Buying an off-the-peg software package from a single provider is now a thing of the past. Everything used to be reasonably straightforward. In most cases you had the option of purchasing a total solution from one provider. Legal software was made up of modules for time recording, file management, e-mail, document management and bookkeeping, for example. However, things began to change. New providers responded to needs on the market. This resulted in a shift in the software and hardware available within the legal profession. Working with just one provider was no longer the obvious way to go. A bad thing? I don’t think so.
Software packages under the microscope
I frequently speak to lawyers who have opted to buy particular software and hardware in recent years. The reasons behind their choice?
- “Other firms chose it too.”
- “It’s much cheaper.”
- “The software helps us work more efficiently.”
- “My preferred provider recommended it.”
- “Our existing software was not being sufficiently developed.”
A number of firms nevertheless tell me that they feel they have lost the overview. These include firms with just a handful of lawyers, but also larger firms with as many as 50 to 100 staff on the payroll. Everything seems to have become rather complicated. But is that actually the case? Time to put your software packages under the microscope!
Mapping out the software landscape and costs
By following a number of steps, you can quickly gain an insight into how relevant your software packages are for your organization. Perhaps certain choices were made in the past that should now be reconsidered in the light of developments on the market.
You should therefore map out the current landscape within your organization and break it down into the following categories. Place the provider in question and the associated product or service into each category.
Hardware landscape:
- The infrastructure (local/server/cloud)
- The equipment (desktop/laptop/printer/scanner, etc.)
- The vehicle (cabling/network/wifi, etc.)
- The protection (firewall/filters/back-up/privacy, etc.)
Software landscape:
- Practice Management System (PMS)
- Document Management System (DMS)
- Knowledge Management System (KMS)
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Financial Management System (FMS)
Once you have mapped out the landscape it is a good idea to identify all the ICT costs for each heading. Here you should also think about products that have been purchased in the past and written off, costs of periodic updates and other license costs. This will give you an insight into what each element of the landscape is costing you. When you enter into discussion with alternative providers you will be able to see immediately what impact they would have on your current situation.
Increasing acceptance
As well as mapping out the landscape and associated costs, it is important to take wishes and requirements into account. In the case of firms with several practice groups in particular, it makes sense to ask users about their experiences. What one practice group sees as a useful tool may be viewed negatively within another practice group. You should therefore determine the wishes and requirements of various user groups. Users can draw on their past experience and can also point to anything they think is lacking or highlight parts of the process that are costing them a lot of time. By involving users in the process, you increase acceptance within the organization.
Selection process
Once you have also identified wishes and requirements it is a good idea to draw up a list of scores. Decide for yourself in an honest way what the possibilities and limitations of the various elements are. Perhaps you will conclude that certain products would be more of a hindrance than a help to your operations. These conclusions should therefore also be taken into account in the list of scores. Depending on the outcome of this process, you can then draw up a priority list.
This will help you understand which elements of your landscape you need to tackle first, but also what consequences this might have for other elements within your landscape. Not all software is equally well suited to and equally affordable for every law firm. For that reason you should also consider the financial consequences when making these choices.
Advice for law firms
You may have already gathered advice from other law firms in the past. Do not allow yourself to be guided too much by the choices other firms have made. While it can be useful to ask for a reference in certain situations, every situation is different. Each firm has its own particular wishes and requirements and you should attach great importance to these!
Perhaps you asked your existing provider for advice. In that case, however, the question is how independent is the advice you were given? Visser & Visser’s specialist department for the legal profession has encountered all kinds of different landscapes at law firms. We are also in contact with numerous software providers and advisors in the legal profession. We will be happy to work with you to examine your organization’s wishes and requirements.
Interested to find out what our specialist department for the legal profession can do for law firms? You can read the cases relating to HabrakenRutten Advocaten and Ploum here.
