Less supplier, more partner

Emma Hatto, commercial product lead at Advanced, says choosing the right practice or case management provider is critical, but it can feel like crossing a technology minefield.

We dedicate a lot of our time working with law firms to understand what’s important for them when choosing technologies – to meet their current business needs and also underpin their practices well into the future. Last month, we discussed why law firms are accelerating their journey to digitisation. Now, we’d like to explain how taking time to gain a solid understanding of what your firm needs can help you choose a supplier with the proven capacity to support you on your own digital journey.

Choosing the right supplier is critical, but it can feel like crossing a technology minefield. For this reason, considering a supplier that will also act as a business partner can be beneficial. Over time, partner providers develop a very strong understanding of your longer-term business needs, goals and strategies and they’ll continue developing products to help you achieve them. It’s a low-risk way to future proof your firm.

The financial and operational issues that have arisen from the 2020 pandemic have highlighted how important it is to be prepared for unexpected events. While none of us are able to predict what may happen in the future, a partner provider will be looking out for your best interests and will constantly scan the horizon to measure, and prepare for, any headwinds. It’s vital now, more than ever, to look for a partner that can support your business and has continued investment in their products.

Can they see the bigger picture? We only need to look at how rapidly legal technology has advanced in the last five years to see how important it is to understand and invest in a solution with a solid product roadmap. This is about more than just core functionality – artificial and business intelligence may seem like futuristic concepts but in reality, they are already being embraced by law firms. Ask about your supplier’s strategy to see if it matches your own business strategy and objectives.

Finally, another element to consider is peer opinion and whether your chosen supplier has a product community. User groups are a great way for users to share ideas, network and learn from each other. It’s also worth asking current users about how engaged a supplier is with customer feedback. Choosing a supplier that values their customer’s opinions is smart and will be a significant benefit in the long term.

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At Advanced, we listen to what our customers say. Our partnership with them helps us plan future developments for our practice and case management solutions. We invite you to join our upcoming webinar that will present the steps you can take to determine your law firm’s requirements when choosing a practice or case management system. Please click the link to sign up on-demand here.