In today’s cutthroat legal industry, having a team of skilled lawyers alone no longer guarantees success. To stay competitive, law firms must also have optimized business IT so they can increase their efficiency, and consequently improve client satisfaction.
However, since technology is constantly evolving, the IT that your firm is using today can quickly become outdated. Before you know it, you’ll be unable to leverage technology to gain a competitive advantage.
Here are five signs that your law firm’s IT needs refreshing:
To stay competitive, law firms must also have optimized business IT so they can increase their efficiency, and consequently improve client satisfaction.
1. Productivity is suffering due to unreliable technology
Your employees are having difficulty accomplishing their tasks because of reasons such as:
- Computers take forever to boot up.
- Applications are slow or keep crashing.
- Hardware failures happen often.
- Machines keep freezing, requiring frequent reboots.
- The company network can’t handle the company’s web traffic.
For whatever reason, if your IT is hurting your staff’s productivity, then it may be time for an update. Otherwise, these tech issues will only frustrate your employees and clients, and drive both parties away from your firm.
2. Updates or support for IT products are no longer available
Tech manufacturers usually offer updates and support for their products. Software updates often include patches that plug security holes to keep hackers at bay and provide feature upgrades that improve user experience. Manufacturers also give technical assistance should you encounter issues with their product. However, as technology advances, manufacturers eventually stop updating and supporting their products. The support for Windows 7, for example, ended in January 2020.
Multiple problems may arise when you hold on to technology that is no longer updated or supported. For one, that tech may be less or no longer compatible with newer software or hardware. This may result in performance issues or prevent you from using more advanced IT. Not only that, but using unsupported tech also makes you more vulnerable to security risks.
3. Maintenance and repair costs are rising
For technology to run optimally, it needs to be maintained regularly. Over time, it will require more frequent maintenance and repairs, costing you more money. And if you’re using legacy technology, you may have a harder time finding spare parts or someone who can conduct maintenance or repairs for it. To get the exact parts or people you need, you might have to spend more money.
4. You’re experiencing security issues
Maintaining client confidentiality and trust is of utmost importance in the legal practice. Therefore, you must take all measures to secure your clients’ information, including keeping your cyber defenses strong at all times.
This entails updating your IT to prevent falling victim to cybercrime. Holding on to older technology may put you at risk of cyberattacks because over time, that tech becomes less compatible with more advanced security solutions. And when it becomes outdated, it will no longer receive critical security patches from its manufacturer.
5. Employees often rely on shadow IT
A clear sign that your current technology is falling behind is if employees frequently abandon company-issued tech resources in favor of those that are not sanctioned by the business, otherwise known as shadow IT. Shadow IT includes technologies that are from external sources and those that your staff personally own but are unregistered for business use.
Employees usually turn to shadow IT when company-issued tech isn’t enough to support them in doing their jobs. For example, when your lawyers go out for client meetings, they may connect to public Wi-Fi to access company data or use an unsecured application. When company laptops are too slow, your paralegals may turn to their personal devices instead.
While shadow IT may help your employees accomplish their tasks, it may also make your company vulnerable to cybercrime. This is because shadow IT may not have the proper cybersecurity measures in place and you cannot monitor its usage.
If you’re experiencing any of these five signs, then it may be time to update your technology. But don’t worry, you can turn to Healthy IT for your law firm’s tech needs. With our help, you’ll be equipped with IT solutions that will enable you to work smarter so you can win more cases. Schedule your FREE consultation today!