If your firm isn’t working in an intelligent cloud platform, you may as well be running your business in the Wild West. Why? It’s risky. When you add another app to your tech stack, you have as many new passwords as you do staff. If your firm is remote or hybrid, your team could launch apps in an unsecured environment.
In other words, you don’t have control. And hackers know this.
Not only is there a lack of control, but onboarding and offboarding new staff becomes a nightmare. What if there was a solution that could reduce the friction by simplifying access to all the apps in your firm within a highly secure space?
Well, there is; it’s called the intelligent cloud. And here are three components you should look for in an intelligent cloud platform.
Simplified access to all apps
On average, firms have 25-35 separate apps in their tech stack. When you consider the number of passwords required to access each app individually, then multiply that by the number of staff members who need access, it’s like a rodeo in a dust storm. You’re expecting your staff members to keep track of hundreds of passwords, especially when you consider the employees who need access to multiple QuickBooks® files, bank accounts and the like.
What does that look like when you’re onboarding a new employee? It’s a terrible user experience, to start with. Not only do they need to get new software installed or be granted access to each online application, but their user profiles must be set up for each app. Plus, they’re responsible for keeping track of every single password. And when it’s time to offboard someone? That’s far from simplified.
That’s why you need an intelligent cloud platform that provides one-click login. Not only will your platform have your firm’s curated tech stack, but each user will also have a specific profile that gives them access to all the clients and apps they need. There’s no friction; everything you need is in one space.
Managed security by professionals
Every time you add a new app to your tech stack, you increase your cybersecurity risk and become more like the Wild West. Your team is juggling multiple passwords and launching apps from different devices, which may or may not be on a secure network. It’s almost impossible for IT to manage security this way—and hackers know it.
What happens when a staff member clicks on a suspicious email link in the middle of busy season? For firms not in the intelligent cloud, it brings the workday to a screeching halt as everyone scrambles to contain the damage caused by a malware or ransomware attack.
But when you run your firm in the intelligent cloud, you have access to security professionals 24/7. You submit a support ticket, and security experts deal with the issue.
Increased collaboration
When you run your firm in the intelligent cloud, you can also put your small business clients in their own intelligent cloud—one that’s connected to yours. This allows your clients to access a secure, one-click login environment. And it allows you to better collaborate with them. Your firm and your clients have access to real-time information, which enables you to provide something your clients need that you may not be currently offering them: advisory services.
Choose the intelligent cloud
Don’t let your firm get left in the dust. Make the foray into the intelligent cloud and securely run your firm in one space.
To learn more about the intelligent cloud, tune in to The Modern Firm® podcast.