Abacus Private Cloud

Pros

The critical thing for us was that our consumers could quickly enter into the Cloud and retrieve their program - and that we can log in and see what they're doing if they get stuck. We don't have to go to each client location. The tech support staff is fantastic and delightful!

Cons

When our clients are unable to log in, we appear to be experiencing the same issue. The Cloud becomes frozen and can't even open for anybody if enough of our customer's log out incorrectly. This problem appears to be solvable in some way. In addition, the Cloud seems to be a little pricey.

Pros

I was worried about transitioning all of our data to the cloud but could not be more pleased with this product. I especially love the ability to work from any computer anywhere. The product is stable and reliable.

Cons

There were some things that did not transfer from our prior legal software but the important things all transferred.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Abacus Private Cloud

Reasons for Switching to Abacus Private Cloud

Pros

5 years ago good but too expensive. We have been a client for over 10 years

Pros

After you get a support person, the support is very good. They can always fix our problem

Cons

Password resets
Lacerte updates
To be told to complete a support ticket, when my work depends on getting help with a problem, is very frustrating. I just have to shut down and quit working.
Other practitioners just laugh at the price that we are paying for Abacus.

Pros

I like the ease of access and security of this program.

Cons

It is very locked down. Not able to easily update QuickBooks or other programs because of security settings.

Pros

The sales pitch is a managed, hosted VM environment with integrated technical support.

Cons

The VMS are completely unusable - slow, buggy, bogged down when anyone is running anything. No one can get any work done due to excessive lag. Many, many support tickets have been opened and no resolution has been given. I eventually gave up after 6 months and stopped trying to use it. Unfortunately I am stuck with a 5 year contract and so still have to pay.

They tout 24/7 support. We called several times after hours and were told to leave a message and someone would call back. Not. One. Time. did anyone call me back.

Having to call in for help every time we need to install an update is a huge annoyance.

Pros

Both the software and support failed miserably to meet our firm's basic needs. Trusting Abacus is a decision we deeply regret.

Cons

Our firm was unable to utilize the features of this software, and yet, when we made that known to Abacus, they refused to let us out of our five year contract. Over 15K for nothing!! Don't do it! You will regret it!

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Abacus Private Cloud

Pros

Nothing. The promises made by the sales people were pure baloney

Cons

The product is cumbersome and is far inferior to using quickbooks and outlook. You are looked into a very expensive 3 year contract for a non existent case management contract.
They won’t even respond to requests to cancel contract. Run from these people.

Pros

It's really easy to use simple and fast it has access to so much information

Cons

We cannot have certain software updates on apps we use because they're not compatible

Pros

How it saving alot of time making our business more easy

Cons

Electronic signature
Easy of use
Time saving

Pros

It is cloud based
Uses the remote desktop system
Creates a remote environment to function in.
Security
Support response has been getting better each year.

Cons

The overall cost is twice as much as everyone else. The control over the Office 365 account makes it difficult to efficiently function with our growing company. There have been features with the office 365 account that we would like to explore but can't because of the lack of control we have over the account.

The constant issues that come up where the issue is tied to server resources or the lack there of. After two years I would hope the server needs were more dialed in. I also don't get the feeling that anyone takes the time to understand a 3rd party software. We use Lacerte, along with "1000" other clients, and there doesn't seem to be a Lacerte expert nor is there a partnership with Intuit to install it correctly in a terminal server environment. I have had 4 different people install lacerte it different ways (on the X drive, on the C drive, on a separate SSD drive,)

Pros

Our company migrated to APC from a set of 3 in-house legacy servers running all of our firm's software programs. We were vulnerable not only to hardware and software issues, but to the potential hacking of the very sensitive data we had collected over 15+ years in business. Our move to APC completely eliminated these concerns. It also made it possible to relocate our entire staff off-site during the COVID crisis in a matter of hours--something that would have been nearly impossible to accomplish securely and without impact to the performance of the system had we been on those old servers.

Cons

Our migration to APC wasn't without some frustration and a bit a of learning curve for our staff. Those initial issues were addressed by Abacus and problems were fixed and we're currently very happy with the state of our APC system. My least favorite things about the cloud environment are the difficulties in using local devices (i.e. USB peripherals such as printers, scanners, signature pads, flash drives, etc.) and the inability to load and update our own software on our cloud computers. But we've learned to live with these limitations and have adopted workarounds when possible.

Pros

I like the integration of the court forms with the client base. The calendaring is excellent. If one uses the notes it is easy to keep track of the clients' information and keeps them updated. The ease of logging on from off-site is easy. We were able to have everyone work from home within 2 days of implementation. We don't need physical files and can put the clients' entire file on a dvd for storage. Service has always been very good. They walk you through what they are doing so you know how to do in in the future if necessary.

Cons

It is a bit expensive, and I would like them to give us a break on the price when we add users. Some part time users cost the same as full time. I would like it to integrate with an accounting program like QuickBooks.

Pros

The advantage to the system for me is the ability to log into my desktop when at a client's location. It allows me real time access to the tax and accounting software, documents in our client management system, email and my calendar.

Cons

When the system is down, you are dead in the water. You loose access to everything!! No client phone numbers, email, your calendar, etc, in addition to the various software programs.
The frequency of service interruption - I loose connection at least once a day. During the peak periods in tax season, it happened many times a day. It also happened routinely at the same time every evening. Customer service said they would track to figure out why, but it never happened after repeated requests.

Customer service has been very responsive lately, but previously, if you called after about 11 AM EST, you never heard back and would need to recall the next day. Once you get a hold of someone, they are very helpful.

Pros

The vision is great, the idea behind it is great. It just doesnt work...for us.
Two factor security is great
The actual support engineers were thoughtful, and helpful, not always did they have the answer, but they were very diligent and patient even if ultimate solutions were never found.

Cons

Constant data issues with regard to how dropbox was installed.

PRO SERIES BASICALLY does not work. The EF center takes up to 5 mins to load, or submit efilings, and then another 5 minutes to return to the home base after submitting a return. HOURS lost, CLIENTS, REPUTATION, etc. was miserable, still is.

Was suggested we stop using our web browser of choice, for which all out staff has memorized functions on to improve the performance of the server, they were fully aware of the use of CHROME as essential to our functions.

Pros

Easy to use; easy to learn; had lots of classes; but also user friendly so that I could actually learn it on my own

Cons

Cannot group bills; have to enter all bill separately;

Pros

The private cloud service worked well even though we regularly ran out of space and had a price increase to add more. Customer service on the private cloud was good.

Cons

We left Abacus Law after years because the new releases had a lot of bugs and using customer service was time consuming and some problems were never fixed. When we went to leave at the end of our contract, they took 2 weeks to send us the cancellation form and by then it was too late to give the 30 days notice. The contact went to month-to-month at nearly double the contract rate. We were given no notice at all of the monthly rate - yet alone notice in time to cancel. Abacus refuses to discuss this issue with us and has taken the position of "we have your money so sue us if you are unhappy."

Pros

Customer services have improved significantly compared to 2 years ago when we stated with Abacus. Great job!

Cons

There is still a great lag as we have to wait a long time to get support at times. When it is urgent as if the system is down, there should be a priority to get on it immediately...Support can't explain why issues come about and how it was resolved sometimes...

Pros

NOTHING. Unfortunately I had to give all 1 out 5's. Should have been 0's.

Cons

EVERYTHING.

-Down time - excessive
-horrible, cumbersome integration with Microsoft 365 (which was forced upon us - we didn't know that when we contracted)
-inexperienced tech support (when you can get hold of them. Often you have to wait so long on hold that it goes to voice mail and they don't call back)
-they don't support your clients directly, it has to go thru the providing company (we just got an exception to this, but that's ridiculous. Something else we weren't told when we contracted and didn't think to ask)
-Cost

Pros

The removal of updating software and upgrading hardware has been the best feature of using a cloud-based program. Access from anywhere there is an internet connection has been fantastic.

Cons

Not necessarily a cloud issue, but the Accounting portion of Abacus Law is very complicated and has far too many steps in the process as compared to a "windows" type program (Quickbooks). Our firm has tried to implement the Accounting side of Abacus Law but it is simply too complicated.

Pros

We came into Abacus Private Cloud after attending a show in Las Vegas, CA to review OfficeTools. The companies were merging which seemed like a natural progression for us however, there were many bugs to work out with our cloud environment. It has become rather pricey to function and OfficeTools was delayed by almost a year. Now we lack much support and contact on OfficeTools from our original pitch.

Cons

It is very expensive and there seems to be bottlenecks even on the items I have been given admin rights to address such as password resets.

Pros

I liked that we could customize the fields. When working on a file, we could have all important details on the first page of the matter and retrieve the information fast.

Cons

Saving documents to the cloud was often time consuming. You would have to save it and pull it into the matter. It also wasn't as advanced as some of the other products I've seen. It did it's job though.

Pros

Easy to implement, flexibility for our workforce, and secure

Cons

Really have not come across any cons up to this point.

Pros

Managed / Remote servers are nice and enable the workforce to be anywhere. This also reduced our need to monitor and babysit servers in our office.

Cons

Customer support is hit or miss and pricing.

Pros

Flexibility is key. The APC allows us to work from anywhere, at any time, and make changes on the fly if needed. Our designated APC support TAM is very responsive and helps our firm be more productive.

Cons

The APC can sometimes be a little slow since access is generally impacted by internet speeds and how your system may interact with the product.

Pros

It allows easy remote access through remote desktop

Cons

Avoid all abacus products. The Abacus Law software practice management is clunky, slow and counterintuitive. It also uses outdated judicial council forms, has spelling errors, the billing and accounting is awkward and not designed how a lawyer thinks to bill a client. The Abacus Private Cloud is NOT private, but a shared server, which is a lie when they sell it to you. The APC will not work well and crash almost daily. They try to upsell you more "allocated memory" after they change the settings to make your "private cloud" not work well. The Customer Rep service is non-existent. However, the individual IT techs are extremely nice, they vary in abilities, but they also express they are hampered by what they can do. It also seems that after Abacus was sold last year, they reduced services and even if you have a contract they want to provide less service and charge more.

Pros

Years ago OfficeTools was a way to share client contact information with employees, and integrate a billing system and CRM, but now there is much better competition out there for the cost they charge. Now I will use Right Networks' secure hosting solution for Lacerte, combined with SmartVault for storage for a one-stop cloud based remote work environment with 24 x 7 live support compared to AbacusNext.

Cons

Wow, where do I start? It is NOT meant for very small businesses like mine as I have downsized over the years, and AbacusNext has proven very inflexible with my request to terminate a very short time after an unannounced autorenewal.

I asked to terminate and they said I had (unknown to me) just autorenewed and there was "nothing they could do," I would be forced to pay for a full year of full service. I mentioned an employee told me in writing I could change my service lineup slightly and save $200-$300/month just a few months earlier. Very boor business policies from sales.

Prepare yourself for very long support hold times which will be interruptive to doing business, and then long times on the phone with tech support while they try to handle your issues. If you use Lacerte and host it with them, the cost of the time you will lose to waiting while your system access is down for any reason, or to sit through a Lacerte update at a busy time, as just two examples, will outweigh any benefit compared to their competitors. It is awful.
You, you will spend 20 minutes to sometimes 45 minute to work with IT once you reach them. The IT personnel are great, they are not the issue, once you get them "live" on the phone (for 20 to 45 minutes).

Pros

There is nothing I like about this product.

Cons

The on-boarding process was a complete failure. Originally we tried to migrated from a private cloud to Abacus Private Cloud and from Amicus to AbacusLaw. The experience was catastrophic. The on boarding team at Abacus Private Cloud was never able to transition our data from Amicus to AbacusLaw and we were within 10 days of missing a billing cycle. I asked the company several times to switch us back to Amicus. Finally, when they were faced with completely failure of the transition, they switched us back to Amicus so that we did not miss our billing cycle, something they promised would never happen. Since that time, we have done nothing but struggle with this company to maintain an environment that would allow Amicus to function with QuickBooks. They have not been able to maintain a constant link between their product and QuickBooks. It takes days to reestablish the link. Their tech support is not very responsive and they are not very aware of reoccurring problems, which indicates to me that they have a high turnover of personnel. They have assigned multiple people to our account in the past 12 months to resolve our persistent problems with their product. They are replaced or disappear without notice to us. As of today, we may wait days for a response from them. All of this is documented. It was a mistake to migrated from our private cloud environment to this company.

Pros

The transition was mostly smooth but there were a couple of programs that we could not get to work on the cloud. It was nice having (mostly) all programs in one place for access because we have two offices that are dependent of each other for data purposes but we could access the other office data if needed.

Cons

Abacus knew everything about our firm at the outset, even before we signed the contract, and yet they did not allow enough resources (processing power) for us to work efficiently. The programs always had some lag to them and we could never find the right person to address our issues. We went through a tax season with minimal support and slow programs and their answer ended up being not enough resources and a hefty price tag to get us up to where we should have been in the first place, but they just wanted to make the sale. We were assigned a person as our liason and most often we would not get a response when reaching out to them, so we would reach out to our sales person and basically anyone who would listen just trying to get help. Both of our office's internet speeds were over what was required, so that was not our issue. We feel like we were talked into something to make the sale, then we were put on the back burner and not provided what we were promised. We purchased early September and promised to be up and running by end of October and by the we were not fully functional yet in January. Granted we have a good many programs, but again, it was all provided to them up front and they guaranteed it would not be a problem. We cut ties the following October, after working in it for 1 tax season and not getting the results we needed to run efficiently without a large additional monthly outflow.

Pros

Abacus Law is indispensable in my practice. I've used it for many years and have adapted it to the specific areas of my practice. The calendaring system keeps me on track so that I meet all deadlines on time. Using Rules in calendaring allows me to enter many calendar items at once with just a few mouse clicks. Form generation and Outlook integration are wonderful features and easy to use. All of this is made even better using Abacus Private Cloud. Not only is Abacus Law always up-to-date, but Office 365 is always current as well. Additionally, not enough can be said for the excellent customer and technical support services provided by Abacus Law experts. I can say without hesitation that if you have an occasion to need help with an issue you will be very pleased with the attention you will receive. I used Abacus Law from an office-based server for many years. Servers aren't cheap. I upgraded my server every 4 to 5 years. Paying an IT tech to install the server, load all the software, and get all workstations connected more than doubled the cost of the server. Furthermore, I had the recurring cost of maintenance, protection against viruses, spyware, malware, ransomware etc, plus the cost of off-site backups. All those issues were a drain on my productivity and nerves. Therefore, I pulled the trigger and moved to Abacus Private Cloud. I'm extremely pleased with how easy the transition went. APC has it all figured out.

Cons

I have no real criticism to report. On my wish list would be a more robust word processing capability in the Notes windows, which would automatically check spelling and allow for easy-to-insert macros for boilerplate text entry - similar to quickparts and autocorrect features in Word.

Pros

We started with Abacus back in 2008 and switched to the Private Cloud about 4 years ago. Our office is on a barrier island in Florida so the Cloud made sense to us. We are able to work from home after evacuation orders are in place (until we loose power and internet) and don't have to worry about whether our backups are in a safe place -- all our information is safe and available to us through remote access. We love the fact we can open any client's file from any workstation and answer their questions. No more running around looking for a physical file before we can help them.

Cons

Lag times. On a normal in-office day everything usually runs fine. Except when the internet is down. Then all work grinds to a halt. When working offsite there can be a lag or delay that can get irritating. We also have several office staff members who are resistant to training and do not use it to its full ability. The same staff members are highly critical when glitches occur.

Pros

With over 40 years experience owning and operating several companies and have been "sold" by some of the best of the best and am not easily mislead until Abacus Next came along.

I am willing to pay a premium price for premium service. I am not willing to pay a premium price for the opportunity to be anybody's Beta Tester and help them figure out what to do.

When I asked for a link to documentation regarding how to login to the server and add a client I was told there is no documentation.

What do I like best about Abacus Next? They are great entertainers and have helped me keep my blood moving.

Cons

We have heard nothing but excuses and spin and more spin. And practically everyone we have contact with at Abacus Next is continually pressuring us to buy more services. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!

We are supposed to be transitioned off Cloud9 on March 05, 2018 but after today's dismal performance, another episode in the painful saga of Abacus Next we shall not let them move us until later in 2018 or 2019 even if it means we need to start some legal action.

Today we got even more spin from their tech support who was supposed to assist with mapping out the process for our upcoming transition.

He is a very nice, likable guy but did not appear to have a clue about anything. No idea how to set up a new client, what to put in the fields, could not even get us logged into our server. It appeared he was being coached by someone who knew even less than he did.

It appears to me from what little I know from reading material on their website, their newsletters and other parts of the web that Abacus Next is in a growth mode buying up other companies.

This concerns me deeply, and I wonder if they are growing so fast that they could get themselves in trouble. I have a bad gut-feeling about the stability of Abacus Next. For the record, I do not know anything about how their industry works so I could be mistaken and concerned about nothing.

However, I do know good service from bad service, and so far all I have gotten from Abacus Next is terrible service.

Pros

I have used Abacus Private Cloud since 06/14. Reliability, connectivity, uptime, and customer support are excellent. I eliminated local server hardware, local IT support, and local backups. My decision to go with with Abacus Private Cloud was the best decision I have made in 20 years of using computers in my law office.

Cons

Seriously, i have not found any downsides to this platform.

Pros

I have been an Abacus user since 2007 and on the Cloud ever since it was a little puff of smoke. The ability to have all my software managed and updated at one source, on a secure server with almost immediate access to an IT person everyday has turned out to be WAY more cost effective than a piecemeal approach to buying Office 365 here, a case management system and accounting program there, and PDF software at a third place... It not only saves me money, but also tons of time.

Cons

Way way back when Abacus went online with the Cloud, there were speed bumps (and I apologize for all the 4-letter words in those early emails), but the past few years, it has been very smooth sailing. I like the convenience of having my office EVERYWHERE that I am.

Pros

I have been a customer of Abacus for over twenty years. I first started with the company before the Abacus Private Cloud. One of the things that I loved about Abacus was their support. They could and would resolve any problem immediately. When Abacus began servicing customers with the cloud, things became even better. There is nothing better than to simply turn on your computer, go remote and know that all of your work is backed up, protected and accessible.

Cons

The software has a billing component to it. When it first came out, it was unworkable and I opted out of the billing. I don't know whether it has improved and//or whether the "bugs" have been worked out.

Pros

Everything about this hosting service is inferior from a user interface standpoint compared to cloud9.

Cons

“Let’s take all the software and data that are vital to our business and place them at the mercy of Tier 1 techs who will never have any idea how to install/update or repair anything ever but will excel at wasting your time. Also let’s make sure it’s borderline impossible to get the time of day from the upper lever techs or management team if/when you manage to get your problem elevated,” said no one ever. I have sent hundreds of emails amd spent hundreds of hours on tech support issues over the last 16 months. Switching to Abacus was easily the worst business decision I have ever made.

Pros

The software has a wealth of features that can make tracking cases and billing so much easier.

Cons

It does take a while to learn most of the features but it is worth the time.

Pros

The front and back office functionality is great. The abacus system and matters combined with the accounting piece is huge.

Cons

When it crashes, it gets frustrating. Sometimes the accounting software boots you out mid billing and that is extremely frustrating. And after hours, it isn’t as easy as it used to be to get assistance, so we find ourselves waiting until normal business hours, which impacts our ability to be in court as we are sometimes dealing with abacus issues instead.

Pros

I have used Abacus software for about eight years, and Abacus Private Cloud/Next since it began. Until yesterday, I have received good technical support. I have now called eight times in the last 24 hours, and no one will return my call. I did receive an email from someone - once - who said he had called and left a message, but no call or message was received on my phone. I even used a separate phone on one call, in case they were blocking my number for some reason, but still no call back. I emailed the person who emailed me, and still no response.

I cannot have my law practice shut down for a day - or more - just because some sharp MBA manager outsourced their tech support to ... god knows where!

Cons

It is vastly to complicated to use for any law firm smaller than 50 lawyers.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Abacus Private Cloud

Pros

With the recent pandemic, I had to act fast to get up and running my own firm. Having Abacus Private Cloud in place allowed me to bill on time and accurately.

Cons

I had this software and was not using it adequately.

Pros

The most important feature of the Abacus Private Cloud is the safety of the product. No fear of our computer being hacked. Everything thing is on the cloud. The software program keeps us organized, every matter is linked with names, notes, e-mails, documents and billing. It saves time and actually pays for itself in making sure all the work you do gets billed.

Cons

We initially purchased the Abacus software approximately 10 years ago. We switched to APC approximately 6-7 years ago, and have never regretted our decision.

Pros

Once we got through the MANY problems encountered and the COUNTLESS hours spent troubleshooting issues with various technicians due to the conversion to the new Windows platform, the software ultimately
works and our users have no issues accessing their QB files.

Cons

The fact that the technical support is hit or miss. There were numerous issues between June and January that cost us hours and hours of time, starting with our emails being blacklisted by Abacus. We spent quite a bit of time being bounced around by your techs insisting it was our mail exchange creating the problem. Then we moved into the Microsoft server upgrade and data conversion. [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] and his team made this as time consuming as possible for us. After that, we ran into major glitches getting the upgrades to run-more time spent on our end until we found the tech that knew what he was doing.

Cons

The salesman who bullied us into moving from Cloud9 outright lied to me about an important feature (or lack thereof) on Abacus - webapp (see above). I was also under the impression that migration from Cloud9 to APC would be seamless since they own both companies. For the last 2 months I've spent at least 2 hours per day dealing with implementation issues and it's still not done. We're a small firm of 10 employees and I would put the implementation cost so far in lost productivity. This has been the single worst consumer experience of my life. Hard to believe, but this company is worse to deal with than Comcast.

Compared to Cloud9 there are really no redeeming qualities. It's more expensive, it lacks many useful features of Cloud9 (such as web app and ease of login from any computer, which was great for logging in from client sites). Tech support response time is horrible and they never fix anything right the first time, which means you will spend hours and sometimes days trying to resolve issues that never should have come up in the first place.

Pros

APC is not software, but a cloud server. It has been convenient being able to access our files remotely.

Cons

Implementation did not start for 9 months after signing agreement. Implementation was forced to happen by us.

Pros

We've been using the Abacus Private Cloud for about a year now and it has been an excellent service. Very easy to use and adaptable to the programs we use. What I like most though is that our client data is safe. We share office space with a firm that does not use Abacus Private Cloud and they recently were the victims of a ransomware attack where all of their data was seized. They elected not to pay the ransom and subsequently lost ALL of their data. While no system can ever be totally secure, I sleep much better at night knowing that our data is as secure as it can be. I purchased a new computer two weeks ago and called the Abacus support to get my new computer onto the cloud network. They had me installed and up and running in about 2 minutes. I really couldn't ask for better service.

Cons

I don't have any cons worth mentioning right now. No software is perfect for every application but abacus does everything I need right now.

Pros

Fully mobile cloud base and exactly the same no matter where you use it. I love the feature that prompts you to bill.

Cons

It can be glitch-y and hard to get a person to understand the issues when you call customer service. It is expensive.

Pros

Most important to us is that our clients can login easily to the Cloud and access their software - and if they get stuck, we can login too and see what they are doing. Saves us from traveling to each client's office.

The Tech support people are wonderful and very friendly!

Cons

We seem to have the same problem when our clients can't login. If too many of our clients logout improperly, the Cloud gets stuck and won't open for anyone. Somehow, this seems like it should be a fixable problem.
Also, the Cloud seems a little pricey for our small company.

Pros

Ease of access from anywhere on any computer.

Cons

Initial sizing of systems needs was way off; forced me into poor service or 30% price increase and you are stuck with the contract even though it was their mistake.

Pros

Remote access is very reliable. Creating a ticket for repair or upgrade is easy and straight forward and they respond fastest this way. I also like how they remote in to solve problems with my individual machines.

Cons

Several times per day, the APC will black out if resources on my computer are being stressed. Wait times for customer service are sometimes long.

Pros

THE APC platform does has some very useful features, like remote connection and 24- hour IT support. The techs are also funny, kind, and more than accommodating faced against some grouchy lawyers.

Cons

The functionality of this program is not. there. The remote connection feature is unrelaible, and the APC terminal server platform does not play well with others, like Dragon and Adobe. We have a package intended to accommodate up to 20 users, we have 14 licenses and maybe 6 people in APC at once. It's slow, it lags and crashes and more than a few times has kicked someone out resulting in lost work. Also, Abacus Law is designed to function exclusively on a server or in the APC platform, so forget amazon or Microsoft clouds as your plan b. Great people over there, but they're technology is just not there yet.