Firm at the Hub of IT dilemma

NETWORK: legal technology provider Axxia aids expansion and overhaul of system

A Telford-based law firm faced with the tricky problem of how to adapt its IT system when it expanded has been the first to benefit from a partnership between two leading technology providers.Martin-Kaye began testing the system - produced by legal technology provider Axxia and specialist operator Hub - six months ago, when it set out to expand its personal injury and private property departments.

The new application service provider (ASP) system means the processing power provided by Hub is pushed down a leased line to the firm's computers, with Axxia providing the software.Martin-Kaye was attracted to the idea because it meant Axxia and Hub would take full responsibility for implementing and running the system, eliminating the time and money needed to resource it in-house.'We faced having to expand and overhaul our IT at the same time, but the costs of the traditional client/server network were prohibitive,' Martin-Kaye's systems partner, Chris Cann, explained.

'The ASP route, on the other hand, removed the need for any capital outlay and gave us instant access to the systems we required.'The firm, which has 65 users, was also attracted by the price of the service - the package is available from 200 per user per month.

Hub's managing director, Andrew Knight, said firms often underestimate how much an IT system will cost to implement when they keep the system in-house.'We estimate that for every 1,000 spent on hardware, a further 9,000 is spent annually on human resources, maintenance, licences, upgrades, and lost time when systems fail,' he explained.The two companies have also included a number of measures, including virus protection and firewalls, daily backups and free disaster recovery after they picked up on concerns about security.Axxia's sales and marketing director, Bill Kirby, said: 'Law firms are under increasing scrutiny from insurers to manage their risk more effectively.

Risk is more than just ensuring you hit key dates, it's demonstrating that you are taking every reasonable endeavour to safeguard the integrity and safety of client information and to prevent clients from being compromised by interrupted service.'Paula Rohan