A brief guide to choose the right cloud solution for your law firm

Digitalisation is ultimately a necessity for any law firm that wishes to stay competitive, and cope with the challenges of the modern legal environment. In this article, we’ll dive into the increasing importance of investing in cloud solutions for your law firm, and how you can benefit from that at a wide range of levels.

The increasing need for cloud

Law firms must define the kinds of solutions they intend to choose to remain competitive and adapt to changes: is it really the best idea simply to replace the old, outdated in-office server with a new one? For a law firm to have its own server infrastructure means not just high investment costs, but also running costs for maintenance and operation. In addition, the law firm must carry out regular updates and keep up with the necessary security measures. Similar costs and expenses are incurred even if servers are located outside the law firm. In an era of cloud-based solutions, running one’s own servers is simply an old-fashioned approach to take.

For many years, law firms have taken a rather critical view of the use of the cloud due to legal framework conditions and reservations about security. Meanwhile, however, more and more law firms are coming to rely on the benefits that a cloud solution has to offer to meet new challenges and address client’s needs. They simply can no longer afford to be dependent on local IT systems.

Different cloud models for your specific needs

An investment in a cloud solution presents a host of benefits to law firms, including the benefit of greater flexibility and scalability. But an informed decision must be based on necessary familiarity with the different cloud models available. What are the different cloud models that exist? As a rule, there are three types of cloud model: public, private, and hybrid.

1. Public cloud: involves an approach to cloud computing in which the infrastructure is provided by a third party. Here, the law firm uses the provider’s resources, such as server capacities of software applications. One major advantage of the public cloud is its scalability. This gives the law firm flexibility in its access of additional resources as needed, which they can also return when they are no longer needed. This spares the needless cost of unused capacities. Another benefit is the high level of availability of data and applications.

2. Private cloud: is a closed infrastructure reserved for the exclusive use of a single enterprise. As a rule, the private cloud is hosted by a third party and made available via the Internet and other networks. As data are stored on dedicated servers, access to them is limited to authorised users. Its high security level makes the private cloud a reliable option. Still, there are also drawbacks to using a private cloud. Integrating it into existing systems and processes can be complicated, and maintenance involves higher costs than with a public cloud. 

3. Hybrid cloud: A hybrid cloud combines locally hosted and cloud-hosted services. It enables law firms to combine private and public clouds with one another to benefit from both systems. A hybrid cloud gives attorneys access to the services and storage capacity they need to perform their work more efficiently and cost-effectively. As resources can be customised as needed, lawyers have greater flexibility in broaching projects or trying out new ideas. The disadvantage of this approach, however, is that these solutions are costlier than public clouds, as the greater resources that they require also involve higher costs.

Benefits of Cloud-native solutions

Law firms in search of a solution that truly offers everything they need should opt for cloud-native software designed for use by law firms. One benefit of cloud-native solutions is that they are developed especially for the cloud; this makes them perfectly tailored to the needs of a modern law firm.

Law firms that use cloud-native solutions can tailor IT environments to the requirements specific to their business processes. This gives them much more effective control over their infrastructure and data, which in turn bolsters flexibility and scalability.

Four key criteria to choose the right cloud solution

Choosing the cloud solution that is the right one for your own law firm is key step in the direction of realizing the full potential of this technology. Thus, different criteria need to be considered. The most important ones are:

Security

Cost

Scalability

Availability

Major advantages of cloud-legal software

Briefly, the benefits of the cloud are clear: no high investment costs for hardware and software, no maintenance and repair costs, greater flexibility in scaling IT infrastructure and, above all, the option of using applications that are always up-to date without a need for physical intervention.

Cloud solutions also offer greater data security and availability than when law firms maintaining dedicated servers of their own.

Without servers of their own, law firms no longer must worry about backups, hardware and version controls or updates of operating systems. All these functions are typically already integrated in the cloud solution. This way, law firms can concentrate on their work without having to deal with issues such as protection against cyberattack, overruns of storage space, speed or maintenance, not to mention matters of the physical safety and security of the servers themselves (e.g., protection from fire or burglary).

Software for law firms has become an integral part of the modern legal-services sector. Law firms can automate and standardise many tasks if they have the right software for the purpose. This frees them up to concentrate on the most important aspects of their work – their cases and interactions with clients – while reaping the benefits of digitalisation.

Read our whitepaper “A cloud-based law firm” to learn how to fully leverage the wide variety of benefits that digitalisation, and particularly cloud solutions, can bring to your law firm.