CNN iReport

San Francisco, 26 October 2009: GoPC.net the world's leading independent provider of Cloud Computing and TurboCASH Accounting, the world's leading Open Source Accounting package for small business have jumped in ahead of industry giants and announced the first entry level Accounting SaaS solution for Cloud computing.

Graeme Speak, CEO/Founder of GoPC.net made the announcement, “The roll out with TurboCASH is a truly exciting development. GoPC.net has been pioneering next generation "cloud computing" innovation for over a decade.  We've created a disruptive technology that virtualizes the full functionality of a managed PC/Server network in the cloud, removing any dependence on physical hardware and saving up to 90% of IT costs. The integration of TurboCASH with our full suite of desktop applications creates a secure, ultra low cost and low maintenance IT solution suitable for most small to medium size businesses."

Speak said, “Cloud computing does not just mean 'web applications'. TurboCASH's integration with GoPC.net delivers the full desktop product integrated with other desktop applications such as OpenOffice, centralized file storage, backups and security, all delivered via the Internet to almost any connected screen.  The GoPC.net supercomputing grid platform is extremely mature, operating live since 2005.  It drastically reduces I.T. spend by eliminating license costs and the need to install or maintain anything on local PC's and Servers.

Philip Copeman, project leader of TurboCASH Accounting said, “When we first approached GoPC.net I was not sure if "cloud computing" was simply science fiction. I have never been comfortable with the browser based systems, using AJAX and PHP Scripts. TurboCASH has been looking for an alternative that can offer a rich client interfaces that guides users through complex systems. The results with GoPC.net have been astounding. We have cloud enabled the full desktop version of our product without having to rewrite the whole product into a basic web app."

"Our users come from over 80 different tax regimes and use over 25 different languages. We have now tested the system in high bandwidth and low bandwidth countries, all report surprising high performance. The TurboCASH Accounting system is unique in that a single release can be configured to handle all markets and all platforms, Windows, XP, Windows Vista, Linux and Apple. Our ability to deploy rapidly is the silver bullet that lets us compete against accounting software companies with thousands of employees. The GoPC.net cloud platform extends this further by making it available to any business, anywhere, independent of their existing PC/Server network. This gives the smallest accountant the ability to compete across International boundaries.”

Michael Dexter, Program Director of Linux Fund has watched these developments for some time. "When I first encountered TurboCASH it was almost exclusively a Windows program but had great potential on other platforms thanks to its open source licensing. The WINE Windows compatibility environment then brought TurboCASH to both the Linux and Macintosh platforms, but the addition of  Linux has virtualized this open source project making a true Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering. Because the underlying code will remain free and open, this is exactly the kind of win-win commercial opportunities that the open source model can create.

Contacts:

Philip Copeman philip@pinksoft.co.za philip@pinksoft.co.za Graeme Speak gls@gopc.net

Michael Dexter dexter@linuxfund.org dexter@linuxfund.org Full Set of Images