June 2006 Circle Update
With tax season now behind us, Boomer Technology Circle season is now in full swing! So far Circles 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 have all met. Circles 4 and 8 will meet later this month. All the meetings in May were excellent, with a good mix of old and new members, timely agenda topics, and lots of great discussion. We are picking up some great success stories from Circle members and will be reporting these to you in the days ahead. Our move to the Marriott hotel in Kansas City has gone smoothly as well!
We have also launched a new "Featured Vendor" program, with out first featured vendors being ProfitCents (www.profitcents.com) and Agility Recovery Solutions (www.agilityrecovery.com). This program presents information about the vendor during the Mad Lab (presented by Boomer Consulting staff, no sales pitches from vendors!), but allows the vendor representative to be present at the meeting for one-on-one follow up at the Circle member's discretion. It's proving to be a great opportunity to get good information on useful products and services in a low-key atmosphere. Both vendors and Circle members have told us they like the approach.
Another interesting aspect of these meetings has been the discussion of Circle metrics. This annual task asks member firms for both financial data and IT inventory data. With over 60 firms reporting so far, there are some interesting conclusions to be drawn, especially in the area of software usage.
For the past two years the subject of document management and paperless operations has been a recurring theme in all Circles. In one regard our data shows significant progress. A full 90% of the respondents are using some form of audit automation tool such as ProSystem fx Engagement, CaseWare Working Papers, or CSI Engagement CS! Of the firms reporting ProSystem fx Engagement is in use in over 60% of the cases with nearly 25% using CaseWare Working Papers, about 5% using CSI Engagement CS, and less than 10% using none of these.
By contrast, the full-featured content management systems lag far behind in adoption rate. Of these same reporting firms, 30% are using either ProSystem fx Document, GoFileRoom, or CSI FileCabinet CS. Another 24% report using some other system, while nearly half (46%) report they have no document management system in place at all!
Of course, there is some opportunity for these trends to change as more firms submit their data, but the results so far are intriguing. The full display of all this data, both inventories and financial results, have been discussed at each Circle meeting and then made available on each Circle's private Extranet site for further analysis. For those member firms who have already reported, "Thank You!" For those who haven't, we urge you to complete the collection forms and submit them as soon as possible.
If you have questions, please contact
Ken McCall
kenneth.mccall@boomer.com
888-266-6375, extension 15
And, as always, if you want to know more about the Circle program, or join in this vibrant group of good firms getting better together, contact
Eric Hunt
erich@boomer.com
888-266-6375, extension 19
See you at the Circle meeting!