How to Choose the Right ProSeries Hosting Provider

As a tax professional, you always seek advanced solutions to make your life easier. Although various tax software solutions are available today, some stand out more than others.

ProSeries by Intuit is a professional tax software solution offering valuable features, such as sheet entry toggles in tax forms, client checklists, and e-file locked returns.

However, like any other desktop software, ProSeries has some challenges, such as remote access, multi-user collaboration, data security, and hardware costs.

All these challenges can be conquered by hosting ProSeries on the cloud. The cloud environment adds capabilities to ProSeries software, making it a complete tax solution.

Various cloud hosting providers in the market offer cloud hosting solutions. However, some factors differentiate the best ones from others.

Choosing the right provider will help minimize costs, improve operational efficiency, and reduce IT hassles.

Here are some questions you should ask the cloud hosting provider before deciding.

1. What do the customers have to say about the hosting services?

When shortlisting cloud hosting providers to host your ProSeries, you need to research the customers’ opinions about the provider related to support and performance.

Various platforms in the market, such as Serchen and Gartner, display customer reviews on the provider’s services. This gives you a clear picture of what the provider has in store.

Before choosing a provider, review the customer reviews on these public platforms for any red flags.

2. Does the provider offer round-the-clock support?

However competent a ProSeries hosting provider might be, some issues will always arise. The important thing for you to consider is how quickly and effectively these issues are resolved.

Before considering a ProSeries hosting provider, ask them if they provide 24/7 support all year round. Some providers will guarantee 24/7 support but might be unavailable on weekends.

It is also noteworthy to enquire about the support platforms on which the support team is available. For instance, if the provider is available only by email, its response time would be high. The best providers are available on multiple channels, like call, email, and chat.

Also, ask the provider about their response and resolution time. Some providers offer low FRT (First Reply Time) but a high Resolution Time, and vice versa. Ensure that both these are satisfactory to your operations.

3. Where is your ProSeries hosted?

Data centers are the backbone of a state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure. If the data centers hosting your data need to be up to the mark regarding security and performance, anything else would not matter. Based on multiple factors, such as site availability, redundancy, and load bearing, the data centers are classified into 4 Tiers.

You can read about the data center classification parameters from the image below.

Ask the ProSeries hosting provider where your application and data will be hosted. Picking a provider with Tier 4+ data centers is preferred.

The best providers host data in Tier 5; the most advanced data centers have extended capabilities such as air pollutant detection.

You should also ask the provider about the location of the data centers. Proximity to data centers will ensure a zero-latency network.

4. Does the hosting provider offer a free trial?

Trying out any product or service before onboarding is a good business decision. Although most providers in the market offer a free trial, the services in the free trial differ.

Also, some providers might ask you for your credit card information to make the trial available. The duration of the trial is different for different providers.

Before opting for a ProSeries hosting provider, ask whether the provider offers a free trial. If yes, please ensure there are no hidden fees associated with it. Opting for a hosting provider without trying it can lead to vendor lock-in.

5. Is the pricing structure of the hosting provider flexible?

Pricing is where it all comes down to at the end. Even if you like everything about a provider but they are not catering to your budget, the deal can fall short.

Some providers in the market offer fixed pricing plans, where you have to pay a certain amount (monthly or annually) according to the plan. However, other providers provide a flexible pricing plan, where you can tell the provider your requirements, and they can give you a customized quote.

Ask the provider whether they can customize the pricing plan according to your requirements. Also, ask for hidden charges to avoid surprises later.

6. Does the ProSeries hosting provider offer seamless integration?

ProSeries is an advanced tax solution by Intuit. However, you must integrate the tax solution with addons or third-party applications to ensure a smooth tax operation.

For example, you can incorporate ProSeries with an accounting software solution like QuickBooks or a document management software like SmartVault.

These integrations can ensure an error-free tax operation, given that the ProSeries service provider you choose can scale the cloud infrastructure according to your business requirements.

Ask the provider if they can integrate ProSeries with third-party applications. Also, ensure the cloud provider has an auto-scaling feature to add or remove third-party apps per your requirements.

7. What measures does the provider take to ensure data security?

Data security is the biggest concern of tax professionals. As a tax professional, you must maintain your clients’ critical and personal data. Consequently, regarding ProSeries cloud hosting, nothing can be more imperative than data security.

However, there are various aspects to look for in a ProSeries hosting provider regarding cloud security. To create a state-of-the-art security infrastructure, a cloud provider must deploy advanced security policies and infrastructure at the physical (data center), network, and endpoint levels.

For instance, a ProSeries hosting provider might have network security protocols in place but need more data center security.

Ask the provider about their security policies and infrastructure. Some of the critical factors you can ask the provider are:

• Data Center Security — Check what security features are deployed in the data center. Some of them can be 24/7 surveillance, biometric access, etc. Also, check for power and cooling equipment redundancy.
• Network Security — It is the security implemented at the network level. Ask for safeguards like IDPS (Intrusion Detection and Prevention System) and a distributed firewall.
• Endpoint Security — For Endpoint security, you can ask about the antivirus/malware the provider has installed, multi-factor authentication (MFA), etc. Competent providers also offer multi-user access control.

What are the terms and conditions of the SLA?

SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a legal document stating the terms and conditions related to the level of service the provider intends to provide to their customer.

From a ProSeries cloud provider’s perspective, the most vital aspect to consider is “uptime.” Uptime (as the name suggests) is the parameter that tells you the guaranteed duration ProSeries will be up and running.

Before choosing a ProSeries cloud hosting provider, analyze the SLA carefully. The best providers offer a minimum uptime of 99.99%, which means a maximum downtime of 6 minutes a year.

Does the provider ensure Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR)?

In today’s globally connected world, you can’t afford a halt in business operations, not even for a second. Therefore, when you have decided to opt for a ProSeries hosting provider, it becomes the provider’s responsibility to ensure round-the-clock access to your tax software.

Choose a ProSeries hosting provider that deploys Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) safeguards to ensure seamless business operations and data protection.

To ensure BCDR, the best providers in the market backup (and replicate) your data and software to multiple servers placed in the same data centers and diverse geographical locations. This ensures continuous operations even during natural disasters like earthquakes or floods.

Wrapping Up!

Asking the right questions from a ProSeries hosting provider will ensure you get the right fit for your business. It is essential to go through the provider’s SLA carefully and map out the points that need explaining. Opting for the right provider guarantees a hassle-free, cost-effective, and error-free tax process.