Innovation is a constant

PracticeEvolve’s general manager of marketing, Adam Bullion, draws the distinction between invention and innovation – the latter being the key to better collaboration between suppliers and law firms.

Today, Microsoft announced they are set to retire Internet Explorer and drive people towards it’s latest browser, Edge. Incredibly, you would expect Internet Explorer to no longer exist but there are still a significant number of users who continue to use it. Despite the impact of Chrome, Safari and others, Internet Explorer and Edge remain popular making Microsoft very successful. Microsoft are recognised as an innovative company who continue to deliver success and it made me question how businesses can constantly innovate and deliver success.

So, let’s start by ensuring we know the difference between inventiveness and innovation, because in my experience, the two can be easily confused. Invention is to create or discover something new while innovation is the act of making changes to an existing product or process. It’s important to recognise the difference.

An innovation can be small or large. I’m unsure when the suitcase was invented but I certainly remember going on holiday as a child and my parents would carry two very heavy suitcases around the airport as we struggled to find a trolley. It was Bernard Sadow in 1970, who had the remarkably obvious idea of putting wheels on the bottom of them. It was another 20 years before Bob Plath innovated further by placing more wheels and a retractable handle. Neither individual had a momentous idea, they just succeeded in presenting a relatively simple solution that addressed many challenges.

There is no real difference in the legal world. As a legal technology provider, we understand the importance to constantly innovate within the software. Our software is customisable which allows firms to create and constantly tweak workflows in order to work smarter. It’s probably something you do regularly and if you are constantly updating workflows, you are being innovative.

For PracticeEvolve as a practice management software provider, we recognise the challenges firms have in terms of productivity and achieving efficiencies. But we don’t have to rely on the software as the hub of innovation. Our research shows that over 60% of firms believe that if the digital literacy of users was improved, users would be empowered to find better ways of working, generating an increase in productivity.

To help firms achieve this, we have innovated in terms of the service we deliver to clients. EvolveCommunity has been introduced to help strengthen the knowledge of users. Featuring EvolveLearning, a series of online video courses that are designed to help enhance user knowledge of the software, EvolveCommunity has been formulated to encourage users to discover solutions and better ways of working.

In parallel, PracticeEvolve has introduced Client Success Consultants who are there to support clients with building training plans, presenting solutions to address their challenges and to encourage firms to maximise the use of their software.

By innovating in our service to clients, we are enabling firms and users to address their challenges of productivity and efficiency. If the software is the brilliant suitcase for all your practice management needs, we’ve just put wheels on it.

If you are looking to get more from your software, talk to one of the team today and request a free demo.