SharePoint vs iManage Work

The creators of iManage spent an enormous amount of time learning how attorneys do their job. Based on this information, the product was specifically designed for attorneys and has a very high user adoption rate. The ultimate goal of iManage Work is to save users’ time and reduce the frustration of the end user when they are trying to find documents.

This is easier to explain in this example. If someone goes to a car dealer, would they like the dealer to provide the car in pieces instead of the fully built car? If yes, the following things will happen:

1. The car couldn’t be driven on the same day it was purchased
2. A mechanic would have to be hired to put the vehicle together, which could be very costly.
3. End users would have to help develop the product, which would again cost the firm time and money
4. A user group would have to be created to provide feedback on whether they liked driving the car, so the car can be built according to that feedback.
5. Even after a mechanic puts the car together, it wouldn’t be known if it will drive well or not. Additionally, there is no warranty if the vehicle is built according to the specs.
6. It is very hard to find custom car reviews since the car is not pre built and therefore it can’t be reviewed until it’s built and used by many drivers.
7. Custom cars are more expensive than ready-made cars.

On the other hand, what if the car dealer sells only fully built cars? Then a car can be driven on the same day purchased without any issues.

1. On top of this, the dealer provides 5 years of warranty so that if anything happens to it, the dealer will fix it without any cost to the owner.
2. There is a peace of mind that the new car will not break since a tremendous amount of QA and various needed procedures were done by the manufacturer.
3. Reviews on the desired car then can be found and studied since it’s a proven car and others are using it. So, it is much easier to make an investment decision because if the same car works for others, then it should work for you as well.

SharePoint works as if the dealer gives you all the pieces of a car and makes the buyer hire someone to put it together. Yet it is still not known if the user will adopt this software to save email and documents or whether it will reduce the user frustration of filing emails and documents with ease. Additionally, the newer the software is prone to more bugs and errors. In long run, it will cost much more and users will become very frustrated with the software.

As an alternative, iManage Work acts as a second example, where many law firms have used the product around the globe. Therefore, it is easier to find a product review from peers. The product can be bought, implemented and used on the same day, it guarantees user adoption and reduces users’’ frustration when needing to find documents.