LECG Presentation for Legal Tech West by Trent Livingston noting the growth statistics of Cloud Computing and potential impact on Electronic Discovery

1. Cloud Computing – Is it the
future of ESI?
Trent Livingston
Principal , LECG
A global expert services company providing expert testimony, authoritative studies, and strategic advisory services to
clients including Fortune Global 500 corporations, major law firms, and governments worldwide. www.lecg.com

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Cloud Computing – is it the future of ESI?
• What is Cloud Computing?
• What will drive corporate data to the cloud?
• What will be the impact on electronic
discovery?

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What was old is new again…
Although not entirely the same in form or
function, similar computing concepts of the past
can be compared to the cloud computing
concept.
•Thin client (client / server)
•Mainframe

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Thin Client
- is a client computer or client software, which
depends primarily on the central server for
processing activities, and mainly focuses on
conveying input and output between the user
and the remote server.

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Mainframe
- designed to handle very high volume input and
output and emphasize throughput computing.
Mainframe designs utilize computers or
"terminals", which manage the input/output
devices, leaving the CPU free to deal with high-
speed memory and software functionality.

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The Past
USERS TERMINALS
MAINFRAME

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The Future
USERS COMPUTERS
CLOUD

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Differences between then and now
Cloud provides:
• Scalable infrastructure
• Software on demand
• Inexpensive backup & disaster recovery
• Reduced cost
• Reduced footprint
• Accessible from anywhere

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The trend
“Merrill Lynch estimates that within the next five years,
the annual global market for cloud computing will
surge to $95 billion. It is estimated that estimated that
12% of the worldwide software market will go to the
cloud in that period.”
Source: Business Week, “How Cloud Computing is Changing the World”, August
2008.

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The trend
Is Cloud Computing On Your Organization's
Tech Roadmap?
Yes, currently using or implementing 30%
No, not on our technology roadmap 29%
Yes, on the radar or actively researching 17%
Yes, plan to use within one year 10%
Yes, plan to use within one to three years 5%
Not sure 5%
Yes, plan to use within three to five years 2%
SOURCE: CIO Research

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What is the attraction?
Cost savings
The Cloud: Your View
Cloud computing will cause a radical shift in information
technology driving the next wave of innovation : 58%
Cloud computing is an evolving concept that will take years to
mature : 54%
Current on -demand offerings are not appropriate for my
business : 36%
Cloud computing is a passing fad : 18%
SOURCE: CIO Research

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What is the attraction?
“U.S. economic woes will only drive more enterprises to
consider and adopt cloud offerings. IDC predicts that
spending on IT cloud services will hit $42 billion by
2012. The cloud model offers a much cheaper way for
businesses to acquire and use IT—in an economic
downturn, the appeal of that cost advantage will be
greatly magnified.”
Source: Network World, “IDC: Economic Crisis to Bolster Cloud Computing”,
October 2008.

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Obstacles
• Loss of physical “control”
• Compliance
• Data Security
• Definition of Logical vs. Physical (where exactly is my
data?)
“[T]he number one factor stopping IT leaders from tapping
into the cloud right away is security worries”
Source: CIO.com. “Cloud Computing Survey: IT Leaders See Big Promise, Have Big
Security Questions”. October 2008.

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Logical vs. physical in the cloud
 Data may reside in multiple physical locations on multiple
servers
 Cloud host may not know what specific server houses a
particular subset of a company’s data
 Data may be duplicated on secondary servers across a region for
redundancy purposes
Example: Google will not disclose its server locations to any client
or entity, citing that locations are kept “discrete” for security
purposes.
Source: Google Apps Admin Help. Where is my organization's data stored?

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Logical and physical data security
Logical
- Determined by access to data
 Implemented via layered controls (hardware rights, user rights,
file level permissions)
 Controlled by software based security
Physical
- Determined by location of data
 Implemented via security badges, locks, and physical security
controls (video monitoring, magnetic locks, server cages)
 Controlled by structural security

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What is the legal call?
If company data is only accessible from predetermined
locations by individuals restricted by both logical and
physical data security, then logically speaking, data
only resides in those specific locations when
leveraging the cloud, even though physically it could
reside in multiple locations across multiple
continents.
In the end, what determines actual data location? Is it
logical or physical access?

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What is the legal call?
Lew Tucker, CTO for cloud computing at Sun
Microsystems states, “[L]ocation may not be the
correct way to think about these concerns. The
question of where the bits reside, and of what
geography or national boundary these bits exist
within, is somewhat moot, given that we are totally
connected by networks.”
Source: Government Computer News. “Data location not the overriding factor in cloud
security”. June 2009.

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What does this mean for e-discovery?

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What does this mean for e-discovery?
 Computer forensics will need to expand scope
 Critical case data may never exist “locally” on a
system
 Collections will need to access cloud
 New forms of Metadata will be present
 Data volumes may change drastically depending
upon deployment
 Online collaboration notes may be significant forms of
communication

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What does this mean for e-discovery?
 Discovery organizations must prepare today for
tomorrow’s innovations
 Data sources are increasing exponentially with
innovation
 Securing a cloud based system may prove challenging
 Traditional review of client specific work product
may not be possible if client application is only
available online (SaaS)

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Questions?
Trent Livingston
Principal
(415) 267-0383 Office
(425) 223-7136 Mobile Thank You!
tlivingston@lecg.com