Over the last 8 years, CPA-specific application developers, such as CCH and Thomson, have shifted their focus from Novell to Microsoft.  This is more of a concern today as our vendors are committed to fully leveraging Microsoft design and all but forgetting Novell.  Compatibility with Novell will become a bigger issue as soon as it is compounded by the fact that our vendors now employ fewer Novell-savvy support staff.  For the local IT support team or local integrator, maintaining knowledge on both Microsoft and Novell platforms is difficult and leads to reduced quality of service from your technology investment and IT administrators.  Some specific considerations:

Ø  According to Roman Kepczyk of Info Tech Partners, accounting industry experts estimate that less than 5% of CPA firms continue to utilize Novell.

Ø  Our Industry software vendors recommend Microsoft.  Though Novell has been listed as “supported”, with less than 5% of the industry utilizing Novell, vendors are placing less and less emphasis on Novell support.

Ø  New industry products, such as CCH’s Profx Scan and Thomson’s Practice CS, “require” the Microsoft Operating System.  CCH is rewriting ProSystem fx Tax for the Microsoft .NET Platform.  This will be released soon and will likely “require” Microsoft as well.

Ø  Thomson recently removed Novell from the “officially supported” list and now requires the Microsoft Platform.  We expect this from CCH and other major vendors very soon.

Ø  Firms running Novell and Microsoft run a significant risk of new compatibility issues as Microsoft transitions to new versions and our vendors upgrade or introduce new applications that leverage the Microsoft .NET development platform and provide tighter integration with Microsoft Office.

Ø  Many Novell based networks have been in place for years.  With dwindling Novell expertise, even outside of the accounting industry, recovery from major failure will be challenging and reasonably “quick” recovery is unlikely.

In summary, Novell should be a major concern in the coming months.  Unplugging Novell is inevitable.  The upcoming barrage of tax season updates or a simple patch or security update could result in an unrecoverable situation at the worst possible time. In preparation for next year’s tax season, you have an opportunity to prepare your firm for the greatest possible success— now is the time to implement a stable Microsoft environment, train employees, and ready your firm’s network for pending changes to our mission-critical applications.

Robert Frazier is a Business Development Manager at Xcentric, LLC, a technology consulting group that specializes in network technology consulting, hosting, and implementation for accounting firms.  Mr. Frazier has over 25 years of experience in technology and serves as a technology advisor to the CPA marketplace and the accounting software industry. Prior to Xcentric, Mr. Frazier served as IT Director for Horne, LLP, a top 50 accounting firm.  You can reach him by calling 866-XCENTRIC or via email at info@xcentricgroup.com.

Visit us online at http://www.xcentricgroup.com