Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/160971
advertorial T he Cloud is nothing new; this technology has been around for many years and large corporations paid high dollars to take advantage of the security and benefts that only the Cloud provides. Today, with technological advances, the small to midsize frms can not only afford to be in the Cloud, but save big on IT costs, time and resources by outsourcing their servers to a Cloud provider. Why are Cloud based servers a better option than on-site infrastructures? There are so many reasons that a frm should move their servers to the Cloud, but to me the top 5 benefts over having an on-site infrastructure are: • Security & Liability: Vetted Cloud Providers can offer a level of security that the local frm could not replicate without a substantial investment into infrastructure, IT staff and redundancy. In keeping a local infrastructure, the frm is absorbing the liability should a breach to their client's sensitive data and information occurred. • Mobility: With the Cloud, you can login from any device anywhere, with internet connection. You are no longer tied to a workstation or geographic location. You can work in the full desktop version of all of your applications no matter where you are. • Cost: All frms are different in what their total costs will be because they have different user, software application, and data requirements. However, most frms save between 30-50% over having a local infrastructure. In compiling your cost savings, you will need to include not only hardware, software licensing but also backups, electricity, and IT labor or even your own staff time. • IT Headaches: CPA's do not go to school to spend their days updating applications, computers and doing IT work. The 18 Get Your Head (and Servers) in the Cloud! Cloud allows you to shift the focus from IT back to billable hours. • Client Service Offering: The technically advanced frms are offering their clients technology solutions that set them apart from their competition. They can then expand their service offering, be relied upon as a trusted consultant, and work in real-time with their clients in the fles versus sending fles back & forth and addressing an issue after it's too late. What about Security? The Cloud is by far a more secure environment than keeping a local server in your offce. A small to mid-sized frm would have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to recreate the enterprise level security infrastructure that Cloud providers have installed. First and foremost, the backups should be offsite from the local offce which Cloud innately provides. Second, vetted Cloud providers are delivering their services from SOC2/SSAE 16 certifed data center facilities which provide 24/7/365 days a year of onsite security staff, continuous monitoring, an uninterrupted power supply and RAID implementation. Additionally, Cloud providers can deploy N+1 or 2N redundancy on all systems, as well as purchase enterprise level frewalls and anti-virus protection. Keeping your server in-house opens your frm up to the liability of having it physically stolen but also the risk of being hacked. Enterprise level frewalls allow the Cloud providers to not only block spe- September 2013 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com cifc IP addresses but even entire countries that pose a risk. What is the user experience like? Cloud9 has been connection manager free for 2 years now. That means there are no clunky Citrix downloads that are not only costly, but also cumbersome to work with and can slow things down. The Cloud9 platform is delivered through a Microsoft Installer which actually streams the application to the user PC; you can actually see it running in your Task Bar like a local application, and it's hard to tell whether you are working locally or in the Cloud. It's a seamless integration between the user's local system, the hosted desktop applications and their chosen SaaS solutions. Here are some of the ways that our Accounting clients describe their user experience: "It was probably one of the smoothest implementations of a new technology that I've ever had. All of the setup and orientation was done remotely, once the employees logged into the system, they felt like they were home." – Doug Sleeter, Te Sleeter Group "We've had a great experience with Cloud9. Te service is fast and the uptime is great. Never any downtime. Support response is timely. If an emergency arises, Cloud9 has always been there to help and will always provide good advice about certain products or issues when asked." – Myles Smith, President at L. Myles Smith & Company, P.C. KACEE JOHNSON, MBA Executive Vice President Cloud9 Real Time Cloud9's Executive VP, Kacee Johnson, is a regular speaker and commentator at Accounting, Legal and Technology conferences nationwide; focusing on business development and education about Cloud technologies. Awarded the CPA Practice Advisor Magazines "Top 40 Under 40" Award in 2012 and 2013, she is recognized as one of the young professionals leading the Accounting profession into the future. Kacee is dedicated to helping companies adapt to doing business in the Cloud and bridge the gap between users, applications and IT. www.cloud9realtime.com • 888 869-0076