AKD’s Cloud-First Strategy Advances with IRIS and iManage Cloud

AKD is a prominent Benelux law firm with over 500 professionals across offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Renowned for their deep sector knowledge and cross-border expertise, AKD offers a comprehensive range of legal services, including corporate M&A, litigation, and advisory on high-impact projects. Their commitment to clarity, inclusive culture, and high-quality solutions has made AKD a trusted advisor for both domestic and international clients seeking straightforward, efficient, and effective legal support.

AKD has been working together with IRIS since 2017 for the implementation of iManage. With iManage Cloud and their focus on shifting to the Cloud, the next steps were clear for AKD.

For AKD, the shift to the Cloud has been a natural progression in their commitment to adopting modern technology. Since 2019, they have pursued a Cloud-first strategy across all applications, ready to leverage the latest efficiencies available. With an established on-premises setup, they maintained solid operational control and security, but as they moved entirely to the Azure Cloud, a Cloud-based document management platform for iManage became the logical next step. Since the established partnership with IRIS since 2017, this gave them the confidence to move forward with this ambitious migration plan together with IRIS.

AKD’s goal was to complete a seamless migration of iManage to the Cloud with minimal disruption to end-users and ensure enhanced functionality post-migration. By consolidating active and archived document databases into a unified platform, AKD aimed to simplify the management of both active and archived files while reducing the long-term need for technical oversight. IRIS’s experience with their environment was invaluable for achieving this.

To tackle the migration, they began by carefully mapping out their existing iManage on-premises environment, detailing server configurations and the necessary steps for a Cloud setup. Given iManage’s stability in the Cloud, they avoided a total rebuild, which kept their timeline efficient and reduced complexity.

At ConnectLive, the iManage event in London in 2022, they gained valuable confirmation that they were on the right path. With preparations for their cloud migration underway, they saw that many other firms had already moved to cloud environments, reinforcing confidence in their own strategy. This cloud migration was indeed the right next step.

AKD’s longstanding partnership with IRIS was instrumental. Our thorough knowledge of AKD’s infrastructure enabled us to provide focused support from project planning through to migration. The integration required consolidating their practice and archive databases into a single, consolidated system; a step that simplified file permissions management but also presented unexpected technical hurdles. Our team, familiar with AKD’s unique environment, guided them through these complexities, keeping them on track.

A phased approach allowed IRIS and the internal AKD team to manage every milestone, from “go/no-go” checkpoints to final migration day. “Even during the holiday period, progress continued thanks to IRIS’s proactive engagement and timely communications, ensuring readiness for each stage,” said Sandra Janssen, Application Specialist at AKD.

Throughout the process, support was fully prepared, and AKD’s end users experienced minimal disruption. For example, a seamless migration of 23 million documents was accompanied by upgrades like document preview capabilities. This feature had been slow and unreliable on-premises, but in the Cloud, it delivered a real improvement for their users, working much faster and more reliable.

Post-migration, AKD has seen multiple benefits, with minimal need for maintenance or troubleshooting. Our robust support allowed AKD to complete the migration with little disruption to users. Positive changes include:

• Document preview: Instant document previews, enhancing user experience.
• Version control: Simple version retrieval for improved workflow.
• Enhanced search functionality: Expanded search capabilities.

Maintenance requirements have been cut by over half, and the team can now focus more on rollout and updates rather than troubleshooting. On top of that, user experience has been smooth, with comments like “Everything looks the same” reflecting minimal disruption and high satisfaction.

Since the migration, AKD has required less frequent support interactions, underscoring the stability of the iManage Cloud platform. However, their relationship with IRIS remains essential as they explore further optimizations. From proactive pre-migration assessments to dedicated support during the transition, we have ensured every phase met AKD’s expectations. This migration marks the beginning of a new phase for AKD as they maximize the potential of the iManage Cloud, with our expertise as a valuable asset in realizing new capabilities.

IRIS is a trusted information management solutions provider with over 25 years of experience across EMEA. As part of Canon Benelux, IRIS delivers strategic consulting, advanced software solutions, integrations, and technical support to industries including legal, finance, and enterprise sectors. Our solutions cover document digitization, content management, and business process optimization, powered by leading partners like iManage, Docusign, and TIQ Time. With a team of skilled consultants and developers, we ensure each client receives a customized approach to maximize efficiency and meet their unique information management goals.

iManage is a leader in knowledge management, helping organizations leverage secure, AI-powered platforms to drive insights and informed decision-making. Its cloud-enabled solutions integrate data, systems, and teams, ensuring secure, seamless document and email management for over a million professionals worldwide.