Public Cloud vs. Private Cloud and Why it Matters to eDiscovery

When most people think about information being stored “in the cloud,” they envision their photos on a site like Shutterfly or their phone data being backed up to iCloud. These cloud-based sites face public relations and operational challenges because of their exposure to data breaches and loss of client information. With all the headlines in the news about data hacks, it is no wonder legal professionals hesitate when they hear their eDiscovery provider is using cloud-based infrastructure.

There is a difference between cloud technologies, however. These differences are important to law firms and legal departments, especially when working with data that belongs to someone else, like data involved in eDiscovery.

What is a public cloud?

Public clouds are the most commonly deployed cloud environment. The infrastructure – like servers and software – they offer are owned and operated by a third-party provider such as Amazon Web Services. These resources are shared by all the organizations who are using that cloud-based service. In the case of AWS, organizations are sharing resources with more than a million other organizations.

Public cloud environments have the advantage of being lower in cost, easily scalable and always available.

What is a private cloud?

With a private cloud, infrastructure resources are dedicated to one organization. Private clouds can be physically located at a company’s data center, or a third-party service provider can offer a dedicated infrastructure. Resources are not shared with other organizations.

A private cloud environment offers the advantage of increased security, flexibility, greater control and scalability.

What type of cloud environment does Gulfstream offer?

Gulfstream’s cloud environment is private, whereby we offer clients dedicated, on-demand infrastructure and resources that are highly secure. We are entirely responsible for infrastructure like servers, software and security. Our private cloud environment ensures that our clients maintain their obligation to protect their clients’ privacy, offers compliance with governance regulations like the GDPR and mitigates risk of data loss.

Want to learn more about our highly secure private cloud environment and how it might impact your next eDiscovery project? Contact us today.