Xero, the global Cloud accounting software platform and recent winner of Financial Product of the Year at this year’s UK Cloud Awards, has become the latest industry pioneer to join the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF).
The Cloud Industry Forum is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to improve standards and education in the Cloud industry. CIF provides transparency through certification to a Code of Practice to endorse credible providers of Cloud Services and, through its Professional CIF Membership scheme, assists end users in determining the core information necessary to enable them to adopt such services with confidence.
As a global Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company, Xero was built for the cloud and is an example of how the delivery model is providing significant opportunities to small businesses globally. Xero, which has scaled quickly around the world and has gained popularity with small business owners by replacing complex and time-consuming legacy accounting software with an easy-to-use, cloud-based financial management system. Entrepreneurs now have easy access to their finances, in real-time, via any device, putting them in control of their numbers 24/7. The company has 600,000 + subscribers in more than 180 countries, with well over 100,000 in the UK.
Alex Hilton, CEO of the Cloud Industry Forum, stated: “By leveraging the benefits of scale, SaaS companies like Xero are able to give entrepreneurs access to partnerships with some of the most valuable technology companies in the world, including Google, Apple and Adobe. Technology is broadening the market for small businesses, enabling them to operate across borders and secure a wider customer base with ease. Xero has rapidly gained a reputation for its unprecedented pace of innovation in the accounting software sector both here in the UK and globally.
“With its strong focus on the SMB market, we have in Xero an additional voice for the SMB sector and one that understands the challenges confronted by the small business owner when it comes to managing IT. Our own research highlights that over a third (38 per cent) of all UK organisations are already using cloud-based accounting and finance applications and that a further 16 per cent are actively planning to in the near future. These figures rise dramatically in the SMB market with over 46 per cent of businesses already using cloud-based accounting services and a further 14 per cent planning to. There is no doubt that this is a growth area and so we are delighted to welcome Xero to the CIF family!”
Gary Turner, Xero’s UK managing director, added: "Xero is part of a huge, generational shift in the way technology is used and harnessed by organisations of all sizes. As the use of cloud technology grows exponentially over the next decade, it's incumbent on organisations like Xero and industry groups like CIF to collaborate and lead on the big issues and challenges that we'll see emerging."
