publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/550988
ILTA WHITE PAPER: JULY 2015 WWW.ILTANET.ORG 57 ON-PREMISES OR SaaS? IT DEPENDS ON YOUR NEEDS Four years ago, Gould & Ratner LLP, a Chicago law firm with 100 users, migrated our DMS from on-premises to a SaaS model called NetDocuments. Impressed with the relatively quick installation process, minimal front-end programming and no capital investment for implementation, we felt that NetDocuments would streamline our operations, utilize our IT staff more effectively and secure our documents in the private cloud. Added features were its built-in business continuity and extranet capabilities. When migrating from an on-premises system, there are always limitations to consider. The SaaS model has limited customization, creating a more uniform look. Major technology changes are always accompanied by user resistance and the features of a new system can seem overwhelming, but eventually everyone adapts and users become accustomed to creating workflows. At Gould & Ratner, the initial feeling of resistance has dissipated, new attorneys and staff find NetDocuments intuitive and easy to use and everyone knows the system's limitations and benefits. Continuing education remains a priority for us — there is so much more this system can do, and many are only touching the surface of its capabilities. We find our SaaS resolution time to be a major advantage over on-premises software. On the rare occasion that the system is slow or not working properly, hundreds of other firms are suffering from the same issue. This results in technical issues being resolved much more quickly than had been our experience with on-premises solutions. In addition, instantaneous access to information is a great advantage. Overall, our user experience has greatly improved. Support has remained the same, as have storage costs, even though we are now preserving the contents of our files as PDFs to NetDocuments. The only cost increase we have incurred has been when we add users. A cost benefit analysis has shown us that the cost of the SaaS has proven to be in our favor. If we were debating on-premises vs. SaaS today, we would make the same decision. Changing to a SaaS DMS: A CASE STUDY by Laura Thompson Sears of Gould & Ratner LLP