You use the cloud every day. In fact, you’re in it now, as you read this article. The Internet and the Wi-Fi technology that allows you to so conveniently connect from anywhere have made business, and your life, more convenient.

There are ample statistics that accountants are leveraging cloud service providers to provide services to clients. Predictions for 2017 tell us that most conservative industries in the United States (like CPAs) are adopting cloud technology.

So what are the benefits and challenges of the cloud? What is the one service your firm should adopt to better manage this technology? And, how can you use this tool to offer more value to your clients? Let’s find out.

Benefits and Challenges of the Cloud

The growth of cloud service providers have given rise to new types of services:

• SaaS – Software as a Service
• HaaS – Hardware as a Service
• IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service

The days of having an on-call IT tech to fix outages or equipment failure are lessening. Today, managed service providers remotely monitor your network, providing you with software, hardware, and infrastructure management.

There are some very clear benefits to this new model for CPAs:

• Working from anywhere you have a digital connection is, of course, the first, and perhaps best, in cloud benefits. Cloud service providers deliver software housed in remote servers to any digital device. This is a huge convenience for your firm – and for your clients.
• You no longer have the expense of installing hardware at your office. You simply need a computer and an Internet connection to allow you to connect with the same tools that enterprise-level CPA firms use. If you decide to keep a server on premise, a managed service provider can monitor the security of your internal networks so you can sit back and concentrate on your core business functions. Cloud service providers offer their services via a monthly subscription with no surprises that can break your budget.
• Cloud service providers offer off-site data backup and storage and disaster recovery, which will help give your clients peace of mind that their data is both secure and retrievable in the event of an unforeseen emergency.

Cloud Service Providers are Managed Service Providers

Cloud service providers are an IT outsourced resource that takes care of the security and efficient operation of your network. Enterprise-level CPA firms are partnering with managed service providers to free up the time of their internal IT team to work on specific initiatives. But smaller firms can benefit from these resources by migrating all of their IT functions to a managed service partner. This is particularly important in an era of increasing hacks to secure Internet applications.

The Journal of Accountancy says that business owners typically waste 22 hours a day or 91 hours annually correcting or trying to correct internal business IT issues. This is a red flag issue for any business, but particularly CPAs who are keenly aware of the adage, “time is money.” That’s why CPAs are joining the rest of the world in outsourcing IT services to a trusted provider who is exclusively devoted to an efficient, secure, and properly functioning computer network.

Are you ready to take your CPA firm into the future? Request a quote today!