Over time, the world has gradually but surely transformed into a digital world with people embracing technology in all spheres of their lives to make life easier and more comfortable. Technology has been so deeply ingrained in the world today that any company that has not made the shift from the old ways of doing things and adopted the latest technological advancements is left playing catch-up. Fortune 50 companies, small businesses, and individual users have reaped greatly from incorporating the latest tech in their day-to-day lives. They have leveraged the benefits of using the latest software and IT services to make them stand out from the rest of the pack.
Your law firm shouldn’t be any different. Whether you’re just starting out or have been in the industry for years, modernizing your legal practice is a crucial factor that will determine how far you will go. Investing in quality law firm software applications is vital in automating and streamlining your operations. Law practice management software allows you to deliver top-notch services to your clients in a prompt and transparent manner while saving lots of precious time and energy. It helps your team manage heavy caseloads, and communicate effectively with your clients. Lugging around briefcases and stacking piles upon piles of papers on your desk doesn’t cut it anymore.
Some of the best Law Practise management software include MyCase, App4Legal, Clio Manage, Lawcus, and Pro Law to mention just but a few. You may already be having dozens of other business software such as ERP systems, databases and so on. This can lead to issues such as data siloing and redundancy which will eventually lead to reduced productivity and an increase in operating costs. So how can your law firm have new applications on top of pre-existing software without creating a complex environment and compromise on productivity? The answer is quite simple: Business systems integration.
And that’s where SoftwareApps comes in. Established in 1993, and headquartered in Virginia, SoftwareApps is the leading IT solutions and computer hardware, provider. We provide a vast array of IT services with the help and support of computer specialists and consultants who ensure that all your needs are met.
At the core of our services is business systems integration, In simple terms, we develop APIs and custom applications that ensure different business applications, and subsystems can communicate seamlessly with each other. This ensures that all of your organization’s business systems such as ERPs, CRMs, databases, and applications can ‘talk’ to one another in a seamless fashion.
How will your Law firm benefit from Integrated systems?
Firstly, a holistic systems integration model will eliminate redundancy in your business environment and avoid shoddy solutions to problems which end up wasting a lot of time. Additionally, your IT team will spend less time diagnosing compatibility issues resulting in lower operational costs.
Furthermore, Systems integration greatly reduces or cuts down on manual data entry into a myriad of software applications. With system integration, all applications will seamlessly communicate with one another, eliminating manual workarounds and leading to more productivity among your employees.
Lastly, with seamlessly communicate between different software platforms, fewer errors are likely to occur leading to higher accuracy of data input as opposed to manually feeding data into all the systems which can yield inconsistencies due to human error.
A case Scenario of a real-life business integration example
Let’s assume that you are part of a Law firm that happens to have 2 departments: records and paralegal departments. The Records department uses an ERP system that is totally different from the system used by the Paralegal department. These are two independent stand-alone systems which work well by themselves, however, they lead to data siloing. Data between the two systems cannot be shared in an automated and seamless manner. Unless employees from those departments work together and share the information manually, client data cannot be integrated into one central repository. Manually sharing of all the records leads to wastage of precious time which could have bee diverted to other useful tasks within the law firm. If employees waste 2 hours a day, exchanging and consolidating records, then, this translates to 10 hours a week. In a month, this translates to 40 hours and a sum total of 480 hours annually. This implies that in a year, a whopping 20 days are washed down the drain! Now suppose the company loses $100 for every hour lost, this would translate to a staggering loss of $ 48000 per year!
The solution?
To salvage precious time lost and consequent revenue, implementation of business integration using APIs and proper data transfer tools is the way to go. This will facilitate seamless communication between The Records ERP system and the system used by the Paralegal department. This integration will create a unified and centralized repository of customer information.
The result?
The Paralegal department will be able to easily access clients’ information from the Records team which will give them insights about the nature of clients’ cases and how far the cases have progressed over time. It will also shed light on other vital information that will help them carry out their tasks with ease. In the end, the elimination of manual entry of data will reduce overhead costs and efficiency in both departments and the company as a whole will be boosted.
Similarly, as we have seen in the above example, our objective will be to build custom APIs that will help integrate various subsystems within your law firm that will centralize clients’ and other useful data, so that the relevant departments in your firm can easily share information in a hassle-free and automated manner.
Are you planning to have a holistic systems integration business environment but don’t know where to begin? Worry not, SoftwareApps is at your service. Do not hesitate to give us a call or visit our website for more information.