With the ever increasing availability of high-speed Internet access you can have your software applications hosted remotely, which allows staff and global offices access to shared applications with simplicity and without the need for IT technicians or support and specific computer knowledge.

There are many business essential software applications that can be delivered remotely and some of the more common ones are Sage Accounts, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Office suite, Adobe Acrobat and almost all Windows compatible applications.

Other benefits of a Terminal Services or Citrix remote access system are:

? Secure E-Mail - plug in Blackberry devices and smart phones to receive secure Microsoft exchange e-mail, and have secure wireless synchronisation for your communications.

? Disaster Recovery - never lose any data or worry about fire and theft, as all data and files are housed in secure data centres. All connections to your remote desktop are encrypted both upwards and downwards, to ensure your communications are safe from hackers.

? Work from Anywhere - take your desktop anywhere in the world and, using any PC or laptop, you can work seamlessly, taking your desktop where you go.

? Remote CRM Hosting - using the power of applications such as Microsoft's CRM and Goldmine, you can increase customer retention and sales and have remote salesforces working efficiently and effectively wherever they are in the world.

Remote IT systems are much more common nowadays, due to the stability and reliability of the Internet, which delivers the remote desktop or remote access service and is a key factor in the performance of your system. In terms of cost, any company, whether they have 1 user or 1000 users will find that the cost is actually much lower than a traditional system, and also delivers disaster recovery benefits that are crucial to most businesses.

Some of the major cost-saving issues are:

? The fact that your business will never need to purchase Microsoft Office suite software as it usually comes included within the remote IT system packages.

? As your IT system is delivered remotely in secure data centres, your IT infrastructure, hardware and support costs are greatly reduced or become a thing of the past as it is up to the remote hosting company to ensure you can access your system, data and files to guaranteed service levels.

One of the only factors to consider is that you have to actually require internet access to access your data and files. However, this can be solved by using synchronization software that will allow you to have the files locally on your laptop or PC, as well as on the remote servers, although this does defeat one of the main objectives with these systems, which is to keep your data and files secure in the event of equipment theft or hackers.