Competition within the legal industry is fierce. Whether your goal is to attract new clients, retain talent, or improve efficiencies, law firms need every competitive advantage to thrive. Desktop as a Service (DaaS) is a cloud-based solution that firms can utilize to transform their IT and become more secure, mobile, and free to focus on their clients.
What is DaaS?
DaaS moves your desktops, servers, applications, and files to a private cloud. Your firm’s desktops are streamed from the cloud, look and feel identical to a normal computer, and are securely accessed from any device. DaaS not only elevates your firm’s IT, but it can also set your firm apart from the competition. Here are 5 ways DaaS gives your law firm a competitive advantage.
Enterprise-Level Cybersecurity
A data breach is more than just an inconvenience. Data breaches are a serious threat and have dire consequences for law firms, including reputational, operational, and financial harm. Maintaining a high level of cybersecurity in-house is both difficult and costly, but a subpar IT partner will put your firm and clients at risk.
By partnering with a reputable DaaS provider, law firms work through an encrypted network that keeps their communications private and secure. DaaS also provides multi-faceted cybersecurity features such as firewalls, malware protection, 24x7x365 monitoring, and regular backups. When meeting with prospective clients, DaaS empowers your firm to leverage cybersecurity as a strong selling point and differentiates your firm from competitors.
Talent Retention
Although the competition for clients is stiff, it can be argued that attracting and retaining top talent is a greater challenge. Talented young associates are in high demand and firms equipped with state-of-the-art technology and streamlined processes are much more attractive than those stuck with outdated technology. Since 2020, many firms have adopted hybrid work environments and attorneys need ample infrastructure to thrive. DaaS expands beyond the walls of the office and gives your attorneys the flexibility they need to work from home, the office, or on the go.
With DaaS, attorneys become more productive and provide greater service to their clients due to increased mobility. An attorney no longer worries about losing progress, an application not opening, or forgetting to upload a file because they can simply log in to their desktop from any location and continue from where they previously left off. A system that stifles productivity reduces a firm’s chances of attracting and retaining top talent, whereas a system that improves productivity and flexibility increases a firm’s appeal.
Business Continuity
Hurricane Ian, which recently devasted Florida, is an example of how an extreme weather event can grind operations to a halt and potentially put a firm out of commission. An interruption can come in many forms, including cyberattacks, natural disasters, and human conflict. These are grim reminders that businesses need to implement a business continuity plan before disaster strikes.
Business continuity is inherent with DaaS. To prevent cyberattacks, a DaaS provider equips your firm with enterprise-level cybersecurity as well as cybersecurity training for attorneys and staff. In the event your office is rendered inaccessible by a natural or manmade disaster, DaaS users can continue to serve their clients due to the flexibility to work from anywhere at any time. To prevent data loss, a DaaS provider performs regular system backups and can restore your firm’s data from the most recent backup. Thanks to DaaS, clients and potential clients will know that your firm is there for them, no matter what.
Seamless Scalability
A growing caseload typically signals the need for more attorneys and staff, and that means more IT. Scaling a firm’s IT includes buying and maintaining computers, hiring new IT staff, and upgrading network infrastructure. These upgrades become expensive and time-consuming ventures that distract resources away from clients. DaaS solves these issues by providing a seamless, scalable infrastructure.
DaaS providers have the hardware, software, and resources in place to scale, taking the heavy lifting off of your firm. As your firm needs change, you simply add or remove users to your DaaS subscription. Seamless scaling through DaaS lets firms grow and adapt to the changing needs of their firm, giving them an edge over the competition.
Familiarity
Although switching to a new IT system sounds like more of a headache than a competitive advantage, DaaS streams a Windows desktop to any device, so attorneys and staff have nothing new to learn. The virtual desktop looks and runs identically to a normal computer and is compatible with case management, file management, Office365, and any other applications that your firm already uses. A familiar system makes it possible for your firm to quickly leverage all the benefits of DaaS and become more competitive.
To find out how our DaaS solution, Boxtop, can help your firm gain a competitive advantage, contact Tabush Group.