Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
The Benefits of Delivering E-Discovery Software Via the Cloud
July 1, 2010
I recently had the opportunity to chat with some of the folks from CaseCentral. I really liked their blueprint for cloud-based e-discovery (link below) and invited them to submit a guest post. Thanks for writing! Here's their post:
Cloud computing and social media are dominating eDiscovery conversations lately. And with the state of the economy and new fiscal realities, it is no wonder. Corporate law departments and law firms are being charged with taking control of eDiscovery at a time when data volumes and associated costs are exploding.
Cloud computing offers some game-changing economic, risk and time benefits for eDiscovery. “Cloud-based eDiscovery software can provide important benefits to corporations and law firms,” said George Socha Jr., Esq., founder of Socha Consulting. “These benefits can include lower costs and improved service delivery, resulting in less time and waste.”
First and foremost is the removal of the infrastructure burden. Consumers of cloud-applications do not have to buy, implement or maintain hardware and software. Instead, users access the software via an Internet browser and pay a subscription for what they use. When eDiscovery is active, users have the benefit of the large shared infrastructure. When eDiscovery is slow, they dial back the subscription, something that can’t be done when managing your own servers and software. This usually equates to significant savings.
Cloud-based applications provide the latest features and enhancements immediately for all users worldwide. As users sign on, they always have the latest software. No need to wait for IT to upgrade each desktop and server, and no chance of missing a critical software patch.
Companies and law firms can also centralize eDiscovery in the cloud, managing multiple cases and collaborating with teams both inside and outside the firewall. This minimizes requests for IT departments to modify corporate networks for third party access, which increases security risks. It also provides the ability to centrally manage eDiscovery as a consistent, repeatable and defensible business process, which lowers risk, cost and time.
Determining what part of the eDiscovery process to perform in the cloud and what the implications and considerations are can be confusing. CaseCentral recently published a “Blueprint for cloud-based eDiscovery.” The blueprint is a framework that surfaces key points to guide decisions in terms of security, privacy, control, risk and cost practices at corporations and law firms looking to bring eDiscovery in-house via the cloud.
Steven d'Alencon, Chief Marketing Officer, CaseCentral
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