Outsourcing has become a common term used by businesses of all types and sizes. But, what does it truly mean? The American Heritage Dictionary defines outsourcing as “sending out (work, for example) to an outside provider or manufacturer in order to cut costs”. The legal industry knows this term well as organizations, which typically do not have all the necessary legal expertise in-house, often “outsource” all or some of their legal function to law firms to handle specific legal projects or on an on-going basis.

On the flip side, in an effort to provide the highest quality services to their own clients, law firms have become experts at outsourcing certain aspects of their business operations that do not fall in their core competencies. By outsourcing their own mail room, copying, accounting and other business areas, law firms have found that they are able to reduce expenses and concentrate more on what they do best – practicing law.

More recently, the legal industry has turned to industry experts to also outsource their technology projects. Computer technology has become an essential part of every legal business. Today, it is one of the first areas businesses look at to improve efficiency, cut costs and ultimately, increase their competitive edge. Firms, no matter what size, cannot afford the downtime and potential data loss that often result from a software glitch or a network failure.

With technology being the third largest expense in most law firms, behind office space and salaries, many law firms are realizing that IT outsourcing is the best option for reducing technology expenses and improving productivity. Today, firms are challenged with outdated computer infrastructures, new regulatory requirements, increased competition, the need for greater convenience, an overwhelming number of technologies on the market, increased costs of technology and the continual need to reduce expenses. They are looking for outside assistance to help them find, implement and manage the right technologies to deal with these common business issues.
IT Outsourcing Options

Outsourcing IT projects
At the most minimal level of outsourcing, a firm would continue to manage their network in-house, but hire an IT service provider to make on-site visits to provide system implementation, upgrade, maintenance, troubleshooting and help desk support services. To have a sophisticated in-house computer system requires an investment in staff, time and money and the assistance from an external IT expert is often considered necessary to maintain and improve the system.


Remote IT services
To minimize the reliance on the service provider’s schedule and reduce associated fees, businesses have taken it a step further by outsourcing some of their technical functions to companies that offer remote IT services. With this approach, the IT service provider handles tasks such as routine maintenance and backups from a remote location, virtually eliminating the need for on-site visits. With this option, the firm’s in-house IT professionals continue to handle the everyday troubleshooting, upgrades, implementations and other tasks of the IT infrastructure.


Fully-outsourced computer networks
Firms are realizing that their sophisticated technology infrastructures require full-time attention by a team of technology experts with knowledge in various hardware and software applications and that it is not cost-effective or productive for their firm to be in the IT business and handle everything themselves. A growing number of law firms are turning to service providers that offer fully-outsourced computer network solutions. With this option, all of the firm’s servers and software applications as well as their employees’ individual desktops are managed by the IT company.

Under this model, the software applications and data files are stored off-site on fault-tolerant systems at a highly secure, data center and accessed via a dedicated line. Additionally, the service provider remotely maintains the system, provides troubleshooting services and upgrades software as needed. Because everything is hosted off-site, the firm’s attorneys and staff can access their entire desktop at home, in another office, at a client location or on the road, as if they were in their office.
Why Firms are Migrating to the Outsourcing Solution

Completely outsourcing a business’ technology infrastructure has proven to be a good strategy for reducing costs, facilitating growth, eliminating the management of growing data storage needs and appeasing the need for disaster recovery.

It has been calculated that the average annual savings for outsourcing is 25-30 percent. With software and files hosted at a data center, the PCs purchased don’t need to be as powerful and therefore are less expensive and a firm can avoid purchasing, installing, supporting and upgrading costly software applications. The service provider typically assumes total responsibility for the computer network at a fixed monthly fee, providing a predictable annual technology budget for the firm. With the cost of technology growing at a double digit pace with no end in site for this increase, outsourcing is proving to be a solid option.

Outsourcing also minimizes lost productivity. If a computer fails, the user can simply log-in at another PC or access their files remotely via the Internet. And, downtime is virtually eliminated with software installations and upgrades taking place remotely.

These solutions offer firms a team of experts that are focusing on preventative maintenance – a task in-house IT professionals rarely have time to touch on. The IT service provider typically provides 24x7 network administration, network performance monitoring, network and applications software updates, backup and security monitoring. With an in-house IT department it is difficult to have all this expertise on staff.

In terms of data protection, having the firm’s data and applications stored at an off-site location, provides the necessary protection in the event of a system failure, as well as the secondary storage to support the organization’s growth. And, by depending on IT experts to manage the computing environment, firms can be ensured that they will always have updated protection from intruders, viruses, spam and spyware.

Outsourcing comes in all shapes and sizes. One size does not fit all. Each law firm has different IT requirements and varying levels of in-house resources to manage their IT environments. Whether a firm has a team of IT experts on staff or whether the managing partner of the firm is shouldered with the responsibility for the firm’s technology infrastructure, outsourcing, in some form, would benefit each firm.

More recently, law firms have been exploring the fully outsourced computer network option. This option offers the reliability law firms require with all the functionality of a sophisticated network and at a fraction of the cost of an in-house computer system. It provides users with high-speed, remote access to important documents anytime, anywhere; enables firms of any size to keep pace with the fast changing technology landscape and have access to the most advanced technologies at an affordable price; it also decreases IT capital expenditures and improves time management, allowing firms to concentrate on their core capabilities, ultimately increasing profitability.

Edward J. Grubb is president and co-founder of Network Alternatives, Inc. (NAI). He has more than 20 years of experience in law office computing. NAI is a nationally-recognized provider of full-service, cost-effective and reliable technology solutions for law firms and other professional services organizations. NAI provides solutions which are distinctively tailored to meet its clients’ needs and include: application hosting, document management, file management, consulting, network integration and customer support. Contact Ed at egrubb@network-alternatives.com