Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/16612
loosely, you might not be sure whether to trust it. Is it just another marketing buzzword, or does it represent a real-world solution? Many firms are moving cautiously in the direction of cloud computing, but there is increased urgency for more firms to consider this path. A question hovers intriguingly into view: With IT managers challenged to find a balance between immediate priorities and long- term goals, can outsourcing answer both needs? Ultimately, you will need to determine whether your law firm can stabilize the fluctuating costs associated with building and maintaining your own communications infrastructure — while at the same time improving functionality and efficiency — by outsourcing one or more of your key business communication components. personnel — as well as costs for telephone systems and data centers — climb yearly, while becoming ever more unpredictable. Modest efficiencies can still be wrung from “Modest efficiencies can still be wrung from the prevailing infrastructure, but firms have largely reached peak efficiency under their present architectures.” the prevailing infrastructure, but firms have largely reached peak efficiency under their present architectures. Unfortunately, not only do costs continue to rise, exceeding what savings are left to be discovered, but so does the demand on human resources. The only way to recoup costs, of course, is to pass them along to clients, making your frustration their frustration. We can foresee the consequences. Naturally, IT managers seek surer economic footing. It is in this light that the promise of cloud-based solutions comes more sharply into focus. TECH SUPPORT: STABILIZING COSTS The legal industry finds itself performing an economic balancing act: Even as firms act to cut expenses and improve efficiencies, the cost of servicing increasingly complex IT infrastructures remains unacceptably high. Capital investments in servers and other hardware, software expenses, system upgrade and maintenance costs, provisioning costs for additional required THE EVOLUTION OF HOSTED APPLICATIONS Known also as software as a service (SaaS), hosted applications are business tools provided in the cloud by an outside vendor. They have gained trust and credibility within the legal industry due to their economies of scale, rewarding budget-conscious adopters with a “pay only for what you use” pricing structure that www.iltanet.org Infrastructure Technologies 25