Bringing Your Small Firm Into the 21st Century

It’s Friday afternoon in the middle of July, and the family is already at the cottage. You’re packing up to join them, but you know that laptop is coming with you. You tell yourself it’s a necessary evil, but it’s also one of the key tools that let you afford that cottage in the first place. You’ve been putting off a demand letter, and your client is already on your case about when that letter is going out. While you’ve been able to placate them with an answer of ‘Monday’, that means your weekend is destined to be spent on the clock.

Back in the day, this would have meant lugging up a banker’s box of documents in the trunk, and working hunched over a stack of papers just to make sure that everything stays in order. Now, with today’s technology, you’ve finally been able to go paperless, and all that needs to come with you is a laptop and a charger.

The thing is – that laptop needs to work seamlessly. You need to be able to connect as though you’re sitting directly in your office, despite feeling like another world away.

Suppose your destination is more exotic. You’ve finally set aside that precious week off to head to Europe on a romantic couple’s vacation. You’ve put as many files on pause as you can, hoping that nothing explodes over your vacation. Yet when your plane touches down and you instinctively go to check your email, you see that one of your matters requires urgent attention, and cannot wait until your return.

Luckily, your hotel has a business center, but that is just the start of it. You need to be able to connect seamlessly to your office, accessing documents and emails from the file and responding to counsel without missing a beat. The internet at the hotel may not be perfect, but your ability to tap into your files from anywhere in the world needs to be.

“Ultimately it’s the simple things that make a difference.”

When you’re running your own firm, whether it’s with a small team or a sole practice, technology is your lifeblood. The competitive advantage that you offer your clients is being able to provide exceptional service without bloated facilities, and that means being able to work smartly and securely from practically any location.

Moreover, you simply don’t have room for error when it comes to your connectivity. While larger firms may have in-house IT personnel available in person around the clock, you need an outsourced IT provider that you can count on to set you up right the first time around. Simply put, without the proper IT infrastructure, your small firm practice is almost guaranteed to suffer.

Finding the right IT services provider can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. You need a knowledgeable team, who understands the unique needs of your practice and can find common sense solutions for complex challenges. Yet you also need a team that is available to help you through those inevitable malfunctions, and can get you back up and running with minimal disruption to your business.