11 key tips to maximise the impact of your firm's outsourcing

In the final part of a series on outsourcing for law firms, two leading consultants – one a technology expert and the other a marketing specialist – outline their advice for getting the most out of external advisors.

TECHNOLOGY

Damian Huon, chief executive officer, Huon IT

Damian Huon’s experience in the IT industry spans more than 20 years. His focus is on directing and developing technology visions for clients, including through budgeting, monitoring, infrastructure design and deployment services, as well as a range of assessment and auditing services.

1. How can you make sure your consultant understands law firms?

A great track record as an IT services supplier does not ensure that a company will be the right fit for a law firm. Huon says knowing how certain technology tools and platforms apply within a law firm environment is crucial for outsourcers. So check their background – and client list. “The provider has really got to demonstrate a will and intent to understand the business beyond the IT stack,” Huon says. “Without that, the IT service could be disconnected.”

2. What is required to shift from IT ‘generalists’ to a specialist partner network?

The technology space is becoming increasing complex, and Huon believes it is unrealistic to expect one in-house technology employee to stay on top of all a firm’s day-to-day technology needs and services. “The role of the in-house IT generalist is shifting from running the whole system themselves towards coordinating external service providers and ensuring that each partner delivers on their promises,” he says.

One option is to develop a solid partnership with external advisors for specialised jobs such as mail server security networks or Citrix server or software applications. Huon says a dedicated outsourcing team has the advantage of drawing on multiple staff with different specialties who can be “wheeled in” for a range of IT tasks around the clock.

Another common scenario, he says, is for a disconnect to develop between a firm’s IT team and its partners. Either party – the end users or IT – may be too comfortable using existing, familiar toolsets and can be reluctant to change. Firms often benefit from an independent perspective to help overcome these barriers to adopt more innovative solutions. “The firm and IT can feel like they’re on separate islands, not really communicating and not working together to adopt the right IT strategy,” Huon says. “So sometimes we go in and bridge that gap to ensure business and IT are aligned. This often involves coaching the business to embrace IT as part of the core management team.”

3. How can firms get affordable IT options to maximise their bang for buck?

For firms with tight IT budgets, Huon says it may make sense to sign up to a help-desk service with an outsourcer or to use some more junior external support staff in an ongoing role. Such a service can be extended when needed by bringing in senior staff for more complex IT tasks or to liaise with partners about long-term technology strategies.

4. What is ‘shadow IT’ spending and how can firms manage it?

Shadow IT refers to an increasing trend whereby employees and business departments are bypassing internal IT resources to use their own systems, software and technologies without permission from management. While this situation often grows out of necessity – with tech-savvy departments or employees seeking out their own solutions to business problems – it is an area that requires monitoring.

Huon says spending on shadow IT is rising quickly as marketing and HR teams, for instance, adopt cloud services or upgrade CRM tools. As a consequence, he advises senior management to update their knowledge of this area – perhaps through external assistance – or run the risk of having disparate systems across the business that are not integrated and which could pose security problems. “Leaving technology choices up to the individual departments and staff is a huge risk, especially for security inside a law firm,” Huon says.

5. What role will cost-effective automation tools have in the future?

Huon says the mantra for modern consultants should be to help firms cut costs and become more self-sufficient, rather than simply making them ever more reliant on the outsourcer’s services. That puts the focus on reducing tedious IT administration, increasing user training for staff and improving automation where feasible. Automation represents the future. For example, Huon says if an outsourced help desk identifies that a firm is repeatedly requiring attention or having problems with a specific task (such as printer mapping), it can build a tool that addresses the glitch permanently. “So the task is remediated for them in a split second and it doesn’t burn any unnecessary help-desk resources.

6. How important is it to set your service expectations up front?

One common difficulty for both parties in a client-outsourcer relationship involves perceptions of service delivery, according to Huon. This has to be carefully managed so that each side understands what services are being provided and paid for as part of a contract. While some firms are tech-savvy, others may need their hand held at every stage of the process. This should be factored into service agreements to limit arguments about add-on costs. For example, virus outbreaks are one issue that are rarely included in a fixed-price IT outsourcing deal. “So have that discussion right up front,” Huon says. “Be aware of what the exclusions are in contracts because there’s probably some ‘gotchas’ there.”

MARKETING

Melanie Wilkinson, chief executive officer of Fenton Communications

Melanie Wilkinson has a diverse background spanning two decades in communications and marketing. Her broad spectrum of experience includes community engagement and activation, positive health promotion, brand and reputation management, stakeholder engagement and integrated social marketing campaigns. She has assisted many law firms with their marketing requirements.

7. What should you discuss with external suppliers before hiring them?

As part of any cost-benefit analysis of outsourcing, Wilkinson agrees with Damian Huon that it is crucial to get a real sense of an outsourcer’s law firm expertise before signing on the dotted line. Just because they are good marketers does not mean they will necessarily be good law firm marketers. For example, many law firm partners are notoriously hard to nail down for marketing or branding work, and that needs to be understood and discussed. “The relationship can fall down and, on both sides, there can be a lot of frustration,” Wilkinson says.

A robust discussion about your firm’s marketing needs will also determine whether you need a full outsourcing option, or merely an in-house marketer who requires some external assistance for big marketing campaigns.

8. Is it necessary to use outsourcers who share similar values?

A cultural fit between a firm and an outsourcer is a must, according to Wilkinson. “It works best if it’s a true partnership. While the work is outsourced it needs to be seen as coming from your team, not just a bit of an add-on.” She adds that honesty and transparency are also important for the relationship to flourish – “and that’s two-way.

9. What are the pros and cons of overseas outsourcers?

In line with getting the right cultural fit between a firm and an external advisor, Wilkinson believes firms should be especially careful when engaging with international outsourcers to ensure that quality requirements are well understood. While there can be benefits with cheaper costs and turnaround times when sending work to different countries and time zones, language and technology differences can cause headaches.

“You have to understand those language barriers and quality issues in advance,” warns Wilkinson, who says brand damage and frustrations can occur if incorrect outsourcing decisions are made. “To me, the idea of outsourcing is to make it easier and to get a better product than you could actually do yourself.”

10. How can firms increase their results from spending on outsourcing?

Wilkinson suggests taking advantage of an outsourcer’s wide range of services and experience to maximise returns on spending. Sure, get advice from senior practitioners when necessary, but do not dismiss the value of junior staff who can add value at lower hourly rates on certain projects. “It allows you to have that depth of service which you can’t get if you hire just one person,” she says.

The other advantage of using an outsourcer is that the firm only pays for help when it needs it, whereas a fulltime marketer’s salary still must be paid during downtimes throughout the year. Wilkinson understands that smaller law firms with about five people on staff are typically not investing a lot in marketing, but she says as they grow they must be careful not to be left behind. “It’s getting more competitive and, as other firms improve their marketing, that means you have to keep up with them.

11. What should firms do to get active on social media?

Despite the rise and rise of platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, Wilkinson says many older partners still have a very limited understanding of social media and what it can do for firms. “There’s still a fear of it, although we are seeing an acceptance that it must be part of the mix,” she says. Wilkinson sees LinkedIn as the key networking tool for lawyers as they build alliances, promote their thought leadership and stay in touch with peers. Outsourcers are typically called in to help with social media training that covers how firms can promote themselves; who to follow on social media platforms; maximising the potential of these platforms; how to present their service offering and expertise through these channels; and ways in which lawyers can build “personal branding”.

However, Wilkinson says any social media blueprint should align with a firm’s overarching marketing strategy. “We get the law firms trying to think about their brand and positioning first and making sure that what they do on social media is consistent with that because it’s only going to work if you have that level of consistency.”