Recently, the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) commissioned InsideLegal's Jobst Elster to conduct a follow-up to his "Getting Comfortable in the Cloud" cover article featured in the May 2015 issue of its member publication, Legal Management. In the October issue, Jobst has a virtual 'sit down' with Rick Varju, Foley & Lardner's Director of Projects & Infrastructure Operations, to discuss the firm's strategic stand on cloud computing and talk brass tacks about some of the specific cloud technologies the firm is currently relying on and rolling out in the future. 

Rick Varju
Foley & Lardner

Read the interview to get the full scoop but here are a few take-aways from our chat with Rick that should enlighten:

• Foley & Lardner has been moving closer to a 'cloud first' approach … "Today, more and more of our new tech discussions start off with a focus on whether cloud-based offerings can be leveraged."
• Cloud-based services the firm currently leverage include NetDocuments document management; Chrome River expense reporting and invoicing; Meeting Room Manager conference room scheduling; Absorb Learning Management System for internal training delivery; LexisNexis eBooks legal library online; Vuture marketing communication automation; and Proofpoint for spam email filtering.
• Larger cloud service providers can offer greater levels of security for a firm's data than they can themselves.
• Agility and the move to more of a consumption-based usage model are also very attractive with the cloud. Having the ability to easily and quickly grow or shrink cloud app or service usage as needs change, can be both cost effective and extremely advantageous, especially in M&A-type situations.