The Datamax Thinking Blog

Managed network services is more challenging than most people think it is. You know that though, don’t you?

Well guess what? You’re fired!

And thank goodness for it! There are a few truisms in life, and I believe one of them is that no matter how easy something may appear on the surface; it’s almost always at least twice as hard to actually do it (and twice as hard is just for starters).

Scan, classify, and upload case materials directly into a document repository from your copier’s touchscreen – for use all over the world.

Using your multifunction copier to remove paper from a business process extends the value of your copier to your business. For the legal industry, being able to access digital version of case matters saves time shuffling paper and means more time serving clients.

61% of data breaches within companies of less than 500 employees involve paper records.*

Are you counting how much paper and how many employees are in your office right now?

Imagine your law firm in the news – not because you’ve just won a high profile case, but because you’ve experienced a data breach. Worse, that data breach was caused by something simple – like mistakenly throwing away older case files into the dumpster or one of your lawyers losing his briefcase in Starbucks, with client information written on his two legal pads inside that briefcase.

You rely on copiers to keep your law office’s document production moving. When they break, you need a service partner that can help you copy on.

You are the behind-the-scenes glue holding your law firm’s practice together. Most days, you don’t feel like an office manager but like a triage doctor, prioritizing what needs to be done first. Only you also have the fun task of handling (some) lawyer’s outsized egos as well.

You’re up early. You stay late. You don’t have time to handle everything – nor should you.

The duck dive is an essential part of being a competent surfer. But your style better be on point. Did you know its technique can also help organizations confidently dive through and conquer their mounting waves of paper documents?

Before we get started, I’ll openly admit when it comes to surfing I’m a Barney, and a bit clucked when it comes to big waves—especially when sailing on an ever-dangerous and highly-demanding ocean cruise. As a cruise is about as close as I’ve been to the really big waves, I have always admired the tenacity and fearlessness of the surfers who ride them.

Call Out: Inefficient office equipment costs you more to “keep the lights on.”

You turn the lights off when you leave a room (or have motion sensors do it for you), adjust your cooling and heating to economize during non-work hours, but are you taking advantage of the energy-saving opportunities of your office equipment?

Law offices need to look inside the IT perimeter to ensure security for copiers and client documents.

Email management is no longer the biggest concern for legal IT departments.

Whew, right?

Not so fast, the number 1 concern now: security management.*

Security of information is crucial in the legal community. With so much personal and privileged information to keep safe, it’s no wonder that 23% of the questions from the International Legal Technology Association’s (ILTA) 2015 IT survey report were focused on security-related questions.

If you’re scanning and then manually adding documents into SharePoint, you don’t need to be.

Many of you use SharePoint as a collaboration and document management tool for your office (either as a standalone product, in the cloud, or in conjunction with Office 365).

SharePoint is a secure place for you to store, organize, share, and access information from many devices and locations.

Are you hoarding paper documents that you don’t really need?

Legal departments within companies and law offices, in general, are often resistant to the idea of paperless processes. Research* indicates that “Legal” is most resistant of any department to paper-free work processes.

 Look around your office, how much space is given over to paper files? How much are you spending each month for off-site file storage?

Looking to get more out of your day? These seven tips will help you check off at least most of the items on your to-do list.

1. Eat your frog.

Well, not literally (I mean, unless you like frog legs); but in the productivity sense - this is great advice from time management expert, Brian Tracy. Don’t “warm up” to work. Dive in. Begin your day by tackling your most important (which can be, but isn’t necessarily your most time-consuming) task.