Cloud computing transforms how companies do business. All – if not most – business functions can be migrated to the cloud. Accounting is one of the business functions that can benefit from the cloud. The question is, are accountants ready to go cloud?
According to Software Advice‘s new article, while the cloud benefits accounting firms, many accountants are still being skeptical about the integration of their legacy system (existing, on-premise IT system) with cloud computing, via the use of cloud-based financial applications.
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, there are huge demand from businesses looking for hybrid cloud computing solutions – those that get cloud technologies and the legacy technologies to be integrated seamlessly.
Indeed, integration is a critical issue – but there is a bigger issue: Cloud security and privacy. The security and privacy worries by getting the whole accounting operations to the cloud, plus the risks of getting cloud system investment jeopardized are major turn-offs not only for accounting firms, but also for any other businesses.
I’ve mentioned that I have heard real cases of cloud computing woes. In this article, I mentioned that there is a case of cloud computing goes wrong in Accounting/Finance Department, resulting in a loss and/or leak of financial information.
Sure, if you partner with a reliable cloud business solution, you will always have your information stored redundantly in many data centers. However, the real question here is: Do you have a backup? Do you have a Plan B that can be executed when the cloud fails you?
Nevertheless, we must understand that the cloud is still in its infancy stage. Changes are rapid, while cloud business solution providers are learning on daily basis. We should expect some downtime and glitch as force majeure.
Here’s a simple math for you; most cloud vendors can guarantee you 99.9% uptime, but that means 0.1% is allocated for failures. That’s equal to 8 hours 45 minutes of service outage a year. Are you ready to tackle things during the downtime?
Are you working with an accounting firm? Have you been recommended with the benefits of cloud computing by your accountants? Please share your story by commenting on this article. I also recommend you to take this survey from SoftwareAdvice.com regarding the readiness of cloud accounting.
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