It’s also critical to monitor your systems for signs of a breach. Also, work with your remote staff to ensure their home office systems are secured.
  4. Create and Enforce a BYOD Security Policy – With quarantine forcing employees to work from home in record numbers, this is more important than ever. If employees use mobile devices like tablets or phones, they should also know that quickly reporting stolen or lost devices to administrators is critical to keeping your network secure.
  5. Backup Regularly – Automatically backing up your data at least weekly with copies stored offsite and in the cloud is critical to keeping your data safe should a breach occur, or even in the event of a natural disaster such as a fire or flood.
  6. Secure Your Devices and Apps with Strong Passwords – Require separate user accounts with strong passwords for all users. Consider implementing multi-factor authentication requirements and require password changes every 90 days.
  7. Audit your Security – Regular audits by an in-house expert or outside consultant will ensure you are staying up-to date with the latest security challenges.

Recently a municipal water plant in Florida had its data systems breached. The organization was admittedly underfunded and as a result lacked the resources to follow the above security standards. For starters, they were using outdated operating systems and sharing passwords. A hosting provider could have helped them prevent the attack with higher levels of security, reduced maintenance costs and updates included for many of their software solutions.

How A Hosting Provider Can Strengthen Your Cyber Security Efforts

In the early days of cloud computing there were a lot of fears about security and the cloud. These fears quickly dissipated as businesses began to realize that the right cloud services provider can deliver the highest levels of data security. When you carefully select a private hosting provider for your businesses systems and data, you get a solution from a provider whose core business is securing your systems. For most small businesses, this means a greater level of security than an SMB can build for itself.

For example, CyberlinkASP delivers the highest levels of security and service. When a Cyberlink customer recently opened a phishing email with an attack bot in it, our expert monitoring found and eliminated the threat immediately. Then we found the exact server, company and user where the virus entered the system and provided training to that customer to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. When your virtual desktops, accounting software and other systems are hosted with this level of service, it’s easier than ever to achieve the seven security tips above.

If you are looking to go cloud with a virtual desktop solution or even complex accounting software with multiple integrations, CyberlinkASP can deliver the goods.

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VPN vs. VDI vs. RDS

What they are, which is better and where DaaS and virtual desktop hosting come in.

Whether you’re a new start-up, an existing business updating current teleworking capabilities or you’re just trying to catch up with pandemic-era work from home requirements, you may be weighing your options to enable remote access to your business systems. So what’s the difference between VPN, VDI and RDS? Let’s find out.

Defining VPN, VDI and RDS

VPN – Virtual Private Network

A virtual private network or VPN is a fairly old way of connecting users to a corporate network and resources such as shared folders, printers and applications. It allows users to connect their desktop to a private office network using a public network (the internet) by way of an encrypted tunnel. This allows the user’s machine to run as if it was in the office and all the processing is done on the user client (the remote worker’s PC).

VDI – Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure or VDI creates virtual machines that live on a server. VDI environments tend to be more complex than remote desktop for example and require more management. However, users are able to access these machines through their devices while the servers do the heavy lifting of processing. With VDI, users have their own dedicated virtual desktop where they can run a Windows instance that can be configured to best support their needs. This provides a more familiar user experience that performs as it would in a traditional install on their machine. More about VDI

RDS – Remote Desktop Services

Remote Desktop Services allows all users to log into a remote desktop hosted on the server. With RDS the user can log in from any machine and all users will have the same experience for the most part. This option is generally less customizable than VDI. Rather than a dedicated virtual desktop, RDS users share the same desktop. More about RDS

Which is Better VPN, VDI or RDS?

VPNs offer a relatively low-cost solution and many in-house IT shops are familiar with the technology. However, they often deliver sluggish performance as they rely heavily on the processing power of the user client and the user’s internet speed for processing. Because VPNs rely on the user client, you are limited as to what machines you can use (thin clients are pretty much off the table). Worst of all, VPNs are difficult to secure and are vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

Despite the cost and complexity of VDI, they offer significant advantages over the other two options. VDIs require a software solution like Citrix and can be more cost intensive than a VPN, but VDI offers the highest levels of performance, seamless user experience and are less vulnerable to cyberattacks. Because the processing is done on a server, VDIs work on almost any machine (Citrix offers access clients for most devices being used today, including thin clients).

The key advantage of RDS is its simplicity. RDS is a middle ground solution compared to VPNs and VDIs, in terms of cost, performance and maintenance. RDS offers high performance and security and may be less cost intensive than VDI. However, RDS does not ensure the same ubiquitous experience across devices as VDIs and is less customizable to the end user’s needs.

So which is better? It depends largely on your needs and budget. That said, we do believe that VPNs are outdated, sluggish and highly vulnerable to breaches.

Where do DaaS and Virtual Desktop Hosting Fit?

Desktop as a Service (DaaS) and virtual desktop hosting are methods for virtualizing your desktop by outsourcing the hosting maintenance to a third party hoster. Desktop virtualization is maintenance intensive. Virtual desktops of any kind take up a lot of room on your servers and properly securing them requires a lot of expertise and monitoring. Learn about benefits of DaaS

Outsourcing a third-party service provider to implement and host your virtual desktop system frees up your internal IT resources so they can focus on more revenue generating systems, like client management, customer portals and point of sale systems. For startups, DaaS allows your IT team more room to focus on innovation and getting the operation off the ground.

What’s more, security is the bread and butter of a DaaS or hosting provider–it’s essential to their business and operations. They have a team of experts and myriad monitoring solutions, so they are better equipped to manage and secure your desktop virtualization.

DaaS and VDI hosting also save you upfront expenditures if you are implementing a new system. Rather than dumping major capital expense into servers and server maintenance infrastructure, you pay a subscription fee so you can be up and running quickly at low cost. This is especially significant for startups.

Ready to get started with Virtual Desktop Hosting? Check out what CyberlinkASP can do for you.

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Which Virtual Expos to Attend and How to Win at Them

Conferences are a major part of belonging to the Information Technology community. During COVID-19, most of the conferences we have traditionally planned our travel and budgets around have gone virtual. While there is no replacing the value of in-person networking, one of the benefits of virtual expos is that you can potentially attend more events than you might in person. In this post we will look at a list some of the premier events for our partners and customers, and some tips on how to get the most out of virtual conferences.

Virtual Conferences 2021

Here’s a short list of virtual tech expos we think our customers and partners might want to attend.

Citrix Field Kickoff (January 12-14 And 19-21)
A reimagined Citrix Summit where users and vendors come together virtually and unite around a common vision of empowering secure, flexible work to help customers drive better business outcomes.
https://www.citrix.com/fieldkickoff/

SaaStock (February 23-25)
Helping SaaS companies gain traction, grow, and scale. See how other companies are making changes, to help you act quickly and make the difficult decisions that are needed right now.
https://www.saastock.com/remote/

Microsoft Ignite (March 2-4)
Connect with the Microsoft community to gain practical insights and best practices to help meet the expectations of the organizations, agencies, and citizens you serve.
https://myignite.microsoft.com/

TheChannelCo XChange (March 8–11)
Join TheChannelCo for an interactive virtual experience, delivering strategic thought leadership, targeted boardroom discussions, peer-to-peer networking, technology demos and more.
https://event.thechannelco.com/xchange-plus-march

DynamicsCon (March 16–18)
Free virtual learning experience for Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365), Dynamics GP & Power Platform users and professionals.
https://dynamicscon.com/

Directions North America (April 26-28)
Virtual for the first time, attendees can use the many networking opportunities at the conference to grow and enhance relationships with other partners, ISVs, service providers, and Microsoft.
https://www.directionsna.com/

Community Summit (TBD)
The largest virtual gathering with hundreds of educational sessions covering Microsoft Power Platform, D365 BC/NAV, D365 FO/AX, D365 CE/CRM, Dynamics GP, and Dynamics SL.
https://www.dynamiccommunities.com/events/community-summit-north-america/

Citrix Summit Series (Registration Is Live Sept 15)
Citrix Synergy has been the major conference for the Citrix community and it is going virtual as the Summit Series during pandemic. Get the information you need to thrive right now.
https://www.citrixsynergy.com/

SAGE Advantage (Nov 8-11)
The premier conference for Sage Intacct customers and partners.
https://www.sageintacct.com/advantage

We know this list is not comprehensive. We plan to update this list as more virtual conferences come to mind throughout the year.

Did we miss a virtual conference you think is important? Let us know

 

5 Tips For Virtual Conferences In 2021 And A List Of Top Tech Expos.

With a little bit of research and a lot of thought, we’ve come up with these 5 virtual conferences best practices to help you get the most out of virtual conferences 2021. These tips are geared toward on-camera networking to ensure you make a lasting impression at all your virtual expos this year.

1. Invest in a Virtual Booth

In other years you might invest in a booth. This year you can create a virtual background or invest in a physical backdrop with all your snazzy branding to place behind you when attending video meetups or when delivering your own virtual sessions. Physical backdrops are preferable for a more natural and trust-worthy presentation. This is a good way to maintain privacy and offer a professional view of yourself when networking. Branded shirts are a good idea too.

2. Create an Appointment Calendar

Use Calend.ly or a similar tool to simplify how you set up one-on-ones. This will keep you from overbooking your time and make it easier for your partners and customers to connect with you.

3. Use Sign-up Forms for Giveaways and Raffles

It wouldn’t be a conference without schwag. Put a form on your website for people to sign up and receive a free gift delivered to their house or office. Since you might not have the same traffic you would at a real-world conference, you can even consider investing in higher priced giveaways. Don’t hesitate to create a raffle for high-ticket prizes you can always send directly through Amazon or other online marketplaces.

4. Invest in Tele-Meeting Tech

This is a key investment that will impact your professional appearance. The good news about this investment is that it is reusable. A condenser mic, lighting, high-def webcam and similar tech might not be the cheapest purchase, but you will be able to use it at all your expos and continue to use them during your regular workday meetings and podcasts where you may be a guest speaker in the future.

5. Revisit Your Telework Best Practices

Over the last year, we’ve all grown accustomed to meeting virtually. The only problem with our newfound comfort level with being on camera is we run the risk of being a little too comfortable. When attending conference sessions, take time dust off your tele-meeting best practices. Be professionally groomed. Find a quiet place where you will have few interruptions. Turn your phone alerts down or off. Mute your mic when in a large group and not presenting.

 

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Why Move Your ERP to the Cloud Through a Hoster

You don’t need a brand-new solution to digitally-Transform your accounting department.

The benefits of cloud-based accounting are well covered—superior data recovery, more storage, flexibility for your workforce, reduced downtime, improved security and expert support—and these days there are a variety of cloud-native enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions. But with so much uncertainty in the last year, now might not be the best time to switch to a brand-new accounting system. The good news is you don’t have to.

5 Good Reasons to Choose ERP Hosting Over a New Cloud-Native Solution

1. Smoother Change Management – Switching mission critical systems like accounting software can create major strain on a business: New implementations require heavy lifting from your IT staff. End-users are often resistant to change and they will inevitably struggle as they learn the new software. However, when you move your existing ERP to the cloud with a private hosting provider you’re simply porting your existing solution into a new environment. This creates less strain than a new solution and it enables your end-users to use the system securely from anywhere.

2. Keep Your Customizations – From customer configurations to integrations, going cloud with a hosting organization allows you to keep your exact ERP system. Like we said above, this means less heavy lifting for your IT team and quicker adoption from the end-users. Cloud ERP software that is built only as a cloud solution can’t offer this. For one thing, there are bound to be major functionality changes. For another, many of your favorite add-on solutions like expense management or vendor management won’t be supported.

3. Save on Upfront Expenses – While most cloud-native SaaS solutions offer monthly subscriptions with no upfront licensing costs, you still face the upfront expense of implementation and adoption. The time to go-live is longer and the project is more strenuous. This all equates to cost. Many of these obstacles are smoothed by partnering with a hoster to move your existing solution to the cloud.

4. More Control – Similar to number 2 above, ERP cloud hosting offers a higher level of ownership so you can tailor your system for your own needs. Whether you have a high level of compliance concerns or a need for deep customization and integrations, your hosting provider gives you more control over your solutions than a one-size-fits-all ERP cloud vendor.

5. Trusted Cloud Partner – A crucial difference between a private hosting provider and a cloud solution vendor is that a hosting provider is your true partner. A trusted partner has deep knowledge of your industry and your system. A large vendor simply can’t compare when it comes to personalized service.

While many internal IT shops have the skills and expertise to build their own hosting or VPN environment, this requires intensive management and maintenance. Not to mention, homegrown environments are difficult to secure and ensure compliance. By choosing a trusted hosting partner for cloud ERP, you get a secure, reliable environment and you can free up your own IT staff to focus on revenue generating software like your customer portals or POS systems.

We live in a cloud-first world and the availability of on-premise solutions is shrinking. A hosting provider can help you manage your hybrid environment so you can go cloud at your own pace.

CyberlinkASP provides secure, reliable hosting services for Microsoft Dynamics ERP, Sage, Syspro and more. See what CyberlinkASP can do for you

Pros and Cons of Dynamics GP & Dynamics 365 Business Central

Whether you’re doing initial research into Dynamics GP and Dynamics 365 Business Central or you’ve been a dedicated GP user for years, you’re probably wondering if 365 Business Central is a worthwhile investment. Below, we’ll outline some of the benefits and drawbacks of each.

At CyberlinkASP, we know that making the decision to commit to one or the other isn’t always straightforward. If you’d like additional information after reading this piece, just get in touch with our team and we’ll be happy to help. We’ve been a trusted provider of Microsoft Dynamics hosting for years and can provide you with everything you need to know in order to make an informed decision.

Licensing and Hosting

Let’s start by discussing Dynamics GP licensing. If you purchase Dynamics GP for your business, you’re really purchasing the software through perpetual licensing. This means that you pay an up-front fee to use the software as well as additional fees for maintenance and major upgrades. As far as hosting is concerned, Dynamics GP provides you with the opportunity to host through your own server or go through a third-party hosting provider.

Dynamics 365 Business Central is hosted through Microsoft Azure, which means that you won’t have to find and commit to a third-party hosting provider. It also means that the software will be updated automatically, saving your IT department the hassle of keeping everything up-to-date and eliminating the costly fees that are sometimes associated with using Dynamics GP.

Additional Functionality

Dynamics GP provides financial and distribution software as part of the standard package with the option to purchase additional software for payroll and HR, services, manufacturing, and other customizations. Dynamics GP has also been around long enough that independent parties develop additional applications to fill gaps and address user needs. Unfortunately, this can also become overwhelming and somewhat unwieldy for new users looking for consistency and uniformity in the add-ons they purchase.

Business Central’s capabilities are approximately similar to Dynamics GP’s, with one crucial difference: Many companies are developing add-on applications in Microsoft’s Extension platform with Business Central in mind. This means that although Business Central’s add-on market is not yet as robust as Dynamics GP’s, it’s likely that it will be in a matter of time.

Functionality

We won’t get into the details of Dynamics GP and Business Central’s functionality beyond two major differences: warehousing and payroll. Dynamics GP includes payroll functionality for U.S. and Canadian clients, which can be convenient for clients looking for an all-in-one solution. However, it does not include functionality for warehousing, which can be a significant drawback for many clients.

Business Central, on the other hand, provides several powerful features such as warehouse management, budgeting features, cash flow projections, and Dynamics CRM integration. It does not include payroll functionality, which can increase the operating costs if a third-party vendor is needed.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, the choice between Business Central and Dynamics GP is one that needs to be made according to your business’ short- and long-term needs. If you would like to discuss which one is right for your business and learn more about cloud hosting, please contact a CyberlinkASP team member.

The Real Truth About Dynamics GP? It’s Not Going Anywhere

Despite rumors that Microsoft Dynamics GP is at risk of being phased out by Microsoft, GP remains one of the most versatile and intuitive ERP solutions for small to midsize businesses. In this post, we discuss the rumors and explain why you shouldn’t be worried about Microsoft Dynamics GP going anywhere in the near future.

CyberlinkASP is proud to support Dynamics Hosted ERP. If you’re interested in learning more about how this software line can help your business become more efficient, streamlined, and profitable when combined with our cutting-edge cloud hosting services, contact our team.

Rumors

Whether you currently run Dynamics or you’ve considered investing in it, you’ve probably heard conflicting information about the software’s future. As a cloud hosting company that pays careful attention to all of the industry’s rumors and information drips, we’ve certainly heard our fair share. Some of the most common rumors we’ve heard include:

Before we get into the details, we want to make sure that you know that none of these rumors are true.

The Truth

The truth is that many of these rumors are based on a change that Microsoft made in 2019. “Dynamics GP 2018 R2” became “Dynamics GP,” which is certainly easier to say and remember!

Microsoft also announced that they’re streamlining Dynamics GP and making the update cycle more consistent with other their products, which are typically updated and re-released each year. This is also known as the “Modern Lifecycle Policy.” This means that although users will need to update the software and purchase the newest version each year, they will also benefit from better support and more in-depth testing before each release.

Microsoft has released their update schedule through 2024, and it’s likely that they’ll periodically add to it as they create goals for the software.

Now that we’ve cleared up the confusion, let’s turn our attention to where the confusion came from in the first place.

As we mentioned at the outset, much of the confusion comes from competitors hoping to get a piece of the pie Microsoft is currently enjoying. Telling potential clients that the software they’re currently using is “just fine” isn’t the best marketing strategy, so it’s not surprising that some vendors are sowing seeds of doubt amongst loyal Dynamics GP users. As with any claim that sounds counterintuitive or surprising in the context of what you already know, it’s important to evaluate the source of the rumor and their motivations for making certain claims. In this case, it’s clear that the competition is simply attempting to scare users out of Microsoft’s market.

CyberlinkASP plans to continue supporting Microsoft GP products for the foreseeable future — contact our team to learn more about how we can seamlessly integrate it into your organization!

Law Firm IT: Why a Cloud Decision Is Actually a Compliance Decision

Security, compliance, and reliability are three of the most important qualities every law firm and legal department’s IT resources should exemplify, but they aren’t easy to achieve, especially on their own. In this post, we’ll explain why a decision to move your firm’s IT infrastructure to the cloud is actually a decision to put compliance first while also improving security and ensuring reliability.

CyberlinkASP provides effective and affordable desktop and cloud hosting services for law firms and legal departments. If your group is interested in streamlining processes and reducing the risk of a security breach compromising your firm, contact our team to request a free, no-risk software demo.

Why Cloud Hosting Is Becoming More Common In the Legal Industry

It’s not uncommon for law firms and legal departments to make the switch to cloud hosting services from a reputable provider if they’re working with a client in a highly regulated industry. GLBA, HIPAA, and other common regulations can be a headache to understand and even more complicated to implement. You may even find your firm needing to seek outside legal counsel and advice about how you can keep your organization compliant with the relevant laws and regulations. However, outsourcing compliance work in a piecemeal manner will end up costing your organization more money each time you need to update your policies or meet a new security threshold.

Cloud hosting with a company like CyberlinkASP allows you to offload both compliance and IT concerns to a group of experts who understand the needs of clients in the legal industry. We’re SSAE 18 certified, which means that we meet the compliance and security standards set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. We’ve done all of the research and heavy lifting in order to ensure that our clients can feel confident about their decision to partner with us.

We also make it easy to streamline, secure, and scale your IT infrastructure through our desktop hosting services. We can provide your entire team with the applications you currently use without any of the unnecessary programs that slow down traditional machines. We’ll provide your entire team with up-to-date versions of the software needed to collaborate with team members and focus on complex cases, allowing you to give your clients your firm’s full attention.

CyberlinkASP also offers 24/7, 365 monitoring with a 100% data recovery guarantee. If your firm does come under attack or a breach occurs, our team will be there immediately to solve the problem.

The Bottom Line

Law firms and legal departments have plenty of responsibilities to track — compliance doesn’t need to be one of them. Just as attorneys delegate research and other responsibilities to legal assistants in order to save time and devote more of their attention to clients, your organization should delegate its IT and compliance needs to a company that’s worked with clients in the legal industry for years so that you can devote your resources to bigger priorities.

Contact the CyberlinkASP team to request a free software demo for your firm or legal department!

Wyse Thin Clients: Reducing Cost and Data Security Risk

Thin clients are changing the way that businesses think about their IT infrastructure. If you’re not already familiar with the term, “thin clients” are computers and other devices that operate using applications and resources stored remotely instead of relying on a physical hard drive located in the machine. There are numerous benefits of using thin clients in organizations of any size, but today, we’re looking at the benefits of Wyse thin clients in particular.

Wyse is a comprehensive and innovative line of thin client products developed by Dell. As experts with years in the cloud and desktop hosting industry, we couldn’t be more excited to see products like the Wyse thin clients making their way onto the market and into workplaces across the country.

Read on below to learn more about the benefits of integrating Wyse thin client technology into your workforce, and give CyberlinkASP a call to learn more about our affordable, secure, and fully scalable cloud and desktop hosting solutions that run flawlessly on Wyse products!

Affordable Devices for Every Workforce

Companies are becoming more and more comfortable with, and enthusiastic about, remote work. Studies show that employees are both happier and more productive when they have the freedom and flexibility to work remotely, and Wyse has options for both workforces that work from home and workers who get things done on the road. They’re also extremely affordable and easy to customize due to the fact that they don’t need the extra hardware required to physically store data and applications.

Common IT Pain Points Addressed

Security breaches are every IT department’s main concern. Given that many employees are working with sensitive information on the road and from their homes, it’s not unreasonable to assume that, at some point, a device will be lost or stolen. Wyse thin clients access data and applications stored in a remote cloud, meaning that if a device is lost, the technology is likely to be the company’s only loss.

Updates and other IT maintenance tasks are also common pain points that Wyse thin clients address. They offer instant access to uniformly updated applications, which means that your workforce won’t have to deal with incompatibilities between different versions of the same software. It also means that your IT department will have more time to focus on the big picture instead of the mundane details of day-to-day operations.

Options for Every Industry

Versatility is another major benefit of Wyse thin clients. While some thin clients are designed for a specific vertical, Wyse thin clients are perfectly suited for:

Contact CyberlinkASP to Learn More About Cloud and Desktop Hosting

CyberlinkASP is a premier provider of desktop and cloud hosting solutions in many of the same industries, and more. If you’re interested in learning more about how a hosted desktop solution could benefit your organization, please get in touch with our team for a free, no-risk software demo.

We look forward to speaking with you!

Why Desktop as a Service Is Right for Your Business

Desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) is revolutionizing the way that businesses manage and use technology. In this post, we’ll discuss five of the many benefits of DaaS and explain why your organization should consider making the switch.

CyberlinkASP provides premier desktop and cloud hosting services for a wide range of verticals. No matter what your organization’s needs are, we have scalable solutions that meet your needs without exceeding your budget. Read on to learn more about how DaaS could improve your business’ workflow and get in touch with our team for a free software demo!

Five Great Benefits of DaaS

Reduced IT Strain

DaaS hosts your company’s operating system, desktop, and applications on a cloud server that can be accessed at any time from anywhere. This means that your IT company is effectively outsourcing everything aside from issues relating to the physical hardware required to operate and access the virtual desktop.

Lower Data Management Costs

Every business’ goal is to scale with their business. Eventually, you’ll need to consider an on-site data center or a third-party data center that can accommodate your growing needs. DaaS through CyberlinkASP allows you to get both cloud hosting and virtual desktop hosting from the same provider, allowing you to offload your data management needs and IT infrastructure needs to the same company.

Desktop Deployment Speed

How long did it take you to develop your company’s IT infrastructure? We’re willing to bet that the initial setup took several days and that adding new users, updating software on every machine, and making sure that each employee has the tools they need to do their job are all ongoing issues for your IT department. DaaS eliminates the need to develop an extensive infrastructure under your company’s roof — current employees and new users simply log into a machine that can access the cloud.

Improved Security

At the time of writing this article, almost every company that can work remotely is doing so. This means that employees are accessing their work from various devices in different locations, putting your organization at risk of data loss if a device is lost or stolen. DaaS requires employees to carry only the necessary hardware on their person in order to access data stored in the cloud. This means that if a laptop is lost or another device is stolen, the only loss to the company is the physical hardware. With more companies making the switch to permanent remote work, the security benefits of DaaS are reason enough to make the switch.

Flexibility for Remote Workers

Speaking of permanently working remotely, DaaS can allow remote employees even more flexibility when it comes to using devices they’re more comfortable with and productive using. It also allows contractors, temporary workers, and specialized workers with a streamlined way to access your company’s infrastructure and get to work.

If you would like to learn more about how cloud and desktop hosting can help your business thrive, reach out to the team at CyberlinkASP to request a free, no-risk software demo!