OfficeTools is a business and practice management software solution for accounting firms and firms dealing with tax preparation. Some of the key features provided by the software include automated billing, time tracking, staffing, centralization of client data, and workflow management.
While OfficeTools holds many benefits, when hosted on the cloud, it becomes an all-in-one solution for accountants, CPAs, small businesses, and tax preparers.
Let’s look at some of the benefits offered by OfficeTools cloud hosting.
1. Collaboration Efficiency
OfficeTools cloud hosting enables small business owners or CPAs to share their tax data or files outside the traditional means. If a user is working on a file from a different location, she/he can provide other users or employees the access to the same file in real-time with the help of cloud hosting.
As the cloud provides multi-user access functionality, you can invite different users involved in the process to work on the same platform as you. This advancement has led to many benefits which allow users to connect and work collectively as a team, irrespective of their location – efficiently and productively.
2. Improved Flexibility
With OfficeTools cloud hosting, users get access to the files from servers which are located outside their office and not hard-wired in-house servers. This creates a more flexible and mobile work lifestyle for businesses.
In addition to providing flexibility for employees, OfficeTools hosting also provides flexibility in adopting latest and innovative technologies without huge cost or risks involved. As companies aren’t bound to an in-house IT infrastructure (which may cost a huge amount), they have room to experiment and make changes accordingly. Also, they can easily go back to their traditional system if things don’t work out as expected.
3. Cost Savings
Perhaps, one of the significant benefits of hosting OfficeTools on the cloud is in terms of cost savings. Businesses, irrespective of their size, exist to earn money while keeping their operational and capital expenditures to a minimum.
As OfficeTools is hosted on the cloud, businesses can save a huge amount spent on in-house server storage and IT staff. With the minimization of on-premise infrastructure, one can also save costs related to power, administration, and air conditioning. You only need to pay for what you use and may discontinue whenever you want to – there is no invested IT capital on the cloud.
4. Data Security
One of the primary concerns of businesses while hosting their OfficeTools on the cloud is the security of their data. Cybercrimes and data breaches can bring down a company’s revenue, brand positioning, and customer loyalty.
According to a Salesforce report, laptops are stolen or lost at a surprising rate – 800,000 every year just in airports. One of the benefits of OfficeTools hosting is that you would still be able to access the data and keep it safe, despite the loss of a physical device.
With OfficeTools on the cloud, security is increased as the cloud providers adhere to strict security standards in addition to regular security audits. Cloud service providers offer many advanced security features such as multi-factor authentication, data encryption, enterprise-grade firewall, and Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems which guarantee that your data is hosted in a safe and secure environment.
5. Competitive Advantage
As the deployment time in the cloud is virtually zero, all the applications which are vital for business growth can be online almost instantly. This gives companies adopting OfficeTools hosting service a strategic competitive advantage over their competitors who haven’t adopted the technology.
Additionally, with the high scalability offered by OfficeTools on the cloud, smaller firms who would usually be at a disadvantage against larger companies having a greater on-premise capacity, now find themselves on a level playing field. Moreover, they don’t even need to pay a huge amount for their own data centers.
According to a study by Verizon, 77% of businesses feel that cloud computing provides them with a competitive advantage and 16% believe that this advantage is ‘significant.’
6. Less Operational Issues
Cloud computing may seem complicated for some, but it actually has fewer operational issues than traditional methods. As the cloud provider’s only job is to make your OfficeTools cloud hosting hassle-free and fully-functional, it’s usually more reliable than an on-premise setup.
In fact, when an issue arises, your cloud provider is probably already looking for ways to fix it as soon as possible.
On the other hand, if any issues occur in your local server, you first need to open a ticket with the tech support team and have them send someone to look at it. This would take a lot of your time and money to fix.
7. Accessibility
Cloud technology opens more opportunities for employees to access OfficeTools remotely through browsers and mobile devices. While in the pre-cloud age, employees needed to travel to the office to access a company device, they can now simply log-in through a secure password from a mobile or laptop.
As the OfficeTools software is more accessible to the employees, they can stay ahead of the process at all times and keep the status updated in real-time.
Moreover, most cloud service providers are reliable in providing services, with many maintaining 99.99% uptime. As long as you have an Internet connection, you remain connected to the software.
Wrapping It Up!
Adoption of cloud technology is on the rise every year. With OfficeTools hosting, companies can prevent many problems which plague companies relying on on-premise infrastructure.
With all the benefits offered by cloud-hosted OfficeTools, companies of all sizes are realizing that the question is no more about whether to adopt cloud or not, but about how they should do so.
If you have queries about how to effectively host their OfficeTools on the cloud or how to improve your cloud performance and minimize costs, contact our experts (855-223-4887) today to help you with all your business needs.