ASPs spur firms to go it alone ;SERVICE PROVIDERS: No need for in-house IT support as pair snap up systems ;In what is thought to be the first deals of their type in the legal profession, two law firms are to have vital legal software tools delivered to their offices via an application service provider (ASP), thus eliminating the need for in-house IT support.

;The firms pay a monthly fee in order to have software packages streamed to their workstations from a remote location, where there are technicians on-site to deal with day-to-day problems.

;Martin-Kaye, a six-partner firm based in Telford, has signed up to have its back office and fee-earner tools delivered by legal IT service provider Axxia Systems.

;Doug McLachlan, development director at Axxia Systems, said that one of the main benefits of installing ASP is reduced on-site maintenance.

When you sign up, you pay a monthly fee to the ASP provider, and they do all the work, so there is no need for an in-house IT team.

;The servers are hooked up to Martin-Kayes offices via a leased line, thereby eliminating the risk of Internet connection failure.

;The system is flexible, with firms having no commitment to sign up for longer than a month.

However, Mr McLachlan warned that the system should not be seen a cheaper option.

You do not have to pay a lump sum to install the software, but if you work out how much you will be paying to the ASP provider monthly over five years, it will work out as more expensive.

;However, Chris Cann, Martin-Kayes systems partner, said it would be cheaper: The server-based solution was, in essence, a miracle cure.

One of the reasons why a conventional upgrade would have been so costly was that we were running a veritable hotchpotch of computer specifications but ;most necessitating either major modernisation or replacement.

;Mr Cann said that as the 54-person firm wanted to double in size, it seemed that there was an awful lot of investment required, in effect just to stand still.

;Yorkshire-based sole practitioner Andrew Holland has chosen an ASP system, provided by Videss Computer Systems.

Paul Sanderson, managing director of Videss, said that ASPs could potentially be very useful for sole practitioners.

Sole practitioners do not have the resources of an IT support team at hand, and so having a team of technicians permanently on call will ;be vital.

;However, he stressed that other firms can benefit from the system.

Many firms are looking to get rid of the burden of managing a full-time IT support team, and this could be the answer.

;Mr Holland added: Since I do not have the luxury of my own IT manager, this technical support is very valuable.

This gives me all the advantages of a sophisticated computer system, but without the capital costs and the need for extra staff.

;Victoria MacCallum