Problem: This 350 attorney, Am Law 200 firm based in Ohio had decided to outsource their in-sourced back-office operations and multi-function devices (MFDs) on a firm-wide basis five years prior. The contract was expiring and the firm was now considering outsourcing the on-site centralized Records and Information Management functions. As a result, the firm was interested in what other outsourcing companies’ capabilities were in the records space, how they may improve current services to the firm, and whether they had a competitive contract.
Additionally, the firm had over 36 contracts/amendments/product schedules for the MFD fleet throughout their seven offices with varying expirations dates as well as several devices that were tied to various mainte- nance “pools” and sought to consolidate; as well as streamline operations, and capture savings.
Solution: Mattern was hired by the firm to complete an on-site assessment for both the current equipment and outsourced services along with the in-sourced records operation. Mattern provided current cost and workflow benchmarks for both the internally managed records operation and an outsourced operation. Mattern created a Request for Proposal for both services, with a clear understanding that the firm may not outsource the records operation and underlined enhanced flexibility options for equipment to be broken out and contracted separately if necessary.
Result: The firm elected to outsource their records operation and the already outsourced back-office operations to a new vendor, while choosing to renew an MFD contract with the existing vendor. The results included:
Firm-wide strategic plan for MFD fleet:
- Coterminous strategy for all equipment in 5 years
- Right-sized and standardized fleet
- Elimination of unused scanning hardware (eCopy) and replaced with native scan functionality
- Zero-based maintenance agreements
- Equipment flexibility for 20% of the fleet and elimination of equipment return fees
- Reduced costs by 26%
Outsourced Back-office Operations:
- Workflow efficiencies, consolidation of services, reduced hours of operations, and improved service levels – resulting in a 12% reduction in staffing
- Significantly improved contractual terms and conditions
- Penalty-based service level agreements
- Reduction of 16% in labor costs
Outsourced Records and Information Management:
- Workflow efficiencies and improved service levels – resulting in 9% staffing reductions after 90 days
- Penalty-based service level agreements
- Back-fill for absenteeism
- Utilization of vendor’s subject matter expertise as needed
Client Takeaway: “Mattern had extensive knowledge of the industry and trends and they were fair, fast, honest, and provide excellent follow-up.”
