Finding Value in the Cloud

Finding Value In the Cloud

Angela M. Bagley

ACCT 6631

Fall 2014

Finding Value in the Cloud

Twenty-four years ago the IMTA Division (Information Management and Technology Assurance) created the Top Technology Initiatives Survey to assist CPA professionals in the public accounting industry as well as professionals in consulting and law, education, government, military, and nonprofit industries. In the U.S., 36% of the survey’s participants were employed in public accounting, followed by 36% in business/industry and 28% in consulting, government, or non-profit entities. The results of the 2013 North America Top Technology Survey are in. Maintaining and retaining data is at the top of the list of ten technology initiatives for accounting firms in both the United States and Canada. The term “big data” is defined by the AICPA as “data sets that grow so large that they are nearly impossible to work with using traditional database management tools, but yet offer a powerful tool when married with strategic use.” According to the report on the AICPA/CPA Canada survey companies need to:

* Develop plans and policies for accessing, using, and managing big data

* Develop the necessary information systems and recruit people with the necessary experience and skills to manage big data, and

* Determine how cost-effective the investments are in big data management

Mike Ritchie, director of product management for accounting, audit, and workflow solutions at Riverwoods,-( Illinois-based software provider CCH) explains that there are three steps accounting firms can take to prevent being bogged down by data. The first is to take inventory of the data and decide if it can be put together in one place and can it be retrieved in a timely manner. The second step is to get the right tools in place. If the firms has data in multiple systems there are tools that can extrapolate data of out the systems and put it in one place. Thirdly, processes need to be put in place...