Whitepaper Financial Software and The Cloud
Real Asset Management
Whitepaper: Financial Software and the Cloud
Real Asset Management
Financial software ďŹ nds a safe and productive home in the cloud Accessing software from anywhere with hosted solutions
The pros and cons of cloud computing may be regularly debated by the IT team but what about the rest of the business? How many Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are still afraid to take the plunge? Most are familiar with the compelling benefits of lower capital expenditure, improved financial control and rapid deployment – all key issues when facing an over-worked IT department struggling to find the time to even discuss business requirements, let alone oversee the delivery of new software. So, why the hesitation? It is, perhaps, understandable that a CFO may be unwilling to rush headlong into the cloud with a business critical application such as the core financial software. But there are other aspects of the financial portfolio that provide a fantastic opportunity for testing the viability of the hosted model. Those companies that opt for a hosted Fixed Asset Register can rapidly discover the benefits of the cloud and prove the long term viability of the hosted model for the entire software portfolio. This whitepaper will explore some reasons to consider a hosted solution, how it works, and what steps you should take in your buying decision.
The cloud & hosting solutions increase Flexibility Demand is growing globally for hosted solutions as organizations wrestle with continuing financial constraints that are now seriously hampering ongoing business development. With many organizations continuing to pare back internal IT resources, business managers have to wait months to get access to critical IT skills. They are facing a near complete lock down on the capital expenditure required to deploy much needed new software solutions; indeed they are even struggling to ensure compliance-critical upgrades of financial software are completed on time. In contrast, the option to leverage a highly secure, hosted, third party solution that can be delivered within days, rather than months, is compelling. Add in the appeal of monthly or annual subscriptions rather than the huge upfront cost of a perpetual license, and the hosted model has clear financial and business value. Indeed, a hosted fixed asset register offers a raft of additional benefits. Automated upgrades ensure the software is always up to date – a key consideration for compliance requirements, particularly in relation to the latest IFRS and SORP regulations affecting organizations; while the hosted model also ensures the upgrade process can be achieved without any disruption or dent in user productivity. Furthermore, a hosted model provides access to the system from any location, allowing members of the finance team to run reports, analyze asset information and check depreciation at any time, further boosting productivity.
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White Paper
Whitepaper: Financial Software and the Cloud
Real Asset Management
How Hosting Solutions Work A hosted infrastructure managed by your software provider and its hosting partner will reside within a data center facility. This facility should provide a high performance, high reliability, managed Internet platform for your Internetdelivered solution. Most reputable data centers will include physical security, managed data backup services and various administrative services. Security basics 1.
Data centers have experience dealing with a wide scope of security policies and practices and have specific operating procedures for the management of the facility. Some of the security basics you should review include:
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Climate Control – a data center’s performance depends on the right environmental climate. The premium data centers have a continuous circulation of cool, perfectly conditioned air to provide the ideal environment for servers, routers, and other equipment. Most facilities use a sophisticated heating, ventilating and air conditioning system with enough capacity to easily exceed its needs.
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Fire Detection and Suppression – confirm that preventative measures are the first line of defense against fires. Air quality should be monitored by devices installed above and below the floor.
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Power Backup – electrical power is fed to a data center’s Uninterruptible Power System. This provides clean power to all equipment in the rare event of a power failure. For extended power outages, data centers can run on power generators for additional backup. Monitoring & Alerting – high performance systems monitor the performance and security of your bandwidth and network around the clock, providing performance information about network connectivity and traffic utilization, as well as the security of your bandwidth, network and systems.
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Network Bandwidth – look for high speed Internet connectivity over a world-class TCP/IP network.
Managed data backup service If required, engineers can perform regular incremental and full data backups of customer specified data, such as customer and business database, directory structures, and configuration and routing information. Backups should be performed using procedures that minimize backup windows and that minimize the impact on the production environment. Logs are collected and reviewed each day to help ensure a successful backup has occurred. Data will be removed electronically or physically from the data center periodically and stored in a secure offsite location for a determined time frame. Administrative services When reviewing hosted solutions, check to see if your software provider and data center offer the following services, which you may require: 1.
Patch and upgrade administration
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Performance administration
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Data integrity and security
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Capacity planning and sizing
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Routine scheduled maintenance
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White Paper
Whitepaper: Financial Software and the Cloud
Real Asset Management
Buying Decision The decision on whether or not to take advantage of the benefits that the hosted model can offer is critical for your business. And while CFOs will be understandably reluctant to trial this approach with the core ERP or financial software, they often decide to dip a toe in the water with other key applications, such as fixed asset management. With the option to get the new solution up and running within just a few working days, organizations can rapidly meet corporate demands for improved fixed asset management, including the adoption of mobile asset recording via PDAs. With minimal up front expenditure, the improvement in asset accuracy combined with the reduction in manual overhead delivers a very quick return on investment (ROI). Of course, before any such buying decision can be made, CFOs need to understand exactly what is offered and should review hosted solutions’ security and services. Organizations also need to consider how the business will access the system? One option is a dedicated Virtual Private Network (VPN), which would further reinforce the security level, but organizations must ensure the communications bandwidth will deliver the required performance.
Conclusion Whatever route a business decides to explore, there is growing pressure on CFOs to at least try out the hosted model. Yes, a large proportion of risk adverse CFOs may well be unwilling to opt for a major financials implementation as a first venture into the hosted model. But even if the global financial situation radically improves and IT suddenly receives a massive input of resources, the finance team should be at least considering the financial and speed benefits. Many now agree that it is time to test the waters of cloud and hosted model computing.
About Real Asset Management Real Asset Management (RAM) is a leading provider of CMMS and fixed asset management solutions. RAM’s solution is used by over 3,000 clients in more than 70 countries. RAM delivers high-quality, customizable software solutions worldwide. We offer a range of training and consulting services designed to enable our clients to make the most of their CMMS system. Please visit www.realassetmgt.com to find out more or call 617 457 7838 to arrange a call to discuss your requirements and setup a web demonstration.
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Real Asset Management
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