Harnessing New Technology
David Muggridge, Principal at Canterbury accountancy firm Ackland Webb, shares his experience of how Hosted IT Solutions have aided growth in his business.
Did your experience as a partner in a larger accountancy firm affect the way you set up Ackland Webb in 2011?
The standard high street model has traditionally dominated the accountancy market, as it has other professional services sectors. One of the secrets of success in the digital age is to be flexible, both in terms of structure and of the services we offer to our clients. Thus, choosing the right IT infrastructure would be a key factor in achieving our objectives as a business. We initially followed the traditional server-based model. Quickly we found that the inherent lack of flexibility and poor standard of support we were receiving rendered this solution unsuitable. Which is why IT Support for Accountants is so important.
“I SHOULD BE FOCUSSING ON MY CLIENTS”
Having to focus your attention on making the IT work must have been a great source of frustration?
It was! I found myself in something of a bind. I was working hard to build the business but found IT was distracting me. I should have been doing – focusing on my clients. More flexibility was required to help the business grow. After some research, we found a cloud-based solution involving a remote hosted server. This seemed to suit our requirements perfectly.
The company claimed to specialise in the accountancy sector, and their proposed system sounded ideal. So we dumped the server and signed up. Initially, everything went well. We were new to this way of working, and our supplier seemed to know their stuff. At that time, I worked on my own, and this enabled me to pass all IT maintenance to our provider. They dealt directly with our software vendors to ensure that all updates were scheduled and implemented. Knowing that everything was being managed properly with no effort from me, was very reassuring.
“IT’S A VERY REASSURING FEELING”
Now you have a hosted solution that works and an IT supplier you can rely upon, how has this enabled the business to grow?
We have complete assurance over the security of our data and backups. Not needing to spend time worrying about IT issues. As an additional advantage, it continues to make no difference where we work. As we have access to the same data anywhere; giving us the flexibility to work wherever and whenever we need to. We have also been able to minimise expenditure on hardware. Always good news for any business.
“WE DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT I.T. ISSUES”
You’ve obviously been on something of a journey of discovery with your IT systems. Six years later, how has this changed the way the business operates?
We are now seven strong, and the hosted solution is more important to us than ever. We made a decision when recruiting to focus on flexible and part-time working. At Ackland Webb we firmly believe that there is an undervalued resource in skilled people. Most wanting to work on a flexible, but permanently employed basis. This approach enables us to bring in people with the core skills we need, who might not otherwise be accessible to us.
Everyone in the firm has a laptop which, combined with the hosted solution. Meaning home working is as simple as working in the office. Very useful when family flexibility is needed. We encourage everyone to work at times that enable them to travel outside of the typical rush-hour. This saves travelling time, reducing fuel costs as well as having a positive impact on emissions. Making the office environment is somewhat nicer too. We don’t have any clunky old servers sitting in the corner, heating up the office and taking up space!
“EXCELLENT SUPPORT FROM JJ”
You’ve come a long way, do you see the Hosted IT Solution remaining for the long term?
The hosted IT solution remains completely integral to our philosophy. We have the assurance of secure data, a tested remote backup procedure, robust virus protection and excellent support from J&J. We now also have access to J&J’s Disaster Recovery Suite. In the unlikely event that we experience a major issue at our offices such as fire or flood. J&J guarantee to get us back working in less time than it would take us to travel to their Centre on the outskirts of Canterbury. That’s a very reassuring feeling.
