P2P

60 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | S U M M E R 2 0 2 3 later. There is, however, a big advantage to SaaS when it comes to customization, and that is APIs. APIs A well-designed, modern SaaS application is built on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). A SaaS application talks to itself using APIs, so it's a natural extension to enable outside access via APIs, too. It may be more challenging to change core elements of SaaS software (at least those applications that don't specifically have features for doing so); however, APIs open up the game in a much more flexible and generally more cost- effective way. APIs create a defined way to interact with the application. Want something to happen every time a new file is opened of a certain type? Use an API. Want to pull matter information to show in another application? Use an API. Using APIs still typically requires development resources and a real investment, but compared to diving directly into a SQL database to find the desired information, a well-defined API is a gift to building integrations across systems in your firm. SQL Access On the subject of SQL, many firms are accustomed to having direct access to their data, typically in a SQL database. Moving to SaaS can often make this somewhere between really difficult and impossible. APIs provide an alternative, but if you've built, for example, business intelligence (BI) that is dependent on getting the full database, it may take a very different approach or force you to use the vendor's solution for BI. Data Migration For the same reason that you typically won't have direct access to the underlying database in a SaaS application, data migration can be a more difficult or expensive process. Evaluate the vendors import/export and data migration API capabilities are just as important as other feature considerations. Security Compliance Applications running in environments like Azure and AWS are built on secure foundations. Microsoft, for example, states they have 3,500 cybersecurity experts working on Azure. Combined with a capable software vendor, SaaS applications can be a security upgrade, but it does make the security due diligence process more difficult. Security reviews roll downhill from clients to firms to vendors, and moving to SaaS increases the work you must do in evaluating vendor's security protocols. Reliability Uptime is a lowest common dominator of the SaaS vendor's track record combined with the underlying cloud platform. In some cases, vendors are operating their own cloud platform, particularly when hosting what was previously run on-premises. Investing in the Cloud The consolidation of IT infrastructure is a foundational investment for the long-term operation of your firm that is synergistic with transitioning applications to true SaaS alternatives. ILTA Q 2 W H I T E P A P E R S Bill Bice is is the CEO at nQ Zebraworks, which is tackling the challenges created by Work From Anywhere. nQzw Queues is the workf low engine that powers more than 35% of the largest 250 law firms in the United States and 5 of the top 10 firms globally. Bill has a long history in legal technology, founding ProLaw Software at age 18, then becoming part of Thomson Reuters, where he founded the West km division.

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