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Maybe you’ve heard of the cloud, computing in the cloud – or maybe it means nothing more to you than cumulus, stratus and cirrus… So, what is cloud computing and how can it possibly benefit you?

Think of the cloud as contracting a segment of your business (technology infrastructure), that you may not be skilled at or have time for, to experts in that field. Very much like you would contract a CPA to handle your financial matters, or a storage facility to keep all your important business records; but rather than sending them to a dusty warehouse in some remote location, your records and business transactions are efficiently organized, accurate and accessible to you and other members of your organization from any location worldwide via the internet, stored on the Web – or rather “the cloud”.

The following is a list of 6 benefits to consider:

• Quick setup process – Most cloud service providers claim their applications can be up and running in a few minutes because there is no software to install.
• Access from anywhere at anytime – Since all information is stored on the Web (in the cloud), you can do business from anywhere there is an internet connection.
• Lower upfront costs – Unlike traditional methods where you would purchase expensive programs or hardware, with the cloud you purchase a package of services, often times with only a month to month commitment. And the service provider usually offers a range of services that can be configured to meet the needs of your organization.
• Little or no support or maintenance costs – Rather than having to employ in-house experts for product support and maintenance, the vendor typically provides support directly for the customer.
• Easier upgrades – A service provider can regularly make enhancements to the products automatically in the background, without disrupting the flow of business.
• Disaster recovery and backup capabilities – “One of the costs incurred by customers who keep their data on-premise is backing up their data, typically via tape or by contracting a third-party backup provider. This is another area covered by the vendor in a cloud environment. The infrastructure is “self-healing” so that when a failure occurs and the backup becomes the primary source of information, the system launches a new backup instance of the data.”, says Gregory LaFollette, CPA/CITP, a senior manager with Eide Bailly LLP and consultant to accounting firms and vendors. – Alexandra Defelice ,“Cloud Computing: What Accountants Need to Know”, Journal of Accountancy, Oct. 2010.

The primary concern, and question on everyone’s minds is: How can you know that your information is safe? Due to the nature of the information that accountants keep for their clients, the industry has understandably been a little slower to jump on board. So how do you protect yourself?

According to Defelice, you need to first and foremost, make sure the vendor uses a data center that has received an AICPA Service Organization Controls Report (SOC), formerly known as a SAS 70 report. There are three types of SOC reports:

AICPA SOC 1: Report on Controls at a Service Organization Relevant to User Entities’ Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

AICPA SOC 2: Report on Controls at a Service Organization Relevant to Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality and/or Privacy.

AICPA SOC 3: Trust Services Report (Trust Services Principles, Criteria, and Illustrations) (AICPA, Technical Practice Aids, vol. 1, (TPA sec. 100) commonly referred to as SysTrust reports).

LaFollette suggests asking vendors for a copy of their SOC 2 report, if unrestricted, and/or their SOC 3 report. Defelice adds that best practices also include using a third-party monitor, such as McAfee Secure or Comodo HackerGuardian, to test the security of the vendor’s Web applications on a daily basis; and to look for that logo and the date-tested stamp on the vendor’s site.

“One of the great things about cloud is that it can be experimented with very cheaply. If you are looking to make use of cloud services then I suggest just dive in! Start small, with one service, and then move more services once you are ready.” – Kate Craig-Wood, “Definition of Cloud Computing, Incorporating NIST and G-Cloud Views”, www.katescomment.com, posted 24/02/2010

So, are you ready to take the plunge…into the cloud?