For administrators, entering into a multi-year agreement with a new IT partner is a huge deal due to not only the impact on firm operations, but the impact on your reputation as well.
Unfortunately, IT companies have a habit of making contract terms more complicated than they need to be, and white knuckling such an important process can lead you right back into a frustrating situation. So we at Optimal Networks are here to help!
Now, we know law firms aren’t monoliths and each of you has unique needs. But given our long history serving those in this noble profession along with our knowledge of the IT industry, there are some things we recommend all firms at least consider when signing a contract with an IT vendor.
Service Terms to Consider
1. Unlimited helpdesk and onsite remediation. Some contracts limit “unlimited” support to the helpdesk. Your provider shouldn’t get more money because they have to come to your office to resolve a problem. Agreements that are transaction-based like this are not saving you money in the long run. In fact, you could end up paying in lost productivity and billable hours, plus the cost of the visit, leaving your expenditure unpredictable.
2. Prescheduled engineering. This is a big one. If your service model doesn’t include prescheduled engineering checks this can lead to disruptive or unexpected situations. The “visits” don’t necessarily need to be onsite, but they should be on a consistent timeline so the engineer can check the health of your systems and offer recommendations to improve efficiency and security.
3. Baked-in security services. Artificial intelligence and hybrid work have changed the threat landscape causing security best practices to evolve. Nearly three-quarters of data breaches include a human element, so make sure your IT partner is providing advanced protection where your people are: on their laptops. Firms like yours need security tools that have the “intelligence” to detect malicious activity on computers and either a.) shut the process down or b.) alert a 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) to intervene.
4. Regular strategic check-ins. This goes beyond your provider delivering technical reports that make little sense and have even less impact on your goals and staff. Your IT MSP should meet with you on a quarterly basis. During these check-ins they should talk to you about your firm’s goals and priorities and offer proactive recommendations to support and accelerate those goals.
5. Specialization in legal IT. Don’t take this lightly as it will become painfully obvious you have a generalist on your hands when you need help with niche tasks, like migrating to NetDocs from SharePoint, and balls are dropped due to lack of expertise. Cover yourself ahead of time and seek IT MSPs that are laser-focused on law firms, the applications you use, and your unique needs.
6. Employee onboarding. Your IT partner should help give new hires a great first impression of your firm. Onboarding should be baked into the services at no extra cost, and in fact the process should require almost no labor at all. A modern provider will be able to auto-deploy machines straight from the manufacturer to wherever the employee works with all the apps and settings installed right out of the box.
Contract Terms to Consider
7. Your year-over-year rate increases. Many of our current clients came to us with weary hearts due to rate increases they were unprepared for or felt were unjustified. Incremental rate increases are pretty standard, and your IT partner should be up-front about how much and how often your costs will fluctuate so you can budget accordingly.
8. Service level agreements (SLAs). Lastly, we will discuss SLAs—and probably not in the way you’d expect. The natural instinct is to be strict about how any vendor’s SLAs are formatted. In the case of your IT MSP agreement you actually want flexible SLAs. This sounds counterintuitive, but it results in better service. With rigid definitions and response time guarantees, the helpdesk cannot use their judgment and industry knowledge (because remember, you chose a specialist!) to triage issues by true severity. Rather than them knowing how urgent it might be for you to gain access to a matter in your document management system, they’ll be handcuffed by procedure.
Listen, we get it: switching MSPs can be daunting well before it’s time for contracts. However, with these tips, you can have a more informed discussion about your potential services and walking through the agreement will be a breeze.
We hope this helps in your individual quest for clarity, but if you have more questions, reach out to your MSP. If their goal is to become your trusted partner, they should be happy to talk it out with you until you’re feeling comfortable and confident.