Are You Being Served?

One of the greatest inventions in the software development world in my eyes was when web services became available. Suddenly a whole world of interconnected processes can talk to each other regardless of geographical location. BACK Consulting's developers no longer spent hours and days figuring out complex network protocols and procedures. Now they use discovery to see what is available and as long as the other side is running and there is appropriate error handling then all is well.

We've managed to design worldwide systems that link all the different markets together and must be able to handle difficulties such as language sets and currencies. Imagine if web services didn't exist? You would literally think someone was mad if they approached you with this idea! Now is a good time to get yourself into this area of development as the technology is maturing nicely and can bring real business benefits to your line of work.

Think Hard About Outsourcing

We at BACK Consulting run many projects for clients which involve outsourcing projects where we guide them through the pros and cons of going down this route. In partnership with our outsourcing resource (Suntec India) we have managed to turn every single piece of work around within budget and within the time scales provided. The key to this ongoing success is to give the client the best possible planning and preparation service possible.

Those that think outsourcing is the golden panacea to all their problems and rush in head first will be badly disappointed. Look what happened when nearly every company and their dogs decided that the low costs of India was a financial haven but totally forgot about the minor issues such as training, staff recruitment, staff retention and most of all customer satisfaction. Nowadays these same companies are reversing those trends as their customers become disenchanted with their service levels.

To sit down and plan a large or small scale outsourcing project takes time. Think about what you are trying to achieve and remember that the people whom you are asking to do the work will literally know nothing about your business processes and the purpose of the end result. You must be crystal clear in your specifications and terms of reference and write “Dummies Guides” to reflect the thinking in your head.

Think clearly about benchmarking and reporting. It's best to make that fine judgment call between being too demanding with reporting requirements and not receiving enough information to make decisions regarding workload and resource planning. We prefer to give honest and open information and allow all our clients to contact us and our partner as they see fit to establish that we do exactly what it says on the tin. Let us help you to think clearly about your outsourcing needs. For more information please click here.

Case Management Advances

This blog is being written in Ireland after a review of two case management systems for companies. After many years of being in the legal (and none legal) case management market it's always good to keep up with the latest advances and approaches to this field. Back in a previous life I was in at the ground floor when case management systems were the big thing in the legal world and went on to implement this for many types of work including RTA/PI, Debt Recovery, Conveyancing, Admin, Litigation and more. I was involved in the pioneering of online systems linking clients with the data stored within this system and appreciate the efforts it takes to make this work properly. Never more has the phrase "garbage in - garbage out" been applicable.

The two systems recently viewed are in sharp contrast to each other. One is an old school system was installed within our client law firm around 7 years ago and incrementally updated as time went by. This leads to the underlying fundamentals having a direct influence on the design issues going forward and boy can you tell. The very principles of workflow with conditional logic is clunky with an accounting like double-entry procedure of having an internal progression system but mathced up with an external tasking system via Outlook. A crazy prospect.

The second such system I reviewed was brand spanking new and developed by a young and enthusiastic company called Documatics (www.documatics.com) who have taken a long look at the flaws of these old systems and made products using the latest technology and unhindered by legacy considerations. Such systems are not a panacea to a companies case management needs as many features taken for granted in other geographical locations such as the UK and US are not in place. The Irish legal system is booming and eevryone charges by the hour at an hourly rate. However, change is in the air and the beginnings of fixed price commodity based work is lying just around the corner and Ireland is set to go through the same changes as those previously mentioned above. Young companies like Documatics have the chance to get ahead of the curve and offer technology that competition just can't live with.

These are exciting times in the Irish legal technology market and it is good to be in at the front line watching the pitched battle between vendors with an impartial brief. Establish vendors have the resources to make changes whilst battling against support issues and on-going client demands. New companies can take a fresh look and offer updated technology platforms and approaches but need the client base and exposure that the older companies take for granted. In a dog eat dog world the companies will sink or swim on the back of what they do in the next 2 years. Good times or troubles lie ahead.

For more information regarding BACK Consulting's legal technology services please click here.