Value-driven cloud migration: Strategies for law firms
The cloud is a vital technology for law firms, but the benefits only come when you fully understand its value proposition and meticulously plan for the migration process, writes Extech Cloud
Migrating to the cloud can be a catalyst for growth for law firms of all sizes. To ensure long-term business success, your cloud migration should focus on value. It needs to improve efficiency and optimise workloads.
Let’s cover the ins and outs of value-driven cloud migration, and how to plan and optimise your cloud strategy with a focus on value. We’ll look at some of the main forms of ‘value’ and how to get the most out of each one.
Understanding value-driven cloud migration
Value-driven cloud migration is a strategic approach to the cloud migration process. It focuses on value-first and prioritises the migration of workloads for maximum benefit.
A focus on value will help you use resources wisely.
This will benefit your firm in the long run. It will also help you avoid extra costs from moving your whole operation.
Additionally, understanding the value your law firm cloud implementation brings will facilitate better future planning. This insight helps you prioritise and leverage the cloud to the most impactful areas of your firm, leading to increased efficiency and focus, ultimately driving long-term success.
Planning your law firms cloud migration strategy
Planning is essential for a value-driven cloud migration strategy. Being strategic involves having a clear plan, so it’s crucial to outline your strategy and ensure every step is calculated.
Here are the basic steps you need to take when planning your law firms cloud migration strategy:
Define your goals
What do you want to achieve with the cloud, and what does value mean to your firm? By defining this, you have a mission statement that you can use to inform your strategy going forward.
Assess your infrastructure
You’ll need to assess workloads, resources, and dependencies that need to be considered in the migration process.
Choose a cloud provider
Your cloud provider will generally be a key element in the amount of value you can get out of your cloud implementation. Make sure you do your research and pick a provider that aligns with your goals.
Microsoft Azure has some benefits worth highlighting, such as integration with Copilot, Intune MDM and their growing market share.
Develop a migration plan
After gathering this information, you can start developing your plan and working out your timeline, strategies, and the risks involved.
Test, then deploy
Before deploying your cloud migration, you should first test it in a non-live environment. Then, once satisfied, deploy your workloads to the cloud, and monitor them as time goes on.
Optimising workloads for the cloud
Optimising your cloud workloads maximises resource efficiency, reduces costs, and improves performance, generating more value overall. By optimising, you get more bang for your buck.
Right-sizing is an excellent optimisation method, ensuring resources are tightly provisioned to avoid waste from over-provisioning and performance issues from under-provisioning.
Enhancing data and analytics capabilities
The cloud offers revolutionary data and analytics capabilities, transforming the possibilities for data analysis. You can leverage these capabilities to identify key insights and gain a competitive edge.
Furthermore, the cloud enables you to scale effortlessly to meet broader data needs, accommodating growth and ensuring quick, seamless access to insights.
Ensuring cost-efficiency and security
When considering value, cost-efficiency is vital. After all, law firms need to make money, so working out the most efficient way to achieve this will help your firm thrive in the long term.
By taking advantage of cloud strategies such as right-sizing, automation, and spot instances, you can leverage a powerful platform with paths to save money over time. Investment in security is also crucial to protect your firm in the event of any nasty surprises.
Choosing the right implementation partner for your law firm
The cloud is a vital technology for law firms, but the benefits only come when you understand the value proposition it offers. Failing to take advantage of the capabilities of the cloud to boost value will put your business on the back foot, whereas taking the step towards smart cloud implementation will help you prosper.
If you’re looking to get started with the cloud but don’t know where to begin, reach out to Extech Cloud today. Our specialists are here to help and make sure you know everything you need when it comes to migration.
PMS tech decoded: ISO 27001 and why it’s important for modern law firms
Consider AVD because cybercrime still a threat
Security is a threat that never goes away – Nick Hayne, head of professional services at Quiss, details how Azure Virtual Desktop can give firms peace of mind.
Clients trust your firm with their most confidential information and it is valuable to criminals. While other issues have risen to the top of the agenda, the threat to law firms remains very real and as the biggest firms implement the latest security measures, mid-market firms become the target.
Few firms will ever publicise a successful ransomware attack, but various reports claim more than a quarter of law firms globally have experienced a form of data breach – the consequences of which could be immensely damaging financially and reputationally for any compromised firm.
There are a huge number of steps any firm can take to mitigate the risk – for starters, they can create and implement a data security policy that reflects the fact that major security issues often begin with simple user error, not a failure of technology.
The next most important step is to continuously warn everyone within the firm of the ongoing threat. Then train your people regularly to avoid accidental user errors and recognise the most common approaches from criminals, including phishing emails and fake webpages.
Never overlook the relatively simple and highly effective step of encrypting all your data, whether at rest or in motion. And spend time helping your people understand the need for strong passwords and how to create them.
You should also consider access control, as not everyone within your firm needs access to all your data and where it is stored – enforce the principles of ‘least privilege’ and ‘need to know’.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, plan for the worst-case scenario. Create and test a plan that details what your firm will do following a data breach. It should list all the immediate action steps, such as internal communication, changing passwords and reporting the incident to regulatory authorities.
Move to Azure Active Desktop and instantly improve your firm’s security
Of course your firm can take many of the practical steps highlighted above to improve security, but unless it’s a fully integrated approach, there always remains the risk your firm will miss a gap in your defences and that’s all the criminals need to damage your business – often irrevocably.
Switching all your firm’s users to Azure Virtual Dekstop (AVD) solves many security challenges and delivers the real peace of mind that allows people to concentrate on what they’re good at, rather than worrying about the gaps your firm has left that criminals can exploit.
AVD uses Azure Active Directory to provide secure access to virtual desktops and applications. It also supports multi-factor authentication, which helps prevent unauthorised access to your users’ virtual desktops and the firm’s applications.
AVD also uses encryption to protect data in transit and at rest, whilst the built-in threat protection helps prevent malware and other threats from infecting virtual desktops and applications.
Security monitoring and alerts are included as standard with AVD, to help identify potential security threats and take appropriate action. Your firm can also create a secure virtual network to isolate its virtual desktops and applications from other resources.
AVD provides automatic security patches and updates to help keep your virtual desktops and applications up-to-date and secure. Your firm also get the tools and resources to help assess and maintain compliance with various security standards and regulations.
Having read this far you should recognise, in a dangerous world full of cyber threats for the unwary or unprepared law firm, AVD is a great way to increase your firm’s security and Quiss will explain how – please get in touch today, the threat is real.
Why UK law firms should utilise Azure Virtual Desktop as their IT platform
Azure Virtual Desktop can help firms be more secure, scalable and integrated, while also supporting other key objectives on the SME legal strategic agenda – says Nick Hayne, head of professional services, Quiss.
While much has been written about the future of law firms in the UK and their acceptance or otherwise of a hybrid working environment, the emphasis has been on work-life balance, smaller offices and ongoing employee wellbeing, rather than the technology that makes it possible.
But switching from the traditional office environment, with desktop computers connected by physical network cabling, requires an IT solution that allows employees to work, communicate and collaborate efficiently and securely when they are not physically in the office.
To address the issue, there are any number of reasons why a UK law firm should consider using Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), which allows employees to access the applications and data they need from any device with an internet connection.
They can work from any location, including the office, home, or even a client’s office, while retaining a secure connection to the firms systems and data. And here are what we here at Quiss believe are the most compelling reasons to consider AVD:
- Security. AVD has a number of security features in place to protect data, including encryption, authentication, and monitoring, which can be important for a law firm handling sensitive client data.
- Compliance. AVD is compliant with various data protection regulations and standards, including GDPR and HIPAA, which can help a UK law firm meet its own compliance obligations.
- Scalability. AVD allows you to scale your applications up or down based on your needs, so you only pay for what you use. This can be beneficial for a law firm that needs to be able to handle fluctuating workloads.
- Integration. AVD integrates with a wide range of tools and services, making it easier to build and deploy applications. This can be helpful for a law firm that wants to be able to use a variety of software solutions.
- Management. AVD includes a number of tools to help you manage your resources, including Azure Monitor, which provides real-time insights into the performance of your applications. This can be useful for a law firm that needs to keep track of its IT resources.
- Support. AVD provides a range of support options, including online resources and technical support, to help you get the most out of the platform. This can be beneficial for a law firm that needs assistance with its IT infrastructure.
Overall, technology plays a crucial role in supporting hybrid working in UK law firms by enabling employees to access the tools and resources they need to work effectively, regardless of their location.
Leveraging these technologies will ensure law firms can improve the flexibility and productivity of their teams, whie delivering a service that better meets the needs of their current and future clients.
If you want any more information about how making the switch to Azure Virtual Desktop will give your law firm a competitive advantage in these competitive times, please get in touch with Quiss today and we’ll explain the benefits in detail.
Azure Virtual Desktop could benefit your law firm
Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Desktop seems to be just the right fit for the flexibility, efficiency and security needs of today’s law firm, according to Nick Hayne, head of professional services at Quiss.
As law firms emerge from the pandemic with renewed optimism for a less challenging working environment, thoughts in the boardroom will undoubtedly turn to making permanent some of the temporary changes that ensured clients were satisfied, despite lockdowns and social distancing.
At the heart of any modern robust remote working strategy should be Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), which proved an invaluable asset for those firms having to quickly switch from an almost exclusively office-based environment to secure remote working.
While a quick return to full time office working may have been expected, two years has been long enough to ensure most employees are hoping to spend some of the working week at home, which makes AVD worthy of consideration for the long term.
Some key benefits to consider
Legacy applications supported. Some firms may have more catching up to do, and AVD can virtualise Windows 7 desktops with extended security updates until January 2023. This ensures firms currently slowed by legacy app compatibility have the time to transition to Windows 10.
Cost-effective flexibility. AVD allows users to connect via the internet to a full Windows 10 desktop through any device, from anywhere, at any time. Chances are you already have licenses available within your Microsoft 365 subscription and will only pay for those you use. Also, Windows 10 multisession can cut costs even further, as it allows multiple users to access one virtual machine simultaneously to save on consumption and maintenance costs.
Effective and efficient. AVD provides all the necessary computing power, which means you can slow the rate of hardware replacement and instead of upgrading every three to five years, your people can work productively on any device, even older less expensive machines.
Ease of management. Moving to AVD removes the costly, complex configuration and management issues associated with traditional virtual desktop environments. Microsoft manages the service infrastructure and once configured, adding and removing users is simple. AVD frees up your IT team to focus on business-critical improvements, not managing a multitude of desktops.
Compliance and security. For law firms, security and strict compliance are critical given the highly confidential data being handled and stored. With AVD, the operating systems, data and apps are all hosted on a remote virtual machine, which ensures no confidential information is stored on the local device, reducing the risk of data being compromised following the loss or theft of any device.
These five key benefits, make AVD a compelling case for law firms seeking a competitive edge. However, the final consideration is choosing a partner with a wealth of experience, not only in delivering secure, flexible and remote working solutions that leverage AVD effectively, but one with a thorough working knowledge of the demands of forward-thinking law firms.
Pulling back the curtain on cloud
Is cloud always the best way to go? Nick Hayne at Quiss breaks down what has become a truism in the SME legal sector – that pre-packaged cloud solutions are the route to growth and competitiveness.
Technology businesses continue to urge organisations to migrate to the cloud – and quickly – for fear of being left behind. But Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) recently advertised a different cloud argument.
Claiming it was time to become consciously hybrid, they highlighted a common problem making the migration process difficult – with legacy technology, limited resource and confusion around cloud adoption causing a state of flux for clients.
The need for a conscious path to digital transformation that considers all solutions – even those reducing the current over-reliance on public cloud – makes perfect sense to us. Having invested significant time and money developing our own private-cloud offering, we agree with the sentiment of the message that a hybrid mix of remote compute and storage is likely to deliver the best outcome for most organisations.
However, where we would depart from their message is the insistence on cloud. While we bow to the experience and expertise of giants like HPE, we feel the cloud approach recommended by many service providers tends to consider every firm as cloud customers first. Then they work out what suits the client’s activities best, before tailoring the client to achieve a good fit with cloud.
For those organisations with huge data, application and workload requirements, public cloud services such as Azure, Google and AWS make sense – that is once you accept the associated cost of moving your data in and out of the data centres.
But if little changes in your firm from day to day – barring the addition of new Word documents, scanned papers and dictation files – will your consciously hybrid mix combine on-premises resources and private cloud to serve you better and cost you less?
Our industry, and by extension the customers we serve, have become too fixated on the concept of the cloud, which is merely a new way to describe on-demand computing services in a data centre, accessed via a network – typically the internet, although it used to be your private network.
The world is tied to service providers that develop existing applications and create new products, whether customers have requested change or not. Their effort then convinces all of us we cannot manage without the new features, which we buy monthly, whether we want to or not.
In reality, service providers must start listening more carefully to what their clients want – understand the latter’s sector, their business and their challenges, before specifying a solution tailored to these exact needs.
If a mix of clouds is the answer, so be it, but we must not be afraid to encompass on-premise and smaller private-cloud resources, if that’s what is best for the firm.
Leveraging Azure and Office 365 to deliver client-focused solutions
The more technologies that enter the market, the more client expectations are changing – and clients are demanding that firms drive improvements in their service delivery model by introducing solutions that enable collaboration, efficiency, and transparency, says Aaron Naisbitt, sales director at CTS.
Leading law firms are leveraging cloud to meet and exceed client expectations, building technology platforms with the client in mind.These firms are providing a data-based, customer-focused, agile delivery of legal services.
In this blog, we will explore how Microsoft Azure and Office 365 enables fast deployment of new tools and enhancement of service, allowing law firms to deliver client-focused solutions.
Proactive legal services
Microsoft Office 365 has become a staple in many law firms due to its versatility, functionality, and accessibility.
Microsoft’s PowerApps enables IT departments to custom-build applications, such as lead capture, meeting bookings and case summary requests, easily and quickly. Such applications can accommodate business needs or solve challenges when unable to find a suitable, cost-effective, off-the-shelf solution.
Microsoft describes PowerApps as being the “low-code approach to application development”, meaning that apps can be built and developed without the need for extensive technical or DevOps skills. This enables the quick deployment of an app, reducing the costs associated with traditional, time-consuming app development.
Being a Microsoft solution, PowerApps can be easily integrated with other Microsoft tools, and furthermore, can be used to automate workflows between different Microsoft Office 365 solutions.
Adding value with automation
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and legal procedures has been accelerated this past year, in order to streamline processes, address bottlenecks and improve client engagement in a fully digital world.
Law firms can apply AI to their business-critical needs with the new Azure AI capabilities to drive impact, deliver high-quality client experiences and highlight new opportunities. Azure AI enables firms to develop AI-powered applications that deliver high-quality user experience, build models that can optimise business processes, and use knowledge-mining to reveal useful insights.
Within the legal sector, AI may be introduced in relation to e-bundling tools, where document search functions and automatic redaction of sensitive information can allow lawyers and paralegals to work more efficiently, freeing up time spent on administrative tasks that can be re-focused on delivering value-added activities for their clients.
Additionally, the rise of chatbots has meant clients can use this technology to gain efficient, real-time responses, which, studies have shown, is a critical factor in higher client satisfaction. Firms can also use chatbots to gain insight into their client base via data collection, to optimise their work processes, saving time and money, and to aid the client intake process.
Improved client experience and satisfaction
For such a competitive sector, leveraging all the tools available to increase productivity, streamline processes and build client relationships is essential. With Office 365, firms can quickly and easily deploy tools on an as-needed basis, allowing them to tailor their operations, as necessary.
Microsoft Teams enables law firms to improve client collaboration via a number of different functions including instant messaging, video conferencing and content sharing. Through tools such as SharePoint and OneDrive, lawyers can safely and efficiently manage, store and track communications with clients. Taking a client-focused collaborative approach can deliver higher client satisfaction, which can drive new client acquisition and business growth.
Actionable insights to improve service delivery
Today, ‘Big Data’ is the cornerstone of innovation within successful law firms. This wide range of data can give firms valuable business insights that enable them to improve their service delivery and increase profits – with the Business Intelligence (BI) solutions that Microsoft offers, law firms can transform data insight into proactive, value-add actions.
Azure provides secure, high-performance analytics that can drive better, faster decision-making. With BI systems, law firms can better understand client behaviour, meet and exceed expectations, and proactively identify opportunities for improvement.