No two companies are the same and every organisation has its own approach for running a business. Every company has its individual goals and methods, yet there is something every organisation has in common – the need to succeed.
Law firms of varying sizes will naturally differ in many aspects, yet whether your firm has 50 or 5000 people working within it, the desire to succeed is mutual. Organisations want to implement the strategy most likely to lead it to success, and over the past few years, enterprise cloud adoption has been a significant factor in many law firms’ accomplishments.
Michael Crandell, CEO of RightScale, stated that the tide of enterprise cloud adoption has shifted from shadow IT to strategic adoption led by central IT teams. An ever-increasing number of law firms are implementing enterprise collaboration software into their organisation, aware of the many strategic advantages that it can bring to a business. No different to a large firm, small to medium sized law firms adopting enterprise collaboration tools are presented with numerous benefits.
Expand your collaboration
In a sector as fast moving and interchanging as law, it’s essential that you keep track of every file sent or contract written. For one single case, a contract may be drafted and rewritten dozens of times, passed between yourself and a number of colleagues. Editing and sending documents back and forth over email can potentially result in misplaced files or old documents inadvertently being sent. Enterprise collaboration software enables you to keep track of every draft and all the changes made, no matter how minor the edit.
Regardless of the size of the law firm, it’s imperative that everyone within the company is able to ask questions, share knowledge and have their voice heard. Enterprise cloud tools allow firms to capture and share knowledge all in one platform.
Let’s say that a company employee has a question regarding a case they’re working on. Instead of searching on Google for the answer and potentially worrying about the source or authenticity, you can visit your firm’s private cloud platform. You may already find the answer drafted on the platform, or you can post the question and have it viewed and answered by anyone else within the company; answered by someone with an expertise in this field or perhaps by someone who has worked on a similar case. What’s more, the source is coming from someone within the company and whose expertise you can trust.
Enhance your security
According to Egress Software Technologies, in 2014, UK law firms were investigated 187 times by the Information Commissioner for possible breaches of the Data Protection Act. Security is imperative for any organisation, yet few require more stringent security than law firms. Both for the company’s sake and for its clients, it’s essential that a firm’s data is secure.
Enterprise collaboration software provides a secure platform to hold your data, allowing you to grant or restrict access at your own accord. Certain areas within the platform can be implemented with heavier restrictions, and you can remove the risk of papers going missing or an email being sent to the wrong recipient. Furthermore, your clients can have peace of mind knowing their information is always secure.
Stay ahead of the game
In an increasingly competitive legal market, law firms need to use everything at their disposal to stand out from the crowd and stay ahead of the competition. Demonstrating your company’s enterprise cloud adoption can assist when attracting new clientele. A client considering a number of different law firms may be drawn to the one offering a more secure and up-to-date storage system for their data and personal details.
Along with strengthening client relationships, law firms can increase efficiency and capitalise on competitive advantages with enterprise collaboration software. You are able to consolidate your vendor relationships and have a single integrated solution stack that meets your internal and external collaboration needs. Overall, you end up offering more depth to your services in comparison to your competitors, standing out from the pack in an ever-evolving sector.
Be at the cutting edge
For small to medium sized law firms to contend with the large firms, they need to provide a similar, if not higher quality of service. Getting your hands on the cutting edge technology can assist with this goal. HighQ Collaborate offers law firms the ability to build a diverse portfolio of value-added services and create new revenue streams, whilst at the same time increasing efficiencies and cutting costs.
From matter and online collaboration, client extranets, deal rooms and file sharing to knowledge sharing, enterprise social networks and intranets, HighQ Collaborate offers legal teams a new portal for success. To explore how small to mid-sized firms have created solutions using HighQ Collaborate, please take a look at our case studies on Sheppard Mullin, Synch and Wright Hassall.
