If you are a small or medium-sized business (SMB) executive you know what software and services are “mission critical,” i.e., the ones you cannot live without in order to be in business. The obvious ones are communications products and services, computers and now smartphones and or tablets, a suite of productivity tools like Microsoft (News - Alert) Office or Google Docs, etc. Interestingly, and I know this from having been an SMA myself for many years, the next most important capability you need is accounting and collections software. And, in the United States for example, for 70 percent of SMBs this means Intuit’s (News - Alert) QuickBooks is your go-to software. It literally is what you run you business on.

However, and isn’t there always a “however,” the challenge is that the software is expensive, keeping up with the updates can make data migration difficult, the mobile version is problematic, and you need an IT person to help when things go wrong, and they do, and you really need patience because customer support from Intuit is notoriously not the most pleasant of experiences. 

The good news is nGenx (News - Alert) has just made many of your headaches go away. A leading cloud services provider of hosted applications and desktops, xGenx has launched nFinity Desktop SMB Edition. This is a cost effective virtual desktop solution that combines QuickBooks and several of its most popular plug-ins with Microsoft Office and Exchange inside a Windows 7 experience.

Yes you read correctly. The new offer provides the core business productivity and accounting applications used by most SMBs as a service securely from the cloud.

“nFinity Desktop SMB Edition is unlike anything else on the market today. We allow SMBs to get the benefits of cloud computing without leaving familiar and productive applications like QuickBooks and Office by making them work seamlessly on a PC, Mac, iPad or Android (News - Alert) device while their data is stored securely in our cloud,” said Robert Bye, president and CEO of nGenx. “SMBs see that larger competitors are taking advantage of tablets and smartphones, and they want a cost effective and secure solution that will enable workspace mobility and bring your own device (BYOD) policies. Our new offering targets SMBs who want to increase agility and improve efficiency but don’t have the depth of technology expertise required to meet that challenge.”

Other benefits provided by nFinity Desktop SMB Edition include:

• Cost Effective Hosted Applications – SMBs can choose a cost effective bundled option which includes QuickBooks, Microsoft Office, Qvinci, SmartVault, Exchange e-mail and dozens more of the most popular applications that SMBs use to keep their office running smoothly.
• Increased Productivity – SMBs can now simplify their IT management needs and reduce infrastructure costs by taking their desktops and applications to the cloud. This gives them more flexibility to work from anywhere and take time off without worrying about managing in-house servers.
• BYOD Flexibility – SMBs can feel safe allowing their employees to bring their own device (BYOD) knowing that all devices are secured utilizing nFinity Desktop SMB Edition.
• Disaster Recovery – The SMB solution provides professionally managed data backup. In case of a disaster, SMBs still have the peace of mind knowing that their data is safe and can be accesses remotely.
• Proven Security – All data is stored in the nGenx data centers. For the past six years, each nGenx data center that hosts applications, data and desktops has been SAS (News - Alert) 70, Type II and SSAE 16 certified.

I caught up with Robert Bye here at the ITEXPO Austin 2012 event as he and his team were getting ready for the opening of the show and his participation on the October 4 panel at the co-located Cloud4SMB Expo, “Mobility: Driving Business Efficiency using the Cloud.” In fact, on the same day, nGenx CTO Rick Dehlinger will be a part of the panel discussing “Cloud Desktops: Leveraging the Full Potential of the Cloud.”  

Bye noted that thanks to 4G LTE performance is now there for SMB executives to get the performance they need no matter where they are. He added that, “This is the application that takes you to work. As an employer you do not want to be responsible for everything on all of your employees’ desktops and as an employee you want the flexibility to use your personal devices in a way that does not compromise company policies and rules and protects critical information. We protect both employer and the employee by virtually segregating the data. Our solution is all about data integrity and data control not about which device accesses them. “

Think about it. Single view that enables people to work with QuickBooks and associated tools, no worries about whether you are on the right version, the ability to not have to worry about what happens if the PC running QuickBooks is lost or stolen, and highly qualified support around the clock around the world. This is in addition to the benefits of going to the cloud in the first place such as no big upfront expenses for software, more easily managed software licensing, releasing of the scarce IT expertise you may have to concentrate on other business optimization tools like CRM, etc.

nGenx offers a proof of concept engineering service, demonstrations, and even trial accounts (as they say, “if you ask really nicely”). As someone who spent hours being confounded by updates to QuickBooks and the havoc it was causing, this was one of those XaaS capabilities that really resonated. Desktop virtualization may still be in the early stages and by all means should be taken into consideration especially if you have a mobile and dispersed workforce, but xGenx makes for me what is a compelling case with this new offer. 

The exhibit hall opens formally October 3 late in the day. If you rush over to the xGenx booth for a demo of the power of nFinity Desktop SMB Edition you may wish to run to beat me to the head of the line.

Want to learn more about cloud computing solutions geared specifically towards small to medium-sized businesses? Don’t miss the Cloud4SMB Expo, collocated with ITEXPO Austin 2012 happening now in Austin, TX. Stay in touch with everything happening at Cloud4SMB Expo. Follow us on Twitter.