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Sage FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions By Those Considering Switching To Us For Their Sage Hosting

 

We want you to be as comfortable and certain about your decision to switch to us for your Sage hosting.  We have put together some commonly asked questions to help answer any of your queries and don’t forget – if you want to speak to us then get in touch and we will gladly help.

 

 

General Questions

Does Sage Hosting include the Sage licence?

Generally we would use your existing Sage licence.  However, if you are looking for a new Sage subscription then we can provide competitive pricing for Sage 50 Cloud Accounts.

What’s the difference between Sage 50 Cloud and Sage Hosting?

Sage 50 Cloud Accounts is the subscription version of Sage but is still a desktop product.  It includes some cloud based features and integration with other cloud services such as Microsoft 365 but by default it isn’t cloud software in the sense that some of its competitors are.   Sage hosting from Your Office Anywhere fully cloud enables Sage so that you can run it from anywhere and on any device.

Does hosted Sage use Sage Drive (Sage Remote Data Access)?

No, hosted Sage doesn’t need to use Sage Remote Data Access.  All the Sage data is held on a remote desktop server in our UK data centre.  This avoids the syncing associated with Sage Drive and also the risks of data corruption suffered by many Sage Drive users.

Customers running hosted Sage can use Sage Drive if they choose in order to share their data with their accountants for example.

Can I run Sage on an Apple Mac or iPad?

Sage doesn’t have an Apple version but by using hosted Sage you can connect to and run Sage from any device including Macs, Macbooks, iPads, and iPhones.

Can I run Sage on an Android device?

Like Apple products Sage also does not have a version that runs on Android.  Using a hosted remote desktop enables you to connect to your Sage software using an Android device such as a tablet or phone.  You just need to download the free Microsoft Remote Desktop Client app from Google Play.

What versions of Sage software will run on a remote desktop platform?

Any Sage application will run on a hosted remote desktop, including all editions of Sage 50 Accounts and Sage 50 Cloud Accounts, Sage Payroll, Sage Manufacturing, and Sage 200.

Can I try Sage hosting out before committing, do you have a trial of hosted Sage Accounts?

Yes, we have a demo server will Sage 50 Accounts installed where you can try the solution out for size for free for a few days using the Sage Demo Data company.

 

 

 

 

Technical Questions

How does Sage Remote Data Access work with Hosted Sage?

If you need to use Sage Remote Data Access, for example to share data with your accounts, then you can run it as normal from the remote desktop platform.  For normal day to day use it is not necessary to use Sage Remote Data Access when running Sage on a remote desktop.

Can I use an old version of Sage on a remote desktop solution?

Yes, you can run any version of Sage on the platform, regardless of age.  For information Sage have declared an issue with Sage version 20 to 26.2 where they will stop working on any computer or platform from 31st September 2022.  This is due to issues with the security protocol used by Sage licencing servers.

How many people can use hosted Sage at the same time?

There is theoretically no limit to the number of users who can connect and run Sage at the same time other than the number of users included with your Sage licence.

Does Your Office Anywhere do the Sage updates?

Generally, we expect our customers to manage their own Sage updates and give them the tools to do this.  Our support team are always available for any customer who is having difficulty with an update.

Can I run Sage Payroll as well as Sage Accounts on a cloud hosted remote desktop?

Yes, you can run many applications on your hosted remote desktop.  Pricing (and system resource) is based on the number of users and applications so please discuss with our sales team if you wish to add additional applications to your remote desktop server.

Can I run Microsoft Office alongside Sage on a hosted remote desktop?

Yes, you can have Office installed on the remote desktop so that you can use all the Sage features such as Send to Excel, or emailing invoices from Sage using Microsoft Outlook.

Can I run other applications in addition to Sage on a hosted remote desktop?

Yes, any Windows application can run on the platform.  Many customers have all their applications running on the remote desktop.

How much RAM and what spec of CPU is included with Hosted Sage?

Many, or most, or our customers are not technical and so we would not expect them to worry about system resources like RAM and CPU.  We include the optimum amount of resource needed to run the hosted applications.   The only time this varies is where applications that can significantly vary in the amount of resource they use are installed, such as browsers, in these situations we will discuss with customer how to decide the correct amount.

Do I need any IT skills or external IT support to use Your Office Anywhere?

No, it is a fully managed service and we look after the technical side of things.   We don’t officially support the Sage application, that is the responsibility of Sage or one of their partners, but we will happily assist with any changes that need making to the server requested by Sage support.

Commercial Questions

What is the contract length?

Just monthly.  We don’t tie customers in to long term contracts.  Our customers stay with us because they want to, not because they are forced in to it.

Can I increase or decrease user numbers?

Yes, it is totally flexible you can add and remove user numbers as needed and will be invoiced based on the maximum number of users in a month.

Is there a setup fee and what does it cover?

The setup fee covers the initial build of your remote desktop server, setting up all the accounts, installing applications and helping the customer copy data up to the server ready to go live.

Can I purchase Sage 50 Cloud subscriptions through Your Office Anywhere?

Yes, we can resell subscriptions and can usually offer a 10% discount against RRP for the first year.

Can I purchase perpetual Sage licences through Your Office Anywhere?

New perpetual licences for Sage are no longer available, however we can still resell additional users or additional companies for existing licences.

I’ve seen a cheaper provider for hosting Sage Cloud, will Your Office Anywhere match their price?

While we wouldn’t dream of questioning you, we would be very surprised if you have found someone cheaper that still provides everything you need to run Sage on a Hosted Remote Desktop platform.  If you send over the competing quote and they are offering a genuinely like for like quotation then we will of course aim to beat it.

When looking for Sage hosting there are certain things that you most definitely must have, that some providers conveniently miss out, which ends up costing you more in the long run, these include but are not limited to:

  • Do they include all required Microsoft licences? You will need as a minimum Windows CALs and Remote Desktop CALs for all users
  • Are they a reputable company? Check their Google or TrustPilot rating.  Your Office Anywhere consistently receive 5 star ratings in Google Review
  • Is it a fully managed service? If they are just renting a virtual private server then that’s next to useless without all the other infrastructure required to enable multiple users to connect remotely.
  • Does the provider include backups, antivirus, managed Windows updates, 24/7 support for critical issues and a 99.5% uptime guarantee?
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to run my own on-premise server to run Sage?

Unless you have an on site server already running to support other applications or file sharing then it is unlikely a local server would be cheaper to run.  Forgetting the cost of the server, installation and configuration by an IT consultant, Windows licences, support, backups antivirus etc. the biggest cost currently will be electricity.   A typical on site server will cost well over £2,000 in electricity per year.

 

Security Questions

Does Sage hosting include backups?

Yes, we backup, off site, the Sage files daily and retain for 20 days.  We also backup the server operating system weekly and keep two previous copies.

We encourage customers to continue with the in built Sage backup utility as Sage won’t support other methods, we will then backup the Sage backup files as well

How secure is Cloud hosted Sage?

Security is paramount and built into everything we do at Your Office Anywhere.  However, taking our word for it would be naïve.  To verify our claims we have become certified for Iso 27001 for our Information Security Management system, and are audited annually.

Would a hosted Sage server be encrypted?

Any data passing over the internet is encrypted using minimum 2048 bit encryption.   Data at rest on your Sage remote desktop server can be encrypted on request.  By default we don’t encrypt servers as it presents some challenges to customers but more than happy to do so if required.

Does Sage hosting include Multi-Factor Authentication?

We can add Multi-Factor Authentication to our service if required.

How many Sage customers does Your Office Anywhere have?

The number of Sage customers increases every month but to give you an idea of scale the number will be several hundred.

How long has Your Office Anywhere been hosting Sage?

Your Office Anywhere (Cardium Outsourcing Ltd) was incorporated in 2005.  Sage was one of the first applications hosted on our platform.

Where would my Sage data be kept?

All our servers are in the UK.  Our primary and backup data centres are in Manchester.

What would happen to my Sage data if Your Office Anywhere ceased trading?

Cardium Outsourcing have been trading since 2005 and have an excellent credit rating, which you can verify using Experian or similar.   If the worst happened and Cardium went into administration then the administrators would ensure customers can retrieve their data.

Where customers are concerned about having access to their data should anything happen to us we have the option of a third party cloud backup where you could restore data to the location of your choosing without our involvement.

From £34.00 per month (excl. Office Licence) 

No minimum number of users

No contract

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