Digital West Blog

There’s no question that the way legal services are delivered is rapidly changing. Law firms increasingly
rely on computer and data management systems to create, share and store information. Even when analog (or even paper) means are used to create documents, they are converted into some type of digital format for organization and management. Research, document review and communication between clients, other attorneys and courts have sped up because of digital technology. In fact, many law firms have gone entirely paperless.

Tech Trends in Law

• Digital Records & Data Retention in the Cloud: Although some law firms still use paper files and physically house them both on- and offsite, an estimated 90% now scan or convert their files to a digital format and store them in the cloud. There’s also data from email, PCs, cell phones, flash drives and Internet—based phone systems. And while regulations for data retention differ across industries, law firms have data retention requirements ranging from six to 10 years, depending upon the state. That’s a lot of data! Cloud technologies provide the means for attorneys to readily access information and communicate with clients. Some larger firms have their data stored on in-house servers or in a colocation facility, but smaller firms and individual attorneys tend to purchase cloud storage from an IT provider that has the facilities, expertise and hardware in place to securely host their data. This is a cost-effective approach that also eliminates the need to hire costly IT personnel. Cloud technologies can also aid in making daily logistics, such as billing, time tracking and contract management, more efficient.

As the world becomes more and more digital, banks, credit unions and other financial institutions recognize the need to meet consumer expectations in their increasingly real-time world. This shift in technology means that the financial world must rethink the “branch-centric” model and move toward a omni-channel, customer-centric digital model. It means moving toward tech solutions with a big emphasis on on data security, access control and compliance requirements. For consumers, the next few years mean a progressively integrated and synchronized banking experience.

Banking & Finance Tech Trends

• Connecting Digital and Branch Experience: 
  Financial institutions are expanding their mobile services and integrating their customers’ banking and mobile experiences from application processes to general transactions.
• Tablets, Self-Service Kiosks and Video ATMs: Tablets allow customer service representatives to meet with and help customers who don’t need window service. Self-service let customers do their banking inside a brand on their own; some customers may chat with a remote teller through video ATMs.

For many small and medium sized business owners like yourself, Managed Services may be a confusing topic. You’ve likely heard that they can lead to greater productivity and profits, but are unsure as to just how they do this. If you’ve been confused for long enough, today you’ll finally understand the process by which Managed Services can lead your business to increased productivity and a higher bottom line.

Digital West isn’t “reselling” the Internet, we are the Internet, and because of this we’re able to peer directly with large content providers. Peering is simply the exchange of traffic between two Internet networks. It allows us to directly hand off traffic between our customers and another network’s customers without having to involve a third party to carry that traffic across the Internet for us. Peering is different than IP transit, which is the more common way of connecting to the Internet. In transit, one network operator pays another network operator (usually a larger one like AT&T) to carry their traffic.

More and more business professionals are turning to Managed Network Services to free up their own staff and gain insight from IT experts.  The role of a Managed Network Operations Center (NOC) is to proactively monitor a company’s network (Internet connections, security, etc.) and repair any network issues that may arise.  Outsourcing a Managed NOC saves a firm valuable IT time, as network engineers rapidly assess the situation before the company may know that there is an outage. Have you considered relying on a trusted partner to monitor and manage your network? Here are five reasons why many companies choose to outsource their IT monitoring:

Managed Network Services: Why Select a Carrier-Neutral Provider