LONDON - 6 December 2007 – IRIS Legal today announced
its direction for the future of the Legal IT sector outlining how
they intend to protect customer investment in existing products
while delivering new products and innovation as part of a 5 year
plan.
The new plan, outlined today by Arlene Adams (MD of the IRIS
Legal business) at a press and consulting conference held at
Microsoft, builds on IRIS’ market leading position and proven track
record of delivering long term commitment and investment in its
chosen markets.
By comparison the IRIS Accounting Practice Solutions business,
which is not dissimilar to IRIS Legal in size (£30m annual revenues
and the leading provider of integrated practice management
software), has already set out a long term roadmap for customers
supported by a multi-million pound investment in next generation
products. Over the past 6 years the IRIS Accounting Practice
Solutions business has grown their customer base from 2,500 to over
15,000 practices and only last month was awarded Accountancy Age
Practice Management Software Product of the Year. Much of the
growth, which has delivered IRIS 40% market share, is organic thus
demonstrating that customers want to partner with software vendors
who have a clear long term roadmap backed by the right level of
investment and skills.
Martin Leuw, CEO of IRIS Group, commented: “Our customers choose to
partner with IRIS because we have demonstrated time and time again
our commitment to the market sectors in which we operate, in
particular the professions. It is our strategy to be number 1 in
our chosen markets and to deliver on this we recognise the need for
a long term plan supported by continuous investment. It is our
clear ambition to grow our market share in the legal sector through
offering great products and customer service just as we have to the
Accountancy profession and elsewhere within the IRIS Group, where
our customer retention rates in the high 90%’s are amongst the best
in the industry.
Having already restructured the business in early October, to
position it for growth, Adams today set out the 5 year product
strategy that is built on the premise of protecting customer
investment while delivering new applications and innovation to
customers. The product strategy is based on research that indicates
law firm’s immediate technology needs are growing beyond the hard
and fast back office processing towards flexible front end
applications tailored to how users work in their daily
environments. The strategy is being driven by the need for legal
firms to be more flexible, creative and cost effective in how they
do business in order to compete in a market which is increasingly
facing tightening commercial pressures and rising client
expectations.
Introducing IRIS Legal Link
IRIS Legal is developing a technology framework called Legal Link™
to deliver on their vision of an integrated legal desktop over a 5
to 6 year period for the solicitor, barrister and coroner market.
This framework integrates the existing IRIS legal applications with
new legal applications and relevant IRIS group products. During
this period IRIS Legal also plans to introduce new practice and
case management (PCM) modules through the merging of best practice
and technology from the existing PCM systems. The framework is
based on a modular approach with a view to delivering a world class
integrated legal desktop in 5 years.
Legal Link™ is based on the Microsoft .Net technology and will be
available as a software solution and over time as a managed
service. This is the same technology currently being used to
develop the latest generation of IRIS Accounting Practice
software.
While careful consideration was given to the underpinning
technology it was clear that Microsoft .Net offered both customers
and IRIS the best protection of investment long term. In this
market Microsoft is widely accepted and therefore it would have
been limiting for customers if IRIS Legal were to base the strategy
on any other technology. This decision also has the added benefit
of providing the best opportunity for customers to maintain open
links to other market products as well as IRIS being able to
leverage much of the hard work already conducted by the IRIS
Accounting Practice.
New Applications
The framework has been designed to protect the investment customers
have made in their existing IRIS systems while allowing for the
deployment of new applications and function that can further
advance the efficiency and competitive advantage of a legal
firm.
IRIS market research and customer feedback indicates that the
priority for new development rests in “front office” applications,
i.e. Lawyer and Client facing, such as email and diary management,
task and document management, CRM, workflow and knowledge
management. Innovation in front office applications in the legal
market have been limited to date. This is an area where IRIS can
leverage its significant R&D resources and the technology
available in the wider IRIS Group to excel in delivering new
innovations to the legal community. Legal Link also takes advantage
of the wider IRIS group technology and “know how”, including
solutions in Human Resources (HR), Payroll, Workflow, Client
Relationship Management (CRM) and Company Secretarial. The
framework will also embrace the need to see more integration
between solicitors and barristers at a technology level. Given IRIS
is a leading player in both markets it recognises the opportunity
to innovate and make it easier for solicitors and barristers to do
business in a secure environment.
Protecting Customer Investments
IRIS Legal recognises the long term investment that customers are
making and therefore the need for stability and clear road maps.
“Our product strategy is built on a pre-requisite to protect the
investment of existing customers by not discontinuing any existing
products, but simultaneously investing in the next generation
technology platforms which both existing and new customers can
migrate to over time to improve their operational efficiency,
customer service and business performance” stated Arlene Adams,
Managing Director, “Only a supplier of the size, stature and
resources of IRIS has the capability to make this a reality for
users”.
Adams reinforces IRIS’ public commitment from earlier this year to
provide support on all existing IRIS Legal products for at least 4
years. Adams comments that “a public commitment to maintaining
support on existing product is important in under pinning the new
product strategy. Our strategy is not a big bang approach but
rather a step by step approach to ease the migration for customers.
We see this more as an upgrade path for our existing product set as
opposed to a replacement strategy. This is important so that
customers can take time to plan for any changes and can align any
changes to direct business benefit.”
A commercial roadmap is also being developed to align to the
technology roadmap. This will be based on the premise that IRIS
protects customers existing investment. New applications and
function will be charged for as they always have been. Existing
software function will be part of the customer support agreement
and for this there will be no additional software charge. Customers
will only have to pay for the new function that they don’t have
today. The decision to invest therefore should be at a customer’s
choice based on the value and return.
Committed to Finance and R&D Investment
IRIS Legal accounts for approximately 30% of the IRIS Software
Group’s £100m+ annual revenues, similar in size to the IRIS
Accounting Practice business. IRIS is committed to making the
necessary investments in research, development and customer service
to enable IRIS Legal to increase market share and drive innovation
in the legal sector.
The announcement of today’s future roadmap, together with IRIS’s
proven track record of investment and long term commitment to its
chosen markets is a true demonstration of the benefits the enlarged
Group with its significant resources of people, experience and
financial investment can bring to customers.
