ECM Briefs

When it comes to law firms, one size does not fit all – flexibility is the key. That was the message from customers at last week’s International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) conference. ECM requirements continue to mount for law firms. The productivity of fee-earning attorneys is critical to success, yet that productivity is hampered by the volume of email and documents they work with, and a complex web of compliance and business requirements.

Open Text is happy to hear the flexibility message – more flexibility is precisely what we’re working on for law firms and we are prepared to change the ECM game to do it. How? It starts with the recognition that Microsoft SharePoint is offering the legal world a powerful option: A single document management and collaboration system in a familiar Microsoft desktop interface -- everything in one place, easily extendable across a global firm at a low cost. That in itself is game changing and for ECM vendors, one would think it spells disaster. But for Open Text, it presents opportunities. At ILTA, we announced with Microsoft our plans to integrate our specialized law firm solutions with SharePoint. What changes the game (and where competitors are loath to follow) is that SharePoint becomes the firm’s document repository while our solutions ride on top. Customers get the productivity benefits of SharePoint, combined with all the specialized capabilities we offer to manage firm processes, client matters and compliance.

How can we do it? For starters, we’re a major Microsoft ECM partner globally and a leader in developing ECM solutions that extend SharePoint (you can read more about our track record here). We have the expertise and technology to embrace and extend SharePoint, while our competitors are still stuck in “whistle-past-the-graveyard” mode.

The news of our SharePoint plans shouldn’t concern customers who choose our document management solutions. We’re continuing to advance our Livelink ECM – eDOCS DM product line with new capabilities, also announced at ILTA (more are on the way in the months ahead). And we’re continuing to add new features to our LegalKEY Practice Support Solutions, our suite of specialized law firm applications and the core of the solutions we’re integrating with SharePoint. LegalKEY has proven to be a powerful solution for law firms as customer Steven Burchell, of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, discusses in a recent podcast.

In a nutshell, we’re giving customers multiple options so that they can define an ECM strategy that best suits their firms. We’re continuing to deliver on the promises we made following our acquisition of Hummingbird. At ILTA, customer reaction was good. We held our Legal CIO Advisory Board meeting at the conference, where we had a wide-ranging discussion about product direction and strategy. Our ILTA booth was crowded with customers, partners and prospects, and we had to overflow some conversations into partner booths -- two of our best legal industry partners, EIM and Onward, which were both exhibiting at ILTA, obliged.

One thing is certain, the law firm market offers interesting opportunities and CIOs who have a clear understanding of their growing information management challenges. ILTA proved to be a powerful forum, more than living up to its tagline “peer powered” by creating an environment where attendees could easily share best practices. Kudos to Peggy Weschler, the ILTA Program Director, and her team, who facilitated the conference.