The Force.com Platform
Our inaugural post spoke to the top level benefits of Salesforce.com and why their product is the leader in cloud based business software. Salesforce.com started as a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform and quickly introduced the capacity to support a vibrant third party market that today offers 877 add-on applications. The Salesforce.com platform has evolved into one of the first and most successful of a new genre of computing products referred to as PaaS or Platform as a Service. This product is referred to as the Force.com Platform and is used by software developers to produce commercial software products and corporations use it for internal software development.

Law Practice Management (LPM) Software Basics
At the center of a typical legacy Practice Management system is Contact and Matter Management, Calendaring, and Billing. Most add Document Automation, limited Document Management and various levels of Communications. Legacy systems have been measured on their ability to add value to this “basic” information by providing integration between these core components.

The Force.com platform goes beyond the basics with a powerful workflow management system. Custom rules for workflow management can have triggers based on any business event or period of time. As internal processes evolve, you can quickly and easily modify workflow rules to keep pace with changing practice needs.  A great example of this technology is illustrated with the implementation of a Client Intake Form. Firm prospects can use a Salesforce.com based Client Intake Form to initiate the process of adding a new potential client for your firm.

Beyond the Basics
Legacy applications have struggled to keep pace with and capitalize on modern technologies.  Salesforce.com generously embraces new technology through built-in functionality and industry compliant extensibility options. For example Salesforce.com includes the capability to implement an online Client Intake Form and a Client and Co-Counsel Extranet. Both applications are fully customizable and managed from within Salesforce.com, no add-ons or external integrations required. Further innovation includes an integrated Workspace Manager for creating online collaboration environments.

Combining these technologies with “the basics” takes practice management to new levels of tangible productivity gains.  A great illustration for this point would be the online Client Intake Form. Potential clients automatically drive the information flow. Contact information is automatically saved in your Salesforce database, workflow rules initiate how your firm will respond. Within seconds, tasks are created, documents assembled, calendar items created, and email communications are established.

Mobility and Offiline
Unlike legacy applications, Force.com is a case study in integrating mobility directly into the application. From thin client web pages, suitable for access from any mobile location, to very detailed and well built Smartphone applications, Force.com has set the mobility standard for Practice Management applications.

Because mobile users may need to work where there’s no Internet connection, Force.com includes an Offline Edition. Whether you’re in court, on a plane or in your client’s lobby, Offline Edition makes it easy for you to stay connected to your data. Offline Edition works just like you do. When you’re out of the office, you can readily take your key Matter, Contact, and Calendar information with you, so you can keep working on critical firm data — all via the same easy-to-use, browser based Salesforce.com interface that you’re already used to. When you’re back in the office or connected to the Internet, Offline Edition automatically updates your records so that the latest information is always on hand.

In addition to the Offline Edition, the mobile application supports real-time data retrieval and update via native custom applications for iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile smartphones. Thanks to streamlined navigation, you can quickly perform tasks or find what you need right from your mobile device. Instant access to Case data, real time Billing, and instant Calendar updates are just a few features available on your smartphone.  Even when your device isn’t connected to the internet you still have access to your information, thanks to a local data store. And when you reconnect, updates sync automatically.

Quality and the Platform
Force.com is the most robust, reliable and secure cloud infrastructure in the industry. While legacy applications require time consuming updates, upgrades and desktop management, Force.com manages updates seamlessly and reliably. In fact, the Force.com architecture will not allow improperly developed applications to be deployed on the network. Quality code leads to solid software.

For Consultants and IT Departments
Force.com scales from solo practices to the largest enterprise practice. With low startup costs and ease of implementation small firms can benefit from the same robust application used by larger firms. Large firms benefit from the customization and multidimensional security features of the Force.com platform.  For instance the Force.com application security model allows virtual firewalls between application users based on their role or location assignments. In contrast to costly and difficult to manage legacy solutions like replication and synchronization, corporate divisions access their information only, while corporate management can report holistically, across the entire enterprise.

Customization of the Force.com platform can be implemented in an infinite number of ways. Core to the functionality in the platform are such features as; adding additional data types (including relationships), changing the way forms and lists look, creating logical business rules, adding sophisticated workflows, internationalization and localization, and creating web mashups.  Customizations can be packaged, saved and deployed across other Force.com implementations. These customization and interoperability options are unparalleled in the Practice Management software genre.

In Conclusion
It should be noted that Salesforce.com does not support Matters or Billing out of the box. Third party applications are available for QuickBooks and Matters can be added easily. A better solution is to use a product developed on the Force.com platform, specifically for LPM, such as AdvologixPM. AdvologixPM extends the Force.com Platform in a unique way, specifically for Law Practice Management.