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’NET ASSETS ▪ Greg Barber, InfoSolutions Finding the Media That Matters To You Paperless Possibilities The paperless office is a path towards productivity and profit s today’s “paperless office” really paperless Will office workers ever work without paper Despite enormous improvements in technology between 1980 and 2000, it’s worth noting that worldwide consumption of paper has doubled in the same period. Nevertheless, many advocates argue that paperless is the path towards productivity and profit. So how can you take advantage of paperless possibilities Best Practices Alexandra Defelice of Accounting Today says “the road to less paper” begins by following the best practices of companies that have already made the transition. If you consider the ways in which your company’s paper files are organized and you mimic that system in an electronic world, you can eliminate staff confusion and “reduce the likelihood of introducing inconsistencies in the way things are filed and named.” Training can ensure that employees are consistent in their paperless processes. Pilot projects, such as the paperless preparation of tax returns, can smooth the transition. Document management vendors can often help in mapping work processes. (To read “The road to less paper,” visit www. accountingtoday.com and enter the title in the search box.) InfoSolutions A BENEFIT FOR CGAS & STUDENTS IN THE CGA PROGRAM OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES LOOKING FOR INFORMATION TO SOLVE A PROBLEM IN YOUR BUSINESS, ORGANIZATION OR CAREER Whether you need company profiles, financial data, or articles on everything from management trends, interview skills or career advice — if it exists, the professional research staff at InfoSolutions will find it through the wealth of resources at the University of Toronto’s network of libraries. InfoSolutions Rotman School of Management University of Toronto Tel: 416-978-1912 or 1-800-810-8067 Fax: 416-978-1920 Email: infosolutions@rotman.utoronto.ca Print Less, Make More “Paperless equals profit” is the underlying message of “How to save money going paperless,” by K.J. McCorry of the Colorado Business Journal. Mc- Corry observes that “the easier it is for employees to print, the more likely it is that paper use will increase.” Offices can make printing less convenient by removing individual desktop printers and installing high efficiency “group” printers. McCorry also suggests downsizing the number of paper files retained and saving documents electronically. (Visit www. cobizmag.com and type “paperless” in the search box to read the full article.) The Risk Factor Improving client service, gaining a competitive edge, efficiency and effectiveness are the rewards of going paperless (or using less paper) but, as Roger Mongeon points out in an article from Accounting Technology, there are also some risks. These can include “a loss of control, biting off more than a firm can chew and confusion among accountants and staff about their roles in a new, paperless environment.” Planning workflow processes and preparing for the change can minimize most of these issues. Mongeon is also a proponent of bringing document management vendors in early in the planning process. (You can read Mongeon’s entire article at accountingweb. com by searching for the title, “The Risks and Rewards of Going Paperless.”) Is Paperless Right for You In a recent AccountingWeb blog, Alexia Whitley, a London-based senior audit manager, asks “Is a paperless office right for you” Whitley offers some good advice: “Don’t expect immediate success. Plan to spend the first year planning, testing, and implementing; the second year ironing out kinks and perfecting the systems.” But Whitley also offers further benefits of going paperless: working remotely is easier because electronic documents can be accessed away from the office, cleaner and clearer workspaces can raise staff morale and productivity, and using less paper benefits the environment. (To read the complete post, visit accountingweb.com.) Do you need more information about the paperless path towards productivity and profit InfoSolutions can help with this or any other business topic. Contact us and learn about our own paperless possibilities, here at InfoSolutions. Greg Barber is a business information specialist with InfoSolutions, a research service of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, and a member benefit to CGAs and students in the CGA program of professional studies. 16 STATEMENTS AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011
Grant Rowson, CGA ▪ TECH TALK Accounting for the Latest Trends in Technology How Safe is Syncing and Sharing File synchronization services are convenient but safety is a concern am a loyal customer of Dropbox, an online backup service that allows you to share documents between computers, tablets and smart phones. When you install its software, Dropbox places a folder on your desktop (or anywhere else you choose) that looks and acts just like any other folder on your computer. When you move a file into your Dropbox folder — Presto! — the program copies the files to similar folders on your other computing devices. That’s called “file synchronization,” and Dropbox is called a “synchronization service,” or “sync service” for short. Sync services are a form of cloud computing. You upload your files to private servers and your files are automatically downloaded to your other computing devices. It’s incredibly convenient. No longer do you need to carry countless USB keys or store your files on CDs or DVDs. You just transfer and update your files on all your devices through the clouds. But with all that file sharing going on, one has to ask: How safe is syncing and sharing Sync Security Naturally I’m concerned about the storage of unencrypted sensitive data on servers outside my control. I use Dropbox for nonconfidential purposes only — saving research notes, web articles, white papers and other documents that would be of no consequence if they were accidentally disclosed. But Dropbox came under criticism recently for security weaknesses. Critics drew attention to the fact that the staff at Dropbox could, in theory, access customer data if required in the operation of the service. Further, they could do so without your knowledge, if served with a U.S. government warrant under the Patriot Act of 2001. Worse still, the San Francisco-based startup experienced a four-hour security breach that affected its password authentication. For four hours on June 19, 2011, any user could access any account using any password. The breach, attributed to a code update, was a highly embarrassing and costly incident for a tech firm that in 2010 appeared on Business Insider’s list of “20 Hot Silicon Valley Startups You Need To Watch.” In the end, it turned out that only a hundred or so accounts were affected, but the breach called into question the security of all sync services, including SpiderOak, SugarSync and Box.net. SpiderOak The strength of SpiderOak lies in its “zero knowledge” security practices. SpiderOak does not store file names, encryption keys or passwords, which means that employees and hackers cannot steal information related to your syncing and sharing. SpiderOak also differs from other syncing services in its functionality. While it allows you to designate any folder on your system to synchronize (rather than creating a specific folder like Dropbox), you have to upload files to SpiderOak first before syncing them, rather than simply dragging and dropping files into a desktop application that does the job for you all at once. Its been called slow and complicated by its critics. You have to make sure its utility is running and its backup schedule is set according to your preferences. But, on the other hand, you feel secure and in control of your data. SugarSync A strong competitor to Dropbox, SugarSync lacks the strong thirdparty application tools and support of Dropbox, but allows you to upload from multiple folders (like SpiderOak) and has full web transfer capabilities on a variety of mobile devices, including Apple and RIM products. SugarSync works well with Documents To Go, the office suite for mobile devices that provides document synchronization between handheld devices and computers. It also provides for direct posting to Facebook Photos. Transferred files are stored in the cloud in an encrypted format. Box.net Finally, Box.net, which recently joined forces with Google to compete against Microsoft’s Office 365 in the software as a service field, targets the corporate crowd, emphasizing the benefits of group collaboration through an online workspace. In terms of security, it’s similar to Dropbox and SugarSync, in that it encrypts and stores personal information in the clouds. However, if you’re concerned about other users (even colleagues) accessing your files, you can tag files with an automatic expiry date and apply passwords to specific files. Products and Price Points Of course, these are just the main competitors in a rapidly expanding market, and they are all trying to differentiate themselves based on features, function, storage space and price. I’m still using my trusty Dropbox folder, but I caution you to make sure you’re comfortable with the security and privacy policies of your chosen sync service. Grant Rowson, CGA, is the administrative director of financial services & information technology for the Dryden Regional Health Centre. In addition to his CGA designation, Grant holds the certified information systems (CISA) designation. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 STATEMENTS 17
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