SaaS For Lawyers In The Cloud

10/28/2013

SaaS For Lawyers In The Cloud

If you are a lawyer that has interest in technology, you no doubt have heard of Software as a Service (SaaS) in the cloud. Many lawyers already use SaaS in the cloud, and you probably already do in some form as well. Many lawyers that use SaaS are wary (and rightfully so) about a number of issues and challenges including security, cost, data backup and recovery and other possible disasters that could happen in the cloud. In this article, we will take a look at what SaaS is, how it is used in the courtroom and law firm and how to prevent any cloud disasters associated with SaaS from happening to you.

What is Saas?

Software as a Service apps are quickly becoming more popular in the courtroom and law firms everywhere. A SaaS app is software that is based in the cloud, so it performs the same functions as software installed on your computer, but you can access it from any device that has internet access instead of having to install software on all of your devices.

Some of the most popular SaaS apps that are used in law firms today are:

Evernote: Used for taking notes, snapping photos, clipping web articles, audio clips and much more.

Google Apps: This powerful document management suite allows lawyers to quickly create, edit, delete, share, sign and save documents, spreadsheets and presentations from any mobile device or computer that has internet access.

Dropbox: The most popular cloud storage provider, offering free space, unlimited size file sharing, simple file sharing, strong encryption and security measures.

Box: Similar to Dropbox, it offers free space, but does have file size limits. It also offers the strongest security measures as it is HIPAA and HITECH compliant.

Microsoft SkyDrive: Microsoft's cloud storage. If you have Windows 8, you are no doubt familiar with SkyDrive as much of the storage and apps are stored in the cloud on SkyDrive.

Basecamp: That's right, the premier project management tool in the world is SaaS. Based in the cloud, Basecamp provides lawyers with all the tools they need to successfully manage cases and other projects from any location with internet access.

How secure are SaaS apps?

Well, there is good news and bad news. The bad news first: 1 out of 3 Companies Lose Data in SaaS. Okay, so now you're thinking that SaaS is not secure, right? Wrong. The sad fact is- human error still accounts for the number one reason for data loss in the cloud. And unfortunately, security cannot predict human error and therefore it is very hard to guard against it. But there is one cloud service that stands against human error, human stupidity and even purposeful malicious human deletion. This cloud service is cloudHQ.

How cloudHQ is the solution to human error

The cloudHQ backup and replication service works by providing a complete backup of all of your cloud data to a backup account on a completely separate cloud service. So if your law firm uses Dropbox for all of your cloud storage needs, the backup account could be on a separate cloud service such as Google Drive or Box. You choose which folders and files you wish to have backed up and cloudHQ does the rest. All new files added to the shared folders in the main account will be instantly replicated to the backup account. So now if you or your legal aide or anyone else with access to the cloud account accidentally (or purposely) deletes files or important documents, there will always be a secondary copy of all of your files and documents on the backup account. Recovering files is quick and easy and only takes minutes. Most cloud services offer file recovery, but only for short periods up to 30 days. After that period of time, your data is gone forever, unless you have a secure backup system like cloudHQ. Human error is prevalent and is still the number one cause of data loss in the cloud, but with cloudHQ, you can combat human error and defeat it easily.

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