Partner Article

Why should law firms consider outsourcing their IT

Gone are the days when legal firms could afford to employ entire IT departments dedicated to supporting their systems. In 2013 firms and their staff must be focused on their core legal work to achieve efficiency and growth. IT is essential but not core just like utilities in your office – electricity is essential but it’s not likely that you own your own power plant! With your IT systems entrusted to an external provider, your firm and its staff will be free to focus on their core legal work, achieving new levels of efficiency and client service. Here are a few benefits of the model:

• All the software products you need, all the time. With hosted IT solutions your entire desktop is hosted on secure servers and delivered through your Internet connection along with all the programs required- from Microsoft Word and Excel to Outlook and case management systems. This option will enable you to have the latest software versions available at all times as updates are applied automatically.
• Fixed costs. Especially during a period of austerity, an element of certainty in your overheads can allow for accurate budgeting and cash flow planning. Through a hosted solution, you pay fixed monthly costs- based on the number of users (fee earners in your practice)- avoiding the unexpected expenses often associated with the maintenance of an IT infrastructure.
• Business continuity. With time-sensitive processes and clients placing a lot of trust in their solicitor to deal with important matters, legal firms are amongst those businesses where a solid BC policy is most critical. Hosted IT solutions enable you to provide your staff with remote working capabilities – if weather or some other unforeseen events means they can’t make it to the office.
• Disaster recovery. Disasters are (thankfully) rare but you need to be prepared for the worst. Reputable hosted IT providers like ourselves offer a secure, climate-controlled data centre, regular back-ups and off-site storage of the backed-up data coupled with remote-working capabilities, so your firm can recover quickly should disaster strike.

According to industry commentators, cloud computing should be seen as an utility- a resource that while not core to your business, is instrumental to its proper functioning. Managing it yourself implies investing critical resources in something that, at the end of the day, is not the raison d’être of your practice.

Discover the other benefits associated with outsourcing your IT department by downloading our complimentary white paper. This will also show you how other law firms like yourselves make use of DPSCloud, our hosted IT solution, to enjoy the benefits of technology without having to manage it.

Please click on the link below to request your copy:

http://info.dpssoftware.co.uk/cloud-computing-for-law-firms

About DPS Software

DPS Software are one of the longest standing legal IT solutions providers in the UK, catering to the needs of law firms small and large across the country. DPSCloud is a fully-managed hosted IT solution, offering a cost-effective and scalable network hardware infrastructure and IT management strategy to your law firm. From servers to personal computers, anti-virus solutions to practice management software, we provide ‘all things IT’ required by your law firm.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by DPS Software .