InsideLegal

Legal Influencers Weigh In On Legal Document Management

The hype and buzz surrounding artificial intelligence, lawyer robots, machine learning and predictive analytics in Legal is often times unbearable. Especially, when compared to the legal reality that this type of early adopter, nouveau tech is still in its infancy. Contrast this to document management systems (DMS), one of the most traditional, standard, yet mission critical applications within any law firm.

In this edition of "Legal Influencers Weigh In" we go under the hood with DMS. Specifically, we will drill down and deep on a recently completed DMS implementation survey and share commentary from some of legal's sharpest DMS minds. Also, anyone reading our corresponding feature ["Making Your DMS Migration (Relatively) Painless"] in the July/August issue of Legal Management will hopefully be able to connect the dots when it comes to DMS success and failure.

On premise, client-server DM systems have been around legal for 30 years and even native cloud-based solutions date back to 1999. Yet, still, after all this time one of the biggest challenges law firms as well as their legal technology business partners face is successfully navigating the DMS implementation, be it a new purchase, swap out or existing system upgrade.

Problems arise and DMS implementation survival is at stake, whether implemented internally by the firm; in collaboration with a business partner; fully outsourced to a DMS implementation partner or left up to the DMS vendor and their full service (from sale to implementation, training and firm ‘go live’) delivery. Why is that? What forces are in play that makes the DMS upgrade/DMS implementation the perpetual pain in legal IT’s, and especially firm users’, you know what?

Who better to ask then the experts? For the purposes of this post and my Legal Management DMS feature, I reached out to the leading minds (and hands) when it comes to legal DMS implementations, migrations, upgrades and the like. Our panel consisted of 21 experts, with a total of 2,848 law firm DMS projects under their belts, representing 16 of the leading DMS implementation, support, training, design, configuration and software solution providers. We asked the panel to complete a short survey focused on DMS deployment types; DMS implementation provider selection; tips for successfully navigating a DMS upgrade; and top reasons why DMS implementations (still) fail.

Looking toward the cloud
In order to provide an adequate technology baseline, we asked our experts, who collectively serve a broad range of small, medium, large, mega and global firms, to state the type of DMS projects they had been involved with over the past 12 months. 95% had worked on cloud-based DMS implementations followed by 71% involved with on-premise DMS to cloud DMS upgrades versus 57% busy with on-premise implementations. The bottom-line ...  law firms of all shapes and sizes are embracing the cloud, especially when it comes to DMS.

DMS selection survival
Selecting the right DMS service provider is nothing to scoff at. Its critical firms do their due diligence and ask the important, sometimes uncomfortable questions before it’s too late. According to our expert panel, the top five attributes and qualities to look for in a DMS implementation partner included: reputation (86%); peer feedback/what are other firms saying (76%); track record (71%): overall value (67%) and cloud experience (57%). In addition, several respondents cited the importance of finding a technology and business partner that is knowledgeable in the areas of Information Governance; change management; system design; user experience; cloud-based security, and possess the technology certifications and credentials to back this all up.

DMS implementation success
When asked to provide vital tips for navigating a successful DMS implementation, some of our experts focused on the importance of project planning, overall communication between firm and business partner teams, and achieving executive project buy-in. Kraft Kennedy’s Brian Podolsky, it's NY office Practice Leader, takes the notion of buy-in a step further: “Be sure to involve your attorneys and staff in some of the user interface and workspace designs, to ensure their workflows are considered and their ideas are heard.”

Others stressed the importance of user adoption, DMS usability and designing DM systems with adoption at the forefront. “With cloud services, the focus is now on designing for adoption and getting full value from the platform,” stated Joshua Fireman, Fireman & Company’s founder/president, and a recognized thought leader in areas such as knowledge management, change management and system design. “System design should involve IT and KM and include input directly from lawyers.”

Related to user adoption is user training. Most survey responses mentioned the need for training, pre, go live, and post, and the necessity to increasingly plan and budget for additional training to support the firm’s DMS ‘go live’.

Jason Scott, Senior Business Consultant with Tikit, and a track record of 200+ DMS firm implementations across the globe says it best: “Plan it, design it, build it, test it, communicate to the business what 'it' is, learn it and then roll it out.” He also emphasis the importance of having clear objectives going into any migration project ... "there should be a structured process in place to manage the implementation with clear objectives. and at the end, ensuring these objectives have been met. This might sound trite but you’d be surprised how often objectives don’t match up." 

Matthew Marcinek, DMS Team Manager & Solutions Architect at All Covered, feels strongly about leveraging data found in existing systems and analyzing the data at hand in order to make informed decisions. “Above all, perform a pilot migration with the firm's data. This will allow the firm to see the results of their design and the migration process to confirm it is what they expect.” Marcinek agrees with Fireman regarding the importance of design: "The most important step in any DMS Implementation is the Design."

Mike Sanders, Senior Solutions Expert with NetDocuments, has 200+ DMS implementations under his belt. His advice ... "become familiar with best practices of the new system and how that may change some of your current processes." Beyond that, test, test, test before going Live." According to Sanders’ colleague JB Trexler, NetDocuments' Senior Director of Professional Services, DMS implementation success is typically based on … “1. Project support and communication from the top-down; 2.Know your data and clean it up/plan accordingly; and 3. Spend the correct amount of time on workflow and security.”

Failure to communicate

As evidenced by our expert conversations and survey feedback, communication breakdowns are more times than not the source of DMS projects gone badly. According to Jeff Alluri, Principal, VP Consulting with Element Technologies, DMS needs and the overall business case are not always clearly spelled out. “The message as to "why" we are choosing a DMS needs to be clearly understood by everyone within the law firm. With that being said, communication both internally at the law firm and externally with the selected DMS vendor is vital, and many times one or both of these are dropped or there is simply not enough of it.”

Jennifer McComb, a consultant with Software Analysis Corporation, also doubles down on the importance of communication. “Lack of communication is reason #1, #2 and #3 why DMS implementations often fail. Remember, your implementation person can't work in a vacuum. Make sure the people who will be actually using the product have a say in its setup. And, remember, implementation doesn't end at go-live. Be available for follow up.”

Another “why DMS implementations fail’ argument made by several of the surveyed DMS experts focused on the lack of change management and the overall perception that “we are dealing with a technology not a business issue.” 

Adds Michael Georgopoulos, eSentio’s Director of Document and Information Management Systems: "IT-led projects focus only on the technical conversion issues” making the point that a myopic, IT only view might make it more difficult to affect broader change. Viewing it only as a technology project fails to see the larger picture of how the system impacts business for the entire firm. It can also make another critical factor for success that much more difficult — leadership and staff buy-in.

Finally, lack of planning, regardless of where it starts, can bring down even the savviest and brightest technologists and product experts, and, most cutting-edge technology. 

The future is now

As I wrote in Legal Management, so much of what is wrong with DMS projects is most definitely also what’s right. Don't cut corners, plan accordingly, create a 'buy-in' culture, test until  the cows come home, (over) communicate, and when you think everyone's 'up to speed' on the DMS, offer up more user training. and more hands-on DMS KM transfer.

2016 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey Released!

International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), and InsideLegal, the insider’s guide to doing business in legal technology, today released the findings of the “2016 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey” (survey). The survey, which is distributed to all ILTA member law firms, includes detailed technology budget data; updated information on firms’ purchasing influences and patterns; legal IT department trends and challenges; and expansive sections on specific legal technology purchases – both last year’s and those planned for the upcoming year. 2016 survey findings were presented to the vendors at the ILTA/InsideLegal’s Vendor Education Program at ILTA’s Annual Conference, ILTACON, taking place at the Gaylord National Harbor, August 28-September 1, 2016.  

2016 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey highlights include:

BUDGETS

• 53% of all respondents cited increased budgets, a 12% growth rate compared to 2015. 39% of Small Firms (1-49 attys), 38% of Medium Firms (50-199 attys) and 23% of Large Firms (200+ attys) represent the increase.
• 60% of all respondents spend between 1-3.99% of total firm revenue on technology.
• 24% of respondents spend between 4-5.99% of total firm revenue on technology.
• 22% of all respondents spend between $5,001-$8,000 per attorney on technology, followed by 20% who indicated spending $8,001-$11,000. 77% of survey respondents spend less than $17,000 on technology per attorney.

PURCHASING

• The top five technology purchases in 2016 include: desktop hardware/PCs (61%); laptops/notebooks (59%); network upgrades/servers (53%); printers/multifunctional devices (44%); and antivirus/antispam/spyware software (44%).
• The ‘next five’ purchases include: Disaster Recovery/BC software & services (41%); security/network security/security assessment (40%); Smartphones (38%); cloud storage (34%); storage area networks (SAN) and telephone systems/upgrades (both 28%).
• Microsoft Office 365 purchases increased to 16% (from 13%).
• 17% of survey respondents purchased analytics software within the last 12 months, an 11% increase over annual purchases in 2015.
• OS upgrades: 32% of all respondents are planning to upgrade within the next 12 months versus 16% in 2015.
• Cloud storage: 25% of all respondents are planning to upgrade within the next 12 months versus 15% in 2015.
• Newly added application/service areas included security awareness training services, software and content (27%); security monitoring services for the network (27%); and artificial intelligence technology (3%).
• Internet research, peer recommendations, ILTA conferences, consultant recommendations and ILTA e-Groups are the top five influences when it comes to making legal IT purchasing decisions.

OUTSOURCING, TRENDS, CHALLENGES

• 70% of all survey respondents outsource printer repair/maintenance; website design and services (69%), followed by security assessment/penetration testing services (59%).
• 11% of respondents are currently evaluating artificial intelligence technologies.
• When asked how AI will influence legal, respondents mentioned eDiscovery (71%), document automation (41%), legal research (41%), contract analysis/automation (34%), and case/outcome predictions (24%).
• According to survey respondents, most firm BYOD policies cover Smartphones (68%) and tablets (57%) with only 24% covering laptops.
• Firms’ top IT challenges include security management (67%), user adoption/lack of training (42%), risk management/compliance (40%), and email management (39%).
• 80% of this year’s respondents reported that they use outside technology consultants to assist with some aspect of firm operations, technology and infrastructure.

The entire 2016 survey report can also be downloaded at www.InsideLegal.com. For questions and comments regarding the analysis and results, please contact Jobst Elster.

ILTACON Vendors - Don't Miss out on our 13th Annual ILTA/InsideLegal Vendor Education Program

ILTACON 2016 is upon us... and another ILTACON conference also means an opportunity for us to offer a series of educational sessions to the ILTACON exhibitor community. InsideLegal has been partnering with ILTA for the past 12 years to produce the annual ILTA/InsideLegal Vendor Education Program. Below are the details for the 2016 program being held at the Gaylord National Harbor, Maryland, on Monday, August 29th. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to JoAnna Forshee with name, title, company and email address for each participant as space is limited. Below is information on the program.

What:     13th Annual ILTA/InsideLegal Vendor Education Program
When:    Monday, August 29th, 1:30-4 pm (feel free to attend entire program or a portion)
Where:   Gaylord National, Potomac 1 (Ballroom Level/Conference Side) [Map to Potomac 1]

Here's a detailed description of the program:

1:30-2:15p   ILTA Vendor Business Meeting
This session will include an opportunity to meet the ILTA staff and Board, receive an update on conference activities, and learn additional ways to work with ILTA throughout the year.
Faculty - Peggy Wechsler, ILTA Program Director

2:15-2:45p   InsideLegal Market Flash: 15 Tips for promoting your company/leveraging market(ing) resources
We know how valuable your time is on-site at ILTA, so this rapid fire session will pack in industry statistics and legal marketing information. The program will include topics such as: legal market statistics; the one thing EVERY legal vendor should do…and it’s free; where to get marketing research; stats on purchasing budgets and trends; working with the new legal media landscape; and content marketing insights. Walk away with tips, tricks and legal resources you can use immediately.
Faculty - JoAnna Forshee, InsideLegal CEO & Jobst Elster, InsideLegal Head of Content & Legal Market Strategy

2:45-3:30p   Legal Media Panel – Meet the editors’ panel discussion - Moderated by InsideLegal
InsideLegal has assembled a cadre of well established and reputable legal technology editors to participate in this ever popular legal media panel session. Panelists will tell you how to work with the media to get coverage for your products/services including how to submit news, how to best pitch ideas; and best practices of effective media relations.
Panelists:

• Bob Ambrogi - LawSites Blog/Above the Law contributor
• Rob Ameerun - Legal IT Professionals/Legal IT Today
• Kristy Cole - ILTA Peer to Peer/ILTA Whitepapers
• Adam Schlagman - ALM LJN Cybersecurity & Strategy Newsletter
• Zach Warren - ALM Legaltech News
• Moderator – Jobst Elster, InsideLegal

3:30-4p   2016 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey Release - Purchasing Trends of ILTA Law Firms
Last but not least, we will be reviewing the results from this year’s ILTA member technology purchasing survey. The report includes data from more than 200 ILTA law firms of all sizes including: what percentage of firm revenue they spend on technology; what they purchased last year; what they will be purchasing next year; did their budgets increase or decrease; what vendors gave exceptional customer service; etc. Session attendees receive a hard copy report. [View 2015 Survey here]
Faculty - JoAnna Forshee, InsideLegal CEO & Jobst Elster, InsideLegal Head of Content & Legal Market Strategy

 

Complete your setup early Monday and make sure to join us for the program. To reserve your spot, don’t forget to RSVP to JoAnna Forshee with name, title, company and email address for each participant as space is limited.

 

ILTA Law Firms' Technology Purchases Broken Down by Firm Size

At ILTACON 2015 we released the 10th annual ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey which highlights the purchasing and budgeting habits of ILTA member law firms. One of the most popular questions included in the survey each year covers the technology purchases (by application areas) that participating firms made 'within the last 12 months'.

While the main survey report includes the totals for each application area, we've broken it out further by firm size and included it below in Chart and Table format. This is the first time this data drill-down has been released. You can visit our dedicated survey page for more background and details on the annual report.

The 2016 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey is currently being administered to ILTA law firm members with the results being released on Monday, August 29th at ILTACON.

 

Click for Chart View

           

Click for Table View

ILTA's 2015 Technology Survey Published: Security is King, Queen and Pawn

In last December’s post announcing the 2014 ILTA Technology survey (ILTA Tech Survey), we described it as an early holiday gift to the legal community and we feel the same way this year. The data is rich and deep, plus the 269 page report arrives on Cyber Monday, a week or so ahead of last year’s findings. The 2015 ILTA Tech Survey is complimentary to ILTA Members and Sponsors and non-members can purchase the digital file for $500.

In ILTA's 2015 Tech Survey executive summary, survey volunteer lead and Sedgwick CIO Todd Corham highlights the importance of survey questions and analysis that are “less about specific technologies and more about challenges, governance and forecasting.” He goes on to say that these types of questions “deliver the best insights into what legal IT professionals are thinking.” In other words, what keeps law firm CIOs up at night? 

We wholeheartedly agree with Todd’s assessment about the vitality of legal technology trends and peer ‘mind share’ questions as part of such a survey. In fact, for the last decade we have co-produced the ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey, the annual look at ILTA members' technology purchasing and budgeting that serves as a compliment to the annual ILTA Tech Survey by delivering additional insights into technology trends, technology purchasing behavior, and ‘top of mind’ legal IT issues. These go beyond percentage points and survey metrics and really touch on the core topics and concerns today’s legal IT professionals are grappling with. To help ‘visualize’ this synergy, we have added notes to certain ILTA Tech Survey findings that are also addressed in the ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey to shed a different or enhanced light on specific topics… Enjoy!

Let’s talk numbers. The 2015 ILTA Tech Survey reports the input of 420 firms representing more than 88,000 attorneys and 185,000 total users. ILTA law firm members with less than 150 attorneys make up 66% (277 firms) of total responses. The survey report includes 142 questions portioned into 13 separate focus areas from ‘Annoyances and Trends’ to ‘Technology Spending’ to ‘Vendors’. The report includes all responses as well as correlated data (hence the survey length) broken out into segments by firm size.

Ever since the 2008 economic crash, we have been looking to re-define the current state of the legal market, and as a profession, have coined ‘the new normal’ as this evolution. Frivolous spending is out; gargantuan budgets are cut; less staff are supporting more legal professionals; clients are more demanding and in control of the client-outside counsel relationship; and firms are being pushed and themselves pushing to get the most out of technology … the applications and solutions they already own as well new acquisitions.

As noted in the ILTA Tech Survey, change is the only constant of the new normal, as underscored by the shift in strategic and tactical technology priorities to what oft appears to be a singular focus on security.

As to be expected, security is the prevalent theme for the ILTA Tech Survey and this recap. The ‘Business Continuity and Security’ section of the survey includes 12 specific law firm security questions (ranging from encryption to security awareness training and assessments) as well as others that touch on protecting the firm and its clients from disasters and outside evil doers. Overall, we counted 33 survey questions (23% of entire survey) pertaining to firm security-related topics including privacy/monitoring technologies (e.g., metadata tools, ethical wall tech, website access filters); email (e.g., email policies, email storage, email anti-virus/spam filters and encryption); mobility and remote access. Here’s what stood out:

• Encryption on laptop hard drives (+10%), in email (+12%), on removable media (+8%), and on smartphones (+13%) is in high demand as an integral component of data security.
• Mobile Device Management (MDM) is now mainstream… There was an 8 point gain this year in MDM deployments with 52% of respondents using this technology.
• The three biggest law firm security challenges cited in the ILTA Tech Survey include ‘balancing security with usability’ (31%), ‘user acceptance and behavior’ (24%), and a tie for ‘user education and awareness’ (22%) and ‘firm culture’ (22%). We also observed that ‘client security requirements’ (14%), ‘BYOD/mobile devices’ (12%) and especially ‘cloud apps/data security’ (4%) actually ranked much lower compared to recent related hype and media coverage.
• Security awareness training programs continue to gain momentum with 49% now having them in place, including 86% of law firms with more than 350 attorneys. 79% of these programs are developed internally (compared to 86% in 2014) with the trend toward more outsourcing in this area.
• Other security measures firms are doubling down on include ethical walls, which averaged 88% usage among firms with 350+ attorneys, intrusion prevention systems (54%, up 14% from 2014) and intrusion detection systems (52%, up 6% from 2014).

Here are notable ILTA Tech Survey highlights (beyond security) based on major adoption shifts and differences to 2014 survey data:

• 31% (up from 18% in 2014) use Windows 2012 Server as their firm’s primary server OS while 68% (down from 80%) are still running Windows 2008.
• 73% indicated Windows 7 (64-bit) is their primary desktop OS.
• 27% are evaluating and/or testing the Microsoft Surface Pro at the firm/in the IT department. 
• 81% of respondents manage ethical walls (with third party software or as part of an existing DMS or other solution) compared to 65% last year.
• In terms of technology training, 32% use a learning management system (LMS), up 4%; 42% offer e-learning; and 50% provide remote training for firm users.
• 42% use third party systems to help automate business workflow processes (e.g., new business intake, new hires). This is down 8% from 2014.  
• 41% use a mobile time entry/recording solution.
• 25% indicate using a ‘passive, automated’ time capture tool for billable activity.
• 51% use business intelligence (BI)/financial analysis software compared to 53% in 2014.
• 77% of respondents have not implemented any specific knowledge management (KM) systems. The 11% that are using a commercial KM system cited SharePoint, enterprise search and legal research-specific solutions.
• 42% said mailbox size is the biggest email support challenge; only 29% have a stated email destruction policy for mail left in the inbox; and 69% filter outgoing email messages for inappropriate content, viruses, spam, etc.
• 52% of firms have ‘BYOD’ smartphone policies in place, up 5% from 2014.
• 46% use enterprise social networking tools (e.g., IM, chat) for internal or client communications.
• 52% indicated using SharePoint, primarily as an intranet (40%), collaboration tool (18%), as an extranet (12%) and for custom apps (16%) and workflows (12%).
• 51% are using third-party technologies to enhance firm SharePoint solutions (up 3% from 2014).

In terms of KM system responses, the low KM technology adoption rate does not surprise us since there is no one technology or solution that addresses firm KM. KM in law firms is rapidly evolving and becoming much more of a strategic ‘way we do business’ and ‘how we differentiate’ as opposed to a technology platform. From a knowledge aggregation, retrieval and information use/sharing standpoint, SharePoint and third party tools are gaining noticeable favor. Also, in looking at the numbers and based on conversations with vendors and ILTA members, the enhanced enterprise search functionality included in SharePoint 2013 is providing firms with a much needed Search boost, (re)opening the door for SharePoint as a collaboration and now search technology option in legal.

The ILTA Tech Survey indicates that budget numbers show signs of improvement, possibly due to the recognition that security programs need a boost. To that end, Todd Corham cites the recent Citibank survey which indicates that at large law firms, up to 1.9% of gross annual revenues are being spent on security. The 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing survey results provide additional budget drill downs and tell us that 57% of all ILTA member firms responding to the survey spend 2-4% of total firm revenue on technology. While firms with 200+ attorneys are increasingly spending more of revenue on technology – the biggest change was within the 5-6% range, up 18% from last year. Again, according to the 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Survey, 44% indicated that budgets remained the same, the highest percentage since the inception of this survey in 2006. The ILTA/InsideLegal survey results show 47% of firm budgets stayed the same. This is in alignment with 2015 ILTA Tech Survey responses.

Lastly we quote a section from the ILTA Tech Survey executive summary… “The view by Management of IT ‘as an expense’ was down by 5 points this year, although almost that entire amount moved to ‘Revenue neutral.’ The response that IT ‘contributes to revenue growth’ was up only 2 points, but we'll take this as a small step in the right direction. As IT departments work to meet client demands on security, there may be some increased understanding that we are here to make our firms competitive, bolster revenue growth and keep clients assured that we deserve their business.”

There are many ways to measure value, focusing on financials and related metrics is just one of them. This should be kept in mind with the ‘how does firm’s top management primarily view the IT Department.’ As to be expected, there’s a positive correlation between firm size and management’s view of the IT function; the larger the firm, the more prevalent the perception of IT as strategic and revenue-focused.

The aforementioned value reminder should also be heeded as it relates to the metrics, statistics and findings included in the 2015 ILTA Tech Survey. Data is informative and can be valuable but putting too much emphasis on such survey data and considering it gospel is equally dangerous. Skip Lohmeyer, CIO at Parker Poe, and our co-presenter on our ILTACON session on how to best leverage our annual ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey, said it best when explaining his use of the data. “The survey provides good information, but is one of many tools and data points I use as part of our budgeting and technology spending evaluation process. Some of the data is very useful, so I merge that with data from other sources to paint a comprehensive picture.”

The complete 2015 ILTA Technology Survey is available on ILTA's site. Current ILTA Members can access the 2015 ILTA Technology Survey in the Community site (login required) and Non-Members may purchase a copy from their online store ($500 for a digital copy).

ALA Interviews InsideLegal's Jobst Elster on Law Firm Purchasing Trends

Listen to the Podcast

Recently, the Association of Legal Administrator's (ALA) Legal Management Talk Podcast invited InsideLegal to share some highlights from the results of our 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey (Survey). Since 2006, we have partnered with the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) to produce the annual survey examining the technology budgets and purchasing trends of ILTA member law firms. The Survey includes detailed technology budget data; updated information on firms’ purchasing influences and patterns; legal IT department trends and challenges; and expansive sections on specific legal technology purchases – both last year’s and those planned for the upcoming year. The 2015 Survey marks the 10th edition of this ILTA/InsideLegal collaboration. 

Check out ALA's other podcasts and subscribe here. 

ILTA Member Law Firms Listed 96 Technology Consultants They've Worked With

In the 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey we asked ILTA member law firms to list technology consultancies they work with. Given that 92% of respondents indicated using outside consultants, we anticipated an interesting, yet telling response pool.

The official question asked: "What national/international technology consultants have you worked with?" Note: This question addresses which consultancies ILTA member firms have worked with only. It is not an endorsement or ranking based on service or quality of experience.  

The open-ended question yielded mentions of 96 consultancies (all listed below), but these first four consultancies received the most mentions by far, at least 7 each. 

CDW  •  HBR Consulting  •  Kraft Kennedy  •  Project Leadership Associates

The remaining consultancies (in alphabetical order):

• Accenture  •  Accudata Systems  •  Acrowire  •  Adaptive Solutions  •  Advanced Legal Systems  •  Advisex  •  All Covered  •  Animate  •  Aurora Consulting  •  Aurora North Software  •  BlackBox  •  Chesapeake NetCraftsmen  •  Cisco  •  Compuquip Technologies  •  Computer Packages Inc.  •  Core BTS  •  Cornerstone IT  •  Datalink  •  Dell  •  Dimension Data  •  DTI Global  •  eDocs  •  EIM  •  Electronic Evolutions  •  Elegrity  •  En Pointe  •  Ethan Group  •  Fulcrum GT  •  GCS Technologies  •  GDT  •  HP  •  HP Autonomy  •  HQ Network Solutions  •  HSV Consulting Group  •  ICorp  •  IDS  •  Information Services Group  •  Innovative Computing Systems  •  Interlink Cloud Advisors  •  IPM  •  IronBrick  •  ISC Consulting  •  iTeknique  •  iVision  •  Keno Kozie  •  Kernek Consulting  •  Lloyd Group  •  LockNet  •  McGladrey  •  MCPc  •  MGNSYS  •  Microsoft  •  mindSHIFT  •  MNP  •  Negsa  •  NetGain  •  Netrix  •  NSG  •  Olikka  •  Onward Tech  •  Optimal Networks  •  Peer Integrations  •  PhillyCom  •  Presidio  •  PwC  •  QED Inc.  •  RBRO Solutions  •  Respond Communications Plus  •  Rightpoint  •  RKON Technologies  •  Sagiss  •  Savvy Training  •  SHI  •  Softchoice  •  Stratuspeer  •  SyCom Technologies  •  Synergy  •  Tech Heads  •  Techlaw  •  The Harding Group  •  Tier 4 Advisors  •  Tikit  •  tmg-emedia  •  Traveling Coaches  •  Vaits  •  Varrow  •  Vertigrate  •  VLCM  •  Vox Mobile  •  WAMS  •  Waypoint Business Solutions  •  Younts Consulting •

 

ILTA Firms Recognize Vendors That Provide Exceptional Customer Support & Service

On Monday, we released the 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey which includes detailed technology budget data; updated information on firms’ purchasing influences and patterns; legal IT department trends and challenges; and expansive sections on specific legal technology purchases – both last year’s and those planned for the upcoming year. You can view the highlights here.

Each year, we look forward to seeing the results of the last question - an open-ended one asking "what legal vendors have provided you with exceptional customer support and service in the last year?" This year the 184 firms wrote in 101 unique responses. Four vendors received the most mentions, at least 7 write-ins each:

CDW   •   Dell   •   Mimecast   •   NetDocuments
 

The other vendors that were listed include (in alphabetical order):

•  AAC  •  Accudata  •  Aconsulting Ltd.  •  Acrowire  •  Adaptive Solutions  •  Aderant  •  Advanced Legal  •  Advisex  •  AirWatch  •  American River International  •  Aquipt-SSINET  •  Aurora North Software  •  Auto-Docs  •  Autonomy  •  Avaya  •  BEC Legal  •  BigHand  •  Case Data  •  CDW  •  Chesapeake Netcraftsmen  •  Cisco  •  Citrix  •  CommVault  •  Complete Computing  •  Computech  •  Comstar Technologies  •  ContactEase  •  Core BTS  •  CornerStone  •  Crowther  •  Datalink  •  Dell  •  DocAuto  •  Docs Corp  •  EIM International  •  Elite  •  Esquire Innovations  •  Ethan Group  •  FlexPrint  •  Fujitsu  •  Geocent  •  Hartman Executive Advisors  •  HBR Consulting  •  HQ Network Solutions  •  iConect  •  Infoware  •  InOutsource  •  Intapp  •  Integrated Data  •  Intelliteach  •  IPM  •  IPRO  •  Iridium  •  IT Simplify  •  iVision  •  Keno Kozie  •  Kraft & Kennedy  •  Kroll  •  Laser Options  •  LegalAnywhere  •  LexisNexis  •  Litera  •  LogicForce Computing  •  Matrix Logic  •  Microsoft  •  Mimecast  •  mindSHIFT  •  NetDocuments  •  Netrix  •  Network Solutions  •  NSG  •  Nuance  •  OpenText  •  PayneGroup  •  Project Leadership Associates  •  RBRO  •  Respond Communications Plus  •  Ricoh  •  Savvy Training  •  Semaphore Corp.  •  SHI  •  Sigma  •  Softchoice  •  Soundpath/Global Meet  •  Stratuspeer  •  Synergy  •  Tech Heads  •  ThomsonReuters  •  Tikit  •  Total Networks  •  Traveling Coaches  •  Unitrends  •  Veritrak  •  Vertigrate  •  viDesktop  •  VLCM  •  WAMS  •  Westlaw  •  Winscribe  •  World Software Corporation  •  Younts Consulting  •

Congratulations to all those recognized!

 

2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey

Download 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey

International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), and InsideLegal, the insider’s guide to doing business in legal technology, today released the findings of the “2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey” (survey). The survey, which is distributed to all ILTA member law firms, includes detailed technology budget data; updated information on firms’ purchasing influences and patterns; legal IT department trends and challenges; and expansive sections on specific legal technology purchases – both last year’s and those planned for the upcoming year. 2015 survey findings were presented to the vendors at the ILTA/InsideLegal’s Vendor Education Program at ILTA’s Annual Conference, ILTACON, taking place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, August 30-September 3, 2015. A special session highlighting the findings for ILTA members will be held on Thursday at 1:30 in Roman Ballroom IV. 

2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey highlights include:

• 57% of all respondents spend 2-4% of total firm revenue on technology. Within this range, Medium Firms (50-199 attorneys) represent 49%, the largest percentage.
• 77% of survey respondents spend less than $17,000 on technology per attorney including 100% Small Firms (less than 50 attorneys). 86% of Large Firms (200+ attorneys) spend more than $17,000 per attorney.
• 2015 top 5 tech purchases: Laptops/notebooks (67%); desktop hardware (60%); network upgrades (51%); printers/MFDs (49%); antivirus/antispam software (40%).
• Microsoft Office add-ons (macros, templates, etc.) declined to 6% (from 12% in 2014); demand for Office upgrades stayed level at 18%.
•  MS Office 365, introduced as a new category in 2015, was purchased by 13% of surveyed firms. 11% plan to purchase within the year.
• Firms utilizing big data tech prioritized business intelligence/analytics (34%); predictive coding (25%), pricing/managing legal spend (22%) and competitive intelligence/analysis (19%).
• 2015 top 5 legal/tech publications: ILTA White Papers (86%), Peer to Peer magazine (83%), Legaltech News (50%), Legal IT Today (21%) & ABA Journal (19%).
• Internet research, peer recommendations, and ILTA conferences are top 3 legal IT purchasing influences.
• 2015 ‘most exciting trend’ themes include cloud computing, mobility, security, virtualization, AI & analytics.
• 72% of all survey respondents outsource website design/services followed by printer repair/maintenance (49%) and spam/virus filtering (40%).
• Most firm BYOD policies cover smartphones (71%) and tablets (59%), only 28% cover laptops. 28% indicated they don’t have a BYOD policy.
• 60% of survey respondents stated that less than 25% of firm software and service solutions would be cloud-based within the next 1-3 years.
• 92% of respondents said they use outside technology consultants (up 2% from 2014 and 11% from 2013).
• For first time in 8 years, email management was not named biggest challenge facing legal IT departments … replaced by security management.
• Security is a hot button issue in the 2015 survey. Security software/security assessments ranked 6^th in ‘what firms purchased last year’ and 5^th in ‘planned purchases for next year’.

The entire 2015 survey report can also be downloaded at www.InsideLegal.com. For questions and comments regarding the analysis and results, please contact Jobst Elster.

 

 

InsideLegal Partners with ILTA to Produce the 12th Annual Vendor Education Program Onsite at ILTACON

We at InsideLegal have been partnering with ILTA to co-produce the Vendor Education Program at the ILTA Annual Conference since 2004. For our twelfth year anniversary, we will be offering our popular "InsideLegal Market Flash Course" that outlines the best tips and advice for promoting your company to the legal space as well as bringing back our very popular session, "Advice for Selling to ILTA Firms". Don't miss the opportunity to hear directly from ILTA members the best way to market and sell to them leading up to ILTACON and throughout the year. As always, the program begins with Peggy Wechsler's Vendor Business Meeting covering any conference announcements and tips on how to work with ILTA throughout the year and ends with the release of the 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey covering ILTA firms' purchasing habits and trends for the upcoming year. Please get your booths setup early on Monday, August 31st so you can join us at 1:30 in the Anzio room of Caesars for the 2015 ILTACON Vendor Education Program.

Vendor Education Program
[Monday, August 31st, 1:30-4:00pm in Anzio (Promenade Level, 3rd Floor)]

1:30 - 2:00 p.m.: ILTA Vendor Business Meeting
This session will include an opportunity to meet the ILTA staff and Board, receive an update on conference activities, and learn additional ways to work with ILTA throughout the year.
Faculty - Peggy Wechsler, ILTA Program Director

2:00 - 3:00 p.m.: InsideLegal Market Flash Course - How to Promote Your Company Within the Legal Space
We know how valuable your time is on-site at ILTA, so this rapid fire session will pack in industry statistics and legal marketing information. The program will include topics such as: legal market statistics; the one thing EVERY legal vendor should do…and it's free; where to get marketing research; stats on purchasing budgets and trends; and working with the legal media. Walk away with tips, tricks and legal resources you can use immediately.
Faculty - JoAnna Forshee, InsideLegal CEO & Jobst Elster, InsideLegal Head of Content & Legal Market Strategy

3:00 - 3:30 p.m.: Advice for Selling to ILTA Law Firms
Priceless advice from ILTA members on how to reach out to them and what not to do.
Faculty - Kevin Sullivan, Cohen & Grigsby Director of Technology

3:30 - 4:00 p.m.: 2015 ILTA/InsideLegal Technology Purchasing Survey Results
Last but not least, we will be reviewing the results from this year's ILTA member technology purchasing survey conducted by InsideLegal. The report includes data from 184 ILTA law firms of all sizes including: what percentage of firm revenue they spend on technology; what they purchased last year; what they will be purchasing next year; did their budgets increase or decrease; what vendors gave exceptional customer service; etc. Session attendees will receive a hardcopy report. View the 2014 Survey.
Faculty - Jobst Elster, InsideLegal Head of Content/Legal Market Strategy

Complete your setup early Monday and make sure to join us for the program. Please RSVP to JoAnna Forshee with name, title, company and email address for each participant.

Additionally, InsideLegal has added a link that pulls all their exhibitor resources and articles. Check it out!