There's a new survey doing the rounds - see URL links below - however if it lands on the desks of any of your users, please note that it is being conducted by the IRIS/CSG Legal empire (aka the legacy of Darth Murria).
It is also interesting to note that the IRIS Group (AIM, Laserform, Mountain & Co and Videss) would appear to acknowledge only 5 competitors in their market space, namely (in strictly alphabetical order):
AlphaLaw
Axxia
Eclipse
Pilgrim
TFB
Wot no Linetime? There again, before she left the group Vin Murria told me she had talked to at least four of these companies as well - although to-date only TFB have gone public on their side of the negotiations and why they thought it was a bad idea.
To locate the survey use this link http://qmark4.brad.ac.uk/q4/open.dll?NAME=irissoftware&GROUP=irissoftware and select the Iris Survey link OR try http://143.53.238.233/q4/session.dll
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Tuesday, August 7
New survey out now
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 07 Aug 2007 19:06 BST
Monday, August 6
If you enjoyed Vinasty, you'll like this
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 06 Aug 2007 12:52 BST
In our snail-mail over the weekend we received an anonymous letter containing a printout of an email message apparently doing the rounds. The laws of libel mean we are unable to reproduce this message in full but here is the expurgated version...
"I have information from an insider at (insert name of legal software supplier) that the company have completely lost an entire customer's data. It would seem that (insert name of legal software supplier) had been sending out backup DVDs to customers that were blank but forgot one database and then zapped it." The message goes on to name the law firm to whom this is supposed to have happened, alleges that the supplier has no proper disaster recover capability and has been "misleading the Law Society". It ends with the comment "I hope this may be of interest to you and you are able to verify with the customer. Solicitors aren't allowed to lie ...are they?" There was also a covering note containing the comment "Due to the unhinged nature of (insert name of MD of software supplier) and his (insert name of Easter European country to which the supplier is apparently outsourcing R&D work) associates, I am not prepared to put my name to this information." Obviously we are following up this story but it is our experience that (a) suppliers inevitably tell porkies when faced with allegations of this sort and - rather more importantly - (b) law firms that are victims of computer disasters rarely, if ever, go public with their complaints. (There are usually two main reasons for this (i) they don't want to jeopardise any settlement deal they are negotiating with the supplier and (ii) it doesn't look good in the credibility stakes to be known as a law firm that was stiffed by one of its own suppliers.) • We are not sure about the relevance of the reference to the Law Society as the supplier in question is not listed in the Society's Software Solutions Guide. Friday, August 3
All systems go - AIM & Iris launch DMS offering & Arlene comes out fighting
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 03 Aug 2007 11:48 BST
We've had the hype, we've had the controversy and we've had Vinasty. Now it's time for work with the IRIS Software Group this week launching IRIS Document Management for Legal based on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services. This is the first product to be launched following the strategic mergers of Computer Software Group (CS Group) and IRIS.
IRIS Document Management delivers full-featured document and content management to the legal sector and makes its first appearance embedded in the widely used AIM Evolution practice and case management system. Client Connect.Net, an extension to the Document Management solution, opens the way for secure exchange of documents with clients, referrers and collaborating teams and practices. Commenting on the launch Arlene Adams, managing director IRIS Legal & Compliance, said: "Following the recent mergers of CS Group and IRIS we’re excited to be launching our new IRIS Document Management Solution specifically for lawyers. The ability to launch this document management product, so soon after the merger, demonstrates that we are delivering on our promise to lead and drive innovation for the legal profession using industry standard products. Under the IRIS Group we have been able to pull together resources resulting in us delivering the product ahead of schedule and at a more cost effective rate. I am delighted that our customers are already seeing the value of the combined group." Jim Chase, Operations Director, IRIS Legal & Compliance added: "By building our document management solutions around Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services we have tapped in to a class leading document library services that enable us to manage, share and publish documents. The most exciting aspect of this is that we can offer a seamless experience for end-users in their preferred business applications whether practice and case management, SharePoint portal or Microsoft Office. By extending the Microsoft solution to deliver in a Legal context we deliver the best technology without best-of-breed costs or integration headaches. "Apart from secure and scaleable storage and management, retrieval of documents can be achieved by meta-data and key word searching. Content searching comes as standard with this technology so precedent gems should never be mislaid for long. Robust versioning and audit support a strong compliance regime. Publishing is also catered for. "The nice thing about this technology model is that it offers the potential to deploy the SharePoint document management solution embedded with any IRIS case and practice management product such as Videss Legal Office and Mountain Connected. This reinforces our message of solution choice for or the legal profession." IRIS is anticipating an initial release with AIM Evolution during the autumn of 2007 with similar options for Videss and Mountain customers following during 2008. With her feet now under the table, Arlene Adams has also issued the following statement "the new combined group, encompassing numerous software legal brands such as AIM Evolution, Laserform, Videss Legal Office, Mountain Software, GB Systems & Meridian Law and is the only company in the legal market to offer customers a real breadth and depth of choice. Our size of operation means that we can, and will continue to, cater for a diverse range of market requirements. I am committed to all our existing legal product lines and have no plans to end of life any products in the IRIS legal family. "On a personal note I have worked in the software market for over 12 years and held many senior positions in both small and large technology companies. Most recently I was CEO for a mobile payments software company and prior to that held a director's position on the UK board of Sun Microsystems. During my career, whether in a small or large company, I have found the most successful strategy for growth is to have delighted customers. I strongly believe that in the software business delivering a quality product and service that meets or better exceeds a customer expectation is the best sales tool you can ever have. Creating and maintaining delighted customers will set the agenda for everything I do within the IRIS Software Group. "I am very excited about the opportunity the new IRIS Software Group offers to our customers. We are now by far the largest player in the UK legal software market. While some claim size isn't important in this instance it is. Our size allows us to invest heavily in R&D. This will deliver to you our customer continuous new features and innovation that in turn will help make it easier for you to run your business more efficiently. We not only lead the way in R&D but also in service and support. No other company in the market can claim to have over 300 people dedicated to the legal software market. For our customers this means you have an extensive breadth and depth of skills ready to support you. It isn't just about reactive support but equally I place huge emphasis on finding ways in which we can pro-actively prevent issues arising. This is an area where we really can exploit the collective knowledge and best practice of the IRIS Software Group who can boast to have one of the highest client retention rates in the IT industry. Through excellent product quality and testing together with a range of managed services we are able to deliver mission critical product and support to all our customers. Finally, when it comes to support it is reassuring to know that the IRIS Software Group have over 20 offices throughout the UK and are committed to developing our people to a level that sets the benchmark in the industry. "The UK legal market is of great strategic importance to the success of the IRIS Software Group. For this reason we are committed to grow and strengthen our market position through delivering excellence in all that we do but also by adding to the legal product family where we can see it will add measurable value to our customers. "I am delighted to be leading the charge of the IRIS Software Group in the UK legal market. It is my plan in the coming weeks and months to meet as many customers as possible as your feedback is central to any plan I build for the business." Thursday, August 2
August - and still no let up in M&A activity
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 02 Aug 2007 20:45 BST
Well it's August, which is meant to be the quiet season in the legal tech market but already we've got two new deals to report.
The first - by about 10 minutes - was the announcement of the acquisition of Whitehill Technologies (best known in the legal market for its document, compliance and billing automation and BPM systems) by Skywire Software of Frisco in Texas. The terms of the transaction, which is expected to be complete on or before 31st August 2007, have not been disclosed. Whitehill is a private company and Skywire is a privately-held subsidiary of the Hall Financial Group. This is an interesting deal - not least because there is currently a lot of interest in the legal market over Whitehill's new range of BPI business process automation systems (see July issue of Legal Technology Insider) - as Skywire's strategy is to focus on niche vertical markets, with the acquisition of Whitehill marking is debut in the legal IT market. Earlier today The Orange Rag spoke to Kevin Berry, Whitehill's V-P for legal sales. He said it would be business as usual for Whitehill customers as the company would be retaining its current staff, office locations and product ranges - although some rebranding will inevitably happen - as Skywire's strength is in acquiring and running successful businesses as going concerns. His view is that the announcement was good news for customers as by being part of a larger group (Whitehill has about 200 staff whereas Skywire has 400) there would now be greater resources to put into R&D and support services. The move also gives Whitehill access to a London office, as Skywire is already active in the UK insurance market, and longer term there may be some Skywire products that can be cross-sold into the legal market. Berry also said the deal would not affect Whitehill's relationship with its UK partner Saturn Legal - and added that the first fruits of this relationship would be announced within the next few weeks. This will include the first competitive swap-out of a Metastorm BPM system for a Whitehill BPI product - Whitehill has already replaced Metastorm in some US sites. www.whitehilltech.com www.skywiresoftware.com www.hallfinancial.com And, talking of Metastorm, 10 minutes after news of the Skywire deal broke, they announced the acquisition of the Proforma Corporation, a leading US provider of enterprise modelling solutions for enterprise architecture (EA) and business process analysis (BPA). Metastorm already operates in the EA and BPA sectors - and it is not immediately apparent what impact, if any, this will have on Metastorm's BPM (business process management/workflow) for which it is best known in the legal market. For the record, Ron Pellegrino, the president & CEO of Proforma said this about his company... "Proforma has built a strong market presence based on its ability to deliver powerful enterprise architecture, modelling and analysis capabilities that are also intuitive and usable by multiple people within an organisation - from architects to business analysts to Six Sigma Blackbelts". (We're not sure whether these are Ninja Six Sigma Blackbelts or just Common-or-Garden Six Sigma Blackbelts.) |
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