Your Office Anywhere YOA Access Hosting Alternatives

With many of us working from home, here are some helpful tips based on our experience about running your Access database(s) remotely. Our customers have many different set-ups, but those working over a VPN to connect to network drives in the office probably suffer the most with a change to remote working when trying to use an Access database system this way.Your Office Anywhere (YOA) was a company offering hosted Windows desktops specifically tailored for running Access database systems in the Cloud. A cyber-attack in March 2025 destroyed the files of their many clients, including the backups, and the company is no longer able to operate. If you have been affected by this disaster or are simply looking for a way to host your Access database system online, please read on.

Common reasons for using hosting for an Access database:

• Users spread across locations
• No in-house server or local area network
• Some or all users on Macs
• SQL Azure would be overkill for the data
• SharePoint Lists inadequate for the data storage

Lessons learned from the collapse of YourOfficeAnywhere:

• Always take responsibility for your backups yourselves and don’t rely on a single source
• ensure there are multiple different types of backup with different time intervals
• Include both Cloud and physical backups in your routine

Terms to search for when looking for a provider This kind of hosting has a few different names so when you’re searching for someone to provide it, you could try searching for:

• Hosted Windows Desktops
• Windows Hosted Desktops
• Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

Things to consider when speaking to potential suppliers:

• Price! You will need to find out their set-up fee and then monthly cost per user.
• What applications you need included in your hosted environment – Probably Microsoft 365 as a whole
• What security is provided
• What backups are included and how these are separate from the hosted environment
• The level of support provided with set-up
• How you will make your own backups outside the environment

Suppliers we have found and spoken to:

• Know All IT (London) knowall.net Small, friendly team where you will know the person you deal with. Security includes human checks. Minimum 4 users normally. Competitive pricing (around £42 per user per month April 2025). Set-up cost around £200
• YourCloudWorks (Northants) yourcloudworks.com Already used by one of our clients and reported easy set-up Security specialists so one to consider if this is your top priority Can include a hardware (USB) key for extra security Includes access to local resources so easy to set up your own backup outside Minimum 12 month contract but easy to flex the number of users from 1 upwards Higher monthly cost per user (around £82 April 2025) but normally no set-up fee
• Hyve Managed Desktop as a Service hyve.com Premium hosting with mission critical level of security Larger company Premium pricing (£130 per user per month for 5-user hosting April 2025 plus £250 setup fee)