In Cloud Computing, Data is not Fungible

In cloud computing, data is not electricity | The Wisdom of Clouds - CNET News. I remember, many years ago in law school, (no, I will not tell how many years; if you are curious, look it up yourself) the Contracts class scared me to death. So many new concepts, new words, new things. The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) was my first introduction to the attempt to make uniform the laws of Commercial conduct across the land. One of the concepts, that of fungible goods, stuck in my memory, and this great article, about cloud computing, brought the discussion back. As most of you know, fungible goods are divisible because they are made up of similar stuff; for example, a silo of corn or oats. One bushel looks like another, and, thus, you don't need different rules from one bushel to another. Unlike grain, mission critical data, like file and case management information to lawyers, is not like electricity or fungible goods. Security of data in the cloud is the first priority of the computing lawyer. If you can't demonstrate conclusively that data is secure in the cloud, no one will use the cloud. The premise of this article is that SaaS (software as a service) will take decades to become accepted in mission critical applications in the legal world. I agree. Data isn't electricity. It isn't corn or oats either. Data of a law firm is an essential part of the firm; and the security of the confidential client and matter information must be the highest priority for the firm.