Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/16612
complements today’s leaner business models. And the advantages extend even further. In addition to carrying no up-front, installation or equipment charges, hosted applications allow users to access these key business tools through common user interfaces — Web browsers, smart phones, etc. — making them easy to use, convenient and highly secure. You might already be familiar with long- standing hosted applications like Salesforce.com, one of the original SaaS pioneers. Salesforce.com and other such providers offer companies access to customer relationship management (CRM) tools without the complications of hosting and managing such software internally. Yet CRM is only the beginning of what firms can do in the cloud. As IT managers discover the ability to deploy complex, scalable applications externally that significantly reduce their firm’s capital expenditures, they see no reason to sustain the high cost of hosting these services in-house. Plus, hosted providers offer a level of disaster recovery and redundancy that most firms can’t afford to duplicate, enabling them to buy more infrastructure externally than if they were to spend their money in-house. Increasingly, we see managers turning to outsourced alternatives for mission-critical office 26 Infrastructure Technologies ILTA White Paper functions such as fax, e-mail and voice, convinced that the combination of cost savings and simplified IT demands is simply not possible without the advantage of hosted applications. “Cloud communications can be a highly effective tool for combating the unpredictability of the legal industry’s fluctuating infrastructure costs.” SHOULD YOU MOVE MISSION-CRITICAL APPLICATIONS TO THE CLOUD? Business leaders confront their litmus-test questions daily: Can we drive growth? Can we lower costs? Can we increase productivity? When it comes to managing their own internal systems, legal IT managers have to question the convention of paying a premium to run services internally when they can be outsourced just as reliably (or even more so) for less money. But a cheaper alternative is not necessarily a better one. Below are other crucial factors to consider when evaluating a cloud-based solution: • Will it be easy to deploy, manage and scale? • Will it be easy for users to adopt and employ productively without excessive support? • Will it streamline workflow and reduce overhead and/or increase billable hours?