Cloud computing has advanced significantly over the years and has become mainstream in many legal practices. The American Bar Association released its 2019 Cloud Computing report highlighting the changing relationship between law firms and the cloud.
Cloud technology is slowly but surely becoming the norm for law firms
Some of the most interesting news from the ABA survey is more law firms are using cloud services. The number increased from 55% in 2018 to 58% in 2019. Law firm cloud is being utilized more often by small firms, at 60% of those surveyed, while 44% of larger firms with 50-99 lawyers have adopted it.
However, benefits from the cloud speak for themselves – 80 percent of cloud adopters saw significant process improvements within six months of their transition to the cloud platform, Law Technology Today contributor Jeff Chandler reported.
Pain Point: Security
Security is especially relevant for law firms since they hold onto some very important data for their clients, and they also often work with institutions from regulated industries like finance and healthcare. Understanding and adequately protecting your firm from outside threats is of the utmost importance.
Forbes outlines that the cloud is one of the most secure ways to store data due to its redundancy, security, and safe sharing methods. There should always be multiple copies of important documents, ideally stored in different locations. Unlike hard drives and physical paperwork, the cloud will always store duplicates in multiple places, so even if the worst-case scenario occurs, your data will still be accessible.
Ransomware and phishing attacks are on the rise as the current cyber threats facing today’s businesses. Although phishing certainly isn’t new, it’s a tried-and-true method that many hackers stick by. In a nutshell, the hacker masquerades as a reputable email account, such as a business partner or a financial institution. The individual then sends out a massive number of emails, either containing a piece of malware such as ransomware or using deception to trick the victim into simply giving up their login credentials.
Of course, it’s impossible to predict exactly how a hacker will attack. Therefore, law firms should consider utilizing security measures such as encryption to stave off any major cybersecurity breaches. Many financial institutions require this for the law firms they retain due to the private data being shared. With this security technique, information is scrambled to the point that only the person with the right decryption key can read the data.
How to Choose a Cloud Provider
Adopting a new solution can be daunting. However, the current tried-and-true onsite networks are typically outdated, creating significant security holes, workflow bottlenecks, not to mention skyrocketing maintenance costs, lost productivity and hindering performance.
The ABA reports that an overwhelming majority of law firms (94%) consider vendor reputation to be important when selecting a cloud provider. Implementing a cloud-based system specifically designed for law firms is naturally the best path because the firm will benefit more from improved security, performance, reliability, costs savings, as well as the most current software.
The Afinety Cloud Platform: A cloud network for law firms, designed by law firm IT experts
With a focus on law firm IT since 1986, Afinety understands the legal environment and applications in depth. The Afinety Cloud Platform (ACP) is designed specifically for law firms’ needs. Built on the largest cloud provider in the world, Amazon Web Services, ACP continues to evolve to ensure the most solid security available, including multifactor authentication, current firewalls technologies, Mimecast with URL Threat Protection, which provides instant protection from targeted attacks and phishing attempts across all devices, protection against good websites turning bad or delayed exploits.
Benefits of the Afinety Cloud Platform
- Eliminates the need for purchasing and maintaining servers
- Reduced capital investment and overhead costs
- Elasticity and scalability
- Unmatched security and compliance
- Encrypted data
- Increased performance and reliability
- Mobility – work securely from anywhere, from any device
- Built-in disaster recovery
- Ongoing support
- Simple monthly pricing structure
- Long-time partnership/certifications with legal-specific applications
Afinety knows legal and supports hundreds of law firms with their IT needs so they can focus on their business.
At a single low monthly cost, your entire network, including your data and applications, can be moved to a fully managed cloud platform built on Amazon Web Services, including massive redundancy and security, featuring 24/7/365 monitoring to identify any unusual activity and prevent issues before they cause damage, as well as a 99.999 percent uptime, ensuring the highest level of accessibility possible. Safe, secure, elastic, reliable, and available anywhere, your network will be ready wherever and whenever you need it. Click here for a short video on the Afinety Cloud Platform.