The Growth of Cloud Computing in Legal Industries
It would be safe to say that a substantial number of practitioners from the legal industry remain doubtful of the need to adopt cloud computing. Some lawyers though are not as tough in their stand against the technology; after all, how can you put down a system that allows you to share documents with a single click or improve collaboration regardless of your physical location?
Let’s take a look at some of the things that the legal industry should know on its way to joining the cloud.
Booming Market
We have to admit that cloud computing did not actually put the market on fire at the onset; but, today it cannot be denied that the market is booming. The technology has successfully transformed from a novelty to a mainstream success as proven by the projected value of cloud computing reaching $127 billion within the next years.
Some analysts believe that by 2017 the market would already be worth an estimated $235.1 billion. Bigger than the GDP of some countries, right? Regardless whether these figures are achieved or surpassed, the continued growth of the market can no longer be stifled. So why shouldn’t the law profession get into the Cloud?
Legitimate IT Strategy
Compared to its earlier deployments, cloud computing has transformed into a legitimate part of the IT strategy of various industries. In fact, it is creating waves that are disrupting the traditional way of doing business or even practicing law.
The more traditional areas of IT deployment and implementation are being set aside for more technological innovations. As industry experts see it, by 2018, there will be increased spending from various industries to take advantage and adopt cloud computing for their business processes. This in turn will result in changes on the role played by software infrastructures and data centers.
Lower Costs
It is not surprising that the increased rate of adoption of cloud computing can be attributed to the way that it lowers the cost of deployment, implementation, and maintenance of IT systems. We have to admit that when the technology was introduced, it was far from being considered cheap.
Today, cloud computing is both cheaper and better with a lot of room for improvements and innovations being tackled to respond to the needs of various industries, including the legal profession. The increased efficiency that it delivers will eventually render traditional IT solutions obsolete, so why not make the shift?
Distribution Models
The adoption and widespread implementation of Cloud computing has already changed the traditional distribution models for the licensing and delivery of software solutions. The birth of Software as a Service or SaaS has created one of the biggest impacts on the way that pieces of software are made available to the end user.
Businesses benefit from the SaaS by allowing them to license applications on a subscription basis while accessing it from a central source rather than having it installed on individual machines. From a distribution standpoint, this is easier and helps to curb piracy.
Public Cloud Solutions
When it comes to cloud computing, you will see that there are public service platforms and there are private alternatives. The good news is that at the moment, public cloud dominates the market. What is good about it? Public cloud services can generally be accessed for free.
Because of this, about 88% of businesses adopting cloud technology rely on public Cloud service platforms. Is there anything left of the market for private cloud alternatives? Still a substantial portion is left. More so for industries looking for more customized solutions that will deliver specific processes and solutions.
Obviously, you cannot find a top of the line management free cloud computing technology from public service platforms. However, you can contact Nexstep today to get the best cloud based management for your law practice, and feel how NexStep cloud computing will elevate your legal industry to new heights.