A managed service provider can provide a law firm’s operations with the technology strategies and solutions usually reserved for large firms with in-house IT teams.
Table of contents
- When You Outgrow Your Tech Guru in the Legal Industry
- Understanding Managed Services
- Challenges Faced by Small Law Firms
- What Is a Managed Service Provider?
- MSP Services, Data Security, and Costs
- Vetting a Managed Service Provider
- Your Partnership With an MSP Should Be a Long-term, Growth-Focused Alliance
- Managed Service Provider FAQs:
Over the course of the pandemic, lawyers and staff at large law firms have confronted many of the technical obstacles and frustrations that small firm owners deal with all the time. Starting or joining a small firm is often a wake-up call for those accustomed to the resources available at more established organizations. Key among those resources — whether underestimated or missing from small firms’ plans — is information technology and the staff to support it.
When You Outgrow Your Tech Guru in the Legal Industry
Like many businesses, small law firms often start out with a tech-savvy friend or relative serving as the organization’s initial IT guru. As the firm grows, it becomes apparent that – no matter how nice a person that guru may be – the firm’s needs are evolving beyond the capacities of any single person. The question then becomes: Do you divert the firm’s income to building an IT department or outsource IT to a managed service provider (MSP) that can manage it for you?
Disaster recovery plans are essential for maintaining a law firm’s IT infrastructure resilience and ensuring the business can continue running smoothly, even when unexpected problems arise. These plans act as a safety net, helping legal professionals bounce back quickly from data loss or cyber incidents. By having a solid disaster recovery strategy in place, law firms can reduce downtime, swiftly recover important data, and maintain operations during and after any disruptions.
Understanding Managed Services
Definition of Managed Services
Managed services involve a third-party provider proactively handling a law firm’s IT infrastructure, applications, and data. This allows legal professionals to focus on what they do best—serving clients—while leaving IT management to the experts. From network monitoring and cybersecurity to data backup, recovery, and software updates, managed services cover a broad spectrum of IT tasks. With this approach, law firms can keep their IT systems up-to-date, secure, and running smoothly, without the hassle of maintaining an in-house IT team. It’s like having a dedicated IT partner who ensures everything tech-related is seamlessly taken care of, so you can concentrate on delivering top-notch legal services.
Benefits of Managed Services
The benefits of managed services for law firms are truly transformative, offering a range of advantages that make a real difference. By outsourcing their IT needs, law firms can significantly trim down their IT expenses, freeing them from the burden of investing in pricey hardware or keeping a full-time IT team on the payroll. Managed services also provide peace of mind when it comes to data security, thanks to robust cybersecurity measures and constant monitoring that help fend off breaches before they happen. This proactive approach means less downtime and more efficiency, allowing legal professionals to focus on what they do best—helping their clients. On top of that, managed services give law firms access to specialized IT expertise that can be hard to come by. This expert support ensures that the firm’s IT infrastructure is not only running smoothly but can also grow and adapt as the firm evolves, all without the hassle of managing complex IT systems in-house.
Challenges Faced by Small Law Firms
Technical Expertise
For small law firms, one of the biggest hurdles is the lack of technical know-how. Many of these firms simply don’t have the budget or resources to bring on a full-time IT team, which makes it tough to manage their IT systems and keep pace with the latest tech developments. This gap in expertise can lead to a host of problems, from data security breaches to system outages and even a dip in productivity. Managed services come to the rescue by offering small law firms access to specialized IT knowledge and support. With the help of a managed service provider, these firms can ensure their IT infrastructure is secure, efficient, and up-to-date, freeing them to focus on what they do best—providing excellent legal services to their clients.
What Is a Managed Service Provider?
The Gartner definition of managed service provider says:
A managed service provider (MSP) delivers services, such as network, application, infrastructure and security, via ongoing and regular support and active administration on customers’ premises, in their MSP’s data center (hosting), or a third-party data center. MSPs may deliver their own native services in conjunction with other providers’ services. Pure-play MSPs focus on one vendor or technology, usually their own core offerings. Many MSPs include services from other types of providers.
Over the past 15 months, a few media sources have noted the overlooked importance of technical support and help desk staff to the survival of many businesses – and, indeed, the national economy. The ability to contact a technology professional who can answer and remotely fix most users’ issues meant that most lawyers could continue serving clients with little downtime while they remained at home.
Having someone available to fix common technology issues is indeed important, but there’s more to it. Contracting with a managed IT service provider that operates with a “break-fix” philosophy will not set up a firm for long-term success. Beyond remote support, the managed IT service provider should be guiding you to adopt technology that makes your firm more efficient and effective. From implementing necessary infrastructure and software to moving an office-based firm to one able to operate from anywhere to making certain your clients’ information is secure, managed IT service providers can provide small firms with technology strategies and solutions usually reserved for large firms with in-house IT teams.
MSP Services, Data Security, and Costs
Every managed service provider is different, but they generally offer services ranging from project-based work to ongoing planning, security and support. Pricing can be flat-fee or hourly. Your MSP should be able to offer services tailored to your firm, making rates and some options negotiable.
With the growth of cloud computing in the legal space, some wonder if they need an MSP if they have a cloud service provider. Cloud services are crucial for law firms due to their flexibility, scalability, and security. They facilitate enhanced accessibility for legal professionals, enabling secure document access from various locations, and improving collaboration among teams through real-time access and visibility into progress. Cloud service providers (CSPs) provide cloud-based solutions and storage but do not necessarily integrate or support them for professional users. MSPs can help you set up equipment and network infrastructure in a new office, patch your systems, provide remote support for your users and much more. Often, you will have both a CSP and an MSP — but the MSP will conduct most communications with the cloud service provider, removing another task from your to-do list.
When considering the cost, it is important to consider the unseen costs that are eliminated when your technology simply works. MSPs can help you eliminate downtime related to your technology and the inevitable frustration that ensues. Further, the protection afforded by having knowledgeable legal technology experts helping you manage and protect your clients’ information can be priceless.
Vetting a Managed Service Provider
When beginning a search, look for managed service providers with experience in your industry or niche — and consider the experience and stability of the staff who will be working with you. Your firm should not be the guinea pig for an MSP trying to break into the legal market. Experienced professionals familiar with the legal industry can apply that knowledge to your challenges, ensuring compliance with industry-specific regulations such as HIPAA and PCI DSS, and more deeply understand your firm’s particular needs.
Ask colleagues for referrals and do your due diligence. Once you’ve identified your final candidates, ask for references from other law firms. Make sure their expectations are being met.
Your Partnership With an MSP Should Be a Long-term, Growth-Focused Alliance
Ideally, MSPs help law firms effectively employ the latest, most cost-efficient technology, advising on ways to build IT into the firm’s business plan to meet long-term goals — from cloud computing to the burgeoning machine learning and artificial intelligence solutions to cybersecurity training and software upgrades. Law firms managed by MSPs can alleviate administrative burdens and enhance operational efficiency, allowing them to focus more on their core business while utilizing technology to streamline workflows.
Working with a managed service provider is an excellent way for small to midsize law firms to get full-spectrum IT expertise without the worry, cost and time required to build an IT department from the ground up.
Managed Service Provider FAQs:
What’s the best way to get the most out of a managed service provider?
The best way to get the most out of your partnership with a managed service provider is to select an MSP with experience in your industry. An MSP that specializes in law firm technology will have deep knowledge of how your firm operates, along with any local, state and federal regulations you must contend with and what it takes to run a law firm’s IT department successfully. Robust cybersecurity measures are particularly important in the legal sector to ensure compliance with evolving regulations. Once you identify a potential MSP, share a history of your past help-desk tickets and talk through your issues with previous MSPs if you had them. Share any plans for your near future, such as office lease duration, moves, acquisitions, and resource-intensive projects.
What makes this approach so effective?
By reviewing your history with other services and software, MSPs gain specific knowledge of past pain points or deficiencies that may need immediate or long-term attention. Further, an MSP with law firm experience will be able to recommend solutions others use that you may not be aware of. For instance, many law firms rely on specific software that allows them to archive email and documents, associate them with specific cases, store them securely to maintain attorney-client privilege, and destroy them after a specific amount of time. The increased risk of a security breach for law firms due to the sensitive nature of their data makes managed IT services crucial in mitigating these risks. Some larger firms need a robust software solution, while some smaller firms want a simpler solution for this.
What’s the best way to negotiate a contract with an MSP?
There are two important things to remember when negotiating contracts with MSPs. First, there’s always room for negotiation on implementation. The MSP wants your recurring business and revenue. Second, make sure there is language in the contract about meeting annually to evaluate the partnership’s success and discuss adjustments in costs, fees and services when necessary. Protecting sensitive data is paramount, and robust security measures and protocols should be included in the contract to ensure compliance and prevent unauthorized access. A good experience requires some give and take on both sides of the partnership.
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