IT is built up in a number of layers. As the tech world becomes quicker and slicker, we tend to get excited about all the cool, non-essential tools we think we need.
Sometimes we forget the basics, the bedrock that allows us to operate and work every day. It goes for any business – unless you have a good foundation of IT infrastructure basics, it’s very hard to advance with sophisticated tech like automation and analytics tools.
Typically across accountancy practices, challenges lie in streamlining and integrating core applications, budget roadblocks, and repetitive manual processes. Accountants are becoming more ambitious with technology which is a positive step forward. But to mature in this fast-paced world, many need to revise their IT infrastructure basics and recognise this is their best first step.
Accountancy firms often struggle with seeing the full value in adopting a thorough cloud strategy. The ‘lift-and-shift’ approach, whereby just taking legacy applications and moving them to the cloud, will not automatically solve all your problems. The full value of cloud comes from adopting it holistically – a strategy that lies beneath the surface supporting your business. To do this, practices need to start from the beginning: how does technology enable your business goals—or stands in the way? Based on your goals and your teams’ technology needs, you can determine a cloud migration strategy that will boost your growth.
One of the most important IT infrastructure basics is your system. Many firms have allowed parts of their systems and network to age, and become out of date or unsupported. While corporate data centres may seem like the safer and more reliable option, modern cloud solutions actually offer superior cyber security as well as backup and recovery options. Running outdated systems becomes a barrier to wider Cloud adoption as well as a security risk for the firm. If you’re relying on legacy technologies, it’s time to review your IT infrastructure basics.
It used to be the case that gathering your employees for a business meeting meant sitting in a meeting room, in an office, with a notepad and pen. We can all agree this no longer applies. However communication and collaboration is ingrained in the way we work, so having the simplest means to do this has to be at the core. Office 365 is one of the best applications for hybrid and remote teams to collaborate efficiently no matter where your team is located, and it should be part of your IT infrastructure basics.
Most practices have general IT support that works and helps with daily troubles, whether that is in house or outsourced. But it doesn’t go beyond that. Accountants often don’t focus on IT until it stops working altogether, and humans naturally seek a workaround if solving the problem falls into the "too hard" box. It's time to change that. Get a partner that understands accountants, their complex requirements and applications, and work together to create a great user experience. It makes a really big difference across the practice. If you want to success, IT support should be part of your IT infrastructure basics.
In the modern era of work, we are all working from home. It might sound silly, but does everyone across the firm have a fully functioning, quality laptop? Often the desktop estate is messy. Users have laptops of variable quality; some are new and fast, whereas others are old and clunky. In some cases, some users weren’t equipped with laptops before the pandemic, being heavily reliant on their office desktop. If your team doesn’t have access to laptops—or high-quality, fast laptops—they will use their own devices, which opens up several security risks for your practice.
The building is only as tall as the foundation is strong enough to build on. Having these good foundations at the core of your practice will equate to
Are you confident your practice has good IT infrastructure basics in place? Do you need to invest more in IT?
Book a meeting and get an idea of how mature your practice is.