From August 14 to August 17, Boomer Consulting held the 2022 Boomer Technology Circles (BTC) Summit, an annual event that brings together firm management, IT professionals, and other leaders in the accounting industry to share and discover best practices, new technologies, and the latest innovations.
Intapp was proud to sponsor this event, and Jerry Young, Managing Director at Intapp, and Natashia Gavarrete, Marketing Associate for Accounting at Intapp, attended as representatives of the company. Here are some of their top takeaways from the 2022 BTC Summit.
Collaborate with your team
People, processes, and data are a firm’s most important assets, Kimberly N. Ellison-Taylor, CEO of KET Solutions, noted during her keynote at BTC Summit 2022. To ensure that all three aspects are connected, firms should be exploring ways to better integrate their investments via collaborative technology.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced firms to embrace hybrid and remote workforces, the need for collaborative tools increased dramatically. Many firms embraced Microsoft 365 apps like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint to help connect their professionals and clients, and to help their teams communicate, collaborate, and share documents with one another. However, keeping communications and documents organized, secure, and easily accessible can still be challenging — which is why some firms are implementing additional tools like Intapp Collaboration & Content.
Intapp Collaboration & Content builds on your firm’s existing Microsoft investment to streamline collaboration and improve content management. The software seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365 products — including Microsoft SharePoint, Outlook, and Teams — so professionals can gain a centralized, unified view of their engagements while still using the Microsoft tools they’re familiar with.
Promote inclusion via technology
During her keynote, Ellison-Taylor spoke about the importance of promoting diversity and inclusion at your firm. Diverse teams provide a wide range of talents, strengths, perspectives, and insights that your firm can take advantage of to create more innovative solutions and better serve your diverse clients. To recruit more diverse professionals — and create an inclusive work environment to retain those new hires — firms can leverage the capabilities of cloud technology.
When the COVID-19 pandemic compelled firms to transition to fully remote workforces, firm leaders doubled down on their investments in Microsoft 365 and other collaboration technology to keep their dispersed staff and clients better connected. Leaders quickly realized that since their teams could effectively collaborate remotely, location was no longer a hindering factor when recruiting new talent, and firms could hire people from a more diverse set of locations, time zones, and backgrounds.
Cloud technology doesn’t just help firms cast a broader net for recruiting; it can also help create a more flexible and inclusive workforce by letting users work from anywhere, at any time. Most cloud platforms also provides greater transparency into the work and achievements of each professional, helping firms more easily identify future leaders or determine which individuals would benefit from being a mentor or mentee. By finding ways to be more inclusive and supportive, firms can increase their retention rates and better leverage the full potential of their employees.
Balance innovation with security
As the accounting industry continues to evolve, firms need to find and invest in solutions that help them both innovate and address information security challenges. One significant challenge presented by hybrid and remote working models is governing all engagement-related communications and documents across a wide range of applications — which not only affects security, but also costs professionals valuable time as they must track down the information they need.
The good news is that a purpose-built solution can strike the balance between fostering innovative, engagement-specific collaboration and meeting the security needs of your firm. Intapp Collaboration & Content, an Intapp suite, builds upon your investment in Microsoft 365 to orchestrate content while also protecting sensitive data. Intapp Collaboration & Content automates the creation and governance of configurable, integrated hubs for each engagement, and keeps information easily accessible for those with the right permission — for only as long as they need it — whether they’re in Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, or Outlook.
Visit intapp.com/collaboration to learn more about how Intapp Collaboration & Content can help firms foster better collaboration while improving document management and security.