Cloud Computing
With more and more cloud computing / SaaS offerings becoming available to us, just who is promoting them?
Hunter Richards, a Market Analyst in the field of accounting has a poll on the SoftwareAdvice.com site asking “Are accountants recommending the cloud yet?” That is a great question, unfortunately there was only a “Yes” or “No” answer. If there had been a “Sometimes” option, I would have selected it.
In our experience we have seen a couple clients move to cloud based solutions based on suggestions from their accountants. One of them seems to be happy, and another is currently not happy, but mainly due to a bandwidth issue which may be cleared up soon for them. We have another one that it has been suggested to, however they have not made the move.
What holds accountants in particular back from suggesting cloud solutions to their clients I can’t tell you, but here are some reasons I have heard from our own clients for not accepting the technology:
- Fear of the unknown (Fear of change)
- Potential for internet outage and data being unreachable
- The recurring financial burden
- Possible requirement to increase their bandwidth (and in turn recurring costs)
- Loss of control of data (applies mainly to system admins)
- Security concerns (compliance, breaches, etc)
- No urgency to make a change (what they use works fine)
- Don’t wish to learn how to use a new system
- Fear that the online provider could fold
- Fear that once using the online system, rates may not remain stable
- Nobody they know is using online solutions
- Waiting for cloud computing to become more mature
While some of these reasons may seem minor, the one that comes up more than any other is not about expense, but concern that an internet outage would put them out of business. With the turmoil in the Middle East and Egypt effectively shutting down the internet for several DAYS, this may be of even more concern to certain industries, even though we are told to rest assured that the Internet Kill Switch would never be used here in the US.
When we are consulting with our Greenville and Upstate SC based small and medium business clients regarding a move to a cloud based solution, we have to offer the good, the bad and the ugly sides of the technology to them as we do not wish to leave any stone unturned. We are striving to provide a reliable network and have the “big picture” in mind. On the other hand, an accountant could find that suggesting SaaS results in recurring revenue for them, but if the service is not up to their clients expectations, they could ultimately lose a client. So that may be why more accountants are not actually steering their clients towards cloud computing.
It is my suggestion that a business contemplating the switch to a cloud based solution as recommended by their accountant also get their IT service professionals involved during the planning stages in order to avoid any pitfalls.
Should you wish to discuss a similar move for your business, or if you are an accountant that is interested in discovering more about cloud computing or want to team with a local IT provider, please call 864.990.4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com