Cloud computing in the Legal Industry: The Legal Industry has finally decided to Adopt Cloud Computing for Solicitors & Law firms. In the first place, it has been noticed that the legal industry has always been unwilling to migrate to the cloud technology, and without any nice intention. Due to the large quantity of secret and private information, materials and evidence predominant in law sector, there has always been an awareness within the industry that it puts itself in danger by permitting this data to be retained on web-based servers.
Nonetheless, it is important that they are informed that cloud computing has advanced even by its own typical development. Firstly, Cloud computing now permits users to benefit from both the storage and security system when they sign up with a hybrid cloud vendor. Secondly, law organizations can also benefit from Security as a Service (SaaS) as one of its areas.
In a nutshell, with the old fashioned in-house Information Technology security that many firms believe in, public and private cloud computing has gotten a level where security is on the balance, if not even better. On the other hand, some other group of people really claim that cloud computing has better security than traditional security. Sometime this year, Tripwire published an article highlighting their own 4 reasons why they feel cloud is more secure than legacy systems.
Question 1: Is the Legal Industry ready for cloud Adoption?
Even though the legal industry has had its own fair share of worries concerning the adoption of cloud computing, events are finally shifting to positivity.
There are some issues like data leaks/breaches and data theft which have been troubling different sectors for a long period of time. In short, these are perhaps some of the principal reasons behind firms migrating to a cloud-based setting.
In the opinion of the legal industry, it thinks that the local storage of private data is as vulnerable to theft as it would be in the cloud. This their opinion has helped to change thinking on the problem. This matter continued notwithstanding them having supervision of the place and the simplest security measures.
As a matter of fact, the impression that data is less protected if it leaves the company buildings has finally reduced. Fortunately, this is supported by the string of data breaches across different industry sectors around the world.
In March 2016, there was a report and publication by Wall Street Journal that cyber criminals penetrated numerous law firm servers, including the popular Weil Gotsha and Cravath.
Moving forward, several law firms are now finally understanding that the traditional Information Technology security will never be good enough. That being said, it is important to note that Cloud technology is able to provide the type of security they would require to avoid a data breach, as well as phishing, among other concerns.
As luck would have it, the response to the question above (if the legal industry is prepared for cloud) has been a definite yes. This is because more and more law firms are now putting their faith in cloud service providers and resellers for the countless cloud-based services they want.
Question 2: How does Cloud Computing help the Legal Industry?
Sometime ago, AM Law carried out a review within their various group of two hundred law firms to find out whether they have adopted cloud service. Secondly, if they have, then what type of services did they decide to sign up for? After their assessment, it was discovered that about 51% of the law practitioners confirmed that they have truly started making use of cloud computing.
From the analysis, result shows that about 62% of them are currently using the software as a service (SaaS). On the balance, this should not come as a shock at all since several cloud-based solution providers now build cloud computing applications for law organizations. These apps are called the law practice management systems and are also called the case management software or legal management.
To make it user friendly, these applications provide useful tools such as legal document management, legal calendaring, time tracking, legal billing, client communication, and so on. Furthermore, they also bring along secure online payment process, as well as secure encrypted messaging services, etc.
That’s not all, we will not forget to mention the added advantages that accompany the use of smartphones and tablets which allow law firms to access web-based applications on the go. This would be moderately vulnerable, unsecure and unreliable when working with a traditional in-house system.
Upgrading the Future of Cloud computing in legal Industry
Generally speaking, Cloud computing may not be new for other industries, however, it is certainly new for the law firms who have only lately begun to take cognizance of the hybrid technology.
Similarly, the retail industry only started switching a few of years back, the legal industry will perhaps use enough time to appreciate the pros and cons of how the cloud works. They will also understand how the cloud vendors work with their law firm.
