The case for putting finance in the Cloud is strong. Take Intacct’s native, multi-tenant, software-as-a-service (SaaS) accounting package, for instance. It’s an enterprise-class system that provides anytime-anywhere access to financial data, unlimited flexibility, and pre-built integration with leading apps. Its multi-tenant architecture accommodates painless, rapid, and highly beneficial upgrades. Its SaaS model delivers predictable costs (no high, upfront capital expense) and the highest level of security and disaster recovery. Moreover, it automates manual, error-prone processes, eliminates spreadsheets, and allows infinite visibility to enable managers and executives to make better business decisions.
If that isn’t enough, consider how an on-premise vs. Cloud total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis makes the case even more compelling. According to Gartner, the annual cost of owning and managing on-premise software can be up to four times the cost of the initial purchase. What’s more, some companies spend up to 75 percent of their total IT budget just to maintain their existing system and infrastructure.[1] Here are other TCO considerations:
- Good TCO analysis requires an apples-to-apples evaluation. Just comparing the initial license cost of an on-premise solution to a Cloud annual subscription fee isn’t enough. On-premise systems have intangible and hidden costs.
- There are savings in the Cloud that aren’t immediately self-evident, e.g. eliminating the ongoing burden on IT and hardware maintenance, extending your IT budget, savings from the ability of on-demand scalability, no cost for upgrades, and the elimination of other intangible costs.
- The argument that there is a breakeven point years ahead where traditional software is cheaper in the long run is not necessarily true. With staffing resources, the expense of upgrades, and other costs factored in, companies often never hit the elusive breakeven milestone.
To get a full picture of the true cost of financial management software for your business (including intangible costs) and how to analyze TCO cost drivers, read this white paper: Moving to the Cloud: Understanding the Total Cost of Ownership.