PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES

Approach

The Information Technology strategic framework will be strongly aligned to the organisation's strategic business plan and based on the outcomes of a series of detailed evaluations:

• Strategic business plan
• Current Information Technology:
  • Asset audit
  • Stability profile
  • Capacity capability
• Risk review of information technology security, maintenance and support practices
• Key Stakeholder interviews
• Current  IT  support  consultants  responsiveness  to  service,  fault  calls  and  their  ability  to prioritise and resolve issues.

It will incorporate InPlace Solutions' extensive knowledge of:

• The application of legal information technology 
• The  software  and  hardware  vendors  who  specialise  in  the  professional  services - legal market vertical and have a reputation for delivering quality  
• Compiling and implementing commercially acceptable IT strategies.

The  advantages  of  a  strategic  framework  approach  to  an  Information  Technology  review  are significant as it delivers:

• Clarity for opportunities that can be realised in the short term and risks that need immediate mitigation.
• An  integration  overview  that  highlights  connectivity  between  business  opportunities  and challenges  to  drive investment  leverage  within  the  components  of  subsequent  project portfolios.
• Future value, as being a forward looking document it acts as reference for defining all project deliverables and can easily form the basis of a 3 year strategic plan.

CIO as a Service

CIO as a Service provides a longer term engagement than an IT Review and how it is structured would depend on the size of the firm and the level of involvement the firm requires. In general we would see an initial involvement that could be 3 days a week for possibly a month, and then, depending on the outcomes, an ongoing involvement on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. One of the benefits of the CIO as a Service over a Review is that IPS would have a longer, and therefore less constricted, timeframe to build relationships with key stakeholders, gain a deeper understanding of the business, and identify opportunities for improvement. Therefore the key delivery from this would still be an IT Review but one that would be more comprehensive and recommendations that are implemented would have appropriate oversight.

Legal Information

Our contacts within professional services, both client and vendor, enable us to remain current with what is happening in the market place, information that share with our clients. We also conduct regular surveys, some broad based, others on specific topics, with the latter usually being requested by clients.

We recently conducted a survey on Legal IT which has received considerable press coverage. The full report can be read here.

Project/Change Management

A successful project is not only judged against time and cost, ultimately it is judged on its adoption. This means planning and consulting with the business prior to implementation, plus training and change management, as critical to any successful project.

While project completion is obviously crucial adoption is also critical.

RFP Preparation and selection management

Our Principal Consultants have extensive experience in the preparation on RFPs and the process of selection management. A successful RFP process is a key component of a successful project.

PMS implementation and upgrades

Specialists in Aderant implementation, reporting and upgrades. Also worked with other PMS such as Affinity and Elite.

DBA skills and integrations

Experts at exporting and importing data from a variety of systems, including SharePoint, email archiving solutions, PMS and DMS. Experience with integrating various solutions with both PMS and DMS, including Aderant and NetDocuments. SSRS reporting.