Cloud computing suggests a somewhat mysterious and powerful world of computing and analysis that is accessible via a simple internet connection. The real world of cloud does indeed give the potential for firms to access powerful computing and analytics in this way, but the cloud itself is far from fluffy, or particularly mysterious: it is the same hardware and underlying technology that the world of IT has always had; the only difference is that the firm using it does not own it, and the firm itself has no (or very few) servers or hardware running on its premises. Instead, the firm simply connects to somebody else's servers that are stored in normal data centres and rents access to the hardware.

KM services that run in the public cloud (the vast majority) make use of data centres across the world, data centres run by third party suppliers (an example is Amazon with its EC2 infrastructure). In practical terms, the client accesses and uses the KM software on its browser, which in turn is connected to the KM provider's data centre, which in turn makes use of the "elasticity" of the true internet cloud (Amazon in this case) by leasing computing time as and when it needs it.

In this scenario, the benefit is that costs can be shared and managed closely, and the sheer size and power of multiple global data centres can be leveraged at a relatively low cost. It is a model that can work very well.

Some KM services, on the other hand, run in private clouds. The private cloud is a marketing term for a service that does not use public cloud computing; rather, it uses only its own data centres, and restricts use of this computing to a few closely related organisations or, indeed, to one organisation alone.

Either way, the cloud offers a few clear and very appealing advantages to the average law firm. For example, it is not necessary to build and staff a big IT department in order to use cloud services; costs are predictable and regular (subscription fees), and, most intriguing and exciting for many, the users in the firm have the ability to access and collaborate on any content, on any device (assuming it has an internet connection), anywhere.

In other words, the firm's lawyers do not have to be connected to the internal computer system, sitting at their desks, in order to work. They can be anywhere and converse, exchange, edit and collaborate in real time.

For the world of KM, the cloud has immense and very obvious potential, it is almost certainly the future of KM, and within five to ten years, almost all KM services and tools will be delivered and accessed this way.

Today, though, the cloud is in its infancy and if a law firm is considering buying and using KM technology via the cloud, it will need to be aware of a few things before proceeding. Or rather, the person arranging the service needs to be equipped to ask some important questions of the potential supplier before signing on the dotted line, or clicking the "I accept" button.

A firm needs to know where its information is, how it is being managed and what rights the firm, and the supplier, will have regarding it. Some questions to ask include:

(See also feature article "21st century sourcing: revolution or evolution?", this issue.)

The person purchasing a service such as a cloud KM solution will want to examine carefully the terms and conditions and service level agreements of any cloud KM service provider. Many practitioners would be shocked to see some of the terms that are sometimes included, but what can be more shocking is that most firms (including law firms) seldom check such information. Checking the terms and conditions carefully is clearly a must while cloud services are still in their infancy.

The law firm may also want to ask some technical questions regarding the security of the information while it is in the cloud. Questions such as:

The reality is that the cloud is still a bit like the wild west: full of potential with lots of investment flooding in, but little in the way of standards or the means to enforce commonly agreed best practices. Common sense should tell us that consumer-style file sharing systems are not going to answer many of the above questions to the satisfaction of a law firm, whereas more expensive enterprise-grade KM solutions are likely to be more appropriate.

KM in the cloud is indeed the future, and we can see that future today. Firms like Huddle, Jive, Alfresco and Intralinks all offer differentiated and exciting offerings for the KM professional. Huge IT firms like HP, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle are also rapidly chasing the KM cloud potential and rolling out ever more capable and usable cloud-based KM tools. It is a hot market and one that law firms can certainly benefit from over time.

The need to access and collaborate on KM documents and projects securely is a given, as is the need to search and analyse large volumes of case histories. These are both areas that can benefit hugely from the ease, availability and power of cloud computing. Being an early adopter of such technology offerings can give a law firm a leg up on the competition. But like any early entrant to a market, such a firm will also be the guinea pig for others, and will find the gaps, the flaws and the show-stopping issues.

If your current KM technology investments are looking a bit tired and in need of a makeover, do consider exploring cloud-based alternatives to traditional on-premises options, but do so forewarned and forearmed.