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Law firms should establish service level agreements with their IT suppliers in order to improve efficiency and save money, delegates at last week's Legal IT exhibition in London were told.

Neil Cameron, the well-known legal technology consultant, said many firms often ran into problems with their IT systems because of a lack of communication with their suppliers.

He said, 'In order for firms to keep close tabs on their IT budgets, they need to have a clear relationship with their suppliers, and drawing up an SLA means that both the suppliers and the firms are clear about their respective responsibilities.'

A typical agreement, he explained, would identify the services that the IT suppliers should provide, and their responsibilities towards users.

'Often the people using the technology and the suppliers think that a certain task - such as changing the printer toner cartridge - is the other's responsibility, but if there is a clarity of understanding between both, then the users will feel less antagonism and resentment towards the IT department,' he said.

In his lecture about how firms can get better value for money from their existing IT systems, Mr Cameron said that billing procedures could almost always be made more efficient.

'If bills are sent to clients electronically and automatically every three months, then a huge amount of money and time could be saved,' he argued.

Victoria MacCallum