Today’s law firms rely on information technology (IT) for a significant portion of their work. From collaborating on documents with drafting technology to collecting secure e-signatures, legal professionals need the proper hardware and software to get their jobs done.
However, staffing and managing an entire IT department can be difficult. Luckily, working with a managed IT service provider bypasses this challenge.
Today, we’ll examine managed IT services for the legal industry, explaining what they are and how they specifically benefit law firms.
What Are Managed IT Services?
Managed IT services involve outsourcing daily IT responsibilities—data security, help desk support, software updates, testing, data backup, etc.—to a trusted third-party team of experts. They may provide on-premise or cloud-based solutions to ensure your firm’s network is reliable and secure.
For law firms, this is especially important to protect:
- Document security and collaboration
- Legal research
- Contracts (collecting and managing e-signatures)
- Workflow automation
Having the right hardware and software on board is crucial for law firms to remain competitive and compliant. By outsourcing this work, you can save resources for more growth and revenue-generating opportunities and leave cybersecurity to the experts.
Plus, managed IT services can help abate common tech challenges facing the legal industry.
Common IT Challenges for Law Firms
Law firms can experience many IT hurdles, chief among them being:
- Cybersecurity: Digital health and security is a major concern for the legal industry, especially as cyberattacks grow exponentially in this space. Today, firms are tasked with maintaining network security across devices and locations when managing a hybrid or remote workforce.
- Adopting Cloud Technology: When firms rely on legacy software, making the switch to the cloud can be not only time consuming but also expensive.
- Lack of Training: Lawyers are trained on the law, not IT infrastructure. Limited resources and IT expertise also prevent firms from making the leap to more sophisticated tech.
Your team doesn’t have to navigate these IT complexities on their own. There’s a better solution—managed IT for law firms.
5 Major Benefits of Managed IT Services for Law Firms
Working with a managed IT service provider offers several critical benefits for law firms.
1. Enhance Efficiency and Productivity
Attorneys and legal professionals shouldn’t have to spend time fielding technology issues—they’ve got billables to focus on. By investing in managed IT services, law firms streamline their operations.
For example, a managed IT services partner could help your firm implement, update, or upgrade your firm’s software. Instead of tasking an internal team member with the job, a team of IT professionals can ensure the system meets your business and security needs, set up a plan, and keep it running smoothly.
In addition, managed IT services can help automate routine tasks such as billing and contracts. By incorporating efficient IT protocols within a law firm, legal professionals can spend more time on client services and less on data and software.
2. Improve Data Security and Compliance
As mentioned earlier, cybersecurity is a growing concern for law firms, especially given the sensitive nature of the data they store, including valuable employee data (health info, Social Security numbers, insurance) and critical business information (mergers and acquisitions, patent filings, or personal client information).
Working with a managed IT service provider makes maintaining the most robust security measures easy. They pinpoint the network environment's needs and address obstacles such as handling regular software updates and compliance with legal regulations.
They can also help by completing a comprehensive security assessment, showcasing your firm’s vulnerabilities and enhancement opportunities. This information isn’t just useful for your firm; it’s essential for safeguarding client trust and even maintaining certain types of insurance. Interestingly, 50% of large law firms reported having a client or potential client ask to see a firm’s security documents and processes. With a managed IT service provider, you’ll have these resources at your fingertips.
3. Better Cost Management and Scalability
Outsourcing IT management for law firms has significant financial benefits, such as ensuring that monthly IT costs are consistent and predictable, reducing the need for extra in-house IT staff.
Outsourcing IT management also benefits law firms of all sizes because the services scale with the firm. Based on how many attorneys you have in the firm or how many clients you take on, your IT needs vary, and working with a managed IT service provider allows you to adapt to these increased needs easily.
4. Stronger Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Reliable backup and disaster recovery solutions are important to keep a business running. Law firms can build IT resiliency by working with a managed service provider.
SymQuest takes proactive and reactive measures to ensure a law firm’s IT resiliency, including MRA, encryption, vulnerability testing, data protection processes, and a robust business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plan. These plans allow law firms to quickly recover from hardware failure, ransomware attacks, and other catastrophic events.
By choosing the right managed IT service provider, law firms can rest assured that the network will be up and running when they need it most.
5. Stronger System Availability
Data access and continuity is critical for legal professionals.
With a managed IT service provider, law firms can securely access their data from anywhere, whether they are in the office, at court, or visiting a client on-site.
Experience the Benefits of Managed IT Services
Outsourcing IT management for a law firm is beneficial in terms of productivity, security, cost, and business continuity. Finding a trusted managed IT partner can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for.
During your search, prioritize a partner that’s transparent in providing all the information you need to understand the type of service most suitable to your firm. Get in touch with an IT expert today to take the next step towards outsourcing your firm’s IT needs.