Ready to Litigate Through the Clouds?

The massive amounts of data managed via cloud computing create their own twists on traditional e-discovery issues

In the last two years, the term "cloud computing" has infiltrated the mainstream press (although the concept has existed for years). More and more businesses are embracing this way of thinking about information technology. And if the seminar circuit is any evidence, the legal world has awoken to the myriad challenges of cloud computing.

One challenge that corporate counsel should be pondering today is what cloud computing means for civil discovery. The "cloud" represents a potential mother lode of electronically stored information -- both in terms of discoverable data and legal issues. Lawyers should be working hand-in-hand with IT and business resources to ensure that risks are minimized without erasing the tremendous efficiencies of cloud computing.

WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING?

To start, we need a common understanding of "cloud computing." Let's try a real-world analogy: Imagine a company that, instead of using a commercial service like FedEx, decided to create its own worldwide parcel delivery system. The company would buy warehouses, delivery trucks and airplanes. It would hire package handlers, mechanics and logistical experts. All this would require an enormous investment and would be quite impossible for any but the largest of companies to do efficiently or cost-effectively or well.

Cloud computing is the equivalent of hiring FedEx. It is a way to outsource the service of providing the hardware, software, human resources and business model required to deliver, store and manage digital data offsite. The outside service providers in turn achieve economies of scale, lowering the cost to all their customers.

Functions offered through cloud computing can be divided into three core areas: infrastructure as a service, platform as a service and software as a service -- or IaaS, PaaS and SaaS.

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Source: law.com
By: Jonathan Redgrave and Andrew Cosgrove