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As your law firm goes digital, you need a way to keep your systems running smoothly and safely.
For many firms, hiring a large in-house IT team just isn’t in the budget. Co-managed IT services give you access to professional IT and cybersecurity expertise at affordable prices.
With a managed IT provider on your side, you’ll protect your client data and your business from devastating cybersecurity threats. Here’s why co-managed IT services are essential for law firms and how they can help your business.
Key Takeaways
- With co-managed IT services, your in-house IT team collaborates with a third-party managed services provider.
- An MSP can provide expert cybersecurity and compliance support that you don’t have in-house, ensuring that you are prepared for any possible cyber attacks or data breaches.
- Co-managed IT services provide a cost-effective alternative to hiring more full-time IT staff.
What Are Co-Managed IT Services?
Co-managed IT services are a partnership between an internal IT team and a third-party managed services provider, or MSP.
MSPs offer a wide range of IT, cybersecurity, and compliance services on a third-party basis. For example, they can provide helpdesk support, system monitoring, audits and compliance checks, and much more.
This type of partnership helps ensure that your firm’s IT needs are met, without having to spread your team too thin.
For example, say you already have two IT professionals on staff already. They’re struggling to keep up with the workload, but you don’t have the budget for a third IT professional.
This is where co-managed IT services can be very helpful. An MSP can handle repetitive tasks that your in-house staff doesn’t have time for. They can also provide specific cybersecurity or compliance expertise that you don’t have in-house.
With co-managed IT services, you’re not outsourcing entirely—you still have some in-house members on your team. This can be particularly helpful, as you’ll have someone who’s familiar with your firm’s unique needs and challenges to guide your IT strategy.
Why Do Law Firms Need Co-Managed IT Services?
For small- and mid-sized law firms, co-managed IT services provide the perfect balance between an in-house team and working with a third party. Here’s how co-managed IT services can benefit your organization.
Compliance & Regulatory Requirements
Companies in the legal industry have to adhere to strict industry regulations and best practices.
For example, the American Bar Association requires lawyers to take steps to keep their client information private and secure. If you take cases that involve healthcare data, you may also need to adhere to HIPAA.
Depending on your location, you may also need to adhere to local data privacy laws. For example, California law firms need to adhere to CCPA, which is a statewide law focused on consumer data protection.
Failing to adhere to these regulations could result in fines or even legal action for your law firm.
MSPs have compliance experts on staff who are familiar with legal industry requirements for data protection. An MSP will help you put appropriate security measures and conduct regular audits to ensure you’re compliant.
Cybersecurity Threats & Data Protection
Law firms are a frequent target for cybercriminals due to the sensitive client data they work with. A 2023 survey found that 29% of law firms had experienced a data breach in the last year.
An MSP can help you avoid cybersecurity threats by installing tools like firewalls and anti-virus software, providing cybersecurity training for your employees, and conducting system monitoring.
They also help you maintain data security by installing robust access controls and implementing encrypting data where possible, ensuring that only appropriate team members have access to it.
Finally, an MSP can help you put together an incident response plan. This helps mitigate damage and reduce downtime in the event that you are targeted by cybercriminals.
Sensitive Information
Law firms store a wide range of sensitive information in their IT systems.
This can include client data, such as private case details, financial information, healthcare information, and other personally identifying information that should be protected.
On top of that, many law firms store sensitive employee or business data.
An MSP will help you implement and maintain access controls across your systems, making sure that this data is only accessible to trusted employees who need it.
Limited In-House IT Resources
Many law firms have very small in-house IT teams—often just one or two people. Even with plenty of talent and expertise, these teams just aren’t big enough to handle all your cybersecurity and IT support needs.
Working with an MSP is a cost-effective way to expand your IT team. Hiring new full-time employees comes with expensive full-time salaries. With an MSP, you can tailor your services to meet your budget and your security needs.
How Can A Managed IT Services Provider Help?
An MSP offers flexible IT solutions to support your business. This gives you more time to focus on what you do best: providing legal services. Here are some of the ways an MSP can help your law firm succeed with co-managed services.
Security & Compliance
An MSP has a team of experts on staff to help with your security and compliance needs. They’ll work with you to develop a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy and keep every component of your systems safe.
This includes auditing your security strategy and addressing vulnerabilities you may have overlooked. They can also provide training to help your employees spot phishing, malware, and other common cybersecurity attacks in real time.
Cost Efficiency
MSPs provide a cost-effective way to grow your IT team. MSP services are also scalable, so you can select the coverage that makes sense for your team given your budget and your IT priorities.
Additionally, an MSP can help you reduce unnecessary expenses stemming from your IT infrastructure. For example, you might be wasting time and money to maintain on-premise servers. An MSP can help you switch to secure cloud-based platforms that are more affordable.
An MSP can also help you avoid the costs associated with data breaches and other cyber attacks. In addition to initial system repair costs, cyber attacks can also damage your reputation, making it difficult to bring in new clients in the future.
Over time, this extra support will result in significant cost savings, which can help your business grow financially.
Expertise
With an MSP, you get access to a wider range of expertise than your in-house IT staff has.
For example, your in-house team may be very familiar with troubleshooting legal software, but less familiar with complex cybersecurity measures.
When you work with an MSP, you’ll collaborate with experienced and knowledgeable professionals, without the high price tag of hiring them full-time. These IT experts will help protect you against the latest security threats and keep your systems updated.
Scalability
MSP services are scalable, so they’ll grow with you as your law firm expands.
When you need to implement new software or hardware, your MSP will work with you to select the best solutions for your needs.
As you hire new team members or open new offices, your MSP will continue to provide support for a smooth transition. They’ll also work with your in-house IT team to ensure your specific needs are being addressed.
Disaster Recovery
Even with cybersecurity measures in places, data breaches and other security incidents can still happen. An MSP will provide essential support before and during a disaster to protect your clients and ensure business continuity.
Your MSP will help you develop a disaster recovery plan, so your team can spring into action quickly if an attack happens. They’ll also help you with regular data backups, so you won’t lose important legal documents if you’re targeted.
When a disaster happens, your MSP will help you recover your systems and data as quickly as possible. They’ll also help you implement new security measures to make sure the problem doesn’t happen again
How Can Tech Advisors Help Your Law Firm?
Tech Advisors is an MSP offering expert IT, cybersecurity, and compliance services across the country. We provide 24/7 support, serving as a trusted partner for your legal practice.
Our advanced security solutions provide peace of mind, so you can focus on what you do best—helping clients navigate the legal system.
