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SaaS model of software distribution is new. The analogy with mainframe com- puting does work well for what has recently come to be referred to as "pri- vate clouds" — centralized computing resources maintained and managed by or on behalf of one company. Davis, for example, adopted a centralized approach a few years ago, with one data centre in Vancouver serving all eight offices. "That is now called a private cloud," says Leung. It's also possible to go the next step and outsource data centre operations — hire a company to house, manage, and maintain your servers in a secure facil- ity. Davis considered it, but decided the time wasn't right. Yet. The data centre wouldn't have to be in the same city as one of the firm's offices, Leung points out. Davis could outsource to a com- pany in Winnipeg, for example, where real estate and power costs are lower, and where the data centre would be a more equal distance between western and eastern offices. These kinds of outsourced and host- ed solutions are cloud computing, he insists. They just don't have the stigma that attaches to SaaS and other online services. You must pay attention to due dili- gence on third parties delivering cloud- based services, Leung stresses. Part of it is questioning them about commitments to and mechanisms for ensuring security and privacy of data. Because of the uncer- tainty about jurisdictional issues — there have been few legal precedents as yet — it might be prudent to contract with a com- pany in the same jurisdiction, he says. That said, he doesn't necessarily think law firms, especially small firms, should dismiss outright the idea of using "public cloud" services such as Google Apps or Microsoft Office Live, both based in the U.S. Leung wrote an article about Google Apps for the journal of the International Legal Technology Association a year ago that asked the question, "Software as a service: ready for prime time?" His con- clusion: for the right firm — one with the right set of needs (Google Apps is not as sophisticated or full-featured as Microsoft Office), and one open to change — yes. "It's certainly something organizations should be considering now," he believes. The big hurdle for small firms looking at adopting Google Apps may be more the differences between it and the familiar Microsoft Office than the fact that it's cloud-based. Leung believes the availabil- ity of hosted versions of Office will create a "tidal wave" of acceptance for cloud computing in the coming months. So is it inevitable that cloud computing will become the norm? Leung thinks so. It's a logical evolution in computing, he says. It's also analogous to what happened with electricity. Companies that wanted power 120 years ago built their own gen- erators. Nobody does that today. And fewer and fewer companies will maintain their own computing infrastructure in the future. Gerry Blackwell is a freelance technology writer based in London, Ont. Read his blog at http://afterbyte.blogspot.com. Practice Management PCLaw™ LexisNexis® Accounting software that LEGALESE. SPEAKS PCLaw™ billing and accounting software combines what you need to track your time and money all in one system — from time and billing to trust accounting, cheque writing, financial statements, client identification and verification, automatic backup, offline file management, advanced reporting tools and more. Best of all, it's easy to use and ready to go to work instantly. For more information, call 1-800-328-2898 or visit www.lexisnexis.ca/pclaw. Download and Try PCLaw for FREE* * Download PCLaw free for 30 days. Certain conditions apply. LexisNexis and the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used under licence. PCLaw is a trademark of LexisNexis Practice Management Systems Inc. © 2010 LexisNexis Canada Inc. All rights reserved. www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com OC T OBER 2010 27 exis_CL_Aug.indd 1 7/13/10 11:27:26 AM