Law Firms & SAP Security Explained

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Posted: 30th October 2023 by
Lawyer Monthly
Last updated 12th July 2024
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When people imagine businesses requiring SAP (Systems Applications and Products) services, their minds likely turn to companies selling goods or services in a customer-centric manner.

Law firms rarely feature at the top of the list of prospective clients for an SAP security service provider. However, any legal operation, whether it serves the community through pro bono work or charges high rates for its services, requires the safe gathering and collection of data.

Each time an organisation argues a case for a client, the law firm generates significant data as part of its research and arguments. Storing such data using SAP systems is the preferred option for many law firms. Below is our explanation of how law firms can ensure their SAP security is up to standard.

What is SAP?

SAP is the market leader in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and helps companies of all sizes. SAP’s ERP software allows your organisation to install various programs and integrate servers to run all your day-to-day business operations. Having proper SAP Security is essential in any sector but is particularly crucial for firms handling legal cases with sensitive data.

Whether your firm deals with criminal, civil, tort, or family law, you will likely have a lot of systems and data that help your employees operate at an elite level. Using SAP makes it easy to incorporate programs for financial management, billing, human resources, data storage and analysis, and document creation.

Why Do Law Firms Use SAP?

Running a law firm involves much more than basic client research and court arguments. Law firms have many employees, meaning they must have human resources software access. They often have to liaise with clients and other attorneys on the go, so having remote access to all pertinent case information through a cloud infrastructure can be very helpful.

Using SAP is best for firms to leverage the latest technological and software advancements. A law firm can use SAP for billing, HR, legal research, etc.

While the SAP software includes many first-party programs offering the features law firms seek, they can always leverage third-party resources when necessary. SAP makes it easy to integrate third-party programs, which may allow for faster and more secure legal process management.

Cyber Attacks Are a Serious Threat

Business owners often think their company is not on hackers' or cyber criminals' radar. Most nefarious actors, however, do not discriminate against businesses, as they tend to target any firm they believe has weak security.

Law firms are very much the target of cyber attacks in 2023, impacting firms of all sizes. Hiring experts to handle your SAP security requirements is crucial if you are running a law firm. The best providers of SAP security services can work with your law firm to devise a plan that is within budget and offers protection against cyber threats. SAP security service providers can offer services on an ad-hoc basis or as a managed service, depending on the firm’s needs.

The advantage of using a third-party service provider is that you get personalized attention without paying high prices. Rather than hiring one or two people to provide full-time SAP security services to your firm, you can spend a fraction of their wages on managed SAP security services.

Ensure Your Reputation Is In Tact

Ask any law firm in the country whether they would survive a significant hit to their reputation, and most will admit it would not be possible. Reputation is everything in the legal sector, as clients only hire lawyers who have proven themselves in a court of law or a mediation room.

Running an SAP system with inadequate SAP security measures in place could result in the release of confidential client information, which would put your firm under threat. Not only could clients take legal action against your firm, but no one would hire a law firm that cannot maintain its SAP system.

Conclusion

Law firms must exercise extreme caution when it comes to storing and sharing any information pertaining to their business. Whether you are storing financial data, client information, or any details that should not become public, you need proper security measures to ensure that data remains private.

SAP systems are becoming the foundation for the operations of many law firms in 2023. These businesses realized that SAP offers all the relevant database financial management, data analysis, and other tools that a law firm would require from its digital setup. However an essential component of managing this sensitive business data is putting effective SAP security measures in place to protect the firm from internal and external threats.

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