The Cloud: let’s keep IT simple

There are quite a few memes online about “The Cloud” –

“Whoa… computers can fly now!”

“Drops laptop in toilet… no probs, I’ve got cloud backup!”

“Look up there… that’s where computers come from!”

The list goes on…

Defining the cloud

I looked up the definition of “cloud computing” on Wikipedia. I’ll not bore or bamboozle you with what the internet has to say about it, because it’s actually really simple. Most of us have a good idea of why it’s important to have all our important files saved on the cloud, but for many law firms it still seems to be something we’re not 100% sure about. I think I know why…

It’s NOT because lawyers are technophobes. It’s because the legal market is a tough one. It is a highly regulated industry where the fear of being sued for malpractice or losing your licence is constant. If there is an aversion to adopting new technology, like case management on a cloud server, it comes from that and not from any genetic predisposition that lawyers supposedly must change the way they work. To crack this, tech companies like us need to understand that and reassure you, the lawyers, that these concerns about security, etc, are being addressed.

So… what is the cloud, really?

Cloud computing means that instead of all the computer hardware and software you’re using sitting on your desktop, or somewhere inside your law firm, it’s provided for you as a service by another company and accessed over the internet. Exactly where the hardware and software are located and how it all works doesn’t matter to you, the user – it’s just somewhere up in the nebulous “cloud” that the internet represents.

Cloud computing is just a buzzword. For some, it’s just another way of describing IT outsourcing; others use it to mean any computing service provided over the internet. However we define cloud computing, there’s no doubt it makes most sense when we stop talking about abstract definitions and look at a simple explanation.

In short…

When you send all your digital files to the cloud, whether it’s your photos on your phone, your music, your emails, whatever, you’re really just sending your “stuff” to someone else’s much bigger computer. It’s effectively a massive case file box to keep your firm’s data, etc, but because you can’t see it it’s hard to visualise. If you can imagine what you would normally store in boxes in your office (you know, those archive boxes that are stacked high in the back of the room you’re sitting in now?!), or in folders on your laptop. Take all that stuff and put all of it in this much bigger virtual box. You can even add the odd firm picnic photo to the cloud!

You are effectively renting the storage you need to host the masses of files and content you work on. You are doing this securely. It also means you can then access that content from anywhere, on any device at any time. And before you know it, the cloud just starts processing and saving all that stuff for you. That’s honestly it.

Where is the cloud?

I mentioned that it doesn’t matter to you where your cloud server is. But, for your own piece of mind, we work with an award winning company called Fasthosts. They are based in the UK, operating 24/7 from their dedicated UK data centres. They keep over a million domains running smoothly each day. They provide you with your own dedicated virtual cloud server. Neither Fasthosts nor Denovo can access your data; we only support you. Fasthosts only deal with hardware and have no interface with your cloud and/or system data. For additional security, your operating server in data centre A always has a duplicate running in data centre B. If your server or data centre was to break down, you have a duplicate ready to take its place.

How can I move quickly and securely?

Moving to the cloud quickly really depends on the size of the firm and legacy data in place. If a data conversion was involved, it would take a bit more time. For firms who don’t have cloud in place they would be able to onboard reasonably quickly, within a few weeks, with some guidance, remote training, and support.

It is also entirely possible to move to the cloud remotely. A cloud server can be provisioned and configured really quickly these days. You have the added bonus of eliminating the waiting time for hardware to be delivered and installed. Once in place, firms will have a secure and robust system which will future proof their business data.

Need help?

It’s important to reiterate that every situation is unique. The best thing any firm needing help can do is get in touch with us and have a chat about what they want to achieve in either the short or long term.

Visit denovobi.com, email info@denovobi.com or call us on 0141 331 5290.