In a recent webinar, Kate Krupey, CIO of CoreBlue Advisory and Bill Sorenson, VP of Product at Netgain, discussed how and why the accounting industry is shifting en masse toward centralized cloud services and how internal IT teams can not only drive the move but also capitalize on it. One of the main takeaways from the webinar focused on creating capacity by turning to a strategic partner with whom you can share critical responsibilities. The chart details how responsibilities can be transferred and managed between the two, resulting in increased capacity for the internal IT department.
In case you missed the webinar, read the full recap and watch the webinar here.
IT teams have had growing demands as organizations expand their use of different applications and newer technologies. These systems require installations, updates, maintenance, and more all performed by the IT team. Liberating the internal IT team from these responsibilities by offsetting these tasks to a cloud services provider, allows for the IT team to focus more intensely on strategic initiatives that require intimate firm knowledge and a clear understanding of the firm’s long-term direction. These cloud services providers should be viewed by the internal IT team as a way to expand their team with external resources that offload day-to-day needs from the firm, while providing the deep cloud and application expertise that can be difficult or expensive to develop in house. Understanding a cloud services providers’ strengths and how to strategically manage them is key. This collaboration allows your firm to reach strategic goals.
Here are some concrete examples. In employee onboarding and offboarding, cloud services partners can do the tactical piece while the firm handles the strategic piece. In another example, account security and data organization roles and responsibilities typically stay on premises and within the firm’s IT team. Yet, these roles and responsibilities can be clearly defined when working with a cloud partner to ultimately create capacity.
Not only can a cloud services provider assist with different internal IT tasks, their expertise in cloud can lead to the success of your firm. Cloud services providers with industry knowledge help to give firms a leg up on managing and understanding applications and their performance. Leveraging a cloud services provider’s security, support, and networking strengths leads to capacity for the IT team. With a greater capacity, the IT team can help advance your organization’s goals and future.
Developing a strong relationship between the internal IT team and cloud services provider is key to success of the firm. Clear communication allows for each side to feel extended across one another’s responsibilities and provides great value overall. Sharing and prioritizing responsibilities with an external source, based on knowledge and skills, will advance your organizations goals.