Leveraging the best of both worlds

Combining a cloud-based document management system (DMS) with your existing case management system (CMS) can unlock powerful features to help your firm gain a competitive advantage, says Kaden Smith, director at NetDocuments.

Small to midsize law firms utilise CMSs to help manage their business, but as demand grows for cloud-based solutions that enable secure, collaborative remote work, many are finding their CMS doesn’t provide the robust features needed to support the entire document lifecycle.

Are your case documents and emails organised and easy to find, revise, bundle, share, have signed and filed –– all from a single platform you can access anytime, anywhere?

This is where firms are differentiating themselves: by taking advantage of the benefits of a powerful cloud-based DMS while continuing to maintain their CM for backend functionalities.

Why firms are turning to DMSs

With robust search capabilities, metadata tagging, access controls and advanced security features, a DMS can bring significant benefits to your workflow and productivity.

Some key features of a DMS include creating and editing documents, organising them by matter or project, securely sharing and collaborating on documents, tracking version history, accessing workspaces and documents remotely, controlling user access permissions, applying custom metadata, finding content efficiently, integrating with preferred software solutions, and maintaining advanced security and governance.

With a cloud-based DMS, with open APIs, firms can seamlessly connect their DMS to case management technology or any other solutions your teams use for their workflows.

Cloud vs on-prem

When it comes to choosing a DMS, there are two options: cloud-based and on-premises (plus many variations in between). While on-premises solutions offer total control of the system within your organisation, they can be expensive and difficult to set up and maintain. On the other hand, cloud-based solutions have grown in popularity due to their significant cost savings and benefits, such as security and mobility. With a cloud-based DMS, the management and upkeep of hardware, software, security and personnel are the responsibility of the cloud provider, and business users can access the DMS via the internet.

True cloud also offers benefits such as increased security, compliance, and backups. Legal professionals and other businesses or organisations that deal with confidential data can have peace of mind knowing that their important data and documents are being protected at the highest level. Additionally, with cloud solutions, users can securely access their data using any device, enabling teams to work remotely with ease, increase productivity, and provide better service to clients.

The best of both worlds

A modern DMS can be a powerful foundational platform for all of a law firm’s work. As you transition more technologies to the cloud, you’ll want to ensure you select providers that offer strong open APIs that will allow you to connect all of the tools your teams need to be able to do their best work while improving workflows, enhancing security and enabling better collaboration.