The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/163881
So, what is Office 365? It's a suite of business productivity tools delivered from the cloud in a subscription-based, online model. Depending on your chosen plan, you could benefit from cloud versions of Microsoft Exchange, Lync, SharePoint, Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, etc.), and even Web conferencing and PBX support. Altogether, Microsoft Office 365 is a pretty comprehensive cloud solution from a trusted vendor your firm has been using since the dawn of their IT infrastructure. Then what's holding IT departments back? A HOLD ON THE RUSH In a perfect world where technology works as planned and needs no patching or upgrades — nor has any users — migrating to Office 365 would be a cinch. If we were all given the opportunity to set up our firm's IT infrastructure from scratch, the majority of us would opt for Office 365. After all, why would you bother with all those servers, OS licenses, tin, cat 5, racking, cooling, fire suppression and frantic 3:00 a.m. phone calls when upgrades fail? Sadly, we've all got some baggage to carry on our journey to the cloud, and it seems we're quite prepared to drag that baggage with us. Although, don't be mistaken: Office 365 is going to be a success — Microsoft will make sure of that. We're likely to see many of our most loved local area network (LAN)-based server applications become singularly available from Microsoft's cloud. There have been rumors for many years that the next version of their stalwart messaging platform, Exchange Server, will be the last on-premises version, but this has yet to be realized. However, we've already seen this happen with Microsoft's Threat Management Top Five Pros and Cons of Office 365 Pros Cons The Cloud: You're responding to the demand, scalability and flexibility of the cloud. Law firms may still be wary, but the established benefits now outweigh the reasons not to migrate to the cloud. Third-Party Applications: Many law firms have deep third-party integrations into their Exchange and Outlook environments that are simply not replicated in an Office 365 environment. Until these third-party apps and services can support the cloud core, email platforms will remain onsite. Cost: Cost savings over on-premise solutions can be significant. If you have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, Office 365 is already included. Feature Maturity: There are many features, forms and functions that have been built or integrated into on-premise Exchange environments over the years. Some of these will never make their way to Office 365 and others are being crossed off the list. Support for older versions of Outlook is also limited in the cloud. Complexity: Removing complexity is a job best done by the cloud, and Office 365 would allow you to deploy Microsoft Exchange, Lync, SharePoint, Office and a whole host of other applications and services without lifting much more than a mouse. Security: The security of the cloud and Office 365 are much more complex, robust and effective than any DIY solution you could setup on-premise. Accessibility: Office 365 provides a raft of access points that far outstretch your on-premise solutions. End users can maintain the access they're used to with Outlook and other Office apps, and they can use Office 365 Web apps and mobile apps. 66 Peer to Peer Established Infrastructure: Most legal IT infrastructures are made up of point solutions that have been built up over the years. The total functionality provided by all these solutions is significant. Office 365 provides a large part of the productivity tools, but many legal-specific and knowledge/case management tools are yet to be part of the suite. Complexity: In chorus with an established infrastructure is a great deal of complexity, process and information flow that can't be unplugged and simply moved to the cloud overnight. Understanding this complexity often takes a long time, and understanding it well enough to examine suitable cloud alternatives is essential. Declaring IT bankruptcy on your infrastructure and complexity and moving to the cloud one weekend isn't an option. Exchange Administration: There's a common misunderstanding that moving your core productivity applications to the cloud removes the need for your support and administration functions. This isn't the case; Office 365 still requires your Exchange administrator, and he or she will still need to manage the environment for everything to run smoothly.