Be careful of statistics. They so often suggest trends which, in reality, are flawed or incomplete. Case in point – Staffing Industry Analysts’ (SIA) recently published “2011 Annual Buyers Survey” in which a drop of Vendor Management System (VMS) usage among buyers of the technology (63% down from 73%) is cited. What does this suggest for Legal Services innovation?
Are General Counsels or corporate managers questioning the ROI of reporting/management technologies? On the contrary, data shows that while the VMS industry didn’t see substantial growth in 2011, it recognized stability in the “core buyer” realm that represents the bulk of VMS usage and benefit — traditionally seen in the office/clerical and IT space. The VMS industry appears to be maturing with the largest users of the technology refining and solidifying their use of the platforms, as dramatic initial ROI gives way to smaller year-over-year benefit. So why did the overall VMS usage percentage drop?
Dig a little deeper and it’s revealed that SIA utilized a wider sampling this year, including a number of new entrants (previously unrepresented users) in growth areas like Legal Services and other professional categories, which (until recently) have been historically resistant to reporting/management technologies. This larger sampling impacts usage totals since new users typically experience long ramp-up or learning curves, and as a population, have not fully embraced the benefits of vendor management systems. In the end, the wider sampling is portrayed as a smaller percentage of total usage — a clearly misleading statistic.
We at Lumen Legal are enjoying our position at the forefront of the technological revolution in Legal Services. Our clients are embracing the re-design of their legal execution strategy en masse, in large part, through the leveraging of technology such as VMS. This drive to provide legal services better, faster, and cheaper allows corporations and law firms, for the first time, access to the ROI that was only available to “core buyers” of management technology just a few short years ago. This represents a clear upward trend in our space, while the more mature categories are witnessing the plateau referenced in the SIA study. Even further evidence can be seen by the rising popularity of LegalTech, and other industry-specific technology forums, which are designed to expose legal departments, and the business entities that support them, to cutting edge technologies that are reshaping the legal landscape.
It’s an exciting time in our industry. I believe statistics will bear that out in 2012.
