To Get the Most Impact from Office 365 Features, Accounting Firms are Investing in IT Support. – Why?
Accounting firms across the country are making the leap from on-premise IT infrastructure to cloud-based infrastructure and workflow. For many, part of that adoption is IT support for accounting firms in conjunction with Microsoft Office 365.
Our accounting IT services team has done the math, and the most beneficial Office 365 features for accounting firms are:
- Integrations
- Collaboration
- Compliance
- Security
- Scalability
- Mobility and Accessibility
- Project Management
- Conferencing
- Analytics Interface
Why Should Your CPA Firm Consider Implementing Office 365?
Many of the benefits of using Office 365 in an accounting environment are synonymous with the Office 365 features that we have already mentioned and will go into more detail shortly. However, outside of these, there are some reasons that accounting firms are migrating toward Office 365.
It’s Microsoft – Although there are dozens of smaller players on the market trying to sell software that does a part of what Office 365 can do, they aren’t Microsoft.
Therefore, they don’t have the wealth of experience and the R&D capability of this tech industry giant.
But that’s not all, because Office 365 is a Microsoft product, it works natively with all the other Microsoft offerings and all the smaller players want to find ways to integrate their products with Office 365. It’s good to be the big dog on the block.
It’s All There – It’s nearly impossible to write a concise, readable article on the features of Office 365 for accounting firms because there are literally hundreds of features spread across the wide swath of business solutions housed in the various Office 365 subscription packages.
No other company offers such a comprehensive platform.
When it Comes to IT Support for Accounting Firms, Do the Alavanca Systems Specialists Have Any Reservations About Office 365?
The answer is, “Yes and No.”
Yes, our IT support professionals are aware that there is no such thing as a perfect piece of software, and we warn businesses using Microsoft Office 365 that the use of Office 365 doesn’t guarantee their cybersecurity posture or their compliant standing.
No, we don’t have any reservations in recommending the use of Office 365 to our accounting firm clients. We’ll be there to ensure that their systems are protected and that they can leverage the features of Office 365 that will bring the most advantage while managing their risk profile.
In Our Experience Delivering IT Support for Accounting Firms, the Office 365 Features Most Effective for CPAs are:
The most prominent cybersecurity tools within Office 365 are:
- Encrypted Email
- Data Loss Prevention
- Azure Identity Protection
- Privileged Identity Management
- Multi-Factor Authentication
- Mobile Device Management
- Advanced Threat Protection
Scalability
Mobility and Accessibility
Project Management
Conferencing
Analytics Interface
With Power BI, the Alavanca IT support teams working with your accounting firm are able to leverage that data by building live dashboards. These online, visual data displays allow you to make informed decisions and give you the capability to share visual analytics to clients as needed.
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Don’t Let Your Technology Issues Hold You Back!
Ciro Cetrangolo is an IT specialist with over 30+ years in the IT services industry. Ciro has a deep understanding of the software, workflow, and underlying technology of accounting organizations and helps firms like yours achieve the secure, stable, and streamlined IT environments you need to accomplish your work more effectively. See my Amazon Author Profile