Law firm M&P Legal with support from its specialist IT service and support provider Synapse 360 has taken the step of switching its IT network to a private secure cloud environment, making it one of the first Isle of Man law firms to do so.

The UK legal industry has been rather cautious in its adoption of cloud computing with the main concerns surrounding the absolute requirements for data security and client confidentiality in relation to client files. However IT pundits across the globe have been predicting that 2015 will be the year when many law firms will be either making the transition to cloud or putting plans in place to do so. Statistics from a recent survey of the leading UK firms revealed that 11% of firms are now planning to migrate to the cloud within the next twelve months, 28% within the next eighteen months and 33% within the next two years.

The writing has been on the wall for some time that cloud computing is the future and more than likely it will become the norm in all sectors. As a firm we have always tried to innovate, since working as efficiently as possible is vital both in terms of the profitability of our business and to ensure that we can offer our clients the most competitive service offering possible. The Isle of Man has achieved high levels of sophistication and expertise in relation to the servicing and conduct of web based businesses and being part of that environment gives us enormous confidence. The opportunities that cloud computing presents for changing the way we can work for the better are very exciting. For example by allowing clients access to current data, advice and reporting online, clients need no longer have to wait or find a convenient time and place to access their lawyer and relevant information about their case. Likewise our lawyers are already experiencing the benefit of high quality remote access which means they are not tied to a particular office PC in order to do their work. We were pioneers in remote access working using VPN systems but the cloud is a real step up in terms of the capability it provides.

With any sea change there is always the element of fear of the unknown and the temptation for businesses to stick with what they know. However the case for cloud computing now seems compelling. Synapse 360, M&P Legal’s IT partner has a solid established reputation for providing innovative and effective IT systems to its clients. The solution they have provided is known in IT jargon as “IT as a service” solution and is based on their Compualto Cloud Platform. As a result, the firm’s IT is now delivered through a virtual desktop which provides the appearance of running on a local device but actually runs from a highly resilient “infrastructure as a service platform” within one of Synapse 360’s Isle of Man based data centres. This was a key factor for the firm, knowing that whilst the data is stored on a cloud, it is securely stored in the Isle of Man and not on some distant server overseas. With Microsoft withdrawing support from any legacy systems including Small Business Server many businesses will need to migrate to full enterprise versions of Microsoft systems such as the email platform exchange or the data based programme MSSQL, or make that journey to a cloud delivered solution which enables them to subscribe rather than purchase ever increasingly costly IT services. The holistic Compualto service incorporates provisioning and management of all data applications and server workloads including back up, security and antivirus. As the server and desktop infrastructure is centralised within a data centre, the firm has access to the data and applications anytime, anywhere and on any device. Synapse 360 technical support team manage all aspects from migration of the data and applications into the cloud through to providing secure access and ensuring data is backed up and protected. The service therefore allows the firm to work more efficiently with greater mobility and to spend less time supporting the operational aspects of IT such as hardware and software maintenance and upgrades or replacements.

A further important factor is that the service is actually infrastructure as a service rather than say cloud services from one of the larger providers such as Amazon. The service is effectively a hosted solution which logically separates the firm’s infrastructure from other tenants. Each tenant knows exactly where the data is geographically and there is the added comfort of knowing that it is managed by an ISO certified partner in Synapse 360. The platform does not provide internet facing systems for management or for any customer who may want to host websites for any purpose, commercial or otherwise. Synapse 360 lock down the platform and restrict its use to customers who only have a requirement to operate services to known users. The technology utilised to logically separate (ensuring that no one customer could have visibility over any other customer on the same platform) is globally recognised as the leader in multi-tenant systems and is used in hundreds of thousands of platforms internationally. The proven security and tried and tested nature of the solution thereby ensures that confidentiality of the firm’s data stored on the cloud is absolutely assured.

Author: Christopher Murphy
Advocate
Isle of Man

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