April 2010: Robert Plotkin, P.C. Upgrades Computing Infrastructure for Increased Convenience, Security, and Responsiveness

As part of our commitment to the Japanese concept of "kaizen" -- continuous improvement -- Robert Plotkin, P.C. recently upgraded its entire computing infrastructure to a high-performance, highly-secure, hosted platform with a 100% network uptime guarantee and a 99.9% server uptime guarantee. As a result, Robert Plotkin, P.C.'s computer system and network now rivals that of law firms many times our size. Our new system provides world-class performance, and is always available, from anywhere in the world, with the highest level of security available. For our clients, that means increased convenience, responsiveness, security, and peace of mind.

For example, as we -- and the legal industry as a whole -- become increasingly reliant on our computer systems and network connectivity to communicate with our clients, maintain records, and to submit critical filings to patent offices around the world, we can now provide the highest level of assurance that communications will run smoothly and last-minute deadlines will not be missed due to computer-related problems. Even before this latest round of upgrades, we have found that our transition to a nearly paperless office has enabled us to provide services to our clients more efficiently, conveniently, and reliably than in the old paper-based world. Our new system is helping us take this dedication to client service to the next level.

Furthermore, our clients' confidential information is now safer than ever before. In our new system, no client data is ever stored on a laptop or office desktop computer. As a result, even if one of our computers were to be lost or stolen (although this has never happened before), no client data would be compromised. Data security is maintained at three levels: at the data center, by encryption when data are transmitted from the data center to and from our computers, and through constant automated and manual monitoring of our servers for potential intrusions. All data are backed up nightly in an encrypted off-site backup, which can be restored nearly immediately if it becomes necessary to do so.

Although we at the firm will have the most direct experience of increased speed as a result of these improvements, our clients will also benefit from increased responsiveness as we are able to access all applications and data anywhere and at any time.

We have put all of these improvements in place without passing along any of the costs to our clients, because of our deep commitment to providing unparalleled client service in terms of convenience, speed, reliability, and security.

Some Additional Technical Details

For those of you who are interested in the details, the firm's servers are now located within a world class data center which is protected against damage in almost any circumstance. As just a few examples, the data center has redundant power feeds from separate power grids, redundant power distribution units, redundant UPS battery-backup systems, a generator backup for the entire building with an automatic transfer switch, state-of-the art fire suppression, and SAS 70 Type II certified physical data center security controls. The data center is guarded by 24/7 building security with protections such as biometric readers, monitored and recorded closed-circuit television, and identity logging and verification of all outside visitors.

The firm's software and data are stored on a high-performance iSCSI Storage Area Network (SAN) with redundancy, so that if the server were to fail, it would be immediately restarted on another server within the same cluster, thereby avoiding almost any downtime.

The firm's service provider has passed a SAS70 Type II Audit, which means that it has demonstrated to an independent third party that it has adequate controls and safeguards in place over the firm's data, including the data of the firm's clients. The firm's servers and network are also compliant with HIPAA, which includes the use of an enhanced firewall, detailed audit tracking to detect possible unauthorized activity, and the use of encrypted offsite backups of all data.

The firm has access to a highly-trained staff of technicians for 24/7/365 technical support for all technical issues, including hardware and software installations, software customization, backups, and all troubleshooting.

These and other features of our new system once again demonstrate that Robert Plotkin, P.C. now has a computing infrastructure which rivals those of the largest law firms, therefore enabling us to focus on providing the highest-quality legal services to our clients with the peace of mind that our computers and networks will run smoothly, efficiently, and securely at all times.