Anyone using XOJO for cloud based multi-client applications?

Getting Started
1

My company has been developing desktop accounting software for more than 30 years. Naturally, we are currently using xojo for our desktop applications and have been extremely happy with the functionality that we can build into our applications thanks to the robust qualities of the xojo development system.

Our applications are accounting based and most include service bureau features. This means that one user can service (or maintain) data for multiple clients and each client’s data resides in separately maintained data files. This is not unlike Quickbooks (desktop) which allows you to maintain data for just your company or for multiple companies.

Cloud based accounting systems are starting to make a real impact on the business community. Up to now, we have had very few customers asked for cloud based versions of our accounting applications, but I’m sure that will change as the move to the cloud gains momentum.

When thinking about the cloud, the best description I’ve seen is, “anytime, any place, any device”. We have used xojo to create desktop, web, and IOS applications, which makes us wonder if xojo is the right tool for the job of creating these types of applications.

I started this thread to solicit opinions from the community regarding using xojo to develop these types of applications as we contemplate a move to the cloud at some point in the future.

2

We have a client that has done some of this type of work. If you wanted to talk offline I can talk a little about their approach. They are doing a Xojo web application that is doing some accounting.

3

We’ve been running Xojo on a dozen or so AWS cloud servers. Our application is set up so that multiple clients can use the same server (with isolated databases), or the clients can each have their own server for guaranteed total isolation. That works pretty well, and AWS is a breeze to set up (I’m sure Xojo Cloud is even easier).

What I’m not super excited about is the look and feel of a complex Xojo web app. By today’s standards, they look pretty antique and it’s a lot of work to get them to look “modern” like many of today’s React and Angular sites. We’re currently evaluating whether we want to continue with Xojo for our big web app, or move to another development stack.

As an aside, I can highly recommend Bob Keeney’s advice; his firm has done a bunch of work for us, and we’re very happy with them.