Customer Stories
Oppenhoff embraces innovation, migrating 2.5 million documents to the iManage Cloud
Leading German law firm chooses a future-forward DMS platform to fulfill the evolving needs of its lawyers, staff, clients, and IT
Since Oppenhoff’s growing law firm adopted the matter-centric iManage platform, the state-of-the-art document management capabilities of the iManage portfolio have evolved ever more rapidly. Accordingly, the firm moved to the iManage Cloud, reflecting its commitment to innovation — and creating a solution that blends rock-solid security with the agility to adapt and grow. Users now have access to time-saving collaborative features like co-authoring, and IT can take advantage of integrations to automate processes without compromising any client data protection requirements. Lawyers enjoy increased efficiency, greater flexibility, and improved access to their files, while the IT team has more time and bandwidth to focus on strategic initiatives.
The full-service law firm Oppenhoff finds industry-specific solutions for corporations, large family-owned companies, and financial investors. More than 100 lawyers advise in all key areas of commercial and tax law.
The business challenge
To make the firm truly future-ready
Oppenhoff practice groups have expertise in a broad range of industries and are supported by business services and assistance staff. Committed to legal tech innovation and wanting the best for their sensitive documents, Oppenhoff implemented iManage Work on premises. As a tech innovator, they appreciated the platform’s state-of-the-art document management capabilities and matter-centric approach. But as cloud became ubiquitous, and iManage Cloud portfolio capabilities evolved, Oppenhoff leadership realized that moving document management to the cloud would enable them to take advantage of that evolution and achieve multiple outcomes for the firm.
First, the move would give people access to features that are continually being developed for cloud users, such as co-authoring — enabling them to benefit from the latest, time-saving innovations. Second, IT could fulfill the firm’s ambitions to automate processes that had been constrained by the security risks of API exposure when connecting third-party systems to their on-premises servers. Finally, Oppenhoff would be positioned to take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI) tools when the firm decided it was ready.
“We knew moving document management to a cloud-native platform would give us more flexibility to implement new releases without downtime disrupting the workforce,” says Kai Böhm, Application Manager at Oppenhoff. “It was also an opportunity to create a connected environment using APIs, which are easier to use and more secure than exposing servers for external integrations.”
Headquarters
Cologne, Germany
Industry
Legal
Products
- IT overhead & downtime slashed
- More productive and efficient
- Client data is secure
- Tech-forward and AI-ready
About partner
Founded in 2015, Morae Global Corporation is trusted around the world for the delivery of digital and business solutions for the ever-changing
legal sector. It collaborates closely with clients to develop strategies, implement meaningful change, and achieve their business objectives..
iManage makes our firm very efficient. We can navigate our documents easily using the platform’s strong search capabilities, and we use its native features to simplify data governance and manage permissions.
Kai Böhm, Application Manager, Oppenhoff
The solution
Migrate 2.5 million documents to iManage Cloud
Oppenhoff adopted the iManage Cloud, working with partner, Morae Global Corporation, to migrate 2.5 million documents over six months. With tight communication between the teams, the project went very well. Oppenhoff employees were already familiar with iManage, so they were able to be productive in the cloud immediately.
“iManage makes our firm very efficient,” says Böhm. “We can navigate our documents easily using the platform’s strong search capabilities, and we use its native features to simplify data governance and manage permissions.”
Oppenhoff’s 250+ employees, including more than 100 lawyers, all use the iManage Cloud platform, which accommodates their folder organization preferences.
“Everyone saves, searches, and collaborates on documents directly in iManage Work 10,” explains Böhm. “It’s easy to share files without sending them as an attachment, and we can track progress on matters using versioning.”
A number of lawyers also use iManage Drive to ensure they have access to matters where there isn’t a reliable internet connection, such as in court. Drive gives them access to all the documents they need from their laptop, and any changes are synced next time the device connects to a network.
Oppenhoff is also implementing iManage Threat Manager to improve security and compliance. “iManage Threat Manager will alert us if anyone is exporting large amounts of data or behaving unusually, as well as identifying any users who aren’t using the system and may need more training,” Böhm explains.
100
lawyers
2.5 M
documents
250+
users
Business outcomes
We’re ready for innovation, however that looks
Oppenhoff lawyers and business users work productively and efficiently using the iManage platform and are reaping the benefits of the migration. Böhm remarked that a recent survey of Oppenhoff employees revealed that they are highly satisfied with iManage. All their documents are securely stored and easy to search through. The matter-centric approach keeps everything in order in a way that makes the most sense for legal teams.
IT is particularly appreciative of iManage Cloud. Before the move, Böhm reports that his team had two- or three-hour downtime windows per month to manage on-premises upgrades. “We don’t have to perform manual upgrades in-house anymore; it’s all handled by iManage. That saves us a huge amount of time that we can spend on more strategic tasks,” says Böhm. “It also means there’s no planned or unplanned downtime, so staff can always access the system.”
The firm and its clients all benefit from new features in the cloud. “iManage doesn’t just meet our needs today: we’re ready for innovation, whatever that looks like in the future,” confirms Böhm.
Looking ahead
Oppenhoff plans to expand the platform with productivity-boosting iManage Share and iManage Mobility. With Share, workers can create secure, governed workspaces for document collaboration with internal team members or outside business partners directly from iManage Work. Staff look forward to using Mobility to annotate documents on the go.
The team is also excited to start integrating more automation solutions with iManage, such as capturing electronic signatures on contracts. In the AI arena, Oppenhoff is interested in learning more about the AI-powered legal assistant, Ask iManage.
“The more we can centralize on iManage, the better experience we can give our lawyers. They won’t need to keep switching between websites, apps, and systems
to get their work done,” concludes Böhm.
Making Knowledge Work
Request a demo
Ready to see how iManage can make a difference to your organization?