Accounting
2018 Review of Cloudnine Realtime
Oct. 15, 2018
From the Oct. 2018 reviews of Cloud Hosting systems for accountants.
Acquired by AbacusNext in early 2017, Cloudnine Realtime is a scalable application that is well suited for accounting firms of any size, and is also a good solution for other types of businesses that need application hosting. Cloudnine Realtime has been the winner of The CPA Practice Advisor’s Reader’s Choice Award for Outsourced Technology Services from 2012 through 2017.
Cloudnine Realtime offers four hosting plans to choose from, making it suitable for firms looking to have a single application hosted to those looking for unlimited application hosting capabilities, with the ability to scale up to the next plan if necessary. In addition, Cloudnine is a licensed Commercial Host for all Intuit software products.
Cloudnine’s Service Agreement guarantees a 99% monthly average scheduled availability of all application servers, with a benchmark of 99.999% uptime. The product offers disaster recovery in all of their plans, and currently utilizes data centers in both San Diego, CA., and Austin, TX, with both centers SOC 2/SSAE16 Certified. Both 30-day rolling backups and archived backups are available from Cloudnine as well.
Cloudnine offers compatibility with both Windows and Mac systems. Users can also access Cloudnine from their mobile device using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), with users needing to install an RDP client application prior to use. Cloudnine suggests that users access the system via the C9 Portal, or through either Internet Explorer or Edge, if using a browser.
Cloudnine offers QuickBooks hosting as well as Microsoft Word and Excel hosting in all of its plans. Additional Microsoft applications such as Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Exchange Services, and Sage application hosting are available in the ProPlus, Premier, and Enterprise levels of Cloudnine. Other applications hosted by Cloudnine include Office Tools Pro and Lacerte. Cloudnine also hosts hundreds of third party applications, with a private virtual server option available for those that prefer a more custom solution. A custom hybrid cloud option is also available from Cloudnine, (Enterprise Plan Only) which houses applications on their virtual cloud server as well as on local business or firm servers.
The Cloudnine Portal (C9), is a separate option, providing system users with easy access to their remote service, as well as obtaining help and support. Using the C9 Portal, users can also add, remove, or edit system users, add and remove applications, submit a support ticket, and access the product’s knowledge base.
Support options vary, depending on the plan purchased, with the Pro plan offering only community support and email support options with the other three plans also offering U.S. based telephone support. Those purchasing the Enterprise level plan are also provided with a dedicated support team. Cloudnine’s Online Help page offers users easy access to the product knowledgebase as well as to a variety of user guides and getting started guides, with FAQs available for review as well.
Cloudnine Realtime is a good solution for businesses and accounting firms of any size. The Pro edition of Cloudnine is a good fit for smaller businesses with 1-2 users, and can host 1-3 applications. The Pro Plus Plan is designed for up to 25 users and can host between 3-7 applications. The Premier Plan is for larger businesses or accounting firms that have up to 500 users, and need 8-15 applications hosted. Very large businesses can subscribe to the Enterprise Plan, which is designed for more than 500 users and can host an unlimited number of applications. Cloudnine Realtime pricing is completely customized for each user, with interested parties able to obtain a quote from the website. There is also a free trial available that can be downloaded from the website as well.