I’ve recently authored an updated whitepaper for Databarracks looking at cloud adoption in the legal sector. This takes into account the publication by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of their paper (PDF) on cloud computing since the first paper last year.

Again this year, I interviewed IT directors within law firms. They’re in agreement that the SRA response was detailed and thorough. While it outlines good practice, it does not identify anything that a reasonable IT director or compliance officers wouldn’t be doing already. The research also indicated that the legal sector was content that the SRA did not have an approved list of cloud suppliers. This would have been viewed as a backward step and that the SRA’s approach was more ‘guide’ than ‘prescribe’. Our findings also highlighted a good awareness of the benefits of cloud services, but it was clear that the need to take adequate precautions to maintain client confidentiality, particularly in the light of provider insolvency and governmental surveillance, remained paramount.

Download One Year On. The real challenges and benefits of cloud computing to law firms from Databarracks’ website