Accounting Firms Increase Reliance on Technology

Information-intense professional services firms in accounting, law and marketing are increasing their reliance on technology solutions to meet their business objectives, new research from CompTIA, the IT industry association, reveals.

Technology is rated as important by a net 78 percent of the 600 accounting, legal and marketing services firms surveyed for CompTIA’s IT Opportunities in the Professional Services Vertical study.

“The mindset has shifted from the basic management of IT infrastructure as simply ‘keeping the lights on’ to a concentrated focus on innovation, integration and intelligence,” notes Tim Herbert, senior vice president, research and market intelligence, CompTIA.

The importance of technology is evident when one examines the top business priorities of professional services firms for the next 12 months:

Reaching new clients. Managing costs and overhead. Improving staff productivity. Improving operational efficiency.

A net 78 percent of firms give a very satisfied or satisfied rating for the technology they regularly use. Accounting firms report notably higher satisfaction rates than law firms (net 88 percent vs. 69 percent), while marketing firms came in at a net 78 percent satisfaction level.

A notable percentage of these firms indicate they’ll be increasing spending on IT hardware, software, services and telecom, at least based on their self-reported growth rates. One-quarter of marketing firms, 21 percent of accounting firms and 18 percent of law firms say they intend to boost IT spending by 10 percent or more over the next 12 months.

Other findings:

An estimated 35 percent of firms rely on managed IT services in some capacity. But familiarity with this model of IT management remains modest. A majority of firms say they are in the early to mid-stages of cloud computing adoption, with 54 percent of law firms, 57 percent of accounting firms and 69 percent of marketing companies self-reporting some use of cloud-based solutions. Cybersecurity, likely already a high priority, has taken on added importance and become more of an executive leadership issue. Top concerns include a breach of client data that triggers a notification disclosure; threats related to mobile phones, tablet and apps; and managing the complexity and uncertainty over cybersecurity regulations.

The report is based on a September 2015 online survey of 600 legal, accounting and marketing/PR professionals involved in managing, deploying or influencing technology decisions in their organizations.