"The Cloud" is a big conversation, and has been for quite some time. It might be a good idea to review what "The Cloud" is and how it pertains to us in the community of conflicts checks.
HISTORY
The idea of "The Cloud" has been around since the 1950's when mainframes were seen as the future of computing. "Dumb Terminals" were established at that time, and they were used for communications, but had no internal processing capacities. This is akin to the virtual terminals we use today where the computer terminal itself is accessing all of it's apps and software virtually, and none of the processing happens at the actual machine. Because mainframes were so expensive back then, it allowed multiple users to share physical access from multiple machines while driving down cost (as per time and CPU usage was accounted for at that time). This practice was often referred to "time-sharing", and IBM and DEC were some of the first to familiarize the term.
In the 1990's we saw telco companies start to offer VPN (Virtual Private Network) services with the same quality of service as "time-sharing", but at a lower price point. This allowed them to balance traffic and use server capacity more effectively.
TODAY
In talking about "The Cloud" in a modern sense, there's a bunch of technical opinions and IT-speak that doesn't really mean much to us. Today "The Cloud" really just means the ability to access a program or file from the internet instead of storing it on your computer, or in a folder on a network or server - or on paper.
As far as conflicts checking software in "The Cloud", this generally means that you'd log into a web page and do your work within an internet-based system. Good programs will integrate with the rest of your practice management software which may be in or out of the cloud depending on your provider, and the requirements of your firm.
PROS & CONS
Cloud Software means that you can access the program from anywhere (possibly freeing a conflicts analyst, manager, or attorney from the office on occasion). In the case of RION, for example, attorneys will be able to run a "Quick Check" from a tablet, smart phone, or laptop while in the field (possibly meeting with a client) - and if the quick check is clear she could accept business right then and there.
Conversely, it is not paper-based, so firms that require physical copies to be maintained may need to print PDF's of reports and file them manually if you're using a cloud-based system.
Because we can see the increase in popularity for the concept of "The Cloud" over the last 70 or so years, we can be confident that technology will continue to move in this direction. If you haven't already, we recommend preparing your conflicts for the cloud as it is nearly inevitable. We also expect that technology for conflicts in "The Cloud" will be evolving and improving to account for the needs of the conflicts checks at law firms and other areas.
