Corporate legal departments are overcoming their fears and shifting to cloud-based tools, according to a new survey. According to the report, which Recommind conducted among 25 CLOs from Fortune 100 companies, within the next year or two, legal departments will continue to consider tools that provide greater control and improved insights to help them make informed decisions.
Legal departments are more open to adopting cloud technology:
The main driver behind the adoption of cloud-based solutions is the impact on the modern business environment. It is becoming more attractive due to the costs and the fact that no matter where the user is, the data is accessible. Currently 52 percent of the companies interviewed used a cloud-based matter management tool, while 36 percent use a cloud-based tool for contract management. On a scale of 1-5, 80 percent of respondents rated their organisation’s use of cloud-based tools at a three or above. Since companies are seeking more control of their processes to streamline operations they are likely to seek tools that offer upgrades at price points that are lower than what they are paying for outside counsel and service providers.
Evaluating outside risks:
Technology tools that streamline the workflow are a great advantage, but they won’t actually perform the work. This is a cause for concern, since 48 percent of respondents reported they never audited the technological competencies of the outside counsel and 32 percent only do so rarely. One way to remove the risk factor is to not provide outside lawyers with access to the technology tool at all. However, most respondents are concerned about the issue, since 72 percent have data concerns about distributing information stored electronically.
Regulatory investigations hold steady:
Handling internal investigations and regulatory responses remains a key function for corporate legal teams. For 41 percent of respondents that were aware of their investigation rates for their corporations, the number of internal investigations had increased over the past year. Meanwhile, 33 percent of those respondents indicated that the government had launched a more inquiries into their companies compared to a year ago.
Takeaway:
Organisations are increasingly taking control of their internal tools and processes. There is clearly a rising interest in leveraging the cloud considering the decrease in security concerns and an almost universal agreement of efficiency. Instead of permitting broad distribution of their critical data, the cloud provides secure access to a central repository where they are in control of their information.
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