It's About Time

Goodbye FolderShare...Hello Dropbox

For years I used Microsoft's free product, FolderShare, which is now being replaced with Windows Live Mesh.  I was a big fan since I have computers in both Chicago and Boca Raton and like to keep the infomation identical on both computers.  When traveling back and forth between locations, there is no need to copy or transfer files.  Files were always synchronized within seconds.  It was always assumed that Microsoft would eventually start charging for this "free" service.  That hasn't happened yet.  What's worse is they replaced the FolderShare product with Windows Live Mesh, which requires Windows 7!  Because I support a number of legacy software products, it is necessary for me to keep at least one computer loaded with XP. 

I was very sad to see this happen, however  I found a great alternative...Dropbox.  Dropbox not only syncs my computers, but also stores my files "in the cloud".  It's free for up to 2GB of data.  You get 50GB for about $100 a year.  I gladly paid for the extra space.  It gives me additional peace of mind knowing that I can access all my documents on line as well.  In addition, it also keeps the deleted files and allows you to share folders.  Best of all, Dropbox doesn't care if I'm syncing with a Mac, Windows 7 or Windows XP. 

Can Law Firms do Business without a File Server?

Can you move your business to the "cloud"?  I just read an interesting article written by Seth Rowland for Technolawyer.  He gives a good overview of cloud computing and how it might impact your practice.  I'm going to try to give you a synopsis of what he had to say.

File Server Costs

When you look at the total cost of ownership, you need to include ongoing operational expenses, maintenance and support agreements.  Factor in the costs of software along with the installation, configuration and training.  The average costs breakdown something like this:

• $8000.00 - Server Hardware
• $6000.00 - Server and Network Configuration
• $3000.00 to $8000.00 - Software for 5 users
• $17000.00 to $22000.00 Total initial costs

• $1000.00 - $3000.00 - Annual Software maintenance
• $2000.00 - $4000.00 - Server Maintenance

• $3000.00 - $7000.00 Annual Recurring total

These fees do not include the intangibles such as security, administration, daily backups, test restores, application of updates and patches and a host of other tasks.

Alternatives

Practice Management:  There are currently four good hosted options:  AdvologixPM, RocketMatter, Clio and HoudiniESQ.  You can try these for free and then pay a monthly fee for each user.  The prices range from $50 to $100 per user per month.

Online Backup:  You have consumer products like Carbonite, Mozy and IDrive.  Business-level software includes JungleDisk, Barracuda Backup Service, Iron Mountain and Rackspace Backup.

There are also hosted options for online document management as well as hosted Exchange server with Blackberry and SharePoint.

So what's the downside?  Security is one of the big concerns everyone has about moving to online data storage.  The reality is that most service providers provide secured encryption data transfer.  The security of a cloud provider is far greater than the network security found in most small law firms when it comes to protection from hackers and intruders.

Data ownership is the other issue.  Your agreement with your service provider specifies your rights to data ownership.  You should read this carefully.  Most provide a mechanism for local backup.

Access Risk:  What if the Internet goes down or the service provider is offline?  The reality is that if the Internet goes down, you will have difficulty conducting business, since so much is done via email.  If your server goes down you could be out of business for hours or days; if your server hard drive fails and you can't recover your backups, you've lost a lot more than just time.  It can take several days for a retrieval service to recover data from a crashed hard drive and there is no guarantee that they will restore everything.  

On the other hand, cloud service providers have up-time commitments that range from 99.9 to 99.999%.  Some even support off-line mode if you are in transit without an Internet connection.  Remote access to the cloud is generally far superior to remote server access.  

CONCLUSION

Cloud computing isn't for everyone, however there are very real benefits:  freedom of movement; pay only for the processing power and storage you need; add up to 100 users; grant secure access to clients via custom portals; there is no need for disaster recovery in the event of a fire or other natural disaster. 

I think most firms will start by trying one or two applications and gradually move more and more of their operations to the cloud.  I encourage you to try out one of the free trials that are offered. 

Managed IT Services

Do you wait until something breaks before you fix it?  I'm actually a strong proponent of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" idea, except when it pertains to the lifeblood of your business:  your networks, hard drives, servers and workstations.  Most people wouldn't think of waiting until their car breaks down before getting the oil changed, however there are still a large number of small and medium-size companies and firms that wait for a disaster to happen before they call a hardware technician. 

There's a better way to do things:  Managed IT Services.  Most of your better IT service firms will only accept clients that are will to sign a contract for managed services.  With this type of service, the IT firm will take a survey of your existing equipment and make recommendations for changes and/or point out potential trouble spots.  They will continually remotely monitor your hardware, networks and backups.  The importance of this monitoring is to assure that you will not be faced with unexpected hardware failures.  They will take care of problems before they become a disaster.  Here are some other reason you might want to change to Managed IT services:

- Control your Costs:  Managed services might cost more in the short-term, they cost much less in the long term if you take into account the lost productivity and customer/client satisfaction

- IT is becoming increasingly complex.  Most companies do not have the resources to maintain the in-house expertise that is necessary to maintain their equipment.

- Your business is more dependent than ever on IT.  A a one or two-person in-house IT department or consultancy cannot handle the occasional breakdowns that are bound to occur.  In many cases, employees have to wait to receive help, resulting in a significant loss in productivity.

Disaster Preparation and Recovery

The hurricane season is nearly over.  So far so good (at least in South Florida).  It's never too early to plan for disasters.  If you live in a coastal region, "disaster" is probably synonymous with "hurricane".  We sometimes forget that we are all vulnerable to other forms of "doom", such as fire, theft, etc.  Most firms have adequate insurance coverage, but may not have prepared for loss of data.  Email is now an integral part of everyone's daily operations.  What happens if you email goes down?  Do you have a plan?

MessageOne has a variety of solutions to provide for email continuity, Blackberry continuity; as well as crisis communication.  If you are interested in more information, here is the web link:  http://www.messageone.com/crisis-communications/