Tabush Group's Cloud & Managed IT Blog

A security operations center (SOC) is a team of IT security experts whose sole focus is to proactively monitor your firm’s security, detect and analyze threats, and respond and remediate when necessary. To be effective, the team of highly-qualified experts must work 24x7x365 so that they can rapidly respond to any emerging threat. For the vast majority of small and midsize firms, it simply does not make financial sense to build this function in-house, yet with cyberattacks increasing in sophistication and volume, it is far too risky to ignore the need for a SOC. Many small and midsize firms choose to partner with a third-party IT security provider that offers Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) to ensure constant, proactive protection against cybersecurity threats.

New York City is a highly competitive place to do business. In fact, a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked New York the most competitive city on the planet. To succeed here, your law firm can’t afford to have its IT system go down due to faulty equipment, and you certainly can’t accept the security risks and lost productivity that inefficient, insecure IT breeds. Your law firm needs to focus its time and energy on your core business to stay ahead of your competitors. Partnering with a New York City-based managed IT service provider (MSP) can help you with all these realities and more.

As many firms continue to embrace a hybrid work environment, others are still on the fence. While fully remote and always in-office both have their advantages, a hybrid work environment combines the best of both arrangements. As firms seek to compete for top talent, improve work-life balance, and enhance their productivity, the advantages of a hybrid work model are becoming increasingly clear. Here are a few unexpected benefits of a hybrid work environment.

Reliable, efficient, and secure technology is necessary for law firms to provide their clients with excellent service. But it is not necessary – or even advisable – for small and midsized law firms to manage their IT themselves. Unlike their larger counterparts, small and midsized law firms simply do not have the resources to properly build, optimize, support, and defend an enterprise-level IT system.

By partnering with a good managed IT service provider (MSP), you gain the expertise and capability of an entire in-house IT department, which frees your firm up to focus on what you do best: providing your clients with trusted legal counsel and representation.

The wide-scale destruction wreaked by Hurricane Ian is a stark reminder that firms need to be prepared for a natural disaster. If a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, blizzard, flood, fire, or gas explosion destroyed or rendered your offices inaccessible, does your firm have a plan in place to ensure recovery of your data and continuation of your operations?

Ransomware attacks are ever-growing threats, and law firms need to be prepared. Becoming locked out of your network or applications creates a massive roadblock, costing your firm time, money, and even its reputation. Not only are ransomware attacks becoming more sophisticated, but they are increasingly directed at law firms due to the sensitive nature and high value of their data. If your firm is hit with a ransomware attack, should you pay the ransom?

Cloud-based solutions can benefit law firms in many ways, from streamlining workflows to facilitating remote access to enhancing security. Simple scalability is another hallmark of cloud computing. By migrating to the cloud, your law firm will gain the ability to scale your operations up or down seamlessly and efficiently as your business evolves.

A few years ago, a hybrid work environment in a law firm would have been rare, but today it is the norm. From a firm’s perspective, however, supporting this flexibility comes with its own challenges. Cybersecurity, remote access, and productivity, which are essential to efficient and effective law firm operations, can be compromised when attorneys and staff work from home or on the go. That’s where Desktop as a Service (DaaS) comes in. Many law firms have made the switch to DaaS in large part because of its effectiveness in supporting a hybrid work environment.

As the cloud computing market continues to expand, more law firms are turning to a cloud service provider for some or all of their IT needs. By partnering with a cloud service provider, law firms can realize many benefits, including increased cybersecurity, seamless access to systems from multiple locations, scalability, lower and more predictable costs, and access to a wide range of professional IT expertise. But for many law firms, switching their files, data, and applications from on-premises systems to a cloud hosted by a third-party provider may feel like a daunting task. Below is a roadmap for ensuring a seamless transition.