Here Are A Few Reasons Why Your Law Firm Needs Managed IT Services
With so much to prioritize and complete on a daily basis, we know that operating a law firm can be challenging. Is your IT a part of that challenge? It doesn’t have to be…
Why Should IT Be A Priority For Your Law Firm?
It has quickly become common knowledge in the IT industry that a fully managed solution is the only service model that really works for legal firms like yours, with a range of proactive support features helping to ensure that your business technology is always running optimally.
Poorly managed IT will quickly lead to a range of consequences:
1. Impermanent Solutions
When your IT support charges by the hour, they’re encouraged to focus on billable hours. It doesn’t benefit them if your tech is working the way it should. You could find yourself repeatedly calling them to help with a problem that never quite gets resolved.
2. Rapid Escalation
A minor computer problem can quickly turn into a disaster. This is especially true today with the increase in cybercrime like ransomware. What starts out with just one malicious email can spread throughout your entire network, locking down your data, and your operations.
3. Cost Of Downtime
A non-managed IT services provider will start charging you after you’ve already lost work time – time spent on repairs or updates can add up fast.
This is why other law firms are opting for managed support, which can be delivered by an IT company like Essential Solutions. In fact, investment in IT by law firms is growing 25% faster than spending on the firm as a whole.
What are you waiting for?
How Will Your Law Benefit From Managed IT Services?
Much of what a law firm does is reliant on technology, whether it be maintaining records, scheduling court dates or communicating by email, so be sure that you don’t set yourself up for failure with inadequate IT services.
Fully managed IT services are generally considered to be the most effective model of IT support offered right now.
In practice, instead of waiting for something to go wrong and stepping in to correct it, an IT company that provides IT services takes on all the responsibilities of a traditional in-house IT department. This means working to prevent issues from happening in the first place.
1. Protect Your Firm
Security is one of the most important aspects of technology. While technology evolves and data expands, the number of ways your IT network can be compromised increases.
But to make sure your offsite server is secure, it must be continuously monitored and assessed. Your IT company can provide security services, advise you on the credentials of vendors, and conduct ongoing risk assessments to identify network vulnerabilities.
Working with a managed IT services company, you get access to cybersecurity technologies and best practices that are often limited to enterprise organizations. Whereas affording enterprise anti-virus solutions, advanced email security software, and end-user awareness training would be cost-prohibitive on an independent basis, doing so with a managed IT services company is much more cost-effective.
2. Liaise With Vendors
Any IT system is a complicated and often expensive investment. From budgeting to installation to ongoing maintenance, operating the hardware and software necessary to support a business is a daunting task.
That’s not even taking into account the large number of vendors that you have to choose from. The research for external service alone is enough to frustrate anyone that would rather just have their IT infrastructure meet their business needs.
That is just for IT. What about communicating with vendors in other areas of your firm (copiers, alarm systems, phones, etc.)?
As they’re the ones delivering technologies integrated into your IT environment, you need to make sure they’re being managed properly.
Your IT support should make use of every industry connection they have in communicating with third-party vendors on your behalf. Whether they are software developers, Internet service providers, copier or telephone companies, IT support should represent you to get the best solutions, products, and services for your business.
3. Boost Your Firm’s Efficiency
Downtime is bad for business. Whether you agree or not, it’s a fact – just a couple years ago, small businesses with up to 50 million in annual revenue reported that just a single hour of downtime cost them $8,600.
The main cost of downtime is not the fix itself, it’s the halt in your firm’s productivity. If an IT-related or natural disaster occurs and takes critical systems offline, employees will be unable to complete their tasks, yet your normal business expenses will carry on.
During that time, you incur all the expenses of running a firm without the revenue you would usually generate. Even if downtime does not grind everything to a halt, some of your staff will have to divert themselves from their normal work to mitigate the problem – again reducing productivity. Furthermore, while your systems are down, you can’t deliver services or sell products to current and potential new clients.
The fact is that downtime is often the result of poorly support IT. The best way to approach downtime prevention is proactively – you need to keep an eye out for system issues that can spiral into total stoppages. You need to implement backup technologies and best practices to prevent outages. You need to enhance your cybersecurity to protect against cybercrime.
Unfortunately, that’s a lot for you to handle on your own, especially when you have other work to see to. That’s why a Managed IT Services company can be so helpful. They’ll provide 24/7 active monitoring of your systems, business continuity best practices and cybersecurity services that will keep costly downtime at a minimum.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you think about technology in the legal industry. Your opinion, and what you do at your own firm, won’t change the powerful trend of digital transformation overtaking your line of work.
That’s why you need expert assistance from Essential Solutions. We can apply our experience and expertise to your firm’s IT, managing it from end to end and preventing problems from occurring.
Like this article? Check out the following blogs to learn more:
Important Cybersecurity Warning
Reclaim Productivity with These Microsoft Excel Secret Shortcuts
