It’s difficult to imagine that anyone has not at least heard of the cloud these days, even though they may not understand what it is. A person does not need to understand exactly what the cloud is to understand the benefits of using it. If you are a business owner, especially a small business owner, why should you go with a cloud solution for your accounting software? There are several advantages.
First, consider the flexibility. Cloud based systems, such as SMS’s new EnergyElite system, are not tied down to a single physical location. A user can access the system from any device anywhere since it is based off of the web. There is no need for expensive hardware dedicated to storing your data because the data is stored and managed securely offsite by a cloud service provider.
That leads to the next advantage, price. Again, there is no need to invest in pricey new equipment and servers. The business can utilize existing computers, as long as there is an internet connection. There is also no huge upfront investment. In the past with on-premise software, the business would be required to purchase the license for the software, often running anywhere from $60,000 to $85,000 or more. After that investment, there would be costs involved with data conversion, custom programming and possibly even training. Once those investments are made, every year there is a charge for ongoing support, which is typically a percentage of the original price of the license.
By moving to a cloud based system, the business no longer needs to invest in this on-premise program. The costs can now be broken down into monthly subscription payments rather than a large upfront capital investment. That monthly subscription payment may even include ongoing support and cloud storage fees.
Another way cost savings can be realized is that there is no continuing need to keep members of an IT staff on payroll to manage your servers. There is no need to pay someone to manage backups of your data as this will be done regularly by the cloud service provider.
The fact that a cloud provider is now controlling the data storage may have some concerned about the security of that data. That is understandable being that by storing the data on the cloud means that you relinquish control of where that data is actually stored. Fortunately, most cloud service providers offer data security that is compliant with the payment card industry Data Security Standard. Plus, the actual level of security, back-up and disaster recovery offered by an outsourced service provider may actually exceed anything that a company can provide to itself when the data is stored using an on-site server.
When looking at the advantages of a cloud based accounting system, factors such as price, flexibility and security make it easier to understand why using the cloud has been gaining popularity. Ultimately, the cloud based system offers too many advantages for businesses, both large and small, to ignore.
