Accounting data was always a top priority for businesses, salaried professionals, and accountants. However, in recent years, modes of financial transactions have grown abruptly to make way for soaring rise in the accounting data. Accounting services are now rendered over the globe without any geographical or time-zone limits.
So, that requires not only a considerable amount of storage space and security but also uninterrupted and omnipresent accessibility to it. The traditional way of accounting cannot fulfill the present-day accounting requirements as installing the accounting applications and storing the data on the local premises bring with it numerous restrictions. For instance, the data cannot be accessed from outside the office.
To encounter all these challenges, cloud computing is the best solution for accountants. Cloud computing offers the kind of mobility and flexibility in accounting operations that cannot be provided by any other platform.
Here is how cloud computing ensures your accounting data is available all the time:
Remote Servers With Impressive Uptime
Cloud computing, simply put, means you are working on a server that is located remotely and connected to the Internet. The location can be at the other half of the globe. Cloud computing has been offering this for long, but what has changed now is amazing uptime of the servers.
With the servers being racked in tier-4 level data centers, one can expect an uptime of 99.99% or more. The data centers implement multi-level redundancy (more than one), which implies that there is a back up for all the infrastructural elements like cooling, power, cabling, and network equipment.
This ensures that the downtime is guaranteed to be less than 10 minutes in the entire year.
Among the reasons for downtime, majorly it is going to be maintenance and upgrading of the servers, for which service providers choose the least traffic time and update the users well in advance about the possible downtime. With such improvements on the card, your accounting data is sure to remain available whenever you want it.
Accessibility On Any Device
Device compatibility is one of the main reasons why you should make a switch to the cloud. As a user, cloud computing ensures that you are able to access your accounting data and applications over any internet-connected device, which could be a smartphone, tablet, or desktop.
With the local on-premise setup, entire data resides on one device. You can work freely on one device at your office, but as you buy a new device or wish to work from home, there is a need for installation of the application along with the hassles of data transfer.
Along with that, the data files might face compatibility issues because of version variations. By switching to the cloud, your data and applications are compatible and available on any device.
Instant Mirroring
Data accessibility over the cloud depends heavily on the availability of the servers. Cloud servers, though lesser than local servers, are susceptible to data loss possibilities that may be caused by unfortunate harm to the hardware. To keep the data protected in such situations, cloud service providers adopt automated and instant mirroring of the servers.
Mirroring enables a replica of the server on another server, which could be located at a different location. In case any disaster, natural or human-inflicted, such as earthquake or fire strikes, the data center location, the data can be recovered from the servers at other location. Hence, you will be able to work instantly without any interruption in the services.
Unbeatable Security
The year 2016 brought in light the biggest ever data breach that affected 500 million users. Though breach occurred in 2014, Yahoo publicly admitted it in September 2016. The incident reflected the concern on the security of data stored in the cloud. As an accountant, keeping the data protected from theft and cyberattacks such as Ransomware is even more critical.
Digital security has improved miles in the last few years, and, in the coming year, it is expected to stay on the same track. Cloud service providers are continually working at their end to improve their security standards. The competent cloud providers in the market are implementing security methods like multi-factor authentication, data encryption, Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDPS), access controls, among many others, to ensure that the data is secure.
However, what matters as a user is following the right practices while accessing the data over the cloud. When the data remains secure from external and internal threats, you are sure to get access to it 24×7.
Cloud Brings In Numerous Advantages
Like every other industry, cloud technology is highly beneficial for the accounting industry as well. Ensuring all-time availability of the data is just one of the perks of the cloud. Cloud technology also helps in optimizing your budget by reducing capital and operational costs.
Moreover, since all the hardware is located in the data centers of the cloud provider, you are free from the hassles of hardware maintenance and upgrade. With your accounting process on the cloud, you can stop worrying about the IT-related issues and focus on providing your customers with the best services.
If you want to know more about cloud accounting, get in touch with our cloud experts at 855-622-8313.