Five questions to ask every legal tech vendor

Solving problems in your business or legal department is crucial to delivering the most value possible and achieving your strategic vision. But more than just identifying the problem correctly, you also need to ensure you’re choosing the most appropriate and impactful fix. At iManage, we see how impactful the right solution —  paired with the right partner —  can be. And when technology offers the solution you need, that means finding the right vendor to partner with.

When choosing a legal software vendor, initial research is vital. Perhaps there are 50 products on the market, and each offers a slightly different solution to your problem. If you can perform thorough and appropriate early background work to narrow that down to a shortlist, you’ll be in the best position to have specific and engaged conversations with a few carefully selected vendors. And that’s a much better use of your time than undertaking 50 product demos.

Do your homework first

Thorough and appropriate early background work starts well before engaging with potential technology vendors. It involves a careful internal audit of your organization’s needs, current pain points, and strategic objectives. This means meeting with key stakeholders to clarify the challenges they face, documenting workflows to identify inefficiencies, and defining measurable outcomes you hope to achieve with a new solution.

It also requires researching the broader legal tech landscape: reviewing industry reports, seeking peer recommendations, and understanding the latest trends and innovations. Building a checklist of essential and nice-to-have features, prioritizing security and compliance needs, and mapping out how a solution would integrate with your existing systems are all part of this groundwork.

By the time you approach vendors, you should be equipped with a clear, prioritized set of requirements, a vision of what success looks like, and an understanding of which questions will separate the right partner from the rest.

With a solid foundation of preparatory work laid down, you’re ready for a better conversation with any legal technology vendor. 

Five key discovery questions to ask any vendor 

#1 Do they understand your problem, and can they solve it?

When legal teams are scoping out problems internally, the first step is always to establish the true core of the problem at hand. Conversations with vendors should be no different. They should understand the problem exactly as you understand it — and ask the same questions that you’ve been asking. They will most likely have seen your problems time and again. 

By finding a vendor that’s on the same page as you, you’re more likely to find the most appropriate solution to your issue. And, with a deep enough level of understanding, that vendor may be able to provide a solution with secondary benefits that positively impact other areas of your business, too.

This is where we focus early conversations at iManage — getting to the root of the challenge. A vendor that asks thoughtful follow-up questions and listens closely is more likely to deliver a real impact.

#2 What can they offer you that others can’t? 

Ask why a vendor’s solution is the one you should be using — and establish what makes it stand out. Keep an eye out for something you don’t usually see; that little something extra that can set a solution apart.

There is so much choice in the market today, and every product is slightly different, so, you need to find the one that is the best fit for your specific situation. Once you’ve established a solution’s unique selling points, you can see how well it lines up with your particular needs.
We hear this question often at iManage, and our answer always ties back to what our customers care about most — things like document security, legal-specific workflows, and connecting knowledge across teams. Look for vendors who can clearly explain why their strength matters to your case.

#3 Where do they want to take their solution next?

It’s crucial for vendors to have a clear vision or roadmap for the future. That might be new products in the pipeline or potential partnerships on the horizon. Or — if they’re a particularly young company — there may even be an opportunity for you to help shape their future from a customer perspective. 

You need to be sure that any vendor you choose can keep up with the pace of change, too. Find out if there is an active product team, because if someone says that the product is finished and perfect, that’s usually a red flag. You ultimately want any vendor you partner with to have an attitude of continual improvement.

At iManage, we constantly evolve our platform based on customer feedback and emerging needs. Whether its enhancing AI capabilities or improving integration, we believe vendors should be transparent about where the product is going — and why it matters to you.

#4 How does the solution work with the rest of your tech stack?

While a solution doesn’t need to have native integrations with every system in your current tech stack, it is beneficial — and it’s vitally important that it doesn’t clash with them. It’s also a good idea to check for any duplication of tools you already have. After all, there’s no point paying for the same system twice.

Of course, if a solution has the right level of compatibility, it will be easier to adopt from a technological point of view, but that’s not the only part of integration you need to think about. You also need to consider how a solution will work for your people. User adoption is key to the success of any new product you introduce, so think about the user experience as well as software compatibility.

This is a problem we see often at iManage: legal teams succeed when tools support the way people already work. If a solution forces a major behavior change just to function, it’s going to be a hard sell — no matter how good it looks on paper.

#5 Will the vendor contribute to your future resilience?

As well as checking if a specific solution is right for you, it’s also good practice to dig into the specifics of the vendor supplying it. Are they someone your competitors use? Are they someone your clients use — and could a partnership enable you to offer an extra service? Where does this vendor sit in the market, and in the press? 

And don’t just think about a vendor’s past record, think about working with this company for the next few years. Would you expect to be happy to work with them? Does their vision align with yours and is there a clear opportunity for you to thrive together?

At iManage, we view every customer relationship as a long-term partnership. When evaluating legal tech vendors, ask yourself: Can this partner grow with us? Can they help us stay secure, adaptable, and ready for what’s next? That’s how you build long-term value.

We’re ready to answer your questions. Book a demo now.