- Legal Futures - https://www.legalfutures.co.uk -

Specialist Cloud provider secures £1 million contract with leading regional law firm

Print [1]Cheshire-based Converge Technology Specialists [2] (ConvergeTS), the country’s only dedicated Cloud computing provider for law firms, has signed its first £1 million contract, with East of England firm Bridge McFarland.

The five-year contract will see ConvergeTS supply a fully-managed Cloud service to Bridge McFarland, which has 21 partners and offices in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and London.

The firm’s managing partner Richard Parnell says: “ConvergeTS was recommended by an external IT consultant. What swayed the firm’s decision to go with Converge was that they were plain-speaking, they came across as very professional, and when we went to see them we were impressed, and formed a rapport with them.

“Looking forward, we want an IT system that is resilient, and to work with Converge in partnership. We also have the added piece of mind that if teething problems arise we know we can just pick up the phone or email them and they will respond.”

ConvergeTS’s founder and managing director, Nigel Wright, says: “We also felt that after meeting with Bridge McFarland during due diligence visits, there was a real synergy between us. We were also heartened by the firm’s appreciation of our experience in dealing with key application vendors.

“The cloud is the future for the legal industry and as the only provider dedicated to law firms; we are in a prime position to expand our reach. It is a major step for law firms to move to a hosted solution, but we have the experience to ease them through the process.”

ConvergeTS has over 50 UK-based clients including JMW, Linder Myers, O’Neill Patient, Pannone Corporate and Total Conveyancing Services. Its investment strategy, aimed at maximising the growth of its Cloud services across the UK, was backed by recent research which pointed out that while only 10% of UK law firms currently use hosted services, by 2018 the figure will rise to close to 90%.

During 2014 ConvergeTS invested £800,000 in new premises in Daresbury Park, helped by a £160,000 Business Growth Grant from the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership. This enabled the company to build a state-of-the-art data centre – ensuring it complies with the strict requirements of the regulations governing solicitors using Cloud-based services – and invest in people to guarantee that ConvergeTS has the tightest service-level agreements in the market.