Software as a Service for the Legal Community

upgrades?<br><br> Will you need an IT consul- tant to complete the process? What i/ your practice changes and you need remote ac- cess or you work /rom multiple locations or o/ ces? The easy answer to these questions is to buy the support you need to accomplish these goals.<br><br> Hire an IT consultant to pro- vide support. Buy new equipment and so/t- ware to /acilitate meeting your practice demands. Pay /or so/tware-speci c support and /uture upgrades.<br><br> Prepare to pay /or the upgrades, support, and an IT consultant to assist with installation again the following year and you are good to go! Alternatively, you might explore a SaaS solution. SaaS applications help eliminate the knowledge gap between developer and consumer because you don 9t install the ap- plication on your hardware.<br><br> Your hardware replacement schedule can be determined by your best practices plan, not by the needs o/ an application that demands more RAM (random access memory) or a /aster proc- essor. Your so/tware maintenance and up- grade expenses are reduced because your only responsibility is to provide Internet service and an up-to-date browser. The ap- plication upgrades are seamless and pain- less /or the end user, but perhaps even more importantly, the upgrades are ongoing.<br><br> You don 9t have to wait a year or /or the next release /or implementation o/ an upgrade. SaaS solutions are competitively priced with a subscription model that supports best budget practices. What Are Some Considerations Before Jumping Aboard the SaaS Express?<br><br> Consider the /ollowing questions be/ore proceeding with a SaaS solution: Are there options to work o/fine? What are the se- curity measures in place (e.g., encryption, physical)? Can you export your data in a usable /ormat quickly and easily?<br><br> Are the backup and redundancy systems provided by the vendor adequate? Are data migra- tion systems available? I/ you remember stories about Red Go- rilla and its demise in 2001, you know that business continuity is a critical considera- tion.<br><br> One measure o/ continuity is corpo- rate maturity. How can you evaluate the corporate maturity o/ an entity whose serv- ices you want to purchase? One quick, unscienti c method is the c/reemium d test.<br><br> You have likely been to websites that o//er a /ree service and a higher level o/ service available /or a premium 4 c/reemium. d Free- mium status may be an indicator o/ the im- maturity o/ the o//ering. The strategy is used to establish a customer base, get you hooked, and then zap you with the cpay or lose it d noti cation. Two recent examples o/ serv- ices that once /ell into the /reemium cate- gory are JOTT and MailItSa/e.<br><br> Both o//ered a /ree level and a premium level 4but no longer. JOTT now o//ers a one-week /ree trial, and MailItSa/e o//ers nothing /or /ree. Which SaaS Applications Might Benefit a Law Firm?<br><br> Here are a /ew c/reemium d applications with law rm potential: Remember the Milk " http://www.rememberthemilk.com/ This cto-do list d application integrates with Google Calendar and can also be added to your iPhone. ZoHo Writer " http://www.writer.zoho.com ZoHo is an easy online word proces- sor. Use it to create and collaborate on your documents.<br><br> Law Practice Solutions is a regular fea- ture brought to you by the Practice Manage- ment Resource Center (PMRC) of the State Bar of Michigan, featuring articles on prac- tice and risk management for lawyers and their staff. For more resources offered by the PMRC, visit our website at http://www. michbar.org/pmrc/content.cfm or call our Helpline at (800) 341-9715 to speak with a practice management advisor.<br><br> 4JoAnn Hathaway and Diane Ebersole, Practice Management Advisors 51 Law Practice Solutions July 2009 Michigan Bar Journal ACROBAT.COM " http://www.acrobat.com Adobe ConnectNow lets you meet live over the web and share your screen with others. 4shared " http://www.4shared.com This site provides 5 GB (gigabytes) o/ /ree le sharing space. Two very promising SaaS applications de- signed speci cally /or the legal market are Rocket Matter, http://www.rocketmatter.com, and CLIO, http://www.goclio.com.<br><br> Both are practice management applications with many o/ the /eatures o/ the better known prod- ucts like Amicus, TABS 3 Practice Master, and TimeMatters. cRocket Matter is a web- based, practice management and time & billing solution designed exclusively /or the legal industry. d 1 cClio makes practice man- agement easy with a /ull suite o/ tools tar- geted speci cally at the needs o/ sole prac- titioners and small rms. d 2 Both applications are surprisingly robust and easy to learn, and provide a 30-day trial period. Your data may be downloaded /rom both applications in standard o/ ce-compatible /ormats.<br><br> I/ you are not currently using any prac- tice management so/tware, take some time to explore the potential o/ these two appli- cations. Imagine being able to access your practice management data /rom anywhere you have access to the web, or even /rom your iPhone. You don 9t have to buy and in- stall so/tware, change your hardware, load it onto your server, or pay /or the upgrade to the new version.<br><br> I have had the oppor- tunity to work in Rocket Matter and CLIO and have been impressed with the intuitive design, learning resources, and customer support service. 3 While there is great potential /or SaaS applications, proceed with caution, do your research, and don 9t put every o/ ce /unc- tion into a SaaS application. Care/ully take advantage o/ solutions that enhance your productivity, mobility, and fexibility.<br><br> n Diane Ebersole is a practice management advisor 7or the State Bar Practice Management Resource Center (PMRC). The purpose o 7 the PMRC is to help Bar members operate their law practices more e 7fciently and e 7 7ectively by providing in 7ormation, training, resources, and hands-on assistance through a broad-based clearinghouse, thereby enhancing their practice management skills. Ms.<br><br> Ebersole has over 20 years o 7 in 7ormation technology experience at educational institutions and businesses. FOOTNOTES 1. Rocket Matter: Online Legal Practice Management and Time & Billing Software <http://www.<br><br> rocketmatter.com>. All websites cited in this article were accessed June 9, 2009. 2.<br><br> CLIO: Online Legal Practice Management <http://www.goclio.com>. 3. To optimize the user experience and functionality of SaaS applications, it is important to have the most current version of your Internet browser (currently IE8, Firefox 3.0.10).<br><br>

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