One of the biggest challenges facing corporate legal departments in the business world today is how to make software that is designed for a multiplicity of corporate endeavors fit their specific and unique needs. Unfortunately, in many instances, much business software is designed with a one size fits all mentality. However with software, as with clothing, rarely does one size fit all of the possibilities available.
It is understandable that developers create software that can be generically applied to a variety of business models and needs. When writing code, programmers cannot possibly anticipate the myriad of holes into which their particular pegs will be made to fit. In addition, developers need to be able to market software to as wide a range of businesses as possible in order to maximize their customer base and increase profitability.
That having been said, the needs of the legal department in your company are not only unique with regard to the needs of your human resources department, they are most likely different from the needs of the legal department for your competitor or for the totally unrelated business’ legal team across town. Software that asks your employees to adapt to a non-intuitive method or to policies and procedures that are outside the scope of their needs only serves to decrease efficiency, increase frustration, and deflate employee morale.
Fortunately, adaptable legal software is now being developed so that it can be adapted as needed and so that it can evolve over time. You will invest a huge sum on providing management software for your legal department, so you want to make sure that it will not only be software that will meet their specific needs, but that it can also be reworked to meet their needs at this time next year. You want the return on your investment to extend well into the future, rather than peaking in six months and fizzling out after that.
Whether your company’s legal department is looking to incorporate management software or needs to upgrade its current programming, look into software that provides your employees with the maximum flexibility possible so that it can be customized to respond to the specific requirements that your legal department and any outside firms or attorneys that you deal with may have. Software with various whistles and bells is great if those blow and ring when and where you need them to, but if there are blasts and clangs going off at random or inopportune moments, even the flashiest software will prove useless. If you do not think of your company as a one size fits all business, do not use that kind of software either.
Datacert is a technology innovator and the premier global provider of enterprise legal management software and services that empower law departments to collaborate more effectively, manage legal systems more efficiently, support changing business needs and their global workforces, and make more strategic business decisions. Datacert’s Legal Software offerings include its flagship product, Passport®, a patent-pending technology platform, and legal spend and matter management applications. Datacert solutions are relied upon by Fortune® 500 corporations, Fortune® Global 500 corporations, and 100 percent of the AmLaw 200. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Datacert has offices throughout North America, EMEA, and APAC, and thousands of law firm, vendor, and agent connections around the world. Visit www.datacert.com for more information and follow us on Twitter for real-time updates http://twitter.com/Datacert.
