Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/50188
CLEAR SKIES, FULL HEARTS, CAN'T LOSE The answer is yes. What has come to be called the cloud does indeed represent a new software delivery model, one that offers new and real advantages to IT and business users alike. For those that set up and manage software, the benefits of the cloud commonly include easier deployment, better availability, improved disaster mitigation, smoother upgrades and more flexible licensing options. For lawyers and other users, cloud- based software typically makes it easier to access information and resources wherever they are, often via devices including desktop computers, tablets and smartphones. But challenges await any organization pursuing this loftier approach. Before taking flight, firms will be well-served to understand and plan for the common pitfalls and tradeoffs that await them. And if your firm is already working with cloud systems, the information management challenges outlined below will likely resonate, and the available solutions offer a more effective response strategy. OBSCURED BY CLOUDS? (CLEARING THINGS UP) To better understand how the cloud impacts legal IT, let's start with a basic definition of the term. The cloud is both a software delivery model and an architectural approach. Like some other models, delivery is via a remote environment. However, a software application that's moved to a remote data center, managed by a vendor, and delivered using a traditional client-server model is not qualified to call itself part of the cloud club. While simplified definitions can often spur debate, a reasonable way to characterize cloud solutions is "software delivered as a service under a multitenant and services-oriented architecture." • Multitenancy: This architecture enables multiple organizations (and their users) to be served by a single instance of the software, each virtually isolated from the other to protect data privacy and integrity. In practice, this means that you'll access the product by logging in to a general website that's the same for all of the vendor's customers. • Service-Oriented Architecture: This applies to the means by which the software enables IT organizations and other systems to remotely interface with it to access data and perform other functions. Typically, this is accomplished using a standard Web services API model and a protocol like Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), an approach many on-premises noncloud applications can also take. There are plenty of other technical minutiae to discuss and debate about what defines something as a cloud application. But these two elements bear directly on understanding the impact of cloud computing on a firm's ability to integrate cloud software into their environment and business processes, while minimizing pain for IT teams and end users. SO IS CLOUD CITY FOR YOU? Many organizations decide that they belong among the clouds given the many advantages providers frequently offer over more traditional approaches, including: www.iltanet.org Tech Potpourri 19