Reducing the Finance Director’s headaches

Technology is one of the biggest costs in a company. It might be the essential life blood of a business, but it can certainly give the Finance Director a few headaches!

So, how do you tackle that cost and bring it to a manageable level?

For us, the recommendation is nearly always to move to the cloud.

Let’s explore why that has a good impact on the bottom line…

• No upfront capital outlay – and no depreciation to worry about
• Significantly reduced maintenance costs – suddenly you don’t need to keep server rooms at a core temperature with expensive air conditioning, and your electricity bill reduces dramatically
• Flexibility – to be honest, this is the real biggie. You can literally turn processing power and storage on and off as you need it – just like you can software licences. On a recruitment drive? You can easily ramp up. Need to reduce staffing? You can scale back as needed.
• Confidence that your “hardware” is always up to date – it’s somebody else’s problem to work out when additional equipment is required, with no additional costs or procurement sourcing for you
• Software is consistently maintained – so you know all of the latest patches and releases have been implemented across the business
• Being cloud based is resource light – you don’t need an IT team upgrading individual machines, or fixing issues – that’s all automated or handled remotely
• Speed in the business – this is not about the processing speed of your virtual server but more about things like reduced downtime – upgrades can be scheduled for out of hours, reducing the impact on your team
• Reduced premises requirements – you can reduce premises size, as you no longer need a server room, and space for those old servers tucked away in a corner just running one application. And that’s in addition to enabling your team to work from anywhere – reducing the number of desks you need.
• Financial management – this model enables your finance team to plan your cashflow, budgets and forecasting accurately, with regular monthly charges. No need to invest in new servers every 3-4 years – you already have a flexible infrastructure that grows with you.
• Defence grade security – we know this goes hand in hand with compliance too, but giving you the reassurance that your data is well protected is priceless
• Peace of mind – fail safes are built into the system. What does that mean? In the case of a failure in the cloud, your system is replicated exactly on an alternative virtual server within a very short time window. So, you can tick your business continuity box, knowing you have the right protocols in place.

Some of these might feel a little tenuous from a financial perspective. But what is the cost of this going wrong? If you don’t have the right security protocols in place, or robust business continuity, or solid technology infrastructure, it could end up costing your business very dearly.

That’s definitely a financial impact.

Actually, we’d argue getting your technology right reduces your nightmares. And that means you have a clear head for making the right decisions for your business. That’s got to be at the top of the finance list!

So, if you’d like to learn more about how we can provide more flexible, intelligent technology to support your business, give us a call on 01784 437 123.