After working with law firms for over 20 years, we’ve discovered 3 areas where IT support plays a make-it-or-break-it role: communication, collaboration, and reputation management. Cloud services can be a key part of each of these areas, helping law firms serve clients more efficiently. And in the law industry, efficiency is everything.
Why Your Law Firm Should Use the Cloud
Traditionally, businesses have stored their data in on-premise servers, or physical computer systems located in the office. These can be expensive to maintain and require physical space in your office. Cloud services provide an alternative: storing data securely off-site instead of keeping it onsite.
You might already use the cloud in your personal life for storing pictures or documents. Instead of only having physical copies of all your childhood photos and memorabilia, you may have scanned them and have them stored in Google Photos or another app on your phone.
The cloud is a centralized system of servers hosted remotely, connected by the internet. This allows businesses to store and access data from anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection. While many businesses still use physical on-premise servers, the cloud offers highly reliable and secure storage with much lower maintenance costs in comparison.
And essentially every business is making the switch; as of the end of 2022, 94% of businesses were using the cloud in some way.
Benefits of Cloud Services for Law Firms
Stronger Cybersecurity
The law industry will always be a target for cybercrime—you store some of the most sensitive data that a hacker can come by. They know that your success hinges on your reputation, so you’d likely pay more to get your data back than say, an e-commerce business. In 2021, 25% of surveyed law firms had experienced a cyberattack, and most of those firms had under 50 employees.
That being said, the cloud is a much more secure environment than on-premise servers. On-premise servers can be hacked through brute force attacks, which involve a hacker entering numerous combinations of usernames and passwords until they gain access to the server. Another way is through SQL injection, where malicious code is injected into a server’s database to gain access to sensitive information.
Cloud service providers take extra measures to protect their customers’ data with stronger encryption, firewalls, and other security protocols like penetration testing. Because everything is hosted online, it’s easier for cloud providers to update their software and extend those benefits to you.
Remote Access Anytime, Anywhere
Some law cases come down to a matter of seconds, so you need access to data at any point. It doesn’t make sense to store everything on a desktop computer or even a laptop.
With cloud services, you can access your data anywhere as long as you have a secure internet connection. The cloud is also great for collaboration, allowing multiple people to work on an assignment simultaneously without worrying about version control or conflicting documents.
And with the recent shift to remote work, the cloud might become a necessity, not just a bonus. 25% of the workforce is remote now, while 68% would prefer to be remote. You can attract top talent, help your employees with better work-life balance (although that doesn’t really exist for lawyers, does it?), and simplify your client experience with the cloud.
Lower Costs and Increased Efficiency
On-premise servers make it hard to scale your business. If you need to store more data, you’ll have to invest in new hardware and hire IT personnel to help manage it. Even if you’re not planning on growing or scaling soon, the upkeep of on-prem will cost you much more than cloud storage. The physical storage space, power, cooling, hardware—the list goes on.
With the cloud, all of this becomes much easier. You can pay for extra storage as needed and add or remove users from your account quickly and easily. IT support can still manage your cloud services for you but it will take less time and create fewer technical problems, freeing up your in-house team for other work.
Secure Cloud Services for Law Firms With ANC Group
Without strong cybersecurity and communication tools, you’re making your job a lot harder. And for a job that requires so much attention to detail, precision, and accuracy, it’s best to have the right tools in place.
ANC Group provides secure and simple cloud services for law firms that help them serve their clients better. We know how important your data is—that’s why we use advanced encryption standards and other layers of protection to keep it secure.
Schedule a consultation with our IT team to find out more about cloud services and how they can change the way you do business.
