The concept of “cloud computing” has really taken off among legal web development agencies and users in the past several years.  It’s a system that solves a lot of problems, but many business owners looking into web development solutions are unsure of what it really is and how it can help them.

Cloud computing is a way of storing and accessing digital documents – as well as performing digital tasks – on an outside server.  A server is a large computer that stores files and displays them online.  Traditionally, while you’re working on your computer or smartphone, your documents and data will be stored on that computer or on that smartphone.  Instead, cloud computing systems store this data on a server that is accessed via the internet.

As “cloud” is a common metaphor for the internet, the name explains more now: rather than computing on your own computer and home (or office) network devices, you’re doing your computing work on an outside server, which allows you to store information and access it from any location.  SaaS (or “software as a service”)-style cloud computing uses a single browser application to allow users to access the information stored on the “cloud.”  This means no additional costs or investment in software or servers for the clients, and the price of an SaaS system is usually quite affordable.

So how can cloud computing benefit a legal practice?  With more and more law firms creating a “Virtual Law Office” identity for themselves, SaaS cloud computing is the simplest and most cost-effective way to set up a VLO system.  Cloud computing makes this possible by allowing for document storage and tasks on a browser-accessible shared portal.  For more information on setting up a virtual law office, visit Legal Web Experts online.

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