Why Remote Desktop for Act

Written by Jordan Ofri | 22 July 2011

Reasons to consider ACT! in the Cloud

Today, fortunately, there are many different methods available to access ACT!. In this section, I will focus on ACT! in the Cloud also know as ACT! in the Remote Desktop. Specifically, we are going to focus on utilizing Remote Desktop Server from Microsoft which is an affordable and highly prevalent method of working remotely in Corporate America today. There are a number of benefits to setting up a remote desktop (aka Terminal  Server), so I will try to order them in a sequence that would be of most interest to the ACT! small to medium business community.

When comparing this approach to the ACT! for Web model, the first item of consideration is that the ACT! in the Cloud users get an entire desktop of programs in addition to ACT!. For example, when you log into your Remote Desktop session, it will look and fell just like your underlying Windows desktop, [Start] button and all. You can include the entire Microsoft Office suite on there along with any other software packages you use. I should also mention that you can view your remote desktop on not just your PC, but remote devices such as iPad and other brands.

Using Remote Desktop also has a positive impact on your entire network and/or infrastructure. Older PC's will still be of value and need not be replaced as quickly as Remote Desktop runs on slower hardware. From an IT perspective, costs are lowered because all the work or processing is done on only one computer, that being your server. So, if you have 20 sales reps using ACT!, one tweak, fix or upgrade will benefit them all.

Another benefit is the quick deployment of new users. Once the server is initially setup, adding new users takes only minutes. Picture the standard method of adding an employee in which the new PC may have to be setup by IT and then possibly shipped to the user. Here, the ACT! desktop & MS office are already configured and waiting on the server. We simply email them the login info and they can get to work in potentially, minutes.

Another important consideration for the business owner or manager is security. All the data is on the server and therefor much more secure than if directly on a laptop or PC. How many disgruntled employees have walked away from a company with some or all of their data?

There are many more which I can bullet point at the end of the article, but suffice it to say that this approach is relatively inexpensive in comparison to many of the other ways of extending your enterprise beyond your four walls. Please feel free to call us at 800-550-4647 for a more specific explanation of these detail as they pertain to your companies’ requirements.