Cloud Computing and Electronic Discovery

PREFACE

In general, cloud computing describes technologies that allow applications and data to be hosted on a computer external to a business’s own computing resources and firewall (i.e. a “remote computer”). From a personal perspective, it means that an individual can have access to convenient solutions for little or no cost, for example, to host family photos or videos. One of the promises of cloud computing is the end user doesn’t really need to know how it works, or where the data resides; it just works, and will be available when you need it, wherever you need it. This promise has also resulted in profound misunderstandings of what cloud computing actually involves, and what it means from a litigation perspective.

Cloud computing services provide computing resources on an as-needed basis; this is why cloud computing was sometimes referred to as utility computing, a term that certainly did not have the marketing cachet of cloud computing. Cloud computing solutions generally require a reasonable periodic service fee and little additional hardware cost to access a computing solution. The reduction of costly IT assets, avoidance of software license costs, and removal of software maintenance tasks provide an attractive economic model; the end user is given a turnkey solution supported and maintained by the service provider, and hosted at a remote location. Cloud computing is enabled by rapid, reliable Internet and mobile data communications, which means that applications and ...