IN FIRM: 10 Benefits Of The MPAN Action Pack

By now, most firms are aware that one of the primary benefits of joining the
Microsoft Professional Accountant’s Network (MPAN), which is free, is
access to the Microsoft Action Pack subscription. For an annual $299 fee, this
subscription provides a slew of mission-critical Microsoft software for in-firm
use, which is miniscule compared to the benefits received, particularly for
firms with 10 or fewer members looking to upgrade their infrastructure. Firms
should take the time to review the entire Action Pack offerings and incorporate
these into their future IT plans and budgets, particularly with the upcoming
transition to Office 2007 and Vista. The following is a summary of some of the
more important applications that I feel will have an IN-FIRM benefit:

1. Office 2007
   The current Action Pack comes with 10 licenses of Microsoft’s Office
   Enterprise 2007 version, which includes Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint,
   Access, Publisher, Groove, OneNote and InfoPath.
   I predict that firms will transition to this version by the end of 2008 once
   the accounting vendors such as CCH and Thomson Tax & Accounting have completed
   their testing and remediation, particularly for transition issues with their
   audit engagement applications. The cost of these 10 licenses more than pays
   for the subscription when firms transition in the next year.
2. Windows Vista
   I feel that the security and usability capabilities of Vista will eventually
   drive firms to replace Windows XP, but tax and accounting firms will transition
   with extreme caution. I believe firms will complete testing and remediation
   of workstations by next summer and begin purchasing computers with this operating
   system as the firm standard in the Fall of 2008 (particularly as Microsoft
   drops support for Windows XP in the following year). For existing machines
   that firms plan to upgrade, I recommended that firms download and run the
   Vista Upgrade Advisor. The Action Pack provides 10 licenses of Vista for existing
   PCs when the firm is ready for this transition.
3. Office Accounting 2007
   While there is one license of this QuickBooks competitor provided along with
   27 hours of CPE just for joining MPAN, the Action Pack increases the number
   of licenses to 10 to enable multiple personnel using the application. With
   competitive accounting products, the firm must buy individual licenses for
   each person who will be concurrently using the accounting product, so there
   could be a huge potential savings in the cost of small business accounting
   applications in the future. MPAN provides one year of free support, but the
   Action Pack subscription puts any support calls into their priority queue
   for quicker resolution. For firms using the more robust Dynamics application
   for internal accounting, this software and 10 Client Access Licenses (CALs)
   are included.
4. Small Business Server 2003/Server 2003
   For firms running on the older version of the small business server, the new
   product has increased the overall capacity of Outlook accounts and improved
   overall manageability, so it is well worth the effort of transitioning from
   the old Small Business Server. Other firms that are looking to break off a
   trouble-causing application to its own server will find that the included
   Server 2003 license makes this transition more cost effective.
5. Windows Terminal Server (WTS)
   While many firms have utilized the integrated XP Remote capability of Windows
   XP to allow a handful of firm personnel to access their workstations from
   outside the firm, a more robust solution that also allows many more users
   to work remotely is WTS. This server license and 10 CALs are included, which
   will run all true Windows applications remotely for satellite offices, home
   users and personnel working away from the office via an Internet connection.
6. Exchange 2007
   In the next two years, I expect firms to transition to the latest version
   of Exchange as it will allow those personnel with administrative rights to
   look through ALL your personnel’s Outlook accounts to search for e-mails
   and to centralize contacts much better. Top accounting vendors are already
   working to integrate the contact information from their Practice Management
   applications, which means we can expect to have a central contact list that
   would be maintained in the practice management product, but be able to access
   it via a public folder in Outlook without having to run any data transfer
   routines. While not a CRM application, Exchange 2007 will provide firms much
   stronger marketing and contact capabilities than we have ever had before.
7. SharePoint Intranet
   Most firms have realized the benefit of having an intranet to allow personnel
   to more easily access all firm policies, procedures and information that is
   not housed within an accounting application. The Action Pack subscription
   includes 10 CALs for Expression Web (previously FrontPage) for maintenance
   of the existing intranet, but it also includes SharePoint Enterprise Server
   and 10 Designer CALs. I believe that SharePoint will be the future of knowledge
   management and business intelligence within tax and accounting firms as this
   tool is rapidly evolving to manage firm workflow processes, and the Action
   Pack subscription provides the tools for creating and maintaining your firm’s
   intranet.
8. SQL 2005
   With more and more databases moving up to SQL, operating requirements will
   increase, and I anticipate that firms will split off applications such as
   practice management or document management to their own server to improve
   stability. Action Pack includes a SQL license to make the transition to such
   a server more cost effective.
9. Virtual Server 2005
   Virtual servers allow a firm to run multiple server instances within a single
   server so firms can leverage server hardware. For example, firms could set
   up four virtual servers on one box and run Print/File, Exchange, WTS and a
   SQL application without any of the four
   processes being impacted by the others. While this is an evolving technology,
   I feel that firms will pilot its use for testing software updates and particularly
   for cost-effect redundant servers in a separate location for disaster recovery.
10. Live Communications Server 2005/Office Communicator
    While I do not recommend that firms allow instant messaging (IM) to users
    outside of the firm (because I feel it is a distraction), having IM among
    the firm’s various workgroups can be an effective tool to improve communications
    if managed and accessible within the firm and if personnel are properly trained
    on usage. Action Pack includes IM capabilities and integration of voice communications,
    as well.

Conclusion
Firms that are not already members of the Microsoft Professional Accountant’s
Network should join today and sign up for the Action Pack subscription. Once
they receive their packet, they should walk through each of the included applications
with their IT personnel and then determine which licenses and features they
can use. This will allow them to immediately reap the benefits of this amazing
package.