How Cloud can reduce security risks and benefit your organisation

Any business can use the cloud based accounting software with confidence

The cloud today offers considerably more data security than many businesses could achieve themselves with on-site IT infrastructure. Although many companies have traditionally avoided the cloud due to security concerns, today it actually represents a better option for many enterprises. Service providers with broader expertise, more up to the minute solutions and clearly defined obligations with respect to updates and maintenance can deliver more effective security than individual on-premise solutions. Any business can use the cloud with confidence when it comes to protecting key systems and data.

Assess your options

If you’re considering a move to the cloud then you need to establish what your options are in terms of deployment and where your security concerns lie. It’s often useful to look at where potentially sensitive data is involved and to ensure that you’re engaging with the best security at that point. Work out where basic cloud deployment would make a difference to the business and how that would reduce pressure and cost.

Look at optimising productivity

As well as reducing pressure on existing systems and taking advantage of the enhanced security of the cloud, it can also be used to optimise productivity. Moving some applications to the cloud, such as financial management software or customer relationship management software, can have a big impact here. Cloud based accounting software also has a number of advantages for businesses, from simple scalability to supporting an agile enterprise structure. These systems clearly involve sensitive data but layers of security exist to protect that data. From specific security programmes, to security controls, compliance frameworks, firewalls and intrusion prevention, cloud-based software and systems are considerably harder to access for unauthorized users than many on-premise IT set-ups.

Reduced cost and increased flexibility

Given the enhanced security on offer, it’s often assumed that working with the cloud will be costly. However, that’s not the case. One of the reasons for the surge in popularity of cloud services is that it provides a way to reduce cost. Economies of scale mean that access to the best security and systems doesn’t come at the same cost as owning these on-premises. There is no up front hardware cost involved with cloud services – this is born by the service provider – and updates and maintenance are also handled off-site. It’s also worth bearing in mind the flexibility of the cloud and the options that exist for responsiveness to the way that the business changes – cloud software and services can be scaled up or down, depending on business need.

There are more and more ways to work with the cloud today to enjoy the productivity and efficiency benefits of cloud systems and software, while ensuring that security standards remain high. If you’d like to find out more about cloud based accounting software, and how it could benefit your business, please get in touch with FinanSys today.