Buddle Findlay activates mobility strategy with seamless conversion to iManage Cloud

Facing hardware end-of-life, growing data volumes and associated storage expenses, and the mounting complexities of running and securing its on-premises infrastructure, Buddle Findlay saw the scale tip in favor of change. Moving document management to the cloud was the obvious solution to improve user mobility, reduce operations costs, and mitigate risk. The firm evaluated iManage Work in the Cloud against a popular competitor, deciding that the iManage platform would provide the best return on investment over time. With that decision made, support from implementation partner Morae Global enabled the firm to seamlessly migrate its data, running change management campaigns concurrently to streamline the transition. 

The entire firm now enjoys frictionless document management with anywhere access. And, with iManage Drive, Security Policy Manager, and AI all on the roadmap for implementation, the benefits are just beginning. Buddle Findlay is one of the largest firms in New Zealand, with 350 employees and a 125-year history. Known for its proactive stance on diversity and inclusion, the firm also promotes best practices, technical excellence, and commercial insights in every aspect of its business. Its teams work collaboratively to help clients achieve their objectives by providing tailored and commercially focused legal advice. Buddle Findlay interfaces with clients and firms across the globe, including Australia, Asia, the US, and the UK.

The business challenge

Protect the business and prepare for new technologies

Running two on-premises data centers, Buddle Findlay’s hardware was reaching end-of-life. This opened an opportunity to evaluate how new technology could help them achieve their strategic goals. A risk report indicated that the firm would have to invest in more heating, cooling, and power to keep its data on premises. It also noted that the servers were located in an area prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes.

As Buddle Findlay’s data volumes grew, the IT team encountered increasing complexity in managing and securing the data — and while they were up to the challenge, the time commitment made it more difficult to focus on moving the firm’s digital strategy forward. The team wanted to give the staff a more frictionless experience and empower them to be productive from anywhere.

“Our people should spend as much time as possible in front of clients. They needed anytime, anywhere access to documents,” said Adam Gower, Chief Digital Technology Officer at Buddle Findlay. “It’s our responsibility to bring the power of technology to the places where lawyers work,” he added. During litigation, for example, staff often have no Wi-Fi or cell phone access, so they don’t have real-time remote access to documents.

Gower said the firm saw that moving to the cloud would help protect business continuity while strengthening its ability to adopt new technologies like AI. But the firm also wanted a strategic partnership with a cloud vendor that is actively invested in developing its products and releasing exciting new features on a regular cadence.

Business outcomes

A frictionless document management experience

With iManage Work 10 in the Cloud and iManage Mobility, Buddle Findlay has built a custom, fit-for-purpose environment to facilitate client work and remove friction from the employee experience.

“iManage makes it easier for clients to work with us, meeting one of our core principles,” says Gower. “Employee satisfaction is up, and we can turn our time savings into cost benefits.”

The next phase of the mobility strategy is to transform the client experience, bringing them the smoother, faster, and more efficient experience we brought to our employees. Future capabilities will enable staff to send updates to clients faster and continue to work even in areas with poor connectivity.

The firm’s Investment in cloud technologies helps further its business strategy. Moving to the cloud protects the firm against downtime, reduces the risk of outages, and is anticipated to deliver cost and efficiency gains in the future.

The result is a significantly happier IT team with more time to focus on the user experience. “Running on-premises infrastructure wasn’t the best use of our IT budget,” says Gower. “Now we can take a look at our roadmap and bring more value, which is what we want to be doing as an IT team.”

The firm has taken notice of technology’s changing role. During its Mental Health Awareness Week, when employees created a word cloud of factors that contribute to their well-being, “technology” was the biggest and most prominent word.

“We were super stoked to be recognized by our colleagues that way,” recalls Gower. “It’s rare for lawyers to praise technology, and they are genuinely excited by iManage Work 10 in the Cloud and how well it works.”

Looking ahead

The firm plans to roll out more of the iManage platform in the coming months, beginning with iManage Drive to give the litigation team access to the matters and documents they need when in court. Any updates they make using Drive will automatically sync when the user reconnects to the internet. Drive also helps lawyers stay productive when traveling for business, enabling them to mark up reviews and author documents during the journey.

The firm will also configure iManage Security Policy Manager to make it easier to manage and enforce ethical walls. Meanwhile, Buddle Findlay is rolling out iManage co-authoring capability to a trial group. Allowing concurrent access to diverse teams during RFPs and when staff collaborate with experts in different time zones, co-authoring holds huge value and promise for the team.

It goes without saying that artificial intelligence is on everyone’s wish list. “We had a demo with iManage AI, and it gave us lots of interesting ideas,” Gower enthuses. “We’re very excited about the ability to categorize specific entities across our entire database using AI with iManage AI Enrichment. That’s going to be a real game changer.”

Although it’s still early in Buddle Findlay’s cloud and mobility journey, Gower concludes, the firm is now well on its way to making the shift from technology as a necessity to technology as an enabler.