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7 CPA Prac. Mgmt. F. 10 (2011)
Remote Access Cloud Hosting Options for CPA Firms

handle is hein.journals/cpamanf7 and id is 118 raw text is: MAY 2011 Remote Access Cloud Hosting Options for CPA Firms By Roman H. Kepczyk lot of people are confused about cloud com- puting, as it is a buzzword used to describe a variety of tools and remote access situations that can encompass a fairly broad spectrum of technologies. In its truest form, cloud computing is a completely out- sourced solution (SaaS-Software as a service), where the firm pays a vendor a usage fee to access applications and information that the vendor manages in an Internet- accessible facility. CCH Research and CCH SaaS Portal are solid examples of stand-alone cloud products that have been well adopted by the marketplace, where the firm pays a fee for what it uses and CCH is responsible for all maintenance and infrastructure. CCH is in the process of building a comprehensive suite of SaaS-based accounting products that will eventually encompass practice management, document management, work- flow, and audit engagement tools that will take advan- tage of the next generation of programming tools and information technologies. However, what do firms do today if they want to take advantage of the benefits of cloud technology and have their entire suite of appli- cations, including CCH accounting products, e-mail, Microsoft Office, and other applications that they are required to support (e.g., QuickBooks) accessible in a cloud-like environment? Firm cloud options: Virtual private networking vs. thin client technology The most common solution for this problem has been for firms to build their own firm cloud by allowing re- mote access through virtual private networking (VPN) or thin client technology (e.g., Citrix and Microsoft Windows Terminal Server [WTS]). Thin client tech- nology provides reliable remote access through the In- ternet. VPN technology allows for a secure connection from a remote site to the firm's file servers, but it requires a huge amount of bandwidth to be as effective as work- ing in the office. This option is an acceptable solution for firms to use when they connect static offices that have great Internet bandwidth between them. Unfor- tunately, it is harder to standardize VPN connections and performance for remote workers (e.g., auditors or consultants in the field, or tax people at home) where the bandwidth speed can vary dramatically. For situations where the client's Internet connection is not great or when the accountant only has access through a digital cellular connection (via an air card or smartphone), firms have transitioned to using thin client technologies (e.g., WTS and Citrix). In essence, the WTS/Citrix servers allow users in the field to work very fast because their workstations act as a dumb ter minal into the firm's servers, where ke kes arset up, heavy processing is done on the frm's producion servers, and only the final screen cinges wae to the terminal. This makes it appear thatt a is running similarly to when the afcu i or her desk in the office. In ma opted thin client technologyn ot ad A sp u but also for all firm worktosn life of most workstations are only utilized as trwnis Externally hosted cloud optin The adoption of this technoliv Ju to the cloud conce t, Ige a the physical servers and,. W1cos reside as n as a person sitting at a woktitcan efe elyuthe his or her tools. Th is en0ive m re compkndIi accounting firms than or Iost othbr iuTsriu s be cause most accounting frrmsrne a very btroad ang of applications from differ vendors, whi r are usually not hosted by a sing an awar vendor. To work optinuml anya ctnn to integrate should be houed in samx lo o which leads to having txv, workow, scanning. Joc ment management, engagement rtaIand produciC- ity (Microsoft Office) ai in oni xeve m T a- ditionally has been nost convenient nh i on office or in an offsite coloation -u rm w adequate Internet connem vi and io i recovery options. To furthe bA h o managing IT within an rcountm CPA PRACTICE MANAGEMENT FORUM 10

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