Lewis Brownlee embraces cloud-first working with IRIS Anywhere

Lewis Brownlee, a chartered accountancy firm of close to 70 staff with offices in Chichester, Midhurst, Whiteley and London, has worked with IRIS for over 15 years. After moving from legacy hosted servers to IRIS Anywhere on Microsoft Azure, the firm gained a more stable platform and the flexibility to work from home, client sites or any office. Six months of testing has confirmed its multi-factor authentication and security measures, with practice management, tax, accounts production and IT support all provided by IRIS.

Lewis Brownlee is a full-service chartered accountant, registered auditor, tax and business adviser firm of close to 70 staff, with offices in Chichester, Midhurst, Whiteley and London. Serving clients across West Sussex, Hampshire and beyond, the firm covers the full spectrum of accountancy, tax, audit and assurance from individual self-assessment returns to multinational group audits. Sam Ede, Director and Head of Audit and Assurance, has been with the firm for six years and in practice for over 30 years. He spoke to us about a partnership with IRIS that stretches back more than 15 years, and what the move to IRIS Anywhere has meant for the business.

One package, one database, one relationship

When Sam reflects on why Lewis Brownlee has stayed with IRIS for so long, the answer is straightforward. “It’s a complete package,” he explains. “Having different systems in different places, is always a problem, having multiple databases is always an issue.” IRIS covers everything the firm needs, from the smallest tax return to consolidated accounts for multi-million pound national businesses, within a single platform. That breadth extends beyond software. Lewis Brownlee also uses IRIS for their local IT support, hardware and infrastructure, meaning technical accountability sits in one place. “If you have separate responsibilities for varying IT requirements, that creates inefficiencies ,” Sam notes. “We have it all under IRIS, so it's all managed and accountable to IRIS for all aspects.”

From legacy hosting to Microsoft Azure

Prior to IRIS Anywhere, the firm ran on a traditional hosted server environment which, while it had supported remote working for years, was becoming increasingly outdated. The move to IRIS Anywhere brought Lewis Brownlee onto Microsoft Azure, and Sam considers the change a clear step forward. “It is more stable than the server bunkers that used to be present,” he says. The platform also removed a practical constraint of the old model: the ability to log in from anywhere, rather than remote-connecting to a fixed server, now supports the firm’s hybrid working policy, with staff connecting from home, client sites or any of the firm’s offices without friction.

Security as a foundation

For a firm handling sensitive financial data across a broad client base, the security credentials of any platform are non-negotiable. IRIS Anywhere’s Microsoft Azure infrastructure was central to the decision. “When it comes to security, you want your data hosted by organisations whose entire business depends on getting it right. Providers such as Microsoft and Amazon invest billions in their infrastructure and security measures, giving businesses a level of protection that's difficult to replicate with an on-premises setup.” Sam explains. Multi-factor authentication and the wider security measures in place have since been put to the test. “Over the past six months, we've put the systems through extensive testing and have been extremely impressed with the results,” he says. “The technology has performed exceptionally well, and we're in a very strong position from a security perspective.” With awareness of data breaches affecting peer firms, that confidence is not taken for granted.

A dedicated account contact who goes the extra mile

One aspect of the IRIS relationship that Sam is particularly positive about is the firm’s dedicated account contact, Charlotte, who takes ownership of escalating and resolving any issues that arise. “She is fantastic in terms of helping us move support cases forward and chasing them up and escalating them for us,” he says. “Having someone we can reach out to, a central person – that is critical to us and works fantastically. Charlotte does magic for us in terms of getting things resolved.”

Moving forward with cloud

For any firm still considering the move from desktop or legacy hosting, Sam’s view is unambiguous. “Moving to a cloud-based environment is really the only sensible option today,” he says. “Maintaining your own server not only carries significant risks but also brings ongoing replacement and maintenance costs. Cloud hosting offers greater resilience, flexibility and value for money. Most businesses have already embraced that transition, and the accountancy sector is no exception. IRIS Anywhere has proved to be an excellent solution for us.”