Cloud offers a better path to eDiscovery

Under constant pressure to do more with less, attorneys can no longer afford to waste precious time tracking down information, but for many firms, that’s just what happens. Client documents can often be stored in many places on different systems, requiring different passwords and levels of access control. Secured cloud technology can solve this problem. It helps attorneys access relevant information from any device, at any time and from any location, quickly, securely and easily. That increases efficiency and lowers costs across the board, but is particularly important for what is historically one of the most time-consuming and costly parts of litigation – eDiscovery.

Consider these attributes of the cloud:

• Accessibility: Documents that attorneys need to access are often stored in different places on a variety of systems and platforms. This disparity can make accessing information a cumbersome and inefficient process. Added to that, an IDC survey commissioned by Ricoh, found that 50 percent of employees need access to at least six data repositories to do their job, but only 18 percent are able to search across these repositories.¹ For attorneys who need access to their client information to win a case, these numbers can be even higher. Not only does cloud technology offer access to documents anytime via a secure web browser, but providers who utilize cloud technology may also offer services such as online portals, which makes it even easier to access information.

• Scalability: According to IBM, humans create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data everyday — so much that 90 percent of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years.² In the legal world, that translates to skyrocketing volumes of electronically stored information (ESI). By providing a way to scale storage and processing power up and down as needed, cloud services enable your firm to accommodate various amounts of data easily, economically and efficiently. In addition, cloud services often include innovative technologies to automatically organize, search and cull data, saving you time and money in document review.

• Security: Reputable cloud services providers typically offer better data security than your office or a traditional data center. For example, they may use sophisticated encryption when data is in transit, when it’s stored in the cloud, and when it is moved among applications. They will likely also employ large teams of specialists that implement the latest security best practices and constantly monitor for attacks. As a client, you inherit this advanced security.