Mathe Keeps Topche & Company’s Accounting Data Accessible, Backed Up And Secure
Topche & Company LLC is a boutique certified public accounting and business consulting firm with a staff of approximately 20 specializing in servicing the financial needs of closely-held businesses and high net worth individuals.
Topche & Company Trust Mathe To Deliver On Their Promises
For years, Topche & Company has trusted Mathe to take care of their IT, providing crucial day-to-day maintenance behind the scenes, and overseeing major projects like their move to the cloud.
However, about a decade ago, some firm members wanted to look into alternative options for IT support. They had been with Mathe for some time, and wanted to see if they could find even better IT support.
“There was a period in time around 2010 when we did explore a different IT company for two years,” says Brian Yawlak, Partner, Topche & Company LLC. “We had such a long relationship with Mathe that a younger partner wanted to explore different options in terms of the IT aspect of it.”
This is a common impulse — the “grass is always greener” mentality can make it easy to assume you can always find a better option. However, this did not end up being the case, with their new IT company making bigger promises but rarely delivering.
“It did not go very well,” says Brian. “There were things that this IT company would promise, and then ultimately not deliver. We’ve been back with Mathe ever since.”
Topche & Company eventually went back to Mathe, knowing that we follow through on it when we make a promise. Case in point: when we said we’d move them to the cloud, we did it effectively and seamlessly.
Mathe Migrates Topche & Company To Protect Their Data From Hurricanes And Other Disasters
Not long after returning to work with Mathe, Topche & Company relocated their office. At that time, they were still relying on locally stored servers, which had quickly become an outdated option when compared to rapidly developing cloud services.
“When we came back to them, the firm ended up relocating in 2013, and now, Mathe had advised us to consider going into the cloud server, and it was one of the best things that we probably have ever done,” says Brian.
With their server stored locally, Topche & Company’s data, apps, and continuity were highly vulnerable both to major weather events, as well as human error. To protect their data at the time, they managed daily backups and moved them offsite, which was a tedious and time-consuming process.
“Through various hurricanes, when we had lost power, we lost any functionality to be able to work,” says Brian. “Once we had the cloud server, that eliminated any of that from occurring again, even with things like the pandemic and having staff work remotely, it was a very seamless transition because of how they had set it up and guided us.”
By moving Topche & Company to the cloud, Mathe provided stronger protection for their data, and made sure their staff could stay productive no matter what happened. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, transitioning to remote work was easy, because Mathe had already moved their data and apps into the cloud.
“Even if we had some power failures, if it was down at the office, you could work remotely or go somewhere else and still connect to the server,” says Brian. “We give that flexibility to our staff. If they don’t feel comfortable coming into the office, they can always work from home. That has worked out great.”
Cloud-based operations also make it much easier for accounting firms to onboard new staff members. A firm like Topche & Company relies on several business programs, and before they were moved into the cloud, every one of the apps would need to be installed on new hardware every time an employee joined the firm.
“In the accounting profession, we have so many programs that are necessary to what we have to do,” says Brian. “We don’t have to worry about that anymore. If a new staff member comes in, we don’t have to worry about them having a PC with all these programs loaded on it, they need to have access to the cloud server, and that’s pretty much it.”
Mathe Reduces The Risk Of Human Error For Topche & Company
Human error is an expected part of doing business in a digital world. In fact, 24% of data breaches are caused by the end-user.
No matter how well trained or tech-fluent your staff is, someone will, at some point, make a mistake. And while it is the user’s duty to make sure they understand the role they play in their organization’s cybersecurity and data continuity, there are ways that MSPs like Mathe can help.
By storing Topche & Company’s data in the cloud, they can easily restore any lost data if a user accidentally deletes a file.
While there is no catch-all solution an MSP can implement to protect against human error, a robust data backup solution can help mitigate the consequences of an unaware user.
“One of the things we trust them with is our data backup, there have been several occasions where a staff member had accidentally deleted a file, and we can just go back and get the most recent backup,” says Brian. “It gives us peace of mind knowing that our data is always backed up, it’s always accessible, and if something were to happen, we could get it relatively quickly.”
Working With Mathe Helps Topche & Company Enhance Their Cybersecurity
As a member of the financial industry, cybersecurity is a top priority for Topche & Company. They need to know their client’s sensitive data is protected — with Mathe. They have more confidence than ever before.
“Security is paramount to us, especially in our industry, given the personal information that we have as a part of our profession,” says Brian. “There are very strong safeguards and firewalls that have been customized to make sure that we’re well protected. As threats are constantly evolving, Mathe is always keeping us updated in terms of new things that are out there, so that we’re aware as well.”
With over 35 years in the business of supporting and implementing technology for the SME market, and 6 years previously in Corporate IT and Voice. I have seen a great deal of change. The only common thread is I have always focused on the Business Wise application of Technology. We always try to look 5 years ahead of the current technology to make sure our clients are on the right track to meet current and future needs.
