Why Your Law Firm Needs a Managed Services Provider in Wichita

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April 30, 2020

Your law firm faces many unique IT challenges. HIPAA laws, American Bar Association rules and regulations, and other governmental requirements makes navigating your IT landscape tricky. To stay compliant and competitive, your law firm needs a managed services provider in Wichita, Kansas.

What Is a Managed Services Provider?

Managed Services Providers (MSPs) are companies that specialize in helping businesses, such as legal practices, manage complicated IT systems and infrastructure. The actions and strategies of an MSP can help businesses remain compliant to industry standards and have a reliable network. They will also increase cybersecurity measures, find the right tools to keep your business competitive, and help your business move forward with the tech solutions you need.

Reactive vs Proactive

With an internal IT department only, your techs will be acting reactively to issues as they arise. If your law firm doesn’t have an internal IT department, you are most likely contracted with a “break-fix” model of IT services; you will not see the tech team until after a problem has occurred.

An MSP will take a proactive approach to your law firm’s IT, planning strategies that will stop problems from arising in the first place. One example of a proactive approach is installing a comprehensive cybersecurity platform and monitoring it continuously to make sure no suspicious activity is happening in your network. MSPs address issues both before they occur and offer real-time remediation for issues as they happen.

When your IT firm is reactive instead of proactive, small issues are caught before they cause big problems, service disruption, and unplanned downtime.

Why Your Law Firm Needs a Managed Services Provider in Wichita

With the average law firm in the US only averaging about ten total employees, the cost of hiring an in-house IT department is rarely in the budget. Chances are that the cost of using a Managed Services Provider in Wichita will be less than hiring personnel to manage your IT internally.

When you outsource your IT needs, all your staff can focus on growing you law firm and keeping your practice competitive.

What Benefits are There for Using a Managed Services Provider in Wichita?

On top of managing your IT budget with reliable billing every month, an MSP specializes in four key factors for law firms.

1. Maintaining Compliancy

No one understands the penalties facing businesses that are found to be in violation of regulatory requirements quite like a law firm. On the top of these regulations is client confidentiality and privacy.

In addition, your firm is responsible for handling money and estates, making your compliance with financial rules and regulations mandatory as well.

A manages services provider in Wichita will help you swim through these regulations by keeping your network private and secure. Some of these concerns may involve solutions for:

  • Data Backup
  • Cybersecurity Awareness Training for all employees
  • Enhanced access features, like multi-factor authentication
  • Effective anti-virus and anti-malware platforms

If you’re unsure about the specific requirements about law firm cybersecurity, make sure to purchase The ABA Cybersecurity Handbook: A Resource for Attorneys, Law Firms, and Business Professionals, Second Edition from the official ABA website.

2. Improving Productivity and Billable Hours

When your network goes down, your productivity goes down as well as your ability to maintain the steady workflow that results in billable hours.

It could be something as temporary as an internet connection or a broken piece of hardware or as massive as a breach or natural disaster. IT issues means lost time, and for a law firm, time is money.

The bottom line is that maintaining your case flow is only possible if your network is operating efficiently. MSPs work proactively to keep your network running smoothly and securely. They will minimize downtime, establish rigorous security measures, and implement disaster and recovery plans that keep your practice up and running if a disaster should happen.

3. Enhanced Security Platform

Your law practice has seen the effects of cybersecurity breaches in both your own vertical and clients facing penalties and fines when their own businesses were breached. A Managed Services Provider in Wichita can offer you the cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions you need to keep your business safe from cybercriminal activity.

Some cybersecurity elements that your MSP will cover will include:

  • Email spam filters
  • Cybersecurity Awareness Training
  • Firewall Protection
  • End-Point-Protection
  • Rigorous anti-virus and anti-malware protection
  • Data backup and recovery plans
  • Multi-factor authentications
  • Monitoring your network
  • Documentation

Boxed-antivirus solutions aren’t enough for your legal practice. Outsourcing your IT services means developing a comprehensive cybersecurity platform that will not only be reliable, it will check all the boxes for your unique regulatory needs.

4. Cloud Solutions Offer Connectivity

Managed Services Providers are specialists when it comes to cloud computing solutions. When you take your network to the cloud, you are giving your staff the resources they need to access client files, documents, and data wherever they are. They can collaborate on cases, find data and files they need in the courthouse, meet with clients at home, and access files whenever they need. This connectivity is necessary in today’s competitive legal vertical.

A managed services provider in Wichita, Kansas can provide you with the tools you need to increase their mobility and decrease the amount of time your employees need to spend in the office looking for files and notes. Cloud services give secure access to your staff wherever there is an internet connection.

Finding a Managed Services Provider in Wichita Kansas

There are a lot of managed services providers to choose from and picking the right one isn’t easy.

A few questions you can ask MSPs may include:

  • Do you have experience in the legal vertical?
  • Do you have dedicated teams that will take the time to understand my law firm’s unique IT needs?
  • Do you have a help desk available with answers and solutions I need right away?
  • Is your cybersecurity platform comprehensive? Does it meet my law firm’s specific rules and regulations regarding cybersecurity?
  • Is your MSP reactive or proactive?
  • I have my own IT department. Does your MSP offer co-managed services?
  • Can I request a free introductory consultation?
  • Is your MSP responsive when they receive a service request?

When you are looking for an MSP, you need to find a company that understands your needs and provides IT services with a local, small town community feel. Your legal practice needs a managed services provider in Wichita, like Iconic IT, so that your staff can focus on what’s important: working for your clients and growing your legal firm.

We're Integris. We're always working to empower people through technology.

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