IT Support for Law Firms: Best Considerations that can Transform your Digital Environment

Today, we can observe that the traditional law firm paradigm is being challenged.

Customer demands for better value, as well as recent technological advancements, are shifting the legal industry into a new direction. Technology has become a critical component in promoting growth, development, and performance in the legal sector. This has prompted law firms to assess the strength of their internal IT systems and adapt accordingly.

Outsourcing IT to an experienced Managed Service Provider (MSP) allows law firms to focus on their clients by letting technology experts prioritise their IT strategy or day-to-day IT responsibilities. However, some lawyers may find the transition to outsourced IT intimidating, or even avoidable. So, to convince you otherwise, we’ll be going through pain points commonly experienced by law firms and how outsourced IT can rectify these dilemmas, provide uncontested perks and is worth every penny.

Weak Security Procedures

In legal practice, trust with your customers is critical. Your clients’ sensitive information is extremely valuable to cybercriminals, making law firms ideal targets. Weak security procedures can result in wasted billable hours, higher maintenance expenses, data loss, and lasting reputation damage. Law firms must have cutting-edge security that detects threats and safeguards important assets 24/7.

As part of a Managed Security Operations Centre (SOC) or SOC as a Service/Solution, external security experts monitor your cloud environment, devices, logs, and network of your organisation. With Managed SOCs, you can monitor your IT infrastructure 24/7 without investing in security software, experts, training, and more. The SOC will enable you to monitor cyber threats in real-time, improving your organisation’s security.

With some MSPs, you have the option of leveraging our outsourced SOC or having them complement your existing SOC, like we do at Acora. We continuously monitor and test your SOC to see if your own controls are working and identifying where they might need to be adjusted. Like many other MSPs, Acora also offers Cyber Activate, Cyber Assurance and Cyber Hunt.

Protecting Data and Accessibility

Modern businesses rely on data to survive, and when law firms perform their legal and administrative duties, they handle a lot of important, sensitive data. That said, when it comes to managing and organising data it can be very overwhelming. However, technological advances are enabling law firms to better manage data and serve their clients.

A cloud-based platform provides secure access to applications, software, and data from any device, anywhere, at any time. Private clouds, such as the Acora private cloud, offer the same flexibility and modern working methods as public clouds, but with greater security and control. Private clouds are quick to implement, cost-effective, and scalable. A private cloud will enable your business to enjoy a secure, fully managed IT environment that is entirely dedicated to your firm.

In-House Service Desk Performance

One of the most crucial resources for any company is an efficient service desk to ensure customer satisfaction. A strong service desk can have a lasting impact on the overall performance of an organisation; from maximizing investments in technology to improving productivity and competitiveness of the organisation. Today, law firms commonly have in-house service desks that are unable to keep up with rapidly changing technologies and therefore, the increased threats.

Outsourced service desks can provide first-class support from the moment a new ticket is raised to the moment the ticket is closed. Most MSPs offer the option of remote or on-site support. A remote service desk allows you to hand over the responsibility of supporting and managing your end users to your MSP. As a result, your team can focus on managing the core environment and delivering IT initiatives. If you’d prefer to have your MSP’s support close by, you can use on-site support to manage your service desk at your office.

At Acora, we also offer IT Management as a Service (ITMaaS), a cloud-based IT Service Management solution based on ServiceNow. The solution exceeds best practices and provides a mature IT service platform for our client’s internal IT service desk needs. Rapid onboarding and ITIL-aligned service delivery capabilities are built into this industry-leading platform.

The Customer Experience

Delivering great customer service is key for brand likeability and reputation. Not only this, but the way customer support is delivered is also important. During times of heightened requests from customers, it is imperative to have a robust process in place that supports all types of escalations that will allow your team to deliver a first-class service. We understand the importance of being responsive rather than reactive to your customers.

Customer experience is critical to your business’ success. With end-user support contracts, you can optimise your service, boost productivity, and improve ROI by understanding how clients perceive your IT and putting their needs first. Most contracts are accompanied by Service Level Agreements (SLAs), which guarantee a certain level of service. SLAs are supportive when clarifying objectives and customer guidelines.

At Acora, we offer an Experience Level Agreement (XLA) service, a step up from your average SLA service. Our Led by Experience service was developed to meet the needs of users and organisations in today’s digital world. XLAs correlate technical and sentiment data to improve overall experience. Instead of waiting for users to raise tickets, XLAs are proactively monitoring the user experience continuously in real-time, addressing any issues head on.

Adopting New Technologies

We recognise that contending with the newest legal technology (accompanied by educating your employees on it) is a significant task that may not always put your customers first. This is often the reason why law firms, particularly those with outdated infrastructure, will decide to outsource their IT requirements. Nonetheless, introducing new business activities, or adapting existing ones, will almost inevitably require outsourcing your IT services.

Professional services, such as IT consulting, the cloud and project services can help ease your company’s adaptation of new technologies or transition to an online environment. The right IT guidance will help you leverage the ideal technology for your business. You will also be able to facilitate, monitor and deliver innovative technology solutions from a cloud-based environment.

Providing professional services to clients that supports business challenges and drives revenue growth is an important offering for our team at Acora. Our services provide highly scalable, reliable and best-in-class IT operations. Our consulting and project management expertise makes it possible for us to deliver technology that drives innovation within your business.

Flexible IT Support Contracts for law firms

At Acora, we understand that outsourcing your IT may be a long-term goal for many law firms, but it may not yet be attainable. This may be due to budget constraints or reservations about how the alignment between an outsourced IT provider may align with your business goals. If more time is needed to consider outsourcing your IT, flexible support contracts can provide you a short-term reinforcement. This will allow you to evaluate the operational resilience of an outsourcing IT company and give real insight into how valuable the service could be to your law firm. More specifically, with a service like staff augmentation, one offered at Acora, you can hire external employees that will work closely with your staff to educate them and meet your project requirements in the meantime.

Additionally, your law firm may be interested in a short-term service desk, such as the Service Desk Boost service at Acora. The service is delivered by a team of experienced support analysts with 24/7 coverage. Through a secure connection to your Service Desk, they will replicate the exact environment of your service, including your toolset directly. Once they are integrated into your Service Desk team, they will handle an agreed volume of tickets within agreed-upon hours of operation.

Potential Threats

Aligning practices across service desk teams and technology can be a challenging process. Failure of this can cause operational, reputational and financial problems for the business, raising real concerns for your firm. Although these are real concerns your law firm may have, it is important to do your research beforehand and to maintain effective communication with your potential managed service provider. It is also imperative to allocate an appropriate budget for your outsourced IT as we encourage law firms to see outsourced IT as an investment rather than a cost.

By defining your expectations with your MSP, you can develop a strong partnership that will encourage your law firm to grow and develop. Every MSP contract is slightly different, but an effective one that delivers what you need will focus on reporting, preparing your business for change and SLAs.

If you would like to read more about the outsourced IT services that Acora offers, please head to our services or contact our team today.