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.”