I could quite easily predict how accounting software will go in the next 5-10 years and be quite accurate but to predict the next 12 months is not that easy.

The current challenges related to the covid pandemic over the last two years, the riots and looting in mid-2021 has forced many changes in how we do work and that is the move towards the cloud. This move has been forced on many companies and has been adopted as the new normal. Even with nearly normal level 1 restrictions many office-bound jobs have been changed to home-based jobs. This massive shift of people resources has also meant that the IT and systems resources has also shifted or still in the throes of changing.

Initial solutions are the ability of taking standard desktop applications linked to an inhouse server and looking at solution to take that current technology and moving it away from on premise. The main reason for the move away from on-premise are as follows…

• Cost of own IT infrastructure and not only on IT hardware but also…
  • Rental for Floor space related to Server room and other requirements.
  • Backups.
  • Firewalls
  • Anti-Virus, Anti Malware and Ransomware costs.
  • Security against theft or looting.
  • IT staff and or IT service provider costs.
  • Disaster recovery costs with possibility of a mirror site.
• All the above costs are reduced to a rental of the above, but scale of economics reduces this cost dramatically.
• Ability for you and your staff to work from anywhere with internet connectivity.
• You can setup remote working on your on-premise infrastructure at additional costs.
• Consolidation of multiple systems across multiple offices into one system.

You will still require Internet Connectivity with a certain amount of security.

The big move will be towards native cloud. So, what is the difference between cloud and native cloud. Cloud is moving existing software that you have on your desktop or server and moving it to a server on the cloud hosted by a third party. You connect to that server via RDP (Remote Desktop), Terminal Services, Citrix, or other remote connectivity software. Native cloud is the software with the similar functionality that you currently have being accessed via a web page. The software and all its functionality is run on a browser or similar and the software is run by an external provider.

Accounting software is already available as a native cloud product, and we have seen a shift towards this over quite a few years but especially in the last two years. It will not be overnight as one cannot offer what you currently have in terms of functionality, look, and feel and give that same software as a native cloud option. It is new technology, new functionality and new look and feel and requires conversions, training and all that comes with changing to a new system and that change will take time.

The existing part is all that will become possible when more and more companies move to native cloud accounting and financial systems is the ability to integrate between all of them. The collaboration possibilities like a RFQ being received automatically as the integration already exist. Your quote going to the client automatically and then the order and all other documents and data. This type of integration is possible but often an additional engagement with third party developers to achieve this when in the near future this will become standard.

For those that do not move to the cloud nor native cloud will still require more automation, remove the need for manual intervention, capturing and checking and let an automated process handle it.

Other buzzwords are Procurement and the ability to setup authorizations on the system before ordering, paying, updating and overall, any process in an accounting or financial system. Many systems cater for this but drawbacks are having to login to your internal systems and often into multiple legal entities to accept and authorize transactions and due to the cumbersome nature of this, the system often fails. Via a Native cloud system this has been simplified and achievable via one login.

Tablet and phone applications that allow daily tasks to be on these smaller devices will improve especially as native cloud already becomes usable on any device with a browser, but specific applications that integrates to your system will become more prolific in options.

Internet access, speed and costs will become easier, faster and more affordable and allow the decision to move away from on-premise to the cloud an easier decision to make.

Welcome to 2022!!!

[ssba-buttons]

Contact us