Regarded by many as Europe’s most influential legal event, LegalEx at ExCeL London on the 28th & 29th March, proved a big success with record numbers of visitors, many of whom made it onto our stand.
Overall the show was busier than last year and it was interesting to see firms of all sizes and all areas of the UK represented in the footfall.
We joined almost 150 of the world’s most innovative legal suppliers, to explain the benefits of our almost 30 years of experience in managed IT services and associated technology.
Interest in our managed IT services offering were high; both outsourcing and integrating services with in-house IT teams so they can offload more mundane activities to concentrate on driving growth and productivity gains.
Growing interest in our hosted voice service, expertly presented by our Telecommunications Manager Terry Faria, was likely to have been sparked in part, by BT’s decision to decommission its ISDN infrastructure by 2025 – now is the time to consider alternatives.
Interest will have also been driven by the desire of law firms, to cut costs, whilst improving productivity with closer collaboration through communication flexibility across multiple locations.
One visitor summed up the issue nicely when asking; “could the implementation of hosted voice technology be cost neutral?”
The answer that over the course of a typical three-year deal, there is potential to make savings and productivity gains equal to or greater than the cost of the necessary equipment and hosting services, certainly ensured a longer conversation and site visit.
Whilst you always expect a number of souvenir hunters, looking to re-stock their stationery cupboards at events like this, the overwhelming number of visitors seemed intent on finding practical solutions to the challenges they face in an increasingly competitive and scary world for law firms.
Falling into the ‘scary’ category, would be the rise of cyber-crime and particularly the targeting of law-firms, with the impact of GDPR next year running a close second. We were running seminars at LegalEx to explain that the response to both issues requires a three-pronged approach.
Firstly, it’s essential to get policies and procedures in place to mitigate the risk of attack. Secondly, it’s vital not just to train staff about the dangers of cyber-crime, but to regularly test how employees respond to a phishing-style attack.
The last piece of the jigsaw is to ensure the business is insured not just against a cyber-attack, but also for the potential swingeing fines levied under the new GDPR regime following a data breach.
Although for the most part it was an interesting and entertaining show, our experience of the show demonstrated there are a lot of serious issues keeping law firm Managing Partners, Office Managers and IT Directors awake at night; productivity and efficiency have been joined by cyber-security training and testing as priorities for the modern law firm.
Tracy Armstrong, Marketing Manager, Quiss Technology plc
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