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LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT Cutting the cord Google and Microsoft both offer up safe, full-service business systems that live entirely in the Internet 'data cloud.' BY KEVIN MARRON W hen Mervyn Valadares' office building caught fire 18 months ago, the Ottawa intellectual property lawyer was terri- fied by the prospect of his computers and the critical files they contained also going up in smoke. That's when he decided that he would consider sending his data into the cloud. Cloud computing, which offers soft- ware services and data storage located online in the Internet "data cloud," have now become an attractive option for many businesses. New industrial-strength servi- ces, such as Google Apps for Business and Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS), which will soon morph into an upgraded version called Office 365, boast high levels of security, extensive data storage, and a wide range of applications that businesses need. The promise of cloud computing is that it will save you money by letting you get rid of expensive hardware and technical sup- port, while providing you and your clients with ubiquitous online access to your data, as well as an array of web-based tools that will let you work in a more collaborative and flexible way. But is cloud computing right for law- yers? Can their exacting standards and requirements for confidentiality and data security be met by services that send their clients' communications and information into cyberspace? And — if security con- cerns are satisfied — will cloud services help cut costs and contribute to more efficient law office management? Michael Power, a Toronto-based law- yer specializing in privacy, security, and information technology, echoes the con- cerns many lawyers have about cloud computing. "It has the potential to be a single point of failure," he says, noting that the risk was highlighted recently when WikiLeaks supporters disrupted the web sites of corporate giants Visa, MasterCard, and Amazon.com. Before entering into any cloud computing arrangement, he says he would have to be satisfied that security safeguards are in place and that the service provider would assume appro- priate liability for any breach. That said, Power adds, companies like Google and Microsoft will likely be able to provide that level of assurance. He says cloud computing for business achieved a "tipping point" last year when the City of Los Angeles decided to switch to Google Apps, a move that will save millions of dollars, freeing up close to 100 servers that were previously used to house the city's e-mail system. That's why Google Apps and Microsoft's online productivity suites provide a good, safe stepping-stone onto the cloud. Bryan Rusche, online product manager at Microsoft Canada, says his company's suite was designed with a high level of security built in, conforming to a high ISO certification, while financially backed service-level agreements guarantee 99.9-per-cent uptime for business users. Google Apps makes similar claims. One of the biggest fears lawyers have regarding cloud computing is that their www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com FEBRUA R Y 2011 21 JUAN CARLOS SOLON