THE VALUE OF OPERATING IN THE CLOUD
INTRODUCTIONS
Leo Yancey leads the Enterprise Firm Segment of Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting, which encompasses the top 3,000 accounting firms in the U.S. He has been with Thomson Reuters since 1992 and has held a number of positions, including roles focused on customer support, sales, management and acquisition integration.
Leo has been with Thomson Reuters through its transition from providing CD-based products to providing web-hosted solutions and he has also been heavily involved in the rollout of a number of products on Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting’s web-based ONESOURCE platform. Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Leo worked in the Corporate Tax Department of J.C. Penney with a focus on Insurance taxation. Before that, he worked for Andrews, Carlow & McCollum as a staff accountant. Leo has an accounting degree from the University of Arkansas and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Leo Yancey
Vice President & General Manager , Enterprise Firm Segment Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting
THE VALUE OF OPERATING IN THE CLOUD
Your next-generation clients won’t be reliant on a
desktop PC and paper. They've grown up using the
web and mobile devices.
The firms they'll reward with their business will be the
firms that fit into their life and business styles.
THE VALUE OF OPERATING IN THE CLOUD
This isn’t just a client consideration. It also holds
true for the next generation of accountants who will
enter our industry…and your business.
THE VALUE OF OPERATING IN THE CLOUD
Have you thought about where your clients and staff
will come from in the future?
Are you ready with the services and products they'll
demand? If not, what are the changes you need to
make to attract them?
Cloud-based solutions will provide them with the
technology they are expecting.
WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING?
InfoWorld:
Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities.
http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031
Wikipedia:
Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information, are provided to computers and other devices on-demand. The term "cloud" is used as a metaphor for the Internet, based on the cloud drawing used . . . to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
For our discussion today, it means…
Applications are hosted in a vendor-provided data center and firm staff users and firm client users access those applications via their Internet connection.
Google returned 2.85M results on a search for “definition of cloud computing”
http://www.google.com/search? sourceid=navclient&aq=0&oq=definition+of +clou&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPB_enUS368US368&q=definitio n+of+cloud+computing
THOMSON REUTERS’ STRATEGIC
APPROACH TO CLOUD COMPUTING
THOMSON REUTERS TAX & ACCOUNTING
ORGANIZATION
Thomson Reuters Professional Division
$5.4 billion
Tax & Accounting
$1.0 billion
Legal
$3.6 billion Healthcare & Science $0.8 billion
Workflow & Service Solutions
$600 million
Business Compliance & Knowledge Solutions
$400 million
Global tax planning, compliance and
integrated workflow solutions information, certification and Global tax and accounting GRC solutions
Corporate Markets
Professional Markets
Tax & Accounting is part of Thomson Reuters Professional Division and has two businesses serving the global tax and accounting market
Note: Results from ongoing businesses
THOMSON REUTERS TAX & ACCOUNTING
STRATEGY
Be the leading provider of integrated workflow, compliance and knowledge solutions to the global
tax and accounting market of professional firms and corporations
Core Strategies Tax & Accounting Vision
Extend Leadership Position
in US Global Expansion
Extend Tax & Accounting’s leadership position by continuing
to integrate products into increasingly comprehensive
solutions
Expand global technology suite and enter attractive, high-growth
Thomson Reuters Strategy
Develop
products
using a
web-centric
strategy.
Focus on
robust
systems to
handle
complex
calculations
and
concepts.
Maintain
deeply
integrated
suite focus
while
capitalizing
on 3
rdparty
integration.
Delivering
field-based
service in
addition to
phone,
web, and
options.
Focus on
consulting
services to
deliver best
practices
from actual
market
experience.
THOMSON REUTERS CLOUD SOLUTION
• Applications Hosted by Thomson Reuters
• Integration
• Visibility Into Processes
• Streamlined Data Collection and Data Management
• Flexible, Accessible Client Interface
• Security and Availability
Integration and Management of Process, Data and Applications…in a Web Delivered Environment GATHER DATA (Portal) ANALYZE DATA (Workpaper System) RETURNS , REPORTS, ETC. (Tax/Accounting Software).
REVIEW, SIGN OFF (Workflow System) DELIVERY TO CLIENT (Portal) DELIVERY TO REGULATORY BODIES (Workflow System) Practice Management People, Process, Data
(Practice/Workflow System)
Client-serving professionals
THOMSON REUTERS CLOUD SOLUTION
Practice Management Practice CS Workflow Management FirmFlow Client Management NetClient Document Management GoFileRoom / FileCabinet CS Tax GoSystem UltraTax Audit Engagement CS Accounting / Write-Up Accounting CS INTEGRA TION INTEGRA TION
Applications Hosted by Thomson Reuters
INTEGRATION: OUT OF THE BOX
GoSystem • Calculate return • Print to PDF GoFile Room • Store PDF return copy and other docs • Status of process • Status of client NetClient • Publish PDF return and other docs to client • Client status passed back to GFR Integration moves PDF from GoSystem to GFR and stores it in the correct client fileIntegration moves docs from GFR to NetClient and passes status from NetClient to GFR Integration Integration
INTEGRATION: CUSTOM
Data Storage (SQL) Tax Application Analysis Workpapers Reports & Workpapers Source Systems - Portals - Client docs - Elec filesTax Application Web Service - Data with no user handling needed (e.g. auto adjs) - Leverage tax application as needed for calcs
Tax Analysis Web Service/Import - Data needs human analysis, moves to analysis workpapers - Sent to SQL and tax app after analysis
Data Update Web Service - If data changes, update Data Store Web Service
- Data moves from source systems to central database when available in sources
One client implementation resulted in an elimination of up to 75 mouse clicks per return from their prior process.
INTEGRATION: DEVELOPED FOR THIRD
PARTY DEVICES AND APPLICATIONS
•
Mobile Applications
– Mobile CS (available via iPhone today)
– Integrates with our Practice Mgmt Product
– Extend Advantage of Cloud Computing
to Handheld Devices
•
Scan and Fill Solutions
– Reduce manual data entry
– SurePrep, Copanion
WHAT DOES “MOBILE” MEAN?
•
Mobile basically means access to systems from
somewhere other than your desk
– Laptop – iPad
– Smartphone
•
The device can impact the experience
– Have to “scale” to the device
– Larger device may offer more sophisticated UI (doesn’t
mean small device can’t deliver an effective UI)
16
MOBILE IS WHITE HOT!
17
59% of adults are mobile web
users Mobile web users will surpass desktop web users by 2014 23% of adults are in households with no land line Consumer devices have entered Your firm!
MOBILE IS WHITE HOT!
80 70 40 50 60 1.2 M 1M 800 K 600 K 400 K 200 K 10 20 30 90 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Days Years Units iPad sales = 1M Units 28 Days iPhone sales = 1M Units 74 Days PC sales = 1M Units
7 Years The Value of Mobile:
• Mobility • Productivity • Convenience • Service
THOMSON REUTERS WEB EVOLUTION
1999
• First ASP Web Hosted Systems • GoSystem Tax RS, Virtual Office2001
• Secure Client Portals2002
• Web Hosted GoFileRoom Document Management and Workflow2008
• Thomson Reuters “SaaS” delivery by “Profiles of Use”2010
• Virtual Client Office • Mobile CSTHOMSON REUTERS CLOUD SOLUTION
•
Web Hosted, Scalable Systems
•
Integration
•
Concurrent User Access
•
Single System for All Offices
•
Web Services Data Exchange
Delivering and managing the complexities related to web-hosted solutions is a core competency for Thomson Reuters.
We’ve been doing it since 1999.
SO HOW DOES THE CLOUD IMPROVE THE
FIRM?
FIRM BENEFITS
Cloud
Solutions
Efficiency / Productivity Data Security Client Interaction / Collaboration Lower Cost of OwnershipEFFICIENCY / PRODUCTIVITY
Cultural Staff & PartnerBalance Workloads
One Firm Concept
• Common access to software • Uniform policies and procedures • Focus on “what” not “where” • Trade work based on availability • Build teams based on expertise • Focus on “the need” not “where” • Access anytime, anywhere • Flexibility
• Focus on “the work” not “where” • We’re in a 24 x 7 world
• Clients and staff expect to work via the web • Work is what you do, not a place you go
COST OF OWNERSHIP
How Does Cloud Computing = Economic Value For My Firm?
Internal Costs Security & Risk Reduction
• Application infrastructure provided by vendor
• Vendor spreads infrastructure investment across thousands and thousands of users • Application updates and
maintenance responsibility of the vendor
• Pay for what you use
• Standards for hosting vendors provides a higher level of availability and data redundancy infrastructure than practical for a single firm to provide itself
• Centralized control of data and access to it
• Compliance with regulatory requirements related to data security
WHAT ABOUT IT STAFF?
The Evolving Role of the Technologist… More:
• Strategic technology planning for the firm
• Interfacing with vendors / business partners • Project management • Bandwidth management
Less:
• Repetitive maintenance tasks • Server management
DATA SECURITY & PRIVACY
•
State laws becoming more stringent!
– Seeing mandates that e-mail cannot be used to transfer
client information that contain sensitive pieces of data (i.e. SSN).
– Privacy laws about protecting access to sensitive documents and files.
– Examples: 7216, Massachusetts - 201 CMR 17.00,
Nevada Rev Stat 597.970
•
It’s not just about physical and electronic security
– Centralized control…It’s easier to establish and enforce policies for a cloud-based system than for a patchwork system of e-mail accounts, physical media and thumb drives.
DATA SECURITY & PRIVACY
Physical Security• Tier IV facilities • N+1 Redundancy • Power Infrastructure • SAS 70 and penetration
testing
Application Security
• User Authentication • Encryption • Control Access and
Permissions • Audit trails Regulatory Compliance • Focus on tackling regulatory requirements (e.g. 7216) • Architectures enable quick
adaptation and compliance of security and privacy regulations
Thomson Reuters Approach
CLIENT INTERACTION & COLLABORATION
How Do Portals Benefit the Client Interaction Process?
Client Firm
• Available anytime, anywhere. People today have a 24 x 7 mindset and expect to do business via the Web
• Easy to transfer information to and receive information from CPA • Security, peace of mind • Repository for critical information
• Meets privacy and security standards where e-mail may not • Avoid large file attachments filling up
e-mail boxes
• Single source for client material • Paperless
WHAT ARE CLIENT PORTALS?
• A portal is a gateway to a collection of electronic information and files that is accessible over the Internet via a CPA firm’s website.
– Your clients access their customized web space through your website using their unique login and password, so security is preserved at all times
Client
Accounting Firm Firm’s Website
SUMMARY
ADVANTAGES OF CLOUD SOLUTIONS
•
Low Start-Up
Costs
•
Anytime, Anywhere
Access
•
Reliable and Automatic
Backup Systems
•
Automatic
Updates & Version Control
•
Significantly
Reduced IT Infrastructure
•
High-Level
Security
•
Ensured
Business Continuation
THE VALUE OF OPERATING IN THE CLOUD
Are you up to speed on the impact of Cloud Computing and comfortable with your strategy to embrace it?
If you're not quite there yet, don’t worry. We are here to provide solutions for your firm and guide you every step of the way.
