That's a key advantage of cloud computing - you aren't tethered to your office or any particular location. "I just remote into that computer from wherever I happen to be to access all of my documents and all of my programs," he says. Sims has migrated to a variety of cloud services during the past several years and conducts all of his business there currently, including document storage and time-and-billing. And its benefits for lawyers and clients are many. Still, as Brooks notes, there's no turning away from the cloud now. What if the cloud servers are hacked? What if the government serves a subpoena on the service provider for your client's data? It's enough to give even the boldest technophile pause. And Edward Snowden's revelations about NSA cyberspying have only heightened that concern. The most common global services include Dropbox, iCloud, Google Drive, and Amazon Cloud Drive, Brooks says, while top legal-specific services include NetDocuments and Clio.īut despite the cloud's ubiquity and many advantages, some lawyers feel uneasy about storing their data - and more to the point, their clients' data - on third- party servers in remote locations. Users access cloud storage services by signing up, creating a username and password, and either paying for server space or signing an agreement for a free account, the latter of which usually provides less storage space and security. "That's somebody delivering software as a service to you." You can access them as one through the Internet."Īttorneys are already using the cloud, whether they realize it or not, at least through Gmail, Yahoo, or another web-based e-mail service, says Bryan Sims, principal with Sims Law Firm Ltd. "When we say 'cloud,' there are lots and lots of servers everywhere. "It isn't the traditional model where you're on a server, and you can picture where the server is - in a closet, or the basement, or whatever," Brooks says. It's a concept known as software as a service, or SaaS. Additionally, cloud-based software providers house their product on these remote servers and license it to you. Rather than accessing a file server housed on location - at a law-firm office, for example - cloud users connect through their computer, tablet, phone, or other device onto the Internet and onward to one or more servers where their documents and other files are stored - and can be edited from afar. The cloud, which has grown as a file storage and software solution for individuals and businesses of all types over the past few years, is best understood as a linkage among networks of servers that operate as if they are a single entity. We need to understand it and feel comfortable with it." There's no good choice other than to use this technology. "It's a matter of reasonable due diligence," Brooks says. Then, Brooks and his firm negotiated a contract with NetDocuments in which the latter agreed to follow the standards for cloud security laid out by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), a federal government agency. When the Rockford firm of Holmstrom & Kennedy migrated its cloud services to NetDocuments, partner Aaron Brooks traveled to the company's Arizona headquarters, toured its data center to satisfy himself it was physically secure, and questioned corporate leaders about business practices and data center staff about cybersecurity. But make sure you understand and minimize the risks, lawyer technologists advise. You're probably already using the Internet to access remote servers - aka cloud computing - whether you know it or not.
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