Migrated from eDJGroupInc.com. Author: Barry Murphy. Published: 2010-07-29 04:00:33Format, images and links may no longer function correctly. There are some that think that Google’s problems with the implementation of email for the City of Los Angeles will be a setback for cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors. Just to summarize, Google has missed certain implementation deadlines on the project due to some security requirements that have yet to be solved. This CIO.com article here gets it right, though – this is not going to kill cloud computing; rather, it’s going to put the focus on aspects of cloud computing that are tricky and give Google’s competitors kill points and issues to build their marketing around.
In the eDiscovery world, the concept of cloud computing has been trusted for years. Corporations and law firms have handed over data to service providers like CaseCentral, Epiq, Fios, Iron Mountain / Stratify, Kroll, and PlanetData for EDD processing, hosting, and review. While it may not have been called SaaS 10 years ago, it sure is now. And, with very few exceptions, there have not been stories about problematic data handling or security breaches. Perhaps because eDiscovery is so squarely in the legal realm, everyone was extra cautious about data handling protocol.
Such eDiscovery SaaS and/or hosted deployments have often been on a small scale – hosted review on a matter-by-matter basis, for example. And, the provider companies have been smaller and therefore less visible to the mainstream press. Google, on the other hand, is one of the largest companies in the world with a bulls-eye square on its company logo. Any small, potentially negative development is bound to make the front pages (as it has). What this presents is an opportunity for competitors (and any provider of hosted data services or SaaS) to show how they account for security and data segregation. Look for a company like Autonomy to talk about how much information they archive for highly-regulated financial services companies, for instance.
So, for those that think this Google problem will hinder SaaS or cloud computing, I say, “think again.” My esteemed colleague Ray Wang at Altimeter Group has some good research out on cloud adoption. Barriers are coming down and adoption is going up. Let’s face it – the cloud is here to stay. And what this Google situation does is give vendors in the market an opportunity to differentiate themselves and address the security and privacy concerns of potential customers.