Professional services firms are entering a new era in which most data is stored and shared in the cloud. Firms must still overcome many challenges, including cloud-related client contractual obligations and the high costs associated with migrating custom solutions. Nevertheless, firm leaders recognize the importance of embracing new technology, and there has been strong momentum toward moving towards the cloud.
Jose Lazares, Senior Vice President of Product and Business Management at Intapp, spoke about this momentum during the Intapp CIO technical briefing on Intapp Cloud Strategy and Migration.
“During the past 2 or 3 years, there’s been a huge change in direction in Fortune 500 companies,” Lazares said, referring to results from the 2020 Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) Cloud Survey. “92% percent of those companies allow data and information from their legal firms to be stored in the cloud, and the remaining companies are considering it.”
According to the CLOC Cloud Survey, the reason so many law firms are embracing the cloud is because they — and their clients — recognize the value cloud brings in terms of collaboration, productivity, and continuous innovation. The 2020 ILTA Tech Survey showed that 78% of respondents currently store both firm and client data in the cloud, and 83% stated they feel comfortable with the security of their data.
Intapp Cloud Strategy
As more and more firms become comfortable with the idea of migrating to the cloud, Intapp has seen an increase in purchases of our cloud products.
“In our last quarter ending in December 2020, 97% of all-new Intapp product purchases were cloud-based,” said Lazares. These cloud products — which include Intapp for Risk & Compliance, Intapp Time, and Intapp CRM, among others — were designed from the ground up to meet the unique needs of professional services firms. We continue to monitor the ever-evolving needs and expectations of our clients to ensure that our products remain valuable and effective.
As the 2020 Sterling Client Satisfaction Survey shows, clients expect Intapp to provide a number of items:
- A well-defined but flexible migration plan that meets firms’ unique needs and timeframes
- An end-to-end partner who will work with firms on their cloud adoption projects
- Continued on-premises support until migration is complete
- A focus on delivering value while ensuring maximum security of firm data
Intapp created a cloud strategy that reflects these expectations, with four key elements:
- Innovation based on cloud capabilities with new product development conducted primarily in the cloud
- Full support of client-defined migration timelines
- Continued on-premises support for firms with longer timeframes to migrate
- Holistic migration support providing tools that support the migration lifecycle
Benefits and “Continuous Improvements”
After exploring the Intapp Cloud Strategy, Lazares spoke with a panel of Intapp Secure Cloud experts on how Intapp can help firms easily migrate to the Intapp Secure Cloud. The panel — made up of Chris Kraft, General Manager of Intapp Operations & Finance; Nigel Riley, General Manager of Intapp Risk & Compliance; and Madaser Yousaf, Director of Intapp Strategic Consulting — addressed crucial information around our products, the migration journey, and overall security.
“Because of the concern and focus on security, we’re constantly making enhancements to our infrastructure and applications,” assured Kraft. “That’s a key area as we move to the cloud, and that’s something we don’t take lightly.”
Duane Rusten, Senior Vice President of Client Services at Intapp, then led a panel made up of Intapp partner representatives who spoke about their own experiences with the Intapp Secure Cloud. The panel included Mark Burgard, Senior Director of Architecture and Client Services at Intapp; Lindsay Barthram, Director of Client Development and Intake Practice at Wilson Allen; Curtis Russell, Chief Operating Officer at Aurora North; and Eric Mosca, Director of Operations at InOutsource.
“Moving from an on-premises environment to the cloud allows the firm to consume and benefit from improved capabilities sooner as the deployment model changes,” said Barthram. “With the cloud comes that ethos of continuous improvements… The adoption and the use of the software delivers the most bang for buck.”
Watch the full technical briefing here, and learn more about Intapp and the complete connected firm management solution.