8 April 2008
IRIS, one of the UK’s leading business software houses and the
leading provider of software to the legal sector, today unveiled
its product strategy for practice and case management and a further
R&D investment of £5m over the next 3 years.
IRIS, which is a sector specialist and has for
many years been the leading provider to the accountancy profession,
has built its leadership position and reputation on continuous
product investment and a deep understanding of customer needs.
Product Strategy
IRIS announced the launch of its new Practice
and Case Management Application, IRIS Law, which it will from today
be offering to all new customers. IRIS Law is available to
customers in two editions, depending upon practice size and
complexity: IRIS Law Enterprise for the larger practices and IRIS
Law Business for the smaller practices. IRIS Law Enterprise is
based on the award winning Legal Office 10 product (formerly
Videss) and IRIS Law Business is based on the newly developed
Connected product (formerly Mountain), both of which have had
considerable new investment over the past few years.
Customers of AIM and TPS (The Partnership
Suite) will continue to be fully supported until July 2011 and will
be offered a free software upgrade to IRIS Law when they are
ready.
This strategy was based on a detailed 6 month
exercise that evaluated all the products in the IRIS legal
portfolio and concluded that all customers upgrading to IRIS Law
would receive immediate benefit from the new and improved
functionality built into the product set.
IRIS Law now provides IRIS customers with a
clear long term roadmap offering protection of investment and
reassurance at a time when the legal IT supply market is undergoing
considerable consolidation thus leaving customers uncertain about
the protection of their investment. IRIS, with the scale of its
investment and its commitment to the legal sector can provide the
stability that firms need from their IT partner.
Commenting on the strategy announcements,
Arlene Adams, MD of IRIS Legal, said “I am delighted to be
announcing the launch of IRIS Law. We have consulted widely with
our customers and have now provided both customers and the market
with what they have been asking for by delivering a clear strategy
and long term roadmap. Furthermore, we will be making a further £5
million investment in our legal portfolio to ensure that we
establish ourselves as the undisputed leader in the legal software
marketplace. It is our ambition to swiftly transition this sector
from a cottage industry to one which has the industrial strength
that lawyers require”.
The Future
IRIS is currently researching new solutions to
help legal firms address the business challenges of a rapidly
changing market. IRIS are exploring tools to help firms integrate
more openly with partners and customers across the web, service
customers over multiple electronic channels and deliver proactive
customer management tools to help firms strengthen their
relationship with customers and in turn improve their revenue and
profit. This all has to be delivered in a world that is
increasingly regulated and cost sensitive therefore IRIS are
exploring ways to further automate process, reduce cost and improve
compliance.
“I am really excited about our future. We are
doing all this based on a platform that has recently won a number
of high profile clients such as Minster Law, the UK’s number 1 PI
firm, and Birmingham City Council, Europe’s largest legal
department. It is based on this solid foundation that we will
work hard to deliver on our vision to help UK Legal firms realise
their full potential in a customer centric and connected world”
commented Arlene Adams.
About IRIS
IRIS is one of the UK’s leading business
software houses (in the Top 6) delivering legal, regulatory,
accounting and full service solutions to well over 60,000 UK
businesses and payroll solutions to over 10% of the UK
workforce.
With over 4000 law firms and in excess of 270
Barristers’ Chambers and 100 Coroners offices as clients IRIS’ core
focus is increasing customer choice with future proof solutions.
Within the IRIS product portfolio are a wide range of business
critical solutions for the legal sector including Practice and Case
Management, Electronic Forms, Customer Relationship Management
(CRM), Business Intelligence, skills and resource management,
document imaging, HR & Payroll and mobile data all underpinned
by a superior managed services offering.
As a financially secure supplier, IRIS’ legal
clients are re-assured that their specific needs are met due to an
unrivalled breadth of product range and depth of expertise. For
further information on IRIS Software Group, please visit http://www.iris.co.uk/
