Careful consideration is key to outsourcing IT

Legal firms looking to use a managed hosting service provider to operate their IT infrastructure should bear in mind they do not have to take an all or nothing approach to outsourcing, it has been claimed.

According to Law.com, a careful analysis of internal IT infrastructure can highlight parts of a firm's network that can be kept in house.

"At a minimum, [a] firm will understand its own areas of potential improvements. While only a minority of firms will turn core operations over to a vendor (e.g., hosting and managing the e-mail system)," the website claimed.

"All firms should list and scrutinise the services provided by IT," it added.

Meanwhile, Law.com noted that carrying out an IT evaluation was often an uncomfortable process, but would be beneficial in the long term, reducing the likelihood of costly security breaches.

According to PC Quest, keeping all a company's confidential data on site can be a bigger security risk than outsourcing it.

Written by Tim Dunton