DEPLOYI

NG ACT!

IN A

CITRIX

ENVIR

ONMENT

Jon KlubnikCloudTop OfficeACT! Hosting Quickbooks Hostingjon@cloudtopoffice.com

http://cloudtopoffice.com(866)710-4228

WHAT IS CLOUDTOP OFFICE

ACC Since 2000

Hosting ACT Since 2004 Jon Klubnik Robert Formby Donna Triolo Grace Musuva

Nearly all of our business is providing hosting services for users of ACT!, Quickbooks, Microsoft Office, Sage 50 and Quotewerks

We are based in Sugar Land, TX

Our primary datacenter is in Dallas, TX

WHY WE ARE DOING THESE WEBINARS

I liked the idea of Perfecting ACT!

Love learning new things.

I love hanging out with people who do what I do (ACCs)

WHAT IS CITRIX?

Citrix is a platform build on top of Remote Desktop allows us to deliver Windows application to any internet connected device.

WHY IS CITRIX A BIG DEAL FOR ACT! HOSTINGThis means that ACT! for Web is not your only option

You we can deliver the FULL ACT Desktop application to an IPAD, MAC, Iphone with only a small plugin to install.

YOU, the consultant can have full access to the master ACT! database

• to make changes,

• do imports,

• customize reports, add fields… anything

• You make your changes into ACT, not a proprietary web tool.

WHY CITRIX?

Device Agnostic

Multi Platform

Full Desktop ACT!

Access to add ins

Can be deployed with OFFICE, Quickbooks, Sage 50, Quotewerks

Security

Low Bandwidth

FEATURES MISSING IN ACT! FOR WEBAdd additional user licenses to the

database

Add or modify database fields or layouts

Menu and Toolbar customization

"Show Look For" option

Edit Smart Tasks

Right click functionality (presents browser options)

Create Activity Series

Setup and use field triggers

Import or export data (you can use the Export to Excel function from the list view)

Create new report templates

Sage E-marketing for ACT!* functionality

Add document attachments as shortcuts

Manage Opportunity Product and Process Lists

Synchronize Sage ACT! data with a handheld device

Integrate Sage ACT! with a supported accounting program

E-Mail Document option on Document tab

No Sage ACT! Email client installed locally for viewing or managing email

Source ACT! KB 29493   

MORE FEATURES MISSING IN ACT! FOR WEBEmail Message (from template)

Backup and restore databases

Replace, copy, or swap field data for multiple contacts

Duplicate Checking settings, scan for duplicate records

Edit Contact Access (Make Public, Make Private, Create Access List, Add or Remove Users/Teams) for multiple contacts

Copy or move contact data (merge)

Database maintenance (check, repair, reindex, delete)

Use of Sage ACT! Diagnostics utility

Remote database synchronization panel (create, edit, delete remote databases and sync sets)

Sage ACT! Dialer

Fax integration

Timer

Sage ACT! Scheduler

History recorded when printing a document (Mail merge directly to printer does create history).

No option to "Open each view in its own window" in Preferences

Social Updates

Quick Print

ISSUES WITH SYNCHRONIZATION

Workstation or user issues can cause it to break

Security issues. Data is on the laptop and subject to theft or misuse.

Users must still be responsible ensure sync success

No Real time Data

Difficult to switch workstations

No solution for Mac

There are 1268 Knowledge base articles on Synchronization

REMOTE DESKTOP AS AN OPTION

Much less expensive

More prone to security issues

Limited device support

Ok for internal us or small implementations

OK with High Bandwidth and when users authenticate over VPN first

CITRIX VS REMOTE DESKTOP

Citrix is built on top of Terminal Services (Remote Desktop)

Extra Layer of Security with Citrix

Citrix Supports for a variety of devices natively vs Mac and Windows only for RDP

Citrix is better optimization for low bandwidth scenarios

A recent study shows that Citrix can use up to 73% less bandwidth on your server than Terminal Services.

BENEFITS OF ACT! OVER CITRIX (KB 15275)

Users: No need to install, configure, or manage ACT! on user computers. All

set-up and administration is performed by others. In addition to Windows PCs, ACT! can be available from a range of

computers including Macintosh®, Linux PCs, thin clients, etc. Anytime, anywhere access to ACT!.

Administrators: Central installation and maintenance of the ACT! application and

database. ACT! deployed as part of a published desktop or published application

(Citrix). ACT! deployment and administration consistent with other

applications.

SELLING POINTS FOR ACT! OVER CITRIX

Add ins work

Imports are possible

FULL Use of ACT desktop

Any internet Connected Device

You can log in to ALL of your customers Production databases from a single login.

You don’t need a third party tool to customize ACT!

PUBLISHED APP OR DESKTOP

Published App Puts the ACT Icon on the users Windows or Mac Desktop

Little bit of a learning Curve

Does NOT integrate with local copies of Office

Virtual Desktop – Delivers a Windows Desktop, users and switch back and forth

CITRIX SPECIFIC ACT TECHNICAL ISSUES

Issues with ACT! Internet Mail (KB17444) – I”ve not seen this one.

Unable to Attach E-mails to Contacts When Using ACT! in a Multi-UserCitrix Environment KB 17449) I”ve not seen this one – resolved in later ACT Versions 2008 and higher

Email History Fails to be Recorded Using Outlook® Integration in a Citrix® Environment – Easy to resolve (qpath) kb 23701

Clipboard Operations Not Functioning in Citrix® Environment kb25672 some what rare, but minor issue. Resolved with reboot.

Error: "A generic error occurred in GDI+" kb25903  much less common with 2013 but still happens – RDP Issue 

ACT! ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES WITHIN CITRIX

ACT! Integrates with Office on the server. (Excel, Outlook, Word)

Good news is that this makes the entire environment portable and device agnonstic.

Can present a challenge for email users Work around for email – APFW Client, OutlookIntegratoR1 – DesignR1 User Hosted Exchange or MAPI

IF HOSTING MAKES SENSE

We can deploy a hybrid of APFW, Citrix and Sync within the same organization

Your Customers are supported by ACCs

You keep all of the

training revenue

software sales

Consulting

as much of the support as you want.

CURRENT DEMO PROFILES

• ACT! for Mortgage

• Durkin Impact

• TopLine

• ACT! for Advisors

• ACT! for Physician Liasons

• Stonefield Query

• Hogan Data

• QB Data

• Quotewerks

• Quickbooks

• Sage 50 Peachtree

RESELLER PROGRAM

We are taking a limited number for resellers.

Call me!

Jon Klubnik

jon@cloudTopOffice.com

(866) 710 4228 Donna TrioloDonna@cloudTopOffice.com(866) 710 4228

A FEW OF MY IDEAS…..

ACTPlugins Page - An independent Wikki- like ACT! Addons site – this site would be free and independent . It is up to the community to rate and list their favorites.

ACC Mastermind Group – meet via Skype once a month to share ideas. 15 minutes on a topic, 30 minutes for discussion. Purpose for networking and mutual assistance

Monthly Webinar Training on Growing an ACC Business – Similar to Perfecting ACT, but via Webinar and free. Meet once a month