Following an 18-month evaluation, Clifford Chance has selected iManage for its IT architecture, security and user experience

18-month evaluation

Clifford Chance has selected iManage Work 10 for document, email management and collaboration for its 6,000 global users. After a thorough 18-month evaluation process. Paul Greenwood, chief information officer at Clifford Chance, said ‘to deliver an outstanding service to our clients, we require technology that supports their needs and enhances efficiency in our work. To this end, we searched for a document management system that is collaborative, reliable and with state-of-the-art security. Throughout our selection and evaluation process, iManage repeatedly demonstrated that its architecture and platform capabilities have been designed from the ground up to help us achieve these goals.’ The iManage Work 10 platform features improved user experience and empowerment for professionals to work from any device, anywhere. Smart worklists, smart previews and document timelines provide insights into the progress of legal matters. Personalised search, enabled by AI, makes search powerful and intuitive, eliminating complex search forms and keywords. iManage says it enables firms to collaborate on matters globally while respecting the complex world of data residency and privacy laws.

Security a critical factor

The iManage platform security credentials were a critical contributing factor to the decision. Clifford Chance performed a stringent security evaluation and determined that the Zero Trust security architecture that underpins the iManage platform ensures the strictest controls for safeguarding the firm’s data and aims to exceed the traditional perimeter security and the use of strong encryption. With internationally recognised security accreditations across iManage’s global data centres, in-region data processing and customer managed encryption keys, iManage has created an industry-leading secure environment for client work product. Clifford Chance’s professionals played a major role in guiding the firm’s selection of iManage, with approximately 250 lawyers and legal professionals introduced to Work 10 during the evaluation process. ‘For a system to be successful, our people need to be comfortable in working with it, said Mr Greenwood, adding ‘we saw firsthand the potential impact the iManage user experience will have on our efficiency and consequently on the client experience. When it comes to working how legal professionals want to work, iManage was strongly favoured by the team.’