The benefits of Managed IT Support for law firms
Running a law firm smoothly is complicated enough without having to worry about keeping everybody’s technology reliable and fully functional. Until relatively recently, this was the domain of the in-house IT team, who could address problems for anyone in the office in person.
However, this in-house IT support model has evolved in recent years. With flexible and hybrid work becoming the norm, devices are used remotely more often, making quick fixes difficult to roll out. The same trend has also heightened the security risk to company data and applications. In addition to this, the hardware and software used by the legal sector have grown in both size and complexity in recent years - so the expertise and resources of in-house IT teams have been stretched to the limit.
The role of IT managers has also evolved in line with the above, with many now finding themselves responsible for making significant business changes through new technology and processes. With all of these changes in motion, it’s natural that many law firms are considering outsourcing IT support to a managed provider. In this blog, we’ll highlight the scale of the potential benefits of adopting managed IT support, both now and in the future.
The difference managed IT support can make
One of the great things about a managed approach to IT support is that it isn’t a fixed concept. Law firms have the choice of outsourcing everything to an expert third party, or outsourcing specific tasks and responsibilities to the provider to relieve the workload of the in-house IT team.
But whichever approach is taken, the positives of outsourcing are significant, including (and not necessarily limited to):
Maximising Microsoft 365 capabilities
Microsoft 365 is full of tools that help businesses run more efficiently and productively every day. However, there are so many tools and so many interactions between them, that it can be difficult to understand which combination is best for a specific company’s needs.
A managed IT support provider can help ensure this deployment is perfected according to business requirements, make changes as and when needed, and ensure regular updates and security patches are installed.
Reducing operational costs and unlocking support scalability
As law firm demands change, so do the demands on IT support. As a result, IT support requirements scale up and down all the time, but this can make an in-house team unable to cope with busy times, and an inefficient use of expenditure at quieter times.
However, a managed IT support service is far more scalable: instead of having to hire and train new staff, it’s easy to spin up and pay for extra support resources straight away, and only pay for additional support as and when it’s needed. This can also free up in-house IT expertise to work on more value-adding projects rather than focusing on support and remediation.
Enhancing security
Cyberthreats are getting more frequent all the time, and they’re getting more sophisticated as the criminal operations behind them become better-organised and better-resourced. The risk of data and applications being harmed by these threats has increased as flexible working becomes the norm, with far more devices and internet connections being used for business purposes.
A managed security solution can cover off these challenges, constantly evolving security provisions so that a firm is protected against the latest threats, wherever and whenever they’re used. This is vital for keeping sensitive legal information and documents safe, and avoiding both financial and reputational damage.
Getting help when it’s needed
Now more than ever, law firms need IT support resources on hand 24/7. This is partly down to the rise in flexible working, and also the need for firms to be more flexible to cater to diverse client demands. But it’s also important because in-house IT teams aren’t always available all the time: sometimes they’ll be on holiday, off sick, away on training courses, or just too busy to respond to support requests. This is where a managed provider that can offer 24/7/365 support can save a law firm from major disruption, for example, fixing a server that goes down late at night or over a weekend.
Improving accessibility for employees
While the security of remotely-accessed data and applications is vital, this also has to be balanced against easy accessibility. If security arrangements are too tight, or accessing software or data is too difficult, then hybrid working models quickly become impractical; indeed, these frustrations can easily lead to talented lawyers and staff looking for alternative employers where things run more smoothly. Managed cloud services solve these challenges with fast access to sensitive documents, without the need for a VPN and with robust security built-in.
In summary
The business world is more complex than ever, and the legal sector is certainly no exception to that. Managed services such as outsourced IT support give law firms the opportunity to achieve more, spend less and gain the flexibility that is so essential to modern operations. Oosha’s range of IT support services are ideal for making this change, combining market-leading solutions and 24/7 help with law-specific experience and expertise.
