How to plan – and execute – migrating your accounting firm’s tech stack to the cloud
Migrating your on-premise or hybrid accounting software to the cloud requires careful planning and execution- the following overview can be helpful for tax professionals and small firms for consideration:
Identify migration needs
Start your journey to the cloud by identifying what you need to migrate. Cloud migration is not an end but a tool to increase the efficiency of your business processes.
Set migration goals
After assessing your needs, you can begin setting goals for your cloud migration. Objectives can include business outcomes you hope to gain from your cloud migration and goals for your migration.
Establish measurable benchmarks
Wherever your goals lend themselves to measurement, seek to establish benchmarks you can use to track your progress. Defining measurable benchmarks will help you manage your migration and assess its success.
Research cloud solutions
Guide your research by making a checklist of the requirements, such as software types, features, and costs, to help you identify promising solutions and eliminate unfeasible ones.
Establish your budget
With prospective vendors in mind, you can estimate the costs and budget for the cloud migration. Review current costs first to have a benchmark for comparison.
Evaluate business benefits
Once you have some prospective solutions and estimated costs, you can evaluate the impact of cloud migration on various areas of the firm, such as productivity, operating expenses, customer satisfaction, etc.
Run network backups
Before beginning any cloud migration, it’s essential to back up any data on your existing network – including any data moving to the cloud – to help protect from issues during the migration process, such as corrupt or missing file errors.
Schedule migration time
Work with your cloud provider to plan a migration strategy and schedule your migration time. If your provider anticipates significant downtime, try to schedule your migration at a time with the least impact on your staff and customers.
Train your team
Ensure that your team is well-trained in using cloud-based tools and applications. Provide ongoing training and support to help employees adapt to the new infrastructure and maximize its capabilities. This will enhance productivity and ensure your team can effectively respond to any challenges during and after a disaster.
Monitor performance benchmarks
As you begin using your new cloud provider, evaluate your solution's performance by monitoring the KPIs you selected when establishing your benchmarks. Many cloud apps feature native analytics and reporting tools you can use to track performance.
Natural disasters and unexpected events will remain an ongoing threat. By migrating to the cloud, savvy tax professionals and small accounting firms can significantly enhance their ability to respond to such challenges. A cloud-based tech stack provides robust data protection and security, storage, anytime and anywhere access, ensures business continuity, and guarantees uninterrupted client services. Wolters Kluwer offers cloud-based professional tax software solutions like CCH Axcess Tax Essentials that are designed for small tax and accounting firms in the 1 to 4 space, which keeps your data safe at all times, provides free self-guided training and free support if needed, allowing your firm to operate in the cloud and be protected from natural disasters or unforeseen events.
Embracing cloud technology is not just a strategic advantage; it is necessary for any firm aiming to thrive with the threat of unforeseen events and in a world facing increasing occurrences of natural disasters.
