Because so many knowledge workers use Microsoft’s Office 365, iManage is integrated with this suite, and content is imported into iManage, either manually or automatically. Content is searchable via document, workspace, and matter number, with additional search functions available through advanced search. “We purchased and integrated a search engine that operates against content in the system and classifies content automatically using AI and machine learning. Search is a function that has been around a long time, but it keeps evolving,” said Misquitta, “partly because content types keep evolving. Also, our users want to be able to search very precisely: What deals have been done in a certain country, who is the expert in a specialized field. We want to bring content close to where the person is working, to help them do their job.”
iManage claims to have captured nearly 80% of the Global Law 100 firms, and about 60% of its customers are small to medium-sized companies. Although it scales to the needs of large firms, iManage can be a cost-effective solution for small companies as well. Wyatt Early Harris Wheeler LLP is a law firm of about 20 people based in North Carolina. Its practice includes business law, general litigation, estate planning and administration, and real estate law. Wanting to move to a cloud-first approach, the company was also seeking greater efficiency, security, and flexibility. The firm migrated the back end to iManage Cloud while users continued with their current interface, then transitioned to iManage. Now the workers can access iManage from any location and have a much faster and more precise search function. In the future, the firm plans to use iManage to simplify collaboration with partners.
A Gallup poll from 2022 reported that 5 out of 10 U.S. employees are now working in hybrid environments; 3 out of 10 are remote; and only 2 in 10 are working entirely in the office. With many employees having experienced remote working as a result of the pandemic, the benefits accrued from less commuting time and greater flexibility have proved attractive. The evolving capabilities of cloud-enabled collaborative ECM and the option of choosing from a variety of ECM models will facilitate this transition.