The term “cloud” is being bandied about rather loosely today by software vendors, even when some of the products they’re pitching aren’t cloud-based! For law firms looking to take their document management process to the cloud, I thought I’d share some of the fundamental differences between native cloud platforms like NetDocuments and hosted versions of traditional on-premises systems, as the latter do not include many of the key benefits sought by law firms when moving to the cloud.
In each of the sections below, I explain the differences between the two types of systems. Yes, I’m biased toward NetDocuments because I am a certified trainer on the NetDocs platform, but that’s because it is truly the best, as proven by the fact that, every year, more and more law firms are moving to NetDocuments for their DMS needs.
PLATFORM
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
Born-on-the-web, native cloud platform with a single instance of the software running globally for all customers. Back-end technology infrastructure comprised of modern, web-scale, cloud technologies such as NoSQL and NewSQL, Lucene and Solr search, Object Storage, Erasure Coding, HSM cryptography, etc.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Traditional on-premises technology with the back-end infrastructure running off-site in a remote datacenter. Requires that a completely separate instance of the software and infrastructure be deployed and maintained for each individual customer, which negates many of the inherent benefits typically associated with modern cloud solutions.
CLOUD EXPERIENCE
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
15+ years of cloud-first experience, with nearly 2,000 customers now running on the NetDocuments native cloud platform.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Relative newcomers to the hosted/cloud space, and most experience has been with smaller customers; very few large deployments of hosted version.
SECURITY AND COMPLIANCE
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
Trusted platform with built-in certifications, third-party testing, and audits such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, SOC 2+, HIPAA, SEC, etc. By simply using the service, NetDocuments customers “inherit” these highest levels of security and compliance.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Any certifications are only for co-location datacenters, not the actual software application as there is no single native cloud instance of the application to certify, test or audit. The burden is on customers to provide for their individual implementations the levels of security and compliance required by their clients.
UPGRADES
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
Automatic – all customers are always on the most recent version and have continuous and instantaneous access to the latest product upgrades, bug fixes, and security patches.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Manual – customers need to be upgraded one-by-one, which results in additional complexity and more frequent and lengthy scheduled downtimes for maintenance.
END-USER EXPERIENCE
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
Proven, simple, intuitive, modern web user experience on the desktop, tablets or mobile devices. A robust yet lightweight app (“ndOffice”) is also available for full desktop application integration with MS Office, Adobe, etc., as well as dozens of third-party desktop applications.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Traditional heavy client footprints still used even with hosted/cloud deployments; very new (beta/1.x phase) web user interfaces generally meant to be secondary user interfaces intended for consumption only – and not purpose-built for actual work product management (editing documents, etc.).
DOWNTIME FOR SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
Typically only once or twice per year, as the modern cloud back-end platform enables continuous maintenance and upgrades without service downtime.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
As frequently as twice per month, as the traditional on-premises back-end technology generally requires downtime for maintenance, updates, etc.
ENCRYPTION
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
All data encrypted at rest by default, with a separate AES-256 encryption key per document; all encryption keys are held in Hardware Security Modules (HSMs); customer custody over encryption keys; entropic cryptography.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Only basic hardware encryption available for core DMS application. Any mention of advanced encryption and customer custody of encryption keys is only for the external sharing module, not the core DMS application.
LOCAL BACKUP OF DATA
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
Optional and available out-of-the-box with the “Local Document Server.”
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Requires custom services and configuration.
THIRD-PARTY INTEGRATION
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
Robust native cloud APIs and infrastructure that scale to the performance of third-party applications whether they are cloud-based or desktop applications. NetDocuments does not charge for its API.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Third-party API calls go against a single instance of a hosted DM server, which can result in severe performance issues. Customers may incur additional fees to standup additional hosted DM servers to handle the load of third-party integrations.
DATA STORAGE LOCATION FLEXIBILITY
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
Data storage location (cloud or on-premises) can easily be set on a matter by matter (or client by client) basis all within the same library/cabinet, and it’s transparent to end users.
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Data storage location (hosted or on-premises) can only be set on a library by library level, which introduces significant usability issues as users have to think about which library to search in, save documents in, etc.
OFFLINE CAPABILITY
NetDocuments: Native Cloud Platform
The desktop UI “ndOffice” provides offline functionality for cached documents. Also, “ndSync” provides Dropbox-like bidirectional synchronization of documents, matters, folders, etc. across all devices including laptops, tablets, and mobile devices; includes built-in information governance controls and device management (e.g., remote wipe).
Hosted Versions of Traditional On-Premises DMS
Bidirectional synchronization only available on traditional desktop/laptop offline clients. Separate mobile apps that provide one-way synchronization for tables and mobile devices. Generally lacking advanced information governance controls such as remote wipe, etc.
As you can see, there is a vast difference between a true cloud-based DMS for law firms and the hosted versions. I you’d like to see a free demo on NetDocuments, contact me!