START-UPS AND small businesses are more comfortable with working online than larger firms and have the flexibility that lets them do so, according to Brian McIntyre, head of RD at Sage Ireland.

He said the company had worked closely with small businesses while developing its cloud-based Sage One financial product, which was formally launched this week, and had built it around their demands.

“We’re responding to what a lot of small business users are telling us,” said Mr McIntyre.

“They’re more comfortable with the internet and the security around that, they see the advantages and are keen to purchase online solutions.” However, while newer businesses are more open to the idea of storing sensitive data online it was still important to get the security right, he said.

Sage partnered with Rackspace to develop secure hosting, which will store the information of Sage One users and other Sage cloud products as they are launched.

“It’s absolutely vital, given our brand heritage that this was secure and we invested heavily in security all the way,” said Mr McIntyre.

“That includes hardware redundancy, live back-ups in other hosting centres and we have 128-bit encryption from client to hosting centre too.”

Mr McIntyre said the company would release a “big brother” version of Sage One in the near future. There are also plans to launch a payroll product before the end of the year, he said.

However, Mr McIntyre said he expected bigger businesses to be slower adopters of the cloud as many had made infrastructural and software investment that they would not want to waste.

On the other hand this was part of the cloud’s appeal for small businesses as it meant they did not have to make that up-front investment themselves.

Accountants were also interested in the cloud as it gave them the potential to collaborate with clients without having to physically visit their offices.

Sage One offers small businesses a simplified set of accounting tools including invoicing and VAT returns. The product is available for €12 a month, which includes 24-hour support.

The product was designed for use by owner/managers and according to Mr McIntyre, its pared down interface means it does not require any training.

“The key thing about it is it’s being designed for ease of use,” he said.

“This is for management who would not be finance experts and would find traditional accounting products frustrating.”

He added that the company started with a clean slate with the product so it could simplify things wherever possible.

A major redesign of its existing software would not be as easy, he said, as existing users would be less open to any radical changes.