Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/652065
6 March 2016 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com FROM THE TRENCHES By Randy Johnston What's Your Firm's Microsoft Strategy? As we watch our major suppliers to the profession rebuild new suites and tools with CCH A xcess, Tomson Reuters ONVIO, Intuit Tax Online (ITO) & QuickBooks Online Accountant Edition (QBOA), AccountantsWorld Power Practice and the Sage Cloud oferings such as Sage View, Sage Payroll, Sage Live, Sage One, Sage Value, Sage Impact and Sage Match, we will have new ways to serve our clients as well as new technolog y to deploy. But discussion of these publishers' strategies we'll have to save for future columns in 2016. Even with the decision of using a Mac or an iPad with Windows virtualization sofware or remote access frequently required, the majorit y of the accounting professional market is still Microsof- centric. The year 2016 may improve Microsoft's position further with the hardware additions of the Surface Pro 4 or the Surface Book hardware. Beyond that is the aggressive strategy of geting users to adopt Windows 10 and Ofce 2016. Microsof will continue to adjust its strategy throughout the year, so this article should only be considered technically accurate and current near the time of publication. However, the intent is to make you aware of signif- cant changes in Microsof strategies that could afect your decisions for some years to come. Microsoft is Changing the Rules Microsof has never "sold" sofware, it has always licensed its products. A shif in the last few years though, has been a shif from a perpetual license to a recurring revenue rental model. In the early days of Windows and Ofce, you purchased a copy of the sofware that you could use as long as you wanted. Products were not used forever because of hardware changes, atraction of new features and inconsistency among users based on the version in use…think ribbon menu versus the older drop down menu. Inconsistent versions make several things more difcult including technical support, training, and integration into other products. T h e s e i s s u e s w e r e a d d r e s s e d b y a d d i n g "Sof ware A ssurance," a maintenance policy on the Microsof products that allowed upgrade or downgrade on any product. Tis allowed frms to keep all Microsof product versions consistent, regardless of when hardware was purchased. If you have Open Licenses with Sof ware Assurance, this is a good place to be today, but the option may not be around forever. Some of you may recall our prior recommenda- t i o n o f u s i n g t h e M i c r o s o f t P r o f e s s i o n a l Accountants Network (MPA N) program, which allowed very inexpensive licensing for accounting f i r ms a nd was el i m inated as a n of fer ing once Microsof had enough market share and recom- menders. Don't be surprised if all discount pro- grams on sofware aren't eliminated this year or next. Budget now for the purchases you are likely to have to make when these programs are elimi- nated. Ofce 365 and Windows InTune have both changed Microsof products into rental models. If you stop paying for the sofware, your right to use the sofware expires in 30 days, and a kill switch is activated. If you are purchasing sofware w i t h y o u r c o m p u t e r s , t h e s e a r e O r i g i n a l Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) licenses, and there are notable restrictions such as not being able to virtualize, to run Windows Deployment Ser vices (W DS) and enjoy other cost reducing strategies. Hosting providers have Service Provider License Agreements (SPLA) with Microsof that allow them to provide frms current versions of Microsof products, but not older versions. W hat are the current Microsof policies of note? 1) M icrosof t changes to pol icies for Windows operating system support and hardware: a) I M PORTA N T: M ic rosof t cha nged it s support rules, and that may require you to update you r operat i ng systems sooner 6 M a r c h 2 0 1 6 • w w w . C P A P r a c t i c e A d v i s o r . c o m 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 . W e have three primary technology eco- systems to suppor t our computing needs: Microsof Windows, Apple OS & iOS, and Linux & Android. With SaaS products improv ing , the operating systems make less diference and future mobile versions of the products will run across all three platforms frequently with native apps. With productivity sofware, we tend to have less choice, with most of us using Microsof Ofce. Te best way to license Ofce 2016 is with an Open License or using the rental model of Ofce 365. Productivity suites using Google Docs, Zoho Docs or Libre Ofce are used by many small businesses, but professional application suppliers don't readily support these three productivity suites.