Legal Cloud growth
How does that affect you?
August, 2022 - Author Kelly Mills
A lot has changed in Cloud Applications in the last 5 years, with tech giants like Facebook and Google introducing new ways for web software to stretch beyond what was ever possible in its desktop counterpart. The new Internet is for more than just web pages, people want to do everything anywhere, including their jobs.
Learn how you can take lessons from internet giants like Air BNB, Netflix, Spotify and even NASA, it's time for faster and more powerful user experiences.
Microsoft has also shifted gears online, with Office 365 now well embedded in the market. Microsoft has announced it will soon no longer support old Outlook Add-in tools. A huge hit for many legal products when saving emails and document generation.
Perhaps one of the single largest jabs for old technology came from Covid, with the greatest shift towards workplace portability ever. Many software providers are still scrambling technically behind the scenes to keep programs taped together as they hobbled toward the cloud, trying to adapt, now that working from literally anywhere is the minimum requirement for most office workers today.
See the future before you buy the past
It is wise to understand a little bit about technology, and even more important to know what is going on with technology in your own industry. Most firms aren't interested in being left behind, given that blossoming affordable technology is available to Firms of any size, not just the big guys. Secondly and more importantly, why plough away at the office when you could be spending time doing something else of your choice, while still producing the same level and quality of work for less time.
It's not rocket science that firms should invest in technology
Even at the most rudimentary financial level, the cost of staff vs the cost of say new software, isn't even in the same ballpark. Staff costs in Australia and even outsourced, are and will remain the single largest outlay for any professional service-based business.
Be Savvy Not Sorry
Part of being savvy is knowing a little about what technology you already have and what technology is available before you let someone talk you into something you don't need, or stay with something, you should get out of.
Most Software applications available in the legal industry in Australia today, are either Desktop, or Hybrid Cloud software. There are limitations to both types of software and as time passes, it is becoming increasingly noticeable to the everyday user that possibilities are limitless as technology continues to move forward.
Desktop? Hybrid Cloud? and what about Cloud, that software that runs on Web Browsers?
Things have gotten murky with software marketing, the question of what is "Cloud" or "Hybrid" is difficult unless you know what you are looking for. So, Lets break down the three generations of software so that you have a clear way to know the difference.
Desktop Applications and remote desktop
You're likely familiar with desktop applications, that is software that is installed locally to your computer or server, upgrades must be installed locally by you or your IT person, and you must be in the office to use the software effectively.
To use a desktop application about town, you will need an expensive server license for ‘Remote Desktop’ or you will need to pay a private hosting provider, ouch. You’ll easily recognise this type of system because it's like inception, a desktop inside of another desktop.
Sadly, servers and remote desktop licenses are expensive, clunky, and require a substantial capital outlay initially for hardware, that ages faster than newborns.
Still on the Runway with Hybrid 'Cloud'
Hybrid Cloud is when your software is more like a desktop style application but with data stored in the cloud. It is marketed as "cloud," but more truthfully these applications are a hybrid (thus the name,) some cross pollination of a pseudo desktop application, with a portal to the cloud to store data. Your software is classed as hybrid if you must install your software in part to the desktop or run updates on your workstation. Generally, hybrid applications once were Desktop applications that a decade ago were adaptable enough to port data to an offsite server. It makes sense that this is the first generation of cloud software available, after all large industry specific (like legal) software platforms are expensive to rewrite from scratch, so Hybrid Cloud exists.
The back-end rework required to host the data, means traditionally these applications have been some of the highest price’s organizations have paid for software to date.
These early hybrid providers perhaps didn’t consider how you would move away from their products in the future, with your data, maybe they didn’t care, but for most it is logistically difficult to leave these applications. But leave you soon will, as these applications are ageing rapidly, with many of their environments and add-ins becoming steadily unsupported in new environments.
Rise of Browser Cloud Applications
For this article we'll stick to modern browser-based applications, the new generation, but there are some nifty earlier versions. These new applications have evolved in a time when technology giants are supporting cloud-based integrations, which really has only come into full swing recently. And why wouldn't they grow with popularity, just purchased a new laptop? just open chrome and log in, no IT people, support desks or install limits, just go!
Very little computer resources are required for these applications, and they are completely portable. Generally, you can use your choice of computers or devices, Apple or Windows, as they are more reliant on the web browser (think Chrome), rather than the computers operating system. Providers with googles fancy new tools are set for 'fat' finger touch screen, and you can use nearly any device that has a browser. That tablet to look at your matter and documents in court is now standard.
#Pro Tip
User Interface is a term you need to know, and here's why.
User Interface is what you see when you use any software. Apple coins the term as, the 'user experience', so its rightly important. Google released a new user interface tool box called Material Design for supreme screen layouts, and Facebook created JS React to help with user interaction, but for the premium experience these powerhouse products were unified for the ultimate User experience in 2014, allowing for full tool kit for better web development of proper software in the cloud, this User Interface design environment is being taken up by internet giants like Air BNB, Netflix, Spotify and even NASA.
This means that your team will likely already recognise screen layouts of new applications as they are released, so moving to modern web software is less difficult and requires less training and downtime, than you may have thought possible. The big bonus of course is that Google, being the kings of the internet, made the layouts for fat fingers as well as a mouse, which means you can touch the screen or click the screen, without getting your reading glasses on.
When writing my latest software endeavour, I chose Googles Material UI (User Interface) to future proof the product.
Kelly Mills is a Financial Writer and Software Entrepreneur