Let me say up front: I'm biased.

I'm pro-cloud (or SaaS or whatever the tech geeks are making us call this stuff these days). Cloud solutions -- in short, software that you access through your web browser and where your data lives on some other company's servers -- let lawyers be lawyers.

None of us went to law school because we wanted to spend our days messing around with software. Even those of us who went to law school because our dual degree in English and philosophy made us totally unemployable didn't want to spend our days messing around with software.

John Heckman, publisher of the legal technology blog Does It Compute?, put out an interesting follow up to a recent TechnoLawyer article comparing the costs of three document management software products: Interwoven, Worldox, or NetDocuments. The TechnoLawyer article -- actually an email from a practicing attorney who completed an excellent analysis for his firm -- compares the costs over a 5 year period for a 25 user firm; Heckman takes that data and adds a few variables to conclude that Worldox is the most cost-effective and NetDocuments the least.

(Sidebar: if you don't already subscribe to TechnoLawyer and Does It Compute? you need to stop reading now and go subscribe. The two publications consistently put out valuable information for any lawyer who wants to know more about legal technology.)

I'm not going to dive deep into a financial analysis of the numbers that the two articles employ -- mostly because I am afraid that if I try, my wife will come home to find me writing on the windows of our home with a marker like some out-take from A Beautiful Mind.

That said, I really like that both of these article authors started quantifying the analysis document management software options. In addition to the great points made in both pieces, there are a few addional pro-cloud issues that I think ought to be included in the analysis.

1. IT Overhead/Consulting

Lawyers of average technological skill and patience (not to mention average caseloads of billable legal work) generally possess neither the time nor inclination to install and set up server based software programs.  This means the services of an IT person (either on staff or a consultant) will almost certainly be required. Heckman argues that the costs of the IT services (whether overhead or as purchased consulting services) will almost certainly be higher for Interwoven than Worldox. That may be so -- the phrase "SQL database" makes my eyes roll back in my head, so I can't say for sure. I can say for sure that as a lawyer of average technological skill and patience myself, I was able to set up NetDocuments with little difficulty.

Less IT overhead required.

2. Server Hardware

In cloud based solutions like NetDocuments, you pay not only for the use of the software but also for the use of the servers on which the data resides. The TechnoLawyer article was a case study of a 25 user firm that in all probability already owned the server capacity needed to run Worldox, if not Interwoven. Lawyers in small firms, though, have the opportunity to run a technologically leveraged practice without having to ever buy a server or pay an IT person to maintain it. Cloud based software puts this within easy financial reach and the value proposition is strongest in the smallest firms (where the cost of a server is spread among the fewest users).

Less hardware required.

3. Up Front Costs/Present Value

Cloud based solutions avoid most of the heavy up front costs (purchasing licenses, hardware, etc.) that locally installed software incurs. On day 1, you get to hold on to more of your money. Both Heckman's and the TechnoLawyer articles calculate the total costs over a 5 year time frame.

Since you get to do something (theoretically) productive with the money you don't spend on day 1, somebody smarter than me ought to run a present value analysis on the money you don't have to spend up front for a cloud solution (as well as the relative cost of financing the locally installed software) to really compare apples to apples.

Less up front cash required.

4. The Great IT Consultant Problem

I don't know John Heckman, but based on the stuff he writes I am willing to bet that he is a great IT consultant. I recently talked cloud based software with Ben Schorr on an upcoming edition of the podcast The Digital Edge. I know Ben well and I know he is a great IT consultant.

Here is the thing.

Great IT consultants take it for granted that it is easy to find and establish a trusting relationship with a great IT consultant. I don't think it is, particularly when you are talking about legal IT consultants. Most lawyers I speak with don't have a legal IT consultant at all, let alone a great one. It is a real frustration for many of them. Cloud based solutions reduce the anxiety and frustration for lawyers who do not have a John Heckman or Ben Schorr on speed dial.

Less anxiety over not having a great IT consultant.

That's my take -- that the cloud lets lawyers be lawyers.

Do yourself a favor and make an analysis for yourself. You might find some cloud solutions that are a good fit for your practice.