Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/432767
FROM THE TRENCHES Randy Johnston is executive vice president and partner of K2 Enterprises and Network Management Group, Inc. He is a nationally recognized educator, consultant and writer with over 30 years' experience. He can be contacted at randy.johnston@cpapracticeadvisor.com . E very year at this time, I refect on the success and failures of the past year, and the opportunities of the year to come. It is also the time that I refect on the recent i n t r o d u c t i o n s o f n e w p r o d u c t s a n d announced strateg ies f rom vendors to determine if they will create opportunity in the coming year. By Randy Johnston For clarifcation, my views tend to be longer term since I don't have qua r terly publ ic sa les a nd prof it goals to be met, and there are other very competent people in my orga- nizations that routinely and beauti- fully take care of daily client opera- t ion a l i s s ue s . My t e a m a nd ou r clients are look ing to us to adv ise them on long-term strategies. We have to f ilter through the promo- tions and messaging of vendors with specifc interests and motives to see the benef its of of ferings and how they meet the needs of clients. A nd that brings me to the point of this article. How do we see the f uture and create it in the context of our team's capabilities and the resources available to us? What Are The Needs And Opportunities? First, it is clear that client needs in the short term change at a slower rate than the popular press would have you believe. Every new technology does not have to be adopted today, " because you'll be at a competitive d isadva ntage i f you don't do it!" Howe ver, over t he longer ter m , things change more rapidly than you m i g h t o t h e r w i s e b e l i e v e . F o r example, think back to 2005, 1995 or 1985 and the technology that you used to meet cl ient needs at t hat time. Would you have thought that high speed communications, the use of the web or graphical computing wou ld have come t h is fa r? A s we approach the tablet fve-year anni- versary, there is a dip in sales as initial demand has peaked and the business use case has stabilized. Tere is no new, driving applications to expand 30 December 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com