Working from home with Sage 200 Professional

NOTE: If you are using Sage CRM or Sage 200 CRM, please see this link.

Remote access

If you need to work from home we'd recommend remotely accessing Sage 200 Professional using a remote desktop connection. This gives you full access to all your software and data, and your current infrastructure may already support this. For help with this, please contact your local IT support.

When working from home over a remote desktop connection please ensure best practice is followed and regular backups and maintenance are scheduled.

Sage 200 Professional deployed via the Sage Provisioning Portal (Partner Cloud)

• This variant of Sage 200 Professional is installed on an Azure virtual machine and can be accessed on any device which supports Azure Virtual Desktop. The AVD software can be downloaded from this link and will require logging in with the .onmicrosoft account usually used in the office. If you are unsure of what this is, contact your Sage Business Partner.

Does Sage 200 Professional support VPN connections?

• Due to the amount of network communication between the Sage 200 client, the Sage 200 server, and the back-end SQL server, we do not support running the Sage 200 Suite over a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection, where locally installed Sage 200 client machines communicate with a remote Sage 200 server. This is because the additional latency added to each network packet results in unacceptable performance and can result in database timeouts.

Considerations 

• Use strong passwords
  Strong passwords on any accounts with access to Remote Desktop should be considered a required step before enabling Remote Desktop.
• Use Two-factor authentication
  Where available use Two-Factor authentication, there are several options and solutions available around this further information can be found here or discussed with your IT Professional/Business Partner.
• Update your software
  One advantage of using Remote Desktop rather than 3rd party remote admin tools is that components are updated automatically with the latest security fixes in the standard Microsoft patch cycle. Make sure you are running the latest versions of both the client and server software by enabling and auditing automatic Microsoft Updates. Older versions may not support high encryption and may have other security flaws.
• Restrict access using firewalls
  Use firewalls (both software and hardware where available) to restrict access where appropriate.
• Enable Network Level Authentication
  Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2/2016/2019 also provides Network Level Authentication (NLA) by default. It is best to leave this in place, as NLA provides an extra level of authentication before a connection is established.
  

  TIP: NLA should be enabled by default on Windows 10, Windows Server 2012 R2/2016/2019.

• Take regular backups Ensure you have a regular backup and maintenance plans in place for not only your SQL databases but any files and folders which include important information or documents. This process should be regular enough to minimize any downtime or reprocessing.

TIP: Further reading around RDP connections is available via Microsoft Knowledge articles here

NOTE: For help with this, please contact your Business Partner or local IT support.

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