{"id":8925,"date":"2010-10-02t06:53:23","date_gmt":"2010-10-02t10:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=8925"},"modified":"2024-11-19t21:35:08","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20t02:35:08","slug":"setting-up-your-accounting-firm-for-document-management-in-the-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2010\/10\/02\/setting-up-your-accounting-firm-for-document-management-in-the-cloud\/","title":{"rendered":"setting up your accounting firm for document management in the cloud"},"content":{"rendered":"

what you need to know about cloud computing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"eric<\/strong><\/strong>
eric pulaski, founder & ceo, smartvault<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by eric pulaski<\/em>
\nsmartvault<\/a><\/p>\n

moving applications and data to an online environment is inevitable. it\u2019s simply part of the accounting profession\u2019s evolution. if you look at the continuum of change, it becomes clear where next generation accounting firms are heading. pencil and paper to green bar reports and manual data entry\u2026 dos to windows\u2026 software cds to web download\u2026 and finally on-premise-based it solutions to saas (software-as-a-service).<\/p>\n

the message from thought leaders has been consistent and direct: get on board with technology, or be left behind. the fact is that more firms are<\/em> getting on board, though it\u2019s still only a fraction of the broad profession. those that are adopting advanced technologies in their firms are doing the research and applying the right technologies to create integrated systems that support completely paperless processes. and saas has been at the heart of this movement, supplying accounting professionals with easy-to-use, powerful web-based solutions that turbo boost operational efficiencies and convenience. in fact, dedicated internet-based service providers\u2014leveraging their expert resources and spreading their costs over thousands of customers\u2014can deliver lower cost and far more reliable and secure services.<\/p>\n

so, we know that a small percentage of the profession is in a state of transition. but the majority of firms have yet to get on board with saas. the biggest issue being that they simply don\u2019t know where to start on their journey to the cloud.<\/p>\n

what is the cloud?<\/strong><\/p>\n

let\u2019s first explore what it means to move to \u201cthe cloud.\u201d there has been a fair amount of confusion around this term, as well as the term software-as-a-service (saas). and if you don\u2019t know what these are, how can you begin to adopt the technology?<\/p>\n

cloud computing and saas are overlapping terms. saas is technology that is designed from the ground up to live exclusively on the web. saas-based solutions support multiple tenants, meaning users share processing power and database space that is managed by the saas provider. the benefits of saas are many, which we\u2019ll explore a little later.<\/p>\n

the acronym, saas, has slowly morphed into the popular pseudonym, the cloud. the cloud is a general term used to describe services (as opposed to applications) that are provided over the internet. cloud computing looks like local computing, but the computing power and storage space live solely on the web, just like saas.<\/p>\n

in a nutshell, here\u2019s the difference in meaning between these two terms: saas<\/em> means web-based applications. cloud computing<\/em> means services used by computer programmers and it gurus to access resources over the web. many business users, however, use the terms interchangeably to mean \u201cweb-based solutions.\u201d to sum it all up, saas and the cloud are both ways of describing solutions that live on the internet.<\/p>\n

the confusion around these terms is important to note because firms can\u2019t be expected to adopt what they don\u2019t understand. and the first step toward making the transition to the cloud is understanding what it means.<\/p>\n

the value of saas\u2014and getting over the fear<\/strong><\/p>\n

the list of benefits associated with saas is long and continues to grow. nonetheless, the biggest obstacle in transitioning to saas still seems to be fear. accounting professionals continue to questions whether their data is safe and who has access to it once it moves online.<\/p>\n

saas is indeed at the center of the next big paradigm shift in the accounting arena, but the actual move to fully web-based software can be scary for those not yet comfortable with data moving out of the walls of their office and into the cloud. however, the efficiency and convenience that saas applications offer cannot be overstated. consider the benefits:<\/p>\n