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We've all heard of computing and we've all heard of clouds. And now, more and more we are hearing the strange term "cloud computing." Sounds ominous, sounds way too out there, sounds more like something a computer geek should be concerning himself with, not you.

Not true. As a paralegal in the 21st century, you are required to keep abreast of all the latest technology, how it works and how it can benefit your firm and clients. Technology is changing business as usual in the law firm every day. But cloud computing is storming onto the scene, and your knowledge of the way cloud computing works will ensure either blue skies or gray skies for you.

CLOUD COMPUTING 101

Cloud is a metaphor for the Internet. If you have ever used Amazon, Snapfish, Google Maps, PayPal or YouTube, you've been computing in the clouds. These are referred to as "cloud services" -- services available to you via the Internet. You can use these cloud services whenever you like, at no charge to you. Do you use Skype? Then you have been using what is referred to as a "cloud application." These are free computer applications that you download to your computer, sign up and use, again at no cost to you. When you use a cloud service, you are using that company's proprietary software as an invited guest. Surprised you know so much about cloud computing?

Recently cloud computing has been moving into mainstream business, offering to clients -- including law firms -- the ability to rent server space, software programs and IT maintenance. If you think about it in terms of Snapfish, where you can download your photos where they are housed for free, it would be the same except you would be creating and downloading your documents and paying rent for the server space, use of the software and server/software maintenance.

You may have seen these terms before: IaaS (infrastructure as a service), PaaS (platform as a service) and SaaS (software as a service). Each of these services is available through a cloud computing company. I know it sounds a little "techy" for a paralegal, but it's really not and it is the wave of the future. So you need to have at least a basic understanding of what cloud computing is and how it can affect your firm. You need to understand the upsides and the downsides and how cloud computing integrates into the business of a law firm.

Let's look at the advantages of cloud computing in a law office:

• availability;

• lower costs;

• scalability; and

• no IT personnel.

Since software and documents in a cloud environment are housed on the Internet, they are offered to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Of course, this feature alone has obvious advantages and disadvantages, but for the sake of argument let's stick with this feature as an advantage. You no longer need to carry flash drives, CDs, DVDs or -- heaven forbid -- a binder around. All of your documents are available to you from anywhere, anytime you want or need to see them.

Software purchases can be expensive. Software implementation in a law firm is well, let's say, not pleasant. One of the most attractive attributes of cloud computing is that it moves software and associated costs out of the cost of doing business column and places it in the expense column. No longer is software a cost that the law firm needs to foot. Law firms can now bill clients for the expenses associated with cloud computing, while saving thousands in equipment and software costs.

New servers, new software, new updates to old software -- it never ends. New employees, new document intensive cases -- if we could only see the future. But we can't and that's why the IT merry-go-round never stops turning. Buying additional licenses for temporary staff or housing millions of pages of documents is not a problem. (At least, it's not the law firm's problem anymore.) Cloud computing companies handle it all, leaving the law firms to practice law.

Running servers and software in-house requires its own special staff -- the IT department, the IT guy or the IT contractor. Paralegals need to be tech-savvy but they don't need to be the "IT guy." Have you ever noticed that the IT guy uses phrases you have never heard of like: "This server is at capacity," "This hard drive has a terabyte of information on it," "Do you want that document converted to a TIFF, JPEG or PDF?" What are they saying? Some of you know, and some of you don't. In either case, if you use a cloud computing company you can tell them what you want. They need to translate your English into their tech speak. You are their client; you need to be happy.

I know you're "googling" cloud computing companies right now to see how fast they can get you up and running because it sounds like the greatest thing invented since, well, the Internet itself. But wait! No sky is blue all of the time. There are some downsides.

The first thing to remember is that cloud computing is not new. It has been around for a long time. Lots of Internet companies offer free cloud computing services, like the ones mentioned earlier that we use in our personal computing. What's new is the "service" they are providing. Law firms have been using cloud computing and paying for services for a long time, too. For instance, if you are using Concordance FYI to review documents through a vendor's Web site or if you are accessing PACER to retrieve court documents.

So imagine for a minute that instead of logging on to your firm document management system to create a new document, you log on to your vendor's Web site, where you will create your document and save it to the vendor's server and not the firm's server. The process for you is pretty much the same as it is now.

Think about these downsides to cloud computing:

• service outages;

• security;

• loss of control; and

• dependence on vendors.

If you work in a law firm, you know how important it is to get to a document when you need to get to it. Potential outages of services could be an issue. If you lose your Internet connection, you will not be able to access your documents. If your vendor has a server that goes down, you will not be able to access your documents. There are solutions to these issues, like using Open Office or having a license or two of the software you are using to create documents for firm use, just in case.

Security is a serious issue that you need to think about. Law firms routinely create, review and store highly confidential documents. The No. 1 service that a cloud computing company should be offering you is round-the-clock surveillance of potential security threats. I don't believe that anyone can guarantee that any one document, no matter where it is stored, will be 100 percent safe, 100 percent of the time. If the U.S. government servers are subject to hacking and security breaches, then a reasonable person can only deduce that so are your servers, regardless of where they are housed. Nevertheless, someone should be watching them carefully.

Lawyers love control. Paralegals provide control. Who has control over the documents housed in a cloud? The short answer is not you. You know the old saying, "Possession is nine-tenths of the law"? You may have access to your documents, but you don't have possession of the documents. The thought of not having control of documents gives me a chill up my spine. But most of us have used online document repositories for document review. We don't have control over those documents. We keep copies of the documents sent to vendors on CDs/DVDs, and so far that has worked out well.

You must love your vendor. You must trust your vendor. You must have your vendor's cell, home and wife's cell phone number. Your vendor is your lifeline. Do your research, make sure your cloud computing vendor has been in business for a long time, and with reasonable certainty, will continue to be in business for a long time. If a bank can go under, so can a cloud computing company. Maybe the answer is to use several different clouds. Don't put all of your documents into one cloud. Diversify. It's a tough economy out there, and at any given time, any company could be trudging up the bankruptcy court steps. The best you can do is to protect yourself as best you can.

You loved your vendor at the beginning of the relationship, and now you don't. You want to break up and you want your documents back. Could go easily for you, or it could go badly for you. Retrieving and downloading your documents to another vendor could be costly. It's a good idea to discuss this issue up-front, before you get into a relationship with a vendor.

There is no question that cloud computing has something to offer everyone. If you do your research and choose a reputable company, you should be walking on cloud nine without a care in the world.

Kim Walker is a litigation paralegal with the firm of Berger & Montague. She has been a paralegal in Philadelphia for 27 years. Walker serves as the chairwoman of the technology committee of the Philadelphia Association of Paralegals, the chairwoman of the medical/legal committee of the Philadelphia Association of Paralegals and is a staff writer for the Philadelphia Forum.

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