Technology has long played a critical role in the work of accountants. Some of the oldest relics of human civilization dating back more than 7,000 years are accounting records. The development of numbers and mathematics is likely related to taxation and trading activities. It is perhaps no surprise that accountancy firms are always looking for the next piece of technology to empower their work. The latest development is cloud computing. Is this the ideal solution for IT support for accountants?
The Cloud
The cloud offers a large number of benefits, but it is not necessarily the perfect solution. The cloud makes it possible to shift some or all of your data processing and storage resources off-premises. Cloud services provide cost-effective solutions with security, stability, flexibility, scalability, and speed. With your business server hosted in the cloud, you don’t need to worry about disaster recovery at your premises. You don’t need physical security, electrical power, cooling, or indeed spare real estate to house servers at your physical business premises. And with managed cloud services, you don’t have the financial and management headache of maintaining your own team of IT engineers. You get 24/7/365 support from a team with levels of skill and experience that might be difficult to recruit and maintain yourself.
However, as soon as you move your servers off-premises, you lose some control and security. Though cloud hosting companies can provide high levels of IT security, the fact is that your data is no longer kept solely in-house. This is a consideration for IT support for accountants. This potential risk can be mitigated, however, by encrypting all data. The overall threat is further reduced by implementing automated monitoring, reporting, and management tools to eliminate many traditional threat vectors.
A Popular Option: Hybrid Cloud
One way to benefit from the advantages offered by business cloud hosting while retaining some of the advantages of on-premises IT is with a hybrid solution. A hybrid solution combines your own private server with a platform in the public cloud. This allows you to leverage the flexibility, scalability, and support while retaining the security and speed (due to geographical proximity) of maintaining critical functions in-house. As your needs change and grow, you can migrate more of your server infrastructure to the cloud.
Cloud computing has much to offer for IT support for accountants. The pros and cons need to be considered, but by crafting the right bespoke solution, your organization and clients can benefit from the powerful advantages offered by cloud computing. DCG Technical Solutions, Inc., can help you achieve the winning balance. Find out more today.
