Legal Technology Solutions

Law firms advised to strike back against postal chaos

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:24:00 +0000

With the Royal Mail announcing further strikes on Friday 6th and Monday 9th November, many firms will struggle to deal with the associated loss of business that a strike will bring – according to figures published in The Times a national strike will cost the UK economy £1.5billion in terms of lost orders, extra administration and higher delivery costs.

The recent strikes have built up a backlog of mail – reports vary from 2 million items up to 30 million items – and the situation is likely to worsen in the run-up to Christmas. Planning ahead for a postal strike is vital if companies are to reduce the financial implications of documents being delayed.

Quickdox, the Blackburn-based specialist document-signing agency, offers a time-efficient and 100% reliable web-based alternative for documents which require client signatures and are time-sensitive. As Andrew Robson, Operations Manager of New Law Solicitors, said: “We work with Quickdox as they are able to get someone out to see our clients the same day ¬– if not, within days of receiving an instruction. Their representatives will talk through the document with the client, explain anything that is not understood and allay any concerns regarding our fees. This not only improves our client service but has increased our returned pack conversion rate; on some lead sources by nearly 20%.”

The service, which is used by a variety of sectors, including lawyers, financial services providers and claims management companies, ensures that documentation is not only returned on time but is correctly completed, removing the delays which are so frequently caused by forms being incorrectly completed.

Angelo Trapasso, Sales and Marketing Director of Quickdox, explained: “Businesses shouldn’t have to suffer just because the Royal Mail cannot reach an agreement with their workers. It is in times such as these that we realise how dependent upon our delivery systems we all are – orders, contracts, cashflow are all affected and we need to ensure that these are protected and maintained.

“An increasing number of lawyers are relying upon our service in order to gain absolute control over their business correspondence. When legal documents require a client’s signature the firm cannot afford for the process to be delayed due to postal problems – CFAs, witness statements and even financial documents are so often a ‘sticking point’ – but Quickdox can manage that process, providing a guaranteed 100% traceable service and ensure that documents are delivered to the signatory by one of our team and returned to your company within 3 days,” he explained.

Quickdox, provides a quick and efficient document transfer service for the legal, financial and claims management sectors. The Blackburn-based company employs over 500 trained people across the country with fully trained agents available in your area at 2 hours notice. A secure web-based portal ensures that documents are signed and returned to your business within 3 days.

Woolley & Co expands ‘virtual’ business model with SOS

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:17:00 +0000

Woolley & Co, the world’s first ‘virtual’ law firm, has strengthened IT support for its virtual operation by adding more users to SOS Connect from Solicitors Own Software and consolidating IT managed service provision with e-know.net to cope with continued growth and rising profits.

Established in 1996 as a family law specialist and the first virtual law firm, Woolley & Co abandoned the high overheads of a bricks and mortar operation with its associated people, IT and running costs. A new virtual practice based upon direct client to lawyer communications and outsourcing all business services developed. In the ensuing years a single man operation has grown to a network of 17 remotely located fee earners and a headcount of around 30, but with no office premises. Even in these recessionary times, Woolley & Co is expanding and taking on more fee earners.

Technology to support the operation is key. Woolley & Co was breaking new ground to find a fully outsourced IT service in the early years and as founder and managing partner, Andrew Woolley admits: “To be honest we struggled with it for a few years and then decided to take advice and review the legal software market properly.”

That review led to the selection of SOS Connect as an integrated case and practice management system and as use of the system grew a move to managed service provider
e-know.net.

SOS Connect offers a flexible and highly integrated case, document and practice management solution enabling users to adhere to common business processes and best practices, even in a business as widely dispersed as Woolley’s.

All of the processes associated with opening a new case, conducting the case, including document management and workflow, automated recording of incoming and outgoing emails and tying them back to the case, automated time recording and automatic bill production have been streamlined. The ability to view files in SOS Connect at all times, also greatly assists with peer file reviews and more in-depth case examinations from quality of advice and client service perspectives as well as business performance monitoring and regulatory compliance.

Andrew Woolley believes that the firm is well-placed to withstand the impact that the Legal Services Act is predicted to have on many high street firms. “I think we are very well equipped to react to new demands. We have driven costs down. They are lower and our personal service is aimed to be higher than the norm. We offer clients the major advantage of a direct connection to highly experienced lawyers. I fear to say it but there will be so many firms going to the wall, larger ones too, that I think there will be more family work around. We have grown from 1 to 17 lawyers because of our growing case load, despite the fall in divorce cases generally, so we must be taking the business away from someone.”

Telford-based e-know.net specialises in dynamic managed services provision which is flexible to the demands of the business and provides Woolley’s with a one-stop shop for their complete IT needs. This includes server space and 24/7/365 technical support for the hosted desktop and all applications, including SOS Connect. The service is charged on a per user, per month basis ensuring that IT spend is aligned to the business.

David Mcnamara, managing director of SOS said: “This is another example of the flexibility of SOS Connect to suit the needs of law firms whether they are set up in a highly distributed virtual model or a traditional one and to deliver real efficiency gains in readiness for the impact of the Legal Services Act.”

Cameron Macaulay decimates IT overheads a

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:48:00 +0000

Bath-based Virtual Practices, which delivers SOS Connect case and practice management software as a service (SaaS) to law firms, has added Scottish cash management to its outsourced legal cashiering service. Glasgow-based Cameron Macaulay Solicitors is the first Scottish law firm to subscribe.

Cameron Macaulay, a civil court practice, is the second incarnation of the firm which until 2006 operated as a traditional high street practice with its inherent high cost/low margin business model. Following a sabbatical from the business and time for reflecting upon the best way for a lawyer to survive and prosper in the modern, post-Legal Services (Scotland) Act market, Malcolm Cameron has set up his new operation to rely on outsourced services as far as possible, including IT.

An independent evaluation of software as a service (SaaS) suppliers of legal software led Mr Cameron to Virtual Practices from a short-list which also included IRIS and GB Systems (now also part of IRIS). Virtual Practices was established to give start-ups and smaller firms access to case and practice management software on a monthly subscription model. In addition and uniquely, Virtual Practices offers an outsourced legal cashiering service which means that the small firm can avoid the costs of employing a legal cashier. “Clearly I was dealing with people who have a stake in and are passionate about their business and are committed to continued development of their software. Virtual Practices people also demonstrated a long-term understanding of the needs of solicitors. The software is state of the art delivering levels of sophistication for both case and practice management that would have been beyond the financial reach of my previous, traditional practice.”

Compliance with cash management reporting requirements in Scotland is more onerous than in England and changes were required to the software. Stephen Parry, business development director at Virtual Practices explained: ”The daily end of day reporting requirements in Scotland place stringent demands on law firms. Even the smallest practice would usually need to employ a legal cashier to ensure that the requirements are met. However due to the flexible, underlying architecture of SOS Connect, we were able to very rapidly add features which generate the reports automatically, effectively removing this administrative burden.”

Malcolm Cameron commented: “The software as a service model also takes care of back-ups, business continuity and file storage and provides round the clock access, but the single most important benefit that makes this service exceptional is the legal cashiering. All I have to do is enter the credit and debit vouchers into the system and everything else transpires on time and completely accurately..”

“Software as a service (SaaS), or cloud computing, is no longer theoretical,” says Malcolm Cameron. “The technology has reached a point where it is truly transformational in providing the smaller firm with a more profitable business model. I have saved around 25 hours a month which is now available for remunerative work and can organise the business around client service and quality.”

In the past the treadmill of a heavy case load and constant quest for new business to cover high overheads left little time for improving client service. But as Malcolm Cameron now says: “I have reduced overheads by over 80 per cent and have the luxury of time to make service quality the cornerstone of my practice.”

After two days of training, Cameron Macaulay, was live for practice management and time recording, automated time recording of incoming and outgoing emails against the individual matter and is now moving towards full case management. In fact the firm offers clients a discount if they elect to correspond using emails rather than letters.

Web content management for law firms

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:45:00 +0000

Auctori:law™, a Microsoft Certified Web Content Management System (WCMS), designed specifically for law firms, has recently launched. St. Louis Based Company, Unified Development, Inc. (Unidev®) designed the WCMS in association with several law firms to give attorneys and legal professionals an easy to use, but powerful system to update and maintain their professionally designed website.

"We are very excited about the launch of Auctori:law™," said Greg Alexander, CEO of Unidev®." Our team is very experienced in developing customized legal websites, and we developed this WCMS designed specifically for the legal industry based upon this experience. Auctori:law™ presented itself as an excellent opportunity for our clients to really take control of their websites with an application that truly answers the needs of a legal firm. I am confident that Auctori:law™ is a complete solution for any law firm's online needs."

Auctori:law™ gives attorneys the power to safely and securely update their website from anywhere in the world, at anytime. With Auctori:law™, it is simple to build and edit website content without the help of an IT professional or having had previous experience or knowledge in HTML. By simply logging into a site through a secure, password-protected portal, site administrators can update content, change images, add announcements and make other instantaneous changes.

"While I have worked in database driven content management programs in the past, I continue to be impressed by the level of sophistication and ease of use of the CMS as built by Unidev® for our law firm. Through Unidev®'s CMS I am not only able to freely edit content throughout our site, I am now in charge of navigation items and graphics, previously outside the realm of my editing parameters," said Kelly Annis, Client Relations Manager for The Stolar Partnership, LLP.

Auctori:law™ is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution providing all of the benefits of cloud computing. Unidev®'s solution provides firms with the opportunity to strengthen their Internet presence and their overall brand reputation by giving lawyers a professionally designed site and the power to maintain their content in real time. In addition to standard content management features, Auctori:law™ is equipped with an attorney biographies module, news and articles module, and an images module. Auctori:law™ adheres to all Search Engine Optimization best practices in order to maximize website traffic and usability.

Unique features of Auctori:Law™ include:

§ -Attorney and professional biography builder with profile photos, dynamic V-card generation, customizable fields, and professional PDF printing functionality

§ -Flexible content pages and navigation structure for creating practice areas and industry sections

§ -News and articles module to create and archive publications, resources and events.

§ -Multi-lingual

§ -Print-ready PDF documents

§ -Secured document libraries

"The Auctori:law CMS Solution has been a fantastic collaboration between the Auctori team and several of our legal firm clients. We have been able to integrate controls that make editing articles, biographies and documents as well as the general maintenance of the content of your website very straightforward and less time consuming," said Andrea Bemis, Brand Manager for Auctori:law.

To see two examples of Auctori:law™ in action, please visit The Stolar Partnership, LLP www.stolarlaw.com and Paul J. Passanante, PC & Associates at www.passanantelaw.com.

Jersey's oldest law firm selects Eclipse

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Leading Jersey law firm, Le Gallais & Luce, has selected Eclipse’s Proclaim Practice Management software solution.

Le Gallais & Luce traces its roots back to 1870, and today provides a full suite of private client and corporate services. The practice aims to provide traditional service values with a focus on fast, responsive and transparent delivery. This client-focused approach has led to a continuing increase in instructions which has fuelled the need to analyse the firm's existing core software systems.

An in-depth review of the market's leading offerings resulted in Le Gallais & Luce selecting Eclipse's Proclaim system for a practice-wide implementation.

As well as the core Proclaim Case Management system, the firm is implementing Proclaim Accounts to form a fully-integrated Practice Management solution. Eclipse will be tailoring the delivered system to take into account both the wide range of casetypes managed by Le Gallais & Luce and the unique elements of property law in Jersey, one of the firm's key offerings.

Martin Orchard, Practice Manager at Le Gallais & Luce, comments on his firm's selection:

“We are fiercely proud of the way we deliver our legal services, and to build on our position we needed a software solution aligned with our core ethos of speed, quality and transparency. Eclipse's Proclaim system stood out in a number of areas when held up against its peers, not least in terms of the way it organises information and streamlines administrative tasks.

Proclaim provides the perfect platform for us to further improve our offerings. The software will enable our fee earners to access a broader range of information more quickly, which will benefit our staff and our clients."

City Law Firm Devereaux Solicitors Implements Dictation-as-a-Service

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:28:00 +0000

nFlow today announced that Devereaux Solicitors, a London-based specialist litigation law firm, has successfully implemented nFlowLive.com, its Cloud-based Dictation-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution. Replacing an analogue tape dictation system, Devereaux Solicitors chose nFlowLive.com for its rich functionality, ability to seamlessly connect with its South Africa-based transcription service provider and offline working facility.

Prior to selecting nFlow, working alongside Accesspoint Technologies, nFlow’s channel partner for nFlowLive.com, Devereaux Solicitors trialled nFlowLive.com and a hosted solution from another leading digital dictation solution provider. Accesspoint Technologies is an Application Service Provider specialising in facilitating the implementation of complete Cloud-based office solutions.

As a growing legal practice, Devereaux Solicitors has made a strategic decision to adopt enterprise Cloud technologies because they offer cost effective access to latest solutions, are easy to deploy and easily scale with business requirements. For instance, when implementing nFlowLive.com, the firm did not have to incur expenditure to purchase additional servers. All it needed was a PC and an internet connection to deploy the solution firm-wide.

Devereaux Solicitors has experienced significant time savings and efficiency gains since implementing nFlowLive.com. It is able to better manage workload due to its transcription service provider’s access to nFlowLive.com, especially during absences of back-office staff during holidays or sickness. The offline dictation facility allows users to dictate without an internet connection and upload when online. This feature was particularly appealing to Devereaux Solicitors as often fee-earners work remotely and on the ‘go’. Finally, logistically, the firm no longer needs to store tapes or risk losing records and notes due to tapes deteriorating in quality over time and use.

John Ioannou, Senior Partner at Devereaux Solicitors, said, “In a legal business, time is money and we recognise the importance of adopting systems that make us more efficient and ultimately enable us to deliver a further improved service. Given the volume of complex paperwork we deal with, a digital dictation system is now indispensable for us.

“nFlowLive.com is a perfect combination of simplicity and complexity – despite the underlying technical and workflow complexities, the speed and ease with which it was implemented was staggering. From the time we confirmed our order to nFlow, the solution was up and running in under 24 hours. For the user, it is very simple and intuitive to use requiring practically no training. It has delivered instantaneous productivity benefits and crucially has inbuilt, fail proof safeguards for security and disaster recovery.”

Based on nFlowLive.com’s initial success, Devereaux Solicitors is now looking to deploy the nFlow BlackBerry solution, which will further enhance the firm’s mobile working capability.

Thursfields' live on SOS Connect across the entire firm within 6 months

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:49:00 +0000

Thursfields Solicitors has successfully completed the first phase implementation of SOS Connect, the integrated case, document and practice management solution from Solicitors Own Software (SOS). In a ‘big bang’ roll-out to around 110 people in three offices, ageing, disparate IT systems, no longer supported by the previous supplier, and many manual operations have now been replaced. This has been a huge transformation of the business into an efficient and streamlined operation.

The joint Thursfields’ and Solicitors Own Software implementation team succeeded in bringing in this major project on-time and on budget. Moreover the team has created a new IT infrastructure which has enthused the whole firm with determination to improve efficiency, customer service and agility in the post-Legal Services Act marketplace. A dramatic leap forward in automated processes and real-time, interactive working has been achieved within six months, for the entire firm.

Thursfields is one of the largest practices in Worcestershire with a team of around 110 people, 10 partners and offices in Worcester, Kidderminster and Stourport providing a wide range of legal services for the individual and business client alike.

This major investment is part of Thursfields plans to modernise the firm and to provide clients with the best possible service in the future. A key ingredient of the successful project has been the wide involvement of staff at every level within the firm, not only in the initial selection of SOS, but in its implementation. Thursfields appointed super users who received additional training in using the SOS Connect scripting tools and workflows to tailor the solution and who were given the time to champion the system and then transfer knowledge within the organisation.

Phase one has included creating a centralised database, achieved by SOS’s conversion team converting and amalgamating 10 separate databases into a single SOS database; providing real-time access to the data to everyone; implementing practice management for the accounts and debt collection for all offices and enabling generic case management with the use of templates for standard letters and procedures for the entire firm.

There have been a number of quick returns on investment (ROI) wins especially from the many newly automated business processes; improved access and flow of information; accurate time recording, especially of emails; better business performance information and the introduction, for the first time of customer relationship management. But the longer term ROI will be greatly enhanced because the people at Thursfields are so highly motivated to use the software extensively and take advantage of the innovative technology architecture for building their own workflows.

Phase two is on schedule with the Head of Probate, Trust and Tax spearheading the goal to get the most out of the system and to create workflows for almost any process with several steps, as well as roll out case management to probate, conveyancing and personal injury. The bigger picture is that the system will enable best practice to be captured and be used consistently throughout the firm.

Managing partner Nick O’Hara said: “Our modernisation, in which SOS Connect contributes an essential part, will help us to compete very effectively with the new business structures to emerge as a result of the Legal Services Act, while adding our core high street practice values of personal service. We have a strong desire to get the remainder of the software in and working as soon as we can, which is an endorsement in itself. There is no doubt that these are challenging economic times but I have great hopes for the firm and this system is going to help me realise them. I look forward to the remainder of the project.”

David McNamara, managing director of SOS said: “In over 21 years’ of helping solicitors to implement software, SOS has never been so impressed with the way the client and supplier implementation teams supported each other at Thursfields, nor with the enthusiasm to maximise the use of SOS Connect’s innovative features to simplify tailored, business process automation.”

Morgans switch from Videss to TFB

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:54:00 +0000

One of Wales’s largest legal aid providers, Cardiff-based Morgans Solicitors, have swapped out their IRIS Videss practice management system in favour of TFB’s Partner for Windows to help streamline the management of their legal aid case loads.

100 user firm Morgans , have decided to move over to Partner for Windows to provide case and practice management on a single consistent platform across several offices. The firm who have a 60% legal aid case load will also benefit from the extensive LSC package Partner for Windows provides, which will significantly improve their handling of legal aid cases, as well as support the firm’s ambitious growth plans.

Managing Partner at Morgans, Roy Morgan comments, “At a time when streamlined, lean business processes are so essential in surviving the existing Legal Aid market, it is vital to have an IT system fit for purpose to cope with technical evolution that will be required by every law firm wishing to exist in the modern legal environment.

"Morgans Solicitors are in the process of introducing Partner for Windows across our firm. TFB have worked closely with our organisation to understand our needs and processes, to ensure that we have an IT system that is tailored to our specific requirements. They offer ongoing support, training and consultancy to ensure that Partner for Windows can evolve as we do”.

Richard Higgs, Sales Director at TFB comments, “Morgan’s aspirations for the firm’s future growth and their need to significantly increase efficiency in dealing with LSC matters fitted perfectly with Partner for Windows’ comprehensive functionality and TFB’s proven ability to support much larger firms. Being part of the Tikit Group, Morgans can be assured that we have a level expertise and experience within the group to deliver a support service which is unmatched by any other legal supplier”.

FloSuite Ltd. announces the launch of FloSuite v6

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:43:00 +0000

FloSuite Ltd., a leading provider of integrated Business Process, Case & Matter Management Solutions to the global professional services sector, today announced the launch of a major new software release – FloSuite v6.

FloSuite v6 reduces solution configuration effort in some areas by as much as 50 percent, particularly in relation to complex case management consoles and associated business process/data design, further strengthening the product’s rapid deployment and adaptation capabilities.

The latest release also includes enhanced Microsoft Office integration, including the ability to seamlessly upload multiple emails and their attachments to a process/case, or to any integrated third-party document management application, directly from within Microsoft Outlook.

Other new features include support for 64 bit operating, Windows 2008 and SQL 2008, and enhanced batch document generation capabilities, plus additional SharePoint Web parts – including data views independent of workflows.

A comprehensive new administration management studio will ensure that deployed solutions can be easily maintained and published from the one location. Also provided are additional pre-built solution capabilities and enhanced third-party product integrations, covering InterAction, Interwoven, Elite, ADERANT Expert, Laserforms, HotDocs and other systems.

FloSuite’s Director of Sales, Russell Wood, said: “With the launch of FloSuite v6 we have fully realised our ambition to be the only vendor able to offer a comprehensive feature set for BPM, Case and Matter Management from within a single, integrated solution suite.

“We have also significantly reduced the skills level and time required to deploy and adapt complex BPM and Case Management solutions, as well as continuing to add to our range of pre-built solutions for the legal sector to deliver ever-faster ROI.”

FloSuite v6 will be officially launched at events taking place in Edinburgh (Nov 10) and London (Nov 11), which are free to attend for end-user organisations and will include live demonstrations and case studies. (Go to www.flosuite.com/seminar for more information and booking details).

Customers around the world use both FloSuite’s pre-built legal solutions and the FloSuite Framework product, which enables the rapid configuration of sophisticated bespoke applications within an easy-to-use Microsoft Visio-based environment. Clients span the UK, Europe, North America and Australia.

LexisNexis Streamline for Business Process Management

web.nospam@nospam.legaltechnologysolutions.com (Julian) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:07:00 +0000

LexisNexis today announced the launch of LexisNexis Streamline®, an innovative next generation business process management platform, tailored specifically to the needs of the legal industry. Uniquely, LexisNexis Streamline provides powerful systems integration tools including pre-built adapters for the leading best-of-breed third-party applications, flexible workflow, enterprise data modelling and innovative document assembly capabilities, all underpinned by the latest Microsoft technologies, in a single platform.

Recognising the value that LexisNexis Streamline can deliver to its business, Mishcon de Reya Solicitors, one of the UK’s most prestigious law firms, is currently rolling out the solution as part of a larger technology consolidation and re-engineering programme. The firm is creating an enterprise-wide workflow-based platform encompassing all legal and business processes to maximise efficiency gains.

LexisNexis Streamline is the only single platform that allows law firms to create a truly ‘agile, connected enterprise’. An application and development framework, LexisNexis Streamline offers unrestricted developmental capabilities enabling firms to enhance and extend the functionality of their existing best-of-breed applications by seamlessly integrating and managing data across multiple systems. In doing so, firms also maximise the return from their existing investments.

Tim Cheadle, General Manager, LexisNexis Practice & Productivity Management, said, “The LexisNexis Streamline platform does exactly what its name suggests – it streamlines complex business systems with powerful business processes to enable legal firms to efficiently conduct their business and drive profitable business decisions. It also offers firms the ability to customise the solution and innovate at a very sophisticated level, without breaking the bank.”

“Today, the LexisNexis Streamline platform is the only enterprise-class application of its kind and is poised to challenge the market, both from a technological standpoint and the unprecedented business benefits it delivers. It delivers a standard of connectivity within the enterprise that has never been offered to legal businesses before. It reflects our deep understanding of the functions and processes that firms require in the business and practice of law”, Cheadle added.

Commenting on his firm’s plans and LexisNexis Streamline’s innovation, Nick Taylor-Delahoy, Director of Information Technology at Mishcon de Reya Solicitors, said, “We are committed to eliminating inefficiencies and making full use of our current technology to prepare for the upturn in the economy. We want to provide the best possible service to our clients and LexisNexis Streamline is the technology solution that makes this possible. We were particularly impressed by the open nature of the development tools, meaning our internal IT team could be up and running almost immediately. LexisNexis Streamline has ensured that we have the ability to ‘do more with less’, without duplicating data or purchasing additional large IT assets.”

The Toolkit component of LexisNexis Streamline offers firms rapid new application development and deployment capabilities, allowing them to evolve their IT strategy quickly to meet the changing needs of the business. Firms looking to create bespoke point solutions do not need to build from scratch. The platform is based on industry standard Microsoft .NET technologies such as Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation, VisualStudio, Microsoft Office and Microsoft SharePoint, offering firms an open and familiar development environment. Using ready built Legal Frameworks within the platform, developers can produce solutions quickly and easily. Because the data integration adaptors are pre-built for best of breed legal applications, these new solutions are easily integrated without disrupting the core applications.

LexisNexis Streamline® is a best of breed, scalable, single platform for legal process workflow, offering organisations a powerful toolkit to build productised and fully customised applications embodying best practice to fit their specific business needs.