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Six Business Reasons to be on the Latest Version of Visualfiles article image

Six Business Reasons to be on the Latest Version of Visualfiles

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"Why bother upgrading?", I hear many people say. "The system is working fine, users are happy, and I've got a thousand and one other things to do". While all of this may be true, aside from the regulatory implications for why you need to stay up to date, (thanks GDPR!), there are many business benefits for organisations to be on the latest versions of software.

So here, especially for users of Visualfiles, are my top six reasons why organisations should be on the current version of the solution:

1. Improvements and new features

Every Visualfiles version upgrade is packed with a variety of new features and improvements that can provide real efficiencies and productivity gains to users. For instance, the latest version of Visualfiles (v4.1 to be released in February) includes new automatic email saving and management functionality, as requested by many of our clients.

2. Software fixes

Every new version of Visualfiles undergoes rigorous testing by the Quality Assurance and Development Teams at LexisNexis. Ultimately though it's software and occasionally bugs can creep in, despite best efforts, especially when there are the intricacies of different client environments that new versions can't be tested against. That is the nature of ‘software' in general. However, working with a large interactive community of customers and partners means that we are quickly made aware of bugs and so can speedily address any issues. Using the latest version ensures that you can take advantage of these fixes and avoid issues that have already been corrected.

3. Knowledge is most geared to the current version

With a majority of customers on the latest version of Visualfiles, the Support team is knowledgeable about the current solution and able to respond more quickly to issues that arise in customer organisations. Similarly, your own support staff will find it easier to manage the software and more easily develop the solution as inherently the latest version should be better and incrementally more robust than the previous one.

4. Maintain control over upgrade schedule

Visualfiles upgrades aren't forced upon customers, but the LexisNexis recommendation is that customers should plan to upgrade Visualfiles once every calendar year. Therefore, with a reasonable upgrade policy, you retain control of when your organisation upgrades – testing, adjusting the configuration and deploying the new version to a schedule that works for your organisation.

5. Maintain compatibility

A current version of Visualfiles is tested against other current versions of software, be that Microsoft technology or partner integrations, to ensure compatibility within the broader IT environment. Whilst Visualfiles is tested against some earlier versions of software (e.g. Microsoft Office) it cannot always be as extensive as for current software. Also, regular upgrades are quicker, require relatively less effort and cause minimal business disruption – versus an upgrade from an obsolete version.

6. Regular interaction with Support and Development teams

Ongoing and current interaction with the Visualfiles' team allows you to put forward functionality and feature ideas for future versions of the software. This is a great way of ensuring that your requirements are considered in the product roadmap.

If you are considering an upgrade or would like to delve into more detail, contact your Account Manager, who will be happy to help and guide you.

About the Author:


Martin has been involved in Legal IT for over 30 years and has worked for companies such as Equitrac, Pilgrim, Pracctice, Visualfiles and LexisNexis. In his current role as Key Account Manager he looks after 50 of the largest Visualfiles / SolCase clients and is responsible for making sure his clients get the most out of their systems and are fully aware of the benefits.

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