In Part 1 of our series on the TCO of legal practice management (LMP) systems we focused on specific hard costs in addition to the licensing of on-premise software. In this note we turn our attention to the Opportunity Costs of working on a system based in the confines of your office.
The majority of commercial LMPs are installed in one of two ways. The LMP has either a centralized file system with a copy of the software residing on each of the attorneys’ and paralegals’ computers (desktops and laptops) or the software resides on a central server and communicates over the local area network with each of the user’s computer. The primary consequence of both of these implementations is that once you walk out of the office you lose access to the information you recorded for your matters. If you need to be look up something, say the phone number of one of the contacts associated with the matter, you are often dependent on someone back in the office to provide support. Now if your practice rarely has you out of the office and you are at the point in your career that you do not need to take work home this could be a great advantage. Out of sight out of mind. However, I have not found that is the case for attorneys I have spoken to.
One way attorneys have managed to extend their access to an on-premise LMP is to use remote control software (e.g. pcAnywhere™). Remote control software allows the attorney to provide a connection into their computer and run it as if physically present at your desktop. The software runs slower than if you are directly connected to your computer, but if you are connected to the internet, say at a home office, you are able to get to your data.
What about if you cannot sit down with a laptop and connect to a hotspot to remotely tele-connect to your matter data? There are some apps available on various phones (e.g. BlackBerry®) that do provide rudimentary access to your LMP. Currently, these are not very friendly and mostly are based on simple character based interfaces. It is possible to get information but it often takes several minutes navigating to the right screen and pulling up what you need.
A modern SaaS application will enable you to access your information from any browser very quickly and, if designed with a Web 2.0 perspective, delivered in the intuitive manner we have all come to expect for our internet experiences. When combined with well designed smartphone technology then it is possible to quickly obtain and record information vital to your matters.
So when we speak of the opportunity costs we are really asking, given your present on-premise LMP can you effectively practice law whenever, wherever? If you bump into a client at lunch can you provide up to the minute information on the issues pending and are you able to instantaneously record the time for this valued exchange of information? Do you need to rely on scribbling a note and hoping to remember to bill the activity. If you need to meet with an important client at their office do you rely on lugging every relevant document over or can you just jump on the internet with an Air Card and your laptop to pull up those documents.
My point is that having general access whenever, wherever to your data with legal SaaS increases the opportunity for you to perform billable activities and to accurately record them quickly. Another aspect of on-premise software is that you may find yourself engaging in a lot of non-billable activities, such as installation and integrating the software to other packages. Most attorneys will in fact pay an IT expert to take care of this, but others have sufficient technical background to do it themselves. Now, if spending your Saturday morning tweaking with your on-premise LMP is an enjoyable diversion from the day to day practice of law, more power to you. However, most attorneys will find this a frustrating exercise that not only takes them from their chosen profession but often leaves them exasperated and drained to do their real job. There is a significant opportunity cost of the DIYer approach which is largely mitigated by choosing a SaaS LMP.
I have addressed how SaaS obviates the attorney from performing or hiring for core IT tasks and how access out of the office to your matter data increases opportunities for you to bill more. Perhaps an opportunity cost that is even more significant that SaaS can deliver on is the collaborative aspects of delivering information over the internet. Would it be helpful for your practice to have a client securely review a lengthy document posted on your firm’s secure web presence? Or do your clients prefer to use zip utilities and encryption software to review relevant material to the matter? Or do you just trust that an unencrypted and uncompressed document will get through their email system without being bounced or subject to e-Discovery.
What about the collaborative aspects of working with co-council or for that matter opposing council? Does the modern internet experience with the so-called Web 2.0 user interfaces provide a new model for you to perform your job? Is it time for you to consider how your LMP can improve the delivery of your work or should you continue to view it as a necessary evil and which your focus is to minimize the dollar spend on?
Perhaps it is time for you to factor in the Opportunity Costs when you compare a subscription service versus on-premise legal practice management. Only you can say whether freedom from IT headaches, mobility and collaboration delivers value for your law practice. Let us know your thoughts on when this could be of value or for that matter when these capabilities are not worth moving to a new delivery model of services.