Finance Manager programs and data services are offered as a hosted service via the Web using Citrix. Districts share the cost of servers and specialized technical staff, while NERIC assumes the responsibility for the operation, security, system backups and recovery of data in the event of a server crash.
NERIC is able to provide equipment redundancy, resulting in less “downtime” for districts, and assumes responsibility for software patches and program updates to the system. Districts share the cost of licenses for applications, allowing each district to choose the amount of access needed for each user. Application support effectiveness is increased due to the tools that Internet-based services provide, since coordination staff can “shadow” any user to assist with questions and provide training.