Vedder Price centralizes knowledge assets on iManage Cloud

The solution

Centralized workflow management – with benefits

They selected the iManage Cloud platform with iManage Work, iManage Records Manager, iManage Security Policy Manager, and iManage Threat Manager, and completed the implementation in February 2020.

Vedder Price understood that upgrading the tools they were using for email, electronic documents, and physical records would benefit the firm. But why did they choose iManage over other options?

As noted, the firm saw value in centralizing their work. Centralization is at the core of the iManage knowledge work platform, which offers compelling workflow management benefits. These include artificial intelligence, security, governance, and the ability to integrate with email and other Microsoft products the firm uses.

Business outcomes

Seamless integration followed by strong adoption

In March 2020, much of the world sheltered at home, and iManage had just been implemented at Vedder Price. Vosters posits that their legacy systems wouldn’t have functioned as well with that many people on them at one time. The transition with iManage was seamless.

The firm quickly realized the benefits of adopting iManage Cloud knowledge work platform. Transitioning to iManage immediately prior to pandemic‐induced lockdowns helped them accelerate their digital transformation initiatives, identify asset value, and streamline their workflow.

Vosters told us iManage has helped people at Vedder Price be more effective at finding and creating documents. They understand where to start and how to get to the documents that they are working on, which improves productivity. Multiple attorneys can collaborate on the same document, and it easily becomes a record.

Attorneys and legal teams working together better

Remarking on the quick adoption of the iManage platform by end users, Vosters said the firm made sure people understood what was happening and how it was going to benefit them. They explained the concept of having a main hub for everything. Leading with that helped make the rollout successful.

Electronic rendition allowed Vosters’ team to spin up a process to scan records and relate them easily to iManage documents and records. And for those still wanting paper, the integration with Microsoft Office allows people to print any email they are filing.

Better risk management and ongoing process improvement

Vosters particularly likes the policy service feature in Records Manager, which lets him apply matter lifecycle management to workspaces in iManage Work, versus training people and hoping they do the right thing. He says that setting up a policy that requires that a workspace gets closed when a matter is done reduces the firm’s risk.

In addition, Vedder Price is customizing the business rules in Threat Manager to meet their specific requirements. For example, the current configuration actively detects irregular activity, defined as departures from normal behavior. The firm is exploring extending those rules to include role‐based codes aligned with their specific employee groupings.

Information, records, and governance challenges resolved

After moving its knowledge work into a centralized, integrated, cloud‐based platform with iManage, all of Vedder Price’s immediate challenges were resolved. The benefits of the change were clearly demonstrated by positive outcomes, including strong user adoption, increased productivity, significantly upgraded security, and the greater efficiency of delivery from a single platform.