Law firm relies on iManage Cloud to safeguard their valuable knowledge assets and client data
Cole Schotz, known for their relentless commitment to achieving success for their clients, decided that migrating to the cloud would reduce the overall complexity of managing their IT environment and free up IT resources to better support the firm’s objectives. With the capabilities built into the iManage platform, they were also able to upgrade their security protection and automate information governance and retention policies. The firm described their migration as “completely seamless” with virtually no impact to users. The firm also benefits from cost savings from a reduction in data center reliance, insurance costs, infrastructure, and equipment.
Challenge
Cole Schotz major objective was to reduce the overall complexity of what they were managing in their on-premises IT environment and decrease the internal needs for support. The firm is strongly pro-cloud, and their goal is to get most of their primary workload into the cloud.
“We would say we're now cloud-first, we always look for a cloud component that we can utilize for whatever need we have. I don't have a team that can provide security at the level that I feel needs to be there to protect everything. It's just almost impossible," said Patricia Mansuy, Interim CIO, Cole Schotz.
After they reviewed the other cloud vendors that were out there, they decided it was clear that iManage was where they needed to be and to go. They were able to make that decision very quickly.
Solution
“One of my senior partners said, ‘Well, we don't want to go to another vendor because everyone calls it iManage, so we've got to stay with iManage.’ It was a good point, keeping what you're comfortable with. It's something that you feel strongly about, and it's a key factor. Document management is in everything that we do, filing emails, filing documents, bringing a matter together for our clients. It's key to what lawyers do," said Patricia Mansuy, Interim CIO, Cole Schotz.
The IT team was able to quickly leverage iManage Control Center for system administration, while end users continued their work uninterrupted. Their implementation partner Kraft Kennedy ensured the project rollout was streamlined and efficient.
Benefits
In addition to meeting their strategic goals for reducing infrastructure complexity, lowering the IT support burden, and moving from capital expenses to operational, Mansuy firmly believes the firm’s knowledge assets are more secure now in the cloud.
“When you know that you can have your data, your workloads in the cloud — our two most important are Exchange and our documents — I don't have to worry. I can sleep. I trust that Microsoft and iManage are ensuring that our security is strong and they're watching 24/7. They're both large companies, they have reputations to protect, and they can bring more to the table than we ever could as a midsized firm," said Patricia Mansuy, Interim CIO, Cole Schotz.
Results
The firm is preparing to roll out the Work 10 web client to give people more features and functionality than the DeskSite can offer. They're also introducing the mobile client, and Mansuy says is a big one because everyone wants to be able to look at documents on their mobile devices. All new tools, and new ways of accessing documents that she believes are going to be very well received by the firm’s attorneys.
