How to Use TrialWorks in the Cloud

This guide on running TrialWorks in the cloud is for anyone that uses TrialWorks (or plans to), and wants to explore doing so in the cloud. This includes:

In this, our ultimate guide to TrialWorks cloud hosting, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know to assess and implement TrialWorks in the cloud.

If your firm already uses and knows TrialWorks , feel free to skip ahead. If you’re new to TrialWorks, or considering it for your firm, we’ll provide a brief overview.

TrialWorks is law practice management software that provides additional focus and emphasis on litigation; that is managing the details, tasks, deadlines, and other elements of cases that are likely to go to trial.

TrialWorks is server/desktop-based software, which means it can run on-premise, on your firm’s in-house servers or hosted in Private Cloud (which we’ll cover shortly).

At a high level, the TrialWorks software suite provides:

At the risk of being repetitive, TrialWorks is often a good fit for law firms that need more from their case management software than simple management of contacts, time/billing and a calendar.

TrialWorks provides a great tabbed interface for each case, giving you almost a litigation-binder-like way of viewing and managing every element of your case.

Watch the demo, provided by TrialWorks.

The cloud brings many benefits to small and midsize law firms (which we’ll enumerate shortly). Some law firms, looking for the reliability, security and mobility of the cloud assume that the only way to achieve these benefits is to abandon their software and move to a web-based software application.

For many law firms, TrialWorks is great. And it’s even better in the cloud.

For most law firms, life is simply better in the cloud; and TrialWorks is no exception. You can run TrialWorks in the cloud, and before we explain exactly how TrialWorks cloud hosting works, I’ll take a moment to explain why, in most cases, TrialWorks is better in the cloud.

There are, however, a few major caveats to this statement, which we’ll cover later in this article.

Now that we’ve covered why TrialWorks is better in the cloud, let’s talk about how exactly TrialWorks in the cloud works. To do that, let’s first take a short step back and describe the difference between cloud-based (web-based) software and desktop/server-based software.

Before cloud computing was mainstream, most software in the world (including practice management software such as TrialWorks) was installed on the firm’s on-premise server, and ran from each of the employee’s desktop computers. The software’s “engine,” or core components (including the database) lived on the server. All of this meant that using this software, such as TrialWorks, necessitated a server.

That is: Owning (and therefor maintaining) a server became a fundamental prerequisite to use the software. Owning and managing servers and in-house IT was a requirement, and sometimes viewed as a necessary evil, in order to use law firm management software.

And that’s simply the way it was.

But not today. Today, we have the technology that we call a Private Cloud. A private cloud is a hosted, managed IT platform that provides the same (or better) function that a server would; it hosts a law firm’s legal applications, documents email and more, and provides greater mobility, reliability and security while doing so.

Server-based software like TrialWorks requires a server, that hasn’t changed. And in the case of a private cloud, the private cloud is the server.

To be more specific, a typical law firm private cloud for TrialWorks will often include:

Private Clouds are so-called because every law firm (called a “tenant,” in cloud computing parlance), has their own segregated, dedicated working environment. In most cases, that means:

If you’re not familiar with these technologies: What it amounts to is that your law firm has its own private space for its software, documents and data, separate from other law firms, which gives your firm an added level of data security and privacy.

Related:

That’s the “back-end” of running TrialWorks in the cloud. You and your team will interact with the Private Cloud via what’s known as a Virtual Desktop.

We’ve covered the benefits of running TrialWorks in the cloud, and how a Private Cloud is a means to that end. But what does working in a Private Cloud look like? How does each person in your firm use it?

The answer is: a virtual desktop.

A Virtual Desktop is a desktop, like the Windows or Apple desktop you log into and use at home and work, that is hosted in the cloud, and that you can access anytime, anywhere. Typically, your Virtual Desktop will have the software that you need every day, like Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, along with your law practice management software, accounting software, even your document management software.

The Virtual Desktop makes your law firm’s software, which is otherwise only available from your work computer or while connected to your office’s servers, available from any computer in the world.

Virtual Desktop solutions are sometimes also referred to as “Desktop-as-a-Service,” or DaaS (analogous to “Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS).

In a traditional computing environment, your core law firm software is installed on your physical, local desktop. That is: The workstation or laptop you use in the office. In this traditional model, everything runs locally, and your applications are installed on your individual computer.

A Virtual Desktop is different. In a Virtual Desktop environment, very few, if any, applications are actually installed on your local computer. Often, the only icon on your local desktop is a shortcut to log into your Virtual Desktop.

When you (or anyone in your team) logs into your Virtual Desktop, you’ll have access to all of your law firm’s software, documents and data, including:

This gives your entire firm access to TrialWorks (and all of your applications, documents and data) from anywhere, on any device.

Virtual Desktops also mean that you no longer have to install, update and maintain each of your applications on every computer within your firm. Instead, your Cloud Service Provider simply keeps all software updated for you.

Related:

Virtual Desktops bring many advantages to law firms. Specifically, Virtual Desktops are likely the best technology route in any of the following scenarios.

We’ll cover selecting the right Virtual Desktop provider, and doing your due diligence, shortly.

For an example of working in a Virtual Desktop, watch our demonstration of Uptime Practice.

Now that we understand how TrialWorks in the Cloud works, the benefits and the functions, we’ll walk through how to move TrialWorks to the Cloud.

This process is typically administered by your chosen Cloud Service Provider, but could be done via a combination of IT consultants, software consultants, and cloud hosting providers.

Your TrialWorks cloud migration should begin he same as any well-managed project: with a single point of contact.

Your project manager (at Uptime Legal, we call this person the Onboarding Manger) should begin by clearly setting expectations and clearly communicating the next steps, removing any uncertainty as to the path that lies ahead. Your Onboarding Manager should define specific timelines, expectations, and what is needed from you.

While a good cloud service provider will have a well-defined and documented process for onboarding, the process is never cookie-cutter, and no two law firms are alike. A good TrialWorks cloud migration process should begin with deep discovery and assessment of the firm’s current environment, including:

Next, your TrialWorks hosting provider will begin building your private cloud environment. A good provider will have a well-developed process, and can build your private cloud quickly. The Onboarding Manager and engineering team will install your software, provision your email accounts, and generally build the “shell” of your complete IT platform. This process includes:

Next, your TrialWorks cloud provider will begin the process of collecting your data from current locations. Each element of your firm’s technology will be moved over, component-by-component. This cutover process includes:

The physical transfer should be seamless and all data transferred securely to the new cloud platform. The Onboarding Manager and his team should thoroughly test every application (once data has been imported), and test computers and peripherals.

The TrialWorks hosting provider should be very flexible in scheduling the cutover, including executing it over an evening or weekend, so that, the entire cutover process takes no more than a day, and results in little or no user downtime.

A good TrialWorks hosting provider knows that first impressions matter.

The key to employee adoption is a reliable, easy-to-use system from Day One. Your cloud provider should have a comprehensive plan for training your entire staff and provide an extra layer of hand-holding as necessary. The Onboarding Manager, who “owns” the migration, should be there for you on the front lines: helping with training and tying up loose ends.

Beyond the functional, reliability, security and mobility benefits of TrialWorks cloud hosting, there’s also the financial case for moving TrialWorks to the cloud.

Running TrialWorks in-house, with on-premise servers is a deceptively expensive proposition. You have to buy servers. You have to buy ancillary IT infrastructure, like backup systems, battery backups, and more. You have to hire a capable IT consultant to not only set up the server, but proactively manage and maintain it.

And these costs are always higher in a given year than you think they will be.

To understand the economics of moving TrialWorks to the cloud, we need to compare a Private Cloud solution to the costs of in-house, on-premise servers and IT.

Watch the Video:

First, analyze all costs incurred each new server cycle (typically 3 to 5 years). That is: buying and implementing server infrastructure, and usually includes:

I recommend that, for each of these items above, you get pricing and record it in a spreadsheet. Add up the total costs (and make sure you’re not missing anything), and you’ll have a sense of the total up-front cost of another cycle of on-premise IT.

It’s important to note that much of these costs are ultimately driven by the software your law firm uses. How many, and how powerful of servers do you need? Do you need multiple, dedicated servers? Will you need VMWare virtualization? This is ultimately determined by the software you use (namely: Practice Management and Document Management software), and the server requirements of those applications.

TrialWorks, for instance, requires a lot of computing power, and setup/hosting for TrialWorks requires an expert.

Use our Cloud Cost Calculator to tally up all relevant up-front costs for your firm.

Next, analyze costs incurred on an ongoing basis. Identify monthly recurring costs, as well as annual costs (renewals, maintenance), and determine your average monthly or annual recurring costs. For most law firms, these often include:

Add up what you do, or will spend on an ongoing basis. This should include fixed monthly costs (such as a Managed IT Provider contract) as well as sporadic, less predictable costs (such as hourly IT support). For the latter, if you’re unsure of a reasonable budget for this amount, I recommend finding the average over the past two three years.

Add all of these up and determine your average monthly IT spend.

Finally, we need to identify and budget for some level of unplanned IT expenses. Proactive IT does significantly reduce the chances and impact of unforeseen IT problems, but over enough time they’re likely to occur nonetheless.

These unplanned costs may take the form of:

As you can see–some costs are fixed and predicable, others are wildly unpredictable (but should be budgeted or accounted for in some way.)

Finally, add up your up-front costs, monthly recurring costs and your budget for unplanned/unforeseen costs: And this is your Total Cost of Ownership for on-premise IT.

Now compare this Total Cost of Ownership to that of a Private Cloud.

We’ve already demonstrated that a Private Cloud is objectively better than in-house IT, in terms of reliability, security and mobility. But simply comparing the costs of in-house vs. cloud-based IT shows that Private Cloud is also more economical than in-house IT.

Private Cloud costs typically include:

Of note is that (with the right Private Cloud provider) these figures are inclusive of all technology that you would otherwise have to buy and maintain. On-premise IT (as we’ve illustrated above) is fraught with hidden and unpredictable costs.

Fully-managed Private Cloud costs are simple, clear and predictable.

Related:

Now that you have a sense of how TrialWorks in the cloud works and how moving TrialWorks to the cloud will benefit your law firm, lets talk about the all-important job of doing your due diligence.

There are a variety of ways your firm could accomplish a transition of TrialWorks to the cloud. Whatever direct your firm goes, it’s important to do your homework.

In recent years, a problem for law firms has become that more and more companies, from small, local IT shops to generalist (non-legal-focused) cloud server providers are throwing their hat into the ring and declaring, “Hey, we do TrialWorks cloud hosting now too!” This is a potential pitfall for law firms. Here’s why.

Running and maintaining TrialWorks in the cloud isn’t for amateurs.

Hosting TrialWorks, in particular, requires special configuration and deep software expertise. How to properly engage in due diligence when selecting a Private Cloud provider for your law firm is a subject unto itself, but here are a few key areas to review when evaluating potential hosting companies.

Most software companies focus exclusively on making and improving the best software they can. And we think TrialWorks has done a great job of that.

Just a few software companies, however, have tried their hand at also becoming hosting companies, and have developed their own “cloud hosting” offering or option.

TrialWorks is one of these companies. We’ll presume they mean well by doing this, offering a cloud option to their install base. However, as we’ve covered here, cloud hosting isn’t for amateurs. Considerable planning and resources must go into building a truly enterprise-grade, reliable and secure cloud hosting platform.

At first it may even seem logical for a software developer to make their own cloud offering. However, designing and publishing legal software is a vastly different skillset than building and securing a cloud infrastructure, and being good at the former provides no advantages to attempting the latter.

Unfortunately, every TrialWorks Cloud customer had to learn this the hard way.

In November of 2019, TrialWorks’ cloud data security system failed, and TrialWorks’ cloud platform was hit with ransomware.

Many, if not all TrialWorks clients reported weeks of outages, where they were unable to access their client and case information. What’s more, many firms reported permanently losing data, even after the outage had been restored.

In the News:

• Ransomware Hits Case Management Provider TrialWorks (LegalTech News)
• Court Cases Affected by TrialWorks Ransomware Incident (Security Boulevard)
• TrialWorks Clients Dealing with System Outage (SmartAdvocate)

To be clear, we think TrialWorks is great software. But just because a company makes software doesn’t mean their necessarily the company best suited to host it, or provide cloud hosting to your law firm.

Once you’ve developed a short list of potential TrialWorks hosting providers, do your homework on each company. We recommend:

To see the Google reviews for a Private Cloud provider (or any business), if the company is reputable you can simply perform a Google search for that company, and the reviews will show up in the search results sidebar. For example:

Learn more about doing your due diligence:

At Uptime Legal, we host TrialWorks and other legal software for hundreds of law firms across North America.

Get in touch with our team to learn more about TrialWorks in the cloud for your law firm.

Learn more about Uptime Practice and TrialWorks in the Cloud.