Buying new technology

Define your goals

It’s important to have clear goals in mind when buying new technology.

Defining your goals will be easier once you’ve defined:

• the challenge or opportunity you want to address
• who could benefit from the solution

For example, you may identify that your business spends too much time on managing and redrafting contracts.

Your goal might be to make your contract management process more efficient so employees can spend more time on higher-value tasks.

Your goals should be aligned with your organisation’s strategic priorities. For example:

• if your firm or organisation is planning to do more remote working, you may need to consider cloud computing solutions
• if you’re facing reduced capacity due to maternity leave or sickness, you may want to consider purchasing case management software to track and reassign work

Aligning your goals to strategic priorities will help make sure all parts of your organisation are working towards the same outcome. This should mean staff are more likely to accept new ways of working (sometimes referred to as organisational buy-in).

Your goals should not be tied to adopting a specific type of technology – they should be based on your organisation’s needs.

It’s important to keep an open mind as you begin exploring different technology solutions.

Return on investment (ROI)

You should consider how you will measure the ROI of the new technology early in the process. This will be important when you come to assess how well it is performing.

Some examples of things you could measure include:

• how many hours of unbillable time you’ve saved
• reductions in expenses. For example, fewer support calls or lower licensing costs
• how many more tasks or cases your team completes with the new technology
• savings from fewer mistakes or compliance issues
• improvements in quality. For example, faster responses or fewer customer complaints
• avoided costs such as hiring extra staff, downtime or expensive upgrades

Gather information

For help gathering your information on your needs, download our technology needs assessment template (Word 162 KB).

Speak to staff and clients to understand current pain points and technology needs.

For example, if your goal is to increase efficiency, find out which processes are taking the longest time to complete and are not adding value to your practice.

You may find that:

• there are specific teams or departments that could benefit from a new piece of software
• client onboarding could be automated
• there are issues with the laptops or PCs you’re currently using
• staff require more training to make use of existing technology

Identify how confident colleagues are using technology. This will give you a sense of onboarding, training and customer support needs. You can then include these in your supplier brief.

If you need to obtain sign off from someone more senior or from your technology team, confirm what information and assurances they will need to approve procurement.

For example, they may want to understand the return on investment (ROI) for a new piece of technology. Confirming this early in the process will prevent sign-off issues later down the line.

How you engage with stakeholders will depend on your capacity and the structure of your organisation. You could:

• hold a series of one-to-one conversations
• run meetings or workshops with larger teams
• set up an advisory board. This could include a range of internal stakeholders that represent different roles, teams or areas of the business. External stakeholders could include consultants and previous clients

You should involve the people who will use the technology (end users) and key stakeholders in every stage of the procurement process, not just the early stages.

This will help you select the right technology and embed it successfully in your organisation. People are more likely to embrace new systems when they are involved in the decision-making process.

Assess data storage and quality

It’s vital you understand how your data is accessed, stored, processed and disposed of in your current systems.

You must make sure this complies with your data protection regulatory responsibilities.

You must also adhere to client confidentiality obligations.

You should:

• review your current data management practices
• check there are standards in place to allow you to safely connect, share data and work with new systems

Liability for data leaks and hacks will likely flow back to decisions made at the procurement phase.

You should review how you currently protect your data. This will help you predict the impact new technology may have on your data security. It will also help you ask the right data security questions when speaking to potential suppliers.

Consider conducting a data protection impact assessment (DPIA).

DPIAs can help identify and address data protection problems at an early stage.

Explore solutions

Keep your requirements, goals and user needs in mind when researching and comparing technology solutions. They should always guide your decision making.

To understand what options are available, you could:

• ask other solicitors for recommendations, particularly those working in similar-sized firms and organisations
• research what technology similar-sized firms or competitors have adopted and how they are using it
• review peer-to-peer online forums for advice on technology adoption. For example, there may be forums on Reddit, Quora and LinkedIn
• read our overview of common lawtech solutions
• see offers from our commercial partners

There’s a good chance you’ll be looking for a lawtech solution.

‘Lawtech’ refers to technology that helps improve or automate legal work. It encompasses all the technologies used in a legal context.

For a more in-depth overview of common lawtech solutions, read our lawtech practice note.

For more guidance on the procurement of lawtech, sign up to our on-demand lawtech procurement training course.

You should check existing policies before beginning your research. If your organisation has a procurement policy, it may include rules on technology standards and categories.

Software considerations

There are specific things to consider if you identify software to be most suitable to your needs and goals. For example:

• licensing arrangements
• how users will access the software, licensing needs and cost implications
• if users will require training or support, and who will provide this
• how the supplier will support software updates
• support and maintenance options available from the supplier
• how data is processed and stored and by whom (for example, subcontractors)
• how the software will integrate with your existing systems
• how you will address digital accessibility

You should consult your IT team for advice if you have one.

There may be a solution within your existing technology package that could meet your needs.

For example, if you have a Microsoft 365 package, you may already have access to Microsoft’s large language model (LLM), Copilot.

Review existing policies

Check if your organisation has existing procurement or technology policies.

These policies may include:

• approved supplier lists
• requirements for competitive quotes
• compliance with ethical or security standards
• the process for approval

You may want to update or create new policies before buying technology. This can help standardise and establish a procurement process for your organisation.

• LexisNexis offers a procurement policy template
• Thomson Reuters offers an IT and communication systems policy template

If the new technology includes AI features, it may be preferable to address the use of AI in an overarching technology policy instead of creating a standalone AI policy.

This can help prevent duplication and conflicts between different policies.

Being able to amend and adapt one centralised policy will also help you stay on top of developments as technology continues to evolve.

For example, most organisations will not have a separate policy for the use of mobile phones. Use of mobile technology will usually be covered by an organisation’s main technology use policy.

Contact suppliers

Wherever possible, try to discuss your requirements with suppliers in detail.

You could start the conversation over email, but aim to arrange a call to ask the important questions.

You may need hands-on support from the supplier if you buy their product. Exploring the relationship with the supplier and their customer service is just as important as learning about the product itself.

It’s good practice to speak to several suppliers. It may be helpful to ask if the supplier has experience with the legal sector or other professionally regulated sectors.

Share your brief with the supplier ahead of the first meeting so they can understand exactly what you’re looking for. Request a demo of the product at the meeting (this will usually be standard practice for suppliers).

You will likely be speaking to a member of the sales team initially. It might be helpful to ask if someone in their team with technical expertise can join the meeting.

Bear in mind the supplier may try to upsell associated features. Take your time when considering product or service add-ons.

You may also want to invite internal stakeholders to supplier meetings. For example, senior staff or partners, members of your IT team or end users of the new technology.

Questions to ask the supplier

Download our supplier interview template (Word 155 KB).

Your questions should help you understand how the product would meet your strategic needs and achieve your goals.

You should also ask questions on the following suggested topics. Adapt these questions based on what you’ve included in your technology brief.

Technical specifications

• How flexible is the solution? How easily will it integrate with our existing systems?
• What are the speed and bandwidth requirements of the solution? Is our infrastructure compatible?

Security

• What security measures and data protection protocols do you have in place?
• How do you put data and cyber security protections in place for people working remotely and/or using personal devices?
• Where will our data be stored? What assurances do you provide to ensure that it complies with UK GDPR?

Service and support

• What are the service level agreements (SLAs) and response times for support?
• Will you partner with any subcontractors to deliver the service? If so, how will this be managed? 

Make a note of suppliers’ answers and rate them against the criteria in your brief.

You should leave your supplier meetings with a thorough understanding of the product’s capabilities and the service the supplier is able to provide.

It is important you have enough information to be transparent about the product and supplier agreement with staff, clients and any other key stakeholders.

Review your findings

Once you’ve completed your supplier interviews, review your notes and consider the benefits, risks and limitations of each potential provider.

Which solution aligns best with your goals and needs?

You should have clear and consistent criteria to evaluate each supplier and product against.

You should also be able to evidence why you’ve picked the product and supplier. This will help with senior sign off and organisational buy in.

You may want to arrange a meeting with internal stakeholders to share your findings and discuss your proposed technology solution.

To help with your decision-making process, consider conducting a risk assessment. Download our risk assessment template (Word 162 KB).

Before making your final decision, make sure you consider:

Supplier lock-in

Be aware of the risk of becoming too dependent on a single provider.

This could happen if you’re purchasing multiple services or products from the same supplier.

Supplier reputation

This includes their experience, certifications and financial stability.

Check reviews and testimonials and consider how long the supplier has been operating.

Size of the supplier

Consider the size of the businesses the supplier usually works with.

If the supplier has larger priority clients or lower capacity for customer service, the support you get may be affected.

Conflicts of interest

Consider whether anyone in your organisation could personally benefit from the relationship with a supplier.

Subcontracting and outsourcing

Suppliers may use subcontractors to deliver part of the service.

This could complicate the procurement process. It could also impact service delivery and make responsibility for the product, data and service delivery unclear.

Total cost

In addition to the cost for the service or product, consider added costs such as:

• training
• ongoing support
• system updates and maintenance

Software providers often use APIs (application programming interfaces) to communicate with other software and systems.

Many suppliers charge each time an API is used to share information between systems. It is important to ask about these charges to understand your overall costing.

Professional indemnity insurance (PII)

Introducing new technology or new features to existing technology could have an impact on your PII coverage.

When arranging PII cover you will need to provide details about your organisation’s risk management practices. It is important to consider how you will manage any new risks posed by technology.

For more information on your insurance considerations, read our professional indemnity insurance (PII) guide.

Sunsetting

‘Sunsetting’ is the planned decommissioning or phasing out of technology.

You should consider how you will handle the sunsetting process of your new technology if you want to terminate your contract with the supplier.

In particular, you should consider how you will:

• manage or remove the supplier’s access to your data
• recover your data if held by the supplier
• ensure continuity of service

Digital exclusion

You could risk excluding some clients with the introduction of new technology.

For example, someone might be excluded from engaging with your organisation via an online client portal if they do not have access the internet.

You should consider offering non-digital alternatives for clients who face challenges interacting with digital services.

For more information on digital accessibility, read our digital accessibility guide.

Consider your professional regulatory responsibilities

You must achieve the same minimum professional standards when using technology within your organisation or firm.

The SRA Standards and Regulations still apply when using technology within legal practice, including the:

• SRA Principles
• SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors
• SRA Code of Conduct for Firms

This includes duties related to:

• client care
• confidentiality and privacy
• accessibility
• professional indemnity insurance (PII)

You should factor this into your decision-making process.

You can find more information on professional regulation and compliance in our lawtech practice note.

Trial the solution

Many suppliers will offer a demonstration or pilot version of their technology solution. You can also request a trial.

If possible, take the opportunity to explore a trial version.

Invite end users and key stakeholders to take part in the trial to gather feedback and questions.

Don’t wait for users to get used to the product before asking how the trial is going – make sure you consistently and regularly gather feedback. This will save wasted time if the technology solution clearly isn’t a good fit from the start.

Consider how your firm or organisation’s data may be used and processed by the supplier during the trial.

Minimum terms, renewals and notice periods

Make sure the minimum contract terms and renewal conditions are clearly stated.

Check termination clauses. Some suppliers have clauses that automatically renew every year unless you take specific action.

Pay particular attention to the notice you must give to terminate, as the notice period may be short.

Acceptable use policies

Ensure the supplier has measures to protect against harmful code and remedies for data breaches.

Change control

There should be protocols for managing changes to the service that allow your organisation to retain control.

Subcontracting

Review subcontractors and subcontracting arrangements.

You may want to exclude suppliers engaging subcontractors without prior consent.

Consider whether the supplier will remain liable for the actions of subcontractors.

Insurance

Negotiate for the supplier to carry adequate insurance covering potential liabilities.

Software escrow

Software escrow is a risk management agreement. If you’re buying bespoke software, consider putting an escrow agreement in place.

An escrow agreement will require the supplier to deposit your software’s source code with an independent third party.

Source code is a set of instructions written by software developers. It allows other developers to understand, maintain or update a piece of software.

Suppliers might not always offer to share the source code or propose software escrow. This may be to protect their own intellectual property and to prevent customers from making changes to the code that might affect the running of the software.

An escrow agreement will allow your organisation to access the code and maintain or transition the system if your supplier can no longer support the product.

Governing law

Consider the locations of both parties and establish the jurisdiction for dispute resolution.

Exit strategy

This should cover data retrieval, service continuity and transition support.

Test and deploy

Work with your supplier to develop a testing plan.

You may want to:

• run the system in parallel with existing processes. This can help identify issues without disrupting operations
• test integrations thoroughly to make sure data flows smoothly between the new system and your existing systems

You should test the full functionalities of the product. If possible, test with a small, representative group of intended end users from a variety of roles in your organisation.

You may have specific services, systems or processes that are unique to your firm or organisation. You should test how the supplier and product performs when dealing with these unique functions (known as ‘edge cases’).

Testing will reveal how the technology deals with rare or unusual scenarios.

Collect feedback from the test group to make necessary adjustments before full deployment.

Make sure you have a plan for data migration. Speak to your supplier and IT team (if you have one) for advice on this.

Conduct data migration in phases and ideally outside of core business hours. This will minimise risk and disruption.

Make sure you have a plan to maintain business continuity if the service is suspended or goes down.

Schedule regular check-ins with the supplier while you’re deploying the technology, such as weekly status meetings. Include key stakeholders in these meetings.

Save all project documents in a shared folder. This should include contracts, project plans and meeting notes. This will allow someone else to pick up the procurement work from you if needed.

Organise training

You may need to organise staff training once your technology solution has been deployed.

Refer to the training needs you identified when gathering stakeholder information.

If training and support was included in your supplier contract, work with them to develop a training plan.

Your test group should have expertise from using the product at an early stage. They can now help provide encouragement and training support to others.

You may want to offer a range of training options and materials to cater to different learning styles. For example, video tutorials, interactive workshops and written guides.

You may need to ask the supplier to provide ongoing training to keep users updated on system features and best practice.

Gather feedback and make improvements

Once the solution is launched, check in regularly with staff and end users on their experience and collect feedback on system performance and usability.

Use this feedback to:

• update training materials
• identify areas for improvement and development
• adjust support services

Track performance

Develop clear metrics to evaluate the system's performance.

You should base these on your goals for the technology.

Consider both quantitative and qualitative metrics. For example:

• time taken to carry out key tasks and error rates (quantitative)
• user feedback and any changes to client satisfaction (qualitative)

Make sure you regularly measure and record your metrics.

Use your findings to prioritise system updates and enhancements.

You should also consider how to measure return on investment (ROI).

For more guidance on measuring return on investment (ROI), read our lawtech practice note.