Fortifying and enhancing legal operations with secure managed services
Francis Davis, business development director at Wavenet, explores how a proactive partnership with Bowling & Co Solicitors tackled a range of challenges within the law firm to enhance security, efficiency and cost-savings
London-based Bowling & Co Solicitors have been trading for almost 70 years, acting as trusted advisors to clients throughout the UK and internationally. Their employees advise on banking, finance, residential, property, dispute resolution and family law. As the company evolves, it continues to embrace innovative approaches to legal work and transactions, all underpinned by modern, secure technology.
The challenge
Bowling & Co were using a hosted practice management system (PMS) provided and supported via remote desktop protocol (RDP) by their managed service partner (MSP), who also supplied their IT support and Microsoft 365 licensing. They wanted to improve accessibility and data security, while ensuring business continuity, so had decided to move to a SaaS-based PMS. However, their incumbent MSP wasn’t able to provide a solution that met all their needs. Bowling & Co therefore required a new MSP partner capable of delivering a modern, integrated IT environment, together with high quality, ongoing support.
The solution
Dinesh Raja, managing partner at Bowling & Co, explains why the firm identified us the best MSP to address their challenges: “As soon as I met Wavenet at a networking event, I knew they would be our next MSP. Their approach to our challenges was refreshingly unsalesy: they genuinely focused on understanding our needs rather than pushing a sales agenda.”
“We truly appreciate their trusted expertise, support and knowledge, and it’s clear we made the right choice,” he adds.
Bowling & Co engaged our expertise to implement a comprehensive suite of solutions:
- Fully managed IT services: we supply proactive end-to-end support for all users, devices, and core systems.
- Enterprise-grade connectivity: we are implementing business broadband and SD-WAN internet connectivity to all offices via next-generation firewalls.
- Microsoft 365 with Copilot: wefacilitatedlicensing and specialised Copilot support, including license procurement and mapping, tenant configuration, user onboarding, tailored prompt guidance, and ongoing administration and change management.
- Secure cloud storage and backup: Datto SaaS Protection, for email, OneDrive and SharePoint.
- VM hosting in our data centre (DC): we supported the migration of the data from Bowling & Co’s old PMS to a VM hosted in our Nebula DC, providing secure long-term file access from their new SaaS based PMS.
- Professional email signatures from Exclaimer: we will be incorporating a centrally managed email signature tool that enables the use of branded signatures featuring logos, legal disclaimers, and promotional banners.
- Mimecast advanced email security and compliance: we now host this email security tool, a favourite of many UK law firms, that safeguards communications from cyber threats, whilst providing long term email archiving and powerful search capabilities for compliance and legal purposes.
- Mobile connectivity for colleagues: we transferred of all company mobile phone services toWavenet.
The result
The array of managed services that we’ve provided has given Bowling & Co lasting peace of mind, with them having realised numerous benefits, including:
- Enhanced performance, security, and reduced downtime: our enterprise-grade connectivity ensure seamless service management for all users, devices, and core systems 24/7/365.
- Enhanced efficiency and savings: transitioning to M365 Business Premium has resulted in substantial cost savings whilst also empowering Bowling & Co tosecurely and effectively adopt AIwithin Microsoft Copilot.
- Secure storage and backup: with Datto SaaS Protection,email,OneDrive and SharePoint are fortified, ensuring vital documents, emails, and collaboration data remains safe from loss and corruption.
- Secure VM hosting and permanent file access: migrating their old PMS data to a VM in our Nebula DC has provided secure storage and long-term access to hundreds of historic case files for easy retrieval and upload to the new SaaS PMS whenever needed.
- Consistent branding: implementing Exclaimer email signatures ensures their brandingremainsuniform and professional.
- Advanced email security: Mimecast ensures robust protection against phishing and targeted attacks while allowing powerful search capabilities across email to support rapid investigations.
- Consolidated billing: by streamlining their mobile services with eSIM technology and transitioning to us, Bowling & Co now enjoys simplified billing.
Wavenet’s support in helping the firm securely migrate their data from their old PMS platform has been invaluable, Raja explains: “With tightened security measures, we can store all our archive client data electronically and access our files safely from anywhere, which is crucial given the varying retention periods for legal documents.”
“This transition was a significant dilemma for us, but Wavenet showcased their capabilities in tackling this challenging task, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. The IT support and proactive assistance we’ve received have truly gone above and beyond our expectations,” he adds.
