Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP, MBA CIO & Shareholder, Boomer Consulting, Inc. jim@boomer.com Think, Plan, Grow!
Jim Boomer CPA.CITP, MBA Shareholder and CIO at Boomer Consulting, Inc. Director of the Boomer Technology Circles & the Producer Circle Member of AICPA s Tech+ Conference and CITP Credentials Committees Named by CPA Practice Advisor as one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders and 40 Under 40 in Public Accounting Technology Named by Accounting Today as one to watch on the annual list of the Top 100 Influential People in the Accounting Profession Member of KSCPA Board of Directors
Overview General Trends Benefits & Business Drivers Concerns Changing Role of IT Professional
A style of computing in which massively scalable IT enabled capabilities are delivered as a service to multiple customers using Internet technologies Gartner
Platform as a Service (PaaS) web development Software as a Service (SaaS) Browser based business applications Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Provide computing capacity without having to design, purchase, build and manage the underlying infrastructure.
Public Cloud Available to general public by service provider Community Cloud Shared infrastructure between several organizations from a specific community w/ common concerns, whether managed internally or by a 3 rd party & hosted internally or externally Private Cloud Infrastructure operated solely for a single organization, whether managed internally or by a 3 rd party & hosted internally or externally Hybrid Cloud Composition of 2 or more other clouds (private, community or public), allows for fault tolerance combined with usability w/o dependency on Internet connectivity
Everything Old is New Again! Mainframe Proliferation Minicomputers Personal Computers Networking Internet <1950:BC The UK Colossus Computer 1950 s First Commercial Computers 1960 s Rise of the Mainframes 1970 s Twin Revolutions (Timesharing) (ARPANET) 2000 s The Cloud is back
Disaster Recovery Sites Remote Desktop Access Colocation Server Virtualization Software as a Service
Momentum building Attitudes are changing Partner IT Professional Vendors were pushing the message & now are trying to keep up
Exchange Office 365 Workflow Document Management Client Portals/Secure File Transfer Client Accounting
Accounting Firms are using it Completely Online Hybrid Environment (On-premise Exchange & hosted Lync) Re-seller to clients
Exchange Online SharePoint Online Lync Online (Instant Messaging, Presence & Conferencing) Office Web Apps Website Email Archiving & Spam Filtering
Client Accounting Over Past 20 Years 1990 2000 Today Small Businesses push work back to firms to focus more on their business Today s Opportunity Cloud based Integrated Paperless Dashboards Real Time Role of Firms Reduced QuickBooks introduced to small businesses Re-claiming of Client Accounting & Trusted Advisor Role CPA2Biz, Inc. - Proprietary and Confidential Information
Workflow in Desktop Accounting Desktop Software on Client PC Client enters Data File Transfer to CPA Firm Desktop Software on CPA Firm PC Create Financials Adjusting Entries Cleanup/Fix Client Mess Export to T/B System Print Mail to Client File Transfer to Client Import into Desktop Software on Client PC
Workflow in Cloud Accounting Client Dashboard & 24/7 Access to Downloads Electronic Data Capture Adjusting Entries Create Financials & Reports Trusted Business Advisor Advisory Services Cash Flow Analysis Budgeting Tax Planning & Compliance Business/Strategic Planning Direct to DMS/Portal
Yupana
Packaging Naming Buy-In Pricing Bookkeeping Processes Change Management Team Niche
Driving Adoption in a Digital Age Technology Talent Most significant challenge Business Change CPA2Biz, Inc. - Proprietary and Confidential Information
SaaS Suite Update All products in market Tax soft launch later in 2012 Open Integration Platform strategy Virtual Office CS Suite SaaS CS Suite Expanded offerings based on GFR platform
Attitudes will continue to shift towards adoption Vendors will expand capabilities attack integration issues Is it a fad?
Enhanced search, reporting & collaboration Focus on strategic, value-add activities Smooth out IT spend Minimize development/implementation time Limited downtime Anytime/anywhere access
Low upfront cost no capital expenditures Minimal h/w management AD and File print servers only Better growth position hardware, access, and applications are readily available Eliminate backup expenses
think faster, better, cheaper & easier The Cloud
Lease/shared versus owned/controlled Enabling platforms Cloud computing Access beats ownership Recommendations trusted source
Your Clients/Vendors Non-US companies in your geographic area
1. Confidentially and Privacy of Data Concerns around who has access to very confidential client data 2. Availability of Service Reliability of internet access Capacity of supplier during high usage times 3. Management of the Data Ownership of the data Process to switch web-based providers (transfer the data) Ensuring that document retention rules are followed 4. Liability Contracting best practices for web-based solutions E-discovery process with web based providers 5. Flexibility Adapting/improving processes to leverage existing technology 6. Pricing Scalability
Large paradigm shift for IT and users Loss of personal support and responsiveness Complexity of data migration or data integration projects Flexibility Pricing
Loss of control outages are handled by another company Outages impact everyone, not just a few Security Cloud companies are higher target value for hackers Higher potential for data breeches
http://online.wsj.com/article/sb10001424052702304567604576454173706460768.html
More fragmented data Data from email, CRM, scheduling, T&B, etc. Single vendor solutions MS, Thomson, etc. Data Integration companies Informatica, Oracle, IBM, SAP, Sage, SAS institute
1. For Your Existing Software Vendors: Is your application able to run the Cloud natively? If so is there an upgrade / relicensing fee? If not will I need to relicense your Cloud version? 2. Who do I contact if I have a question or a problem? 3. How are service rates determined? 4. What is you Service Level Agreement? 5. Can I integrate my Cloud Systems with my In- House Applications? Other Cloud-Hosted Solutions?
6. How is my data protected? 7. Are backup / high availability and disaster recovery included? 8. Are test & training system versions available? 9. Before a software change is implemented are we notified in advance? 10.Can my system administrator add users, write reports, modify parameters, etc? 11.Can I obtain a copy of my data?
Service Organization Control (SOC) Reports SOC 1: Financial Reporting SOC 2 & SOC3: Based on Trust Services Trust Services Security Availability Processing Integrity Confidentiality Privacy Opportunity to Lead
Microsoft calling for upgrades to Electronic Communications Privacy Act & Computer Fraud & Abuse Act 3 Key areas of focus Privacy Security International sovereignty of data Strengthen ability of cloud service providers to pursue civil claims against security violators http://www.eweek.com/c/a/government-it/microsoft-calls-for-new-cloud-computing-laws- 525700/?kc=EWKNLENT01222010STR2
Managing the services Integration & workflow Processes more involved in the business and less on the hardware Tightly aligned with Training & Learning Professional Innovative and strategic
Probably Less of a need for: Infrastructure Maintenance Software Maintenance & Troubleshooting More of a need for: Understanding Processes Researching Solutions Communication & Training
Business Savvy Communication Marketing & Sales Human Resources Project Management Budgeting & Cash Flow Strategy & Planning
Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP, MBA CIO & Shareholder, Boomer Consulting, Inc. jim@boomer.com Think, Plan, Grow!