Today’s professional services firms face the test of adapting to the changing climate of global business, and succeeding, no matter how the rules change. And we know the rules have changed, likely for good.
Right now, you may be keeping a sharp eye on costs, or you may have a workforce that’s suddenly remote, and your firm’s opportunities may be changing from week to week. We’re all looking for steady ground.
Start by looking at the tools your services firm uses to do business every day. Everyone at your firm should have software tools that help you to adapt, to scale, and to secure your data. That’s exactly what the cloud does.
The cloud is a way for you to access from anywhere all of your firm’s tools, securely, over the Internet. If you have an Internet connection, you can use your firm’s cloud to keep your business connected, responsive, accountable, and secure.
What is the cloud?
The cloud delivers all kinds of computing services over the Internet, rather than over software that lives on your computer’s hard drive, or over a server that lives in your firm’s office. Instead, the cloud lets you access software, storage, business intelligence, and databases, all through your Internet connection.
When your tools are on the cloud, according to PC Magazine, it means you’re “storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive. The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet.” That’s it.
Your professional services firm could keep all kinds of assets on the cloud, like accounting data, or timesheets, or contact information. Keeping it all in one place means you can access it from anywhere, upload info to it from anywhere, and download the info you need.
For any business, using the cloud means your firm can respond quickly to change and can conserve its costs by using only the resources that are necessary to complete projects. Once your tools are on the cloud, the benefits to your firm become perfectly clear.
How do professional services firms benefit from using the cloud?
Storing your data on the cloud means not only that your professional services firm can almost instantly update its data. It also means your firm can allocate the right resources for every project. And it means all of your client data can be stored securely, off-site.
In short, the cloud helps your firm to work smarter, for less. That’s why, in “A Day in the Life of a Professional Services CEO,” Kirk King writes that the “move from on-premise solutions to the cloud is big. The question is no longer if a client will shift to the cloud, but how they’ll shift to the cloud.”
You could use cloud-based software, usually called Software as a Service (or a SaaS), to keep track of your firm’s projects, to see how close the project is to completion, and to re-allocate your project’s resources as needed. What’s better, with the cloud, you can do all of that remotely.
Firms that use the cloud also frequently benefit from a variable-cost pricing plan, so you’re only charged for the services you use, when you use them. For services firms, the cloud provides security that is rarely ever breached, so your firm can work safely and securely.
To learn more about how cloud-based firm management software can help your firm overcome the 5 most common workflow inefficiencies, join our webinar on May 19, 2020. Click here to register. We hope to see you there!