Mark Severance — 35

Professional Associations/Memberships: Information Technology Alliance – Marketing Committee Chair

Civic Involvement: Worship leader at my local church.

Hobbies: Running, reading, spending time with family

Cell phone: BlackBerry Curve

Favorite app: I’m the lamest smartphone user; I use it for the basics of calling and emailing. I think my only app is Google Maps!

 

What ONE piece of technology could you absolutely not live without? From a business perspective, I’d have to say my BlackBerry. It’s the easiest, simplest way to stay connected. Apart from business, it’d be awfully tough to part with my iPod.

What are some ways your firm/business has gone “paperless” and/or “green” in the last two years? A couple of different things come to mind: (1) We keep many of our client files electronically attached in our CRM system rather than printing and storing them in a hard copy file. This makes the documents centrally accessible to the entire firm, makes them easy to access and saves filing space. (2) We have begun using a service called LeapFile for transferring large files securely through Outlook. This beats the hassle of an FTP site or the costly and inefficient manual process of sending information through snail mail.

Do you use online resources like webcasts for CPE training? I don’t do CPE training, but I attend webcasts and online learning regularly for technology training and sales and marketing enablement.

NOT including your current employer, what company do you most admire and why? In-N-Out Burger. Yummy, yummy! They work in an industry that has been commoditized in nearly every way, and yet they run laps around the competition. Their brilliantly simple strategy of outstanding service, quality food and low prices is executed flawlessly every day. The length of their lines any time of day or night provides a vivid testimony of their success and ever-growing army of raving fans!

Are you using social networking (such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook) as a marketing tool for your practice/business … or do you use such sites for personal use only? Have you gained any clients or seen other demonstrable benefits from the use of social networking? With the exception of writing and maintaining the Arxis Technology blog, I am not actively using any social networking tools for business purposes. At this point, I don’t believe that I can point to any additional clients from this effort. On the other hand, an active blog is great for SEO purposes, and I am hopeful that this will pay dividends in the future. My personal LinkedIn page is an effective way to stay in touch with a large group of people. And I often find the information that people in my personal network or groups share to be relevant and useful.

What pitfalls or what unwritten rules of social networking etiquette exist, which are frequently missed by others in the profession? Hmmm … not sure that I am overly qualified to share my opinion, but I think that social networking in general tends to lead to an exaggerated sense of self-importance for some. This, in turn, causes some to be overly active in sharing information that is only marginally relevant or useful. In this regard, social networking is no different than any other form of communication. If you don’t have anything useful to say, keep your mouth shut!

Do you embrace cloud computing? I embrace the concept 100 percent. I use Gmail, Google calendar, and Google docs just a bit (though I’m much more familiar and comfortable with Microsoft Office). The future of software is definitely in the cloud, and I think that’s fantastic.

How is cloud computing changing the accounting profession, and how concerned are you with the security issues related to cloud computing? Working for a technology consulting firm that sells accounting and ERP software, we definitely see more and more prospects asking about options in the cloud. And many who aren’t quite ready to move completely to the cloud, still want to make sure that the application is available anytime, anywhere. Part of the acceptance of this model is that people realize that the cloud is most likely far more secure than the server at their office. The ability to see the server on their way out the door only provides the illusion of security. My biggest concern with security in the cloud is the lack of common sense of the end user. It’s the single greatest point of failure with any type of computing environment.

Do you foresee the majority of firms still implementing servers for the majority of their computing in their offices five years from now or do you think they will be outsourcing this component to vendors who specialize in this area? I believe the trend is growing towards outsourcing. For many businesses, IT is simply a hassle and a distraction. The ability to simplify, keep monthly costs predictable, and focus on the core business will drive more and more businesses to outsource IT components.

Do you subscribe to a magazine and/or local newspaper? No. I don’t feel like I have the time to sit down and read the newspaper at home. (Though the old school side of me gets a bit nostalgic when I think of sitting in a chair with a cup of coffee and leisurely leafing through the paper.) I can get local news on the radio, and any news I need or want on the Internet.

Do you listen to podcasts? Rarely.

What is an “old school” business practice or process you’d like to see changed in the next five years and why? I’d like to see more and more businesses adopt electronic document management procedures to archive, search/retrieve, and distribute documents. Small and large businesses alike have the opportunity to save significant amounts of time and money.

What sports team/championship event do you absolutely refuse to miss? The Super Bowl.

How many monitors do you have on your desk? Two.

How many hours of the day are you plugged in and responsive to client needs? And what tools/products make it possible for you to have flexibility? Approximately 10 to 11 hours per day. Tools such as my BlackBerry, Outlook Web Access, the growth of WiFi, and our corporate VPN make it pretty easy to stay connected.

What operating system and version of Microsoft Office is installed on your work computer? Windows XP (hope to upgrade to Windows 7 soon); Office 2007.

What are some of your favorite books, movies, music, websites and TV shows?

Books — the Bible and anything by David McCullough.

Movies — “Lord of the Rings”, “Star Wars”, “Pride & Prejudice” (the A&E version) — you probably shouldn’t print that last one; it’s kind of embarrassing 😉

Music — Chris Tomlin, Keith & Kristen Getty, David Crowder Band.

Websites — www.opinionjournal.com; www.espn.com; www.runnersworld.com.

TV shows — I rarely watch TV, but I do enjoy “SportsCenter” every now and then.