NetDocuments record unprecedented growth in 2020
NetDocuments, the leading secure cloud-based content services platform for law firms, corporate legal teams, and compliance departments, today announced unprecedented growth in 2020. Most notably, the company recorded 40+% year- over-year (“YoY”) growth within the medium law firm segment, including a record 4th quarter 2020 as well as 150+% spike in new corporate accounts.
Overall, NetDocuments added more than two new customers per day in 2020 and now has over 3,000 customers worldwide. Customers are comprised of law firms and 25% representing corporate legal departments, wealth management firms, and government agencies, the highest in company history. NetDocuments EMEA recorded a 12% new customer increase compared to 2019, as well as 139% YoY growth in APAC.
In addition to record demand for the core cloud platform, growth across NetDocuments’ five solutions [ORGANIZE, PROTECT, PLAN, DELIVER and LEARN] was equally notable including 30+% increases for SetBuilder and CollabSpaces (DELIVER); 400+% increase for ndThread (PLAN) and 300+% for PROTECT solutions including NetDocuments’ new Data Loss Prevention (DLP) application.
According to Josh Baxter, NetDocuments CEO, 2020 was a year like no other including permanent changes regarding how legal professionals consume and leverage technology. “The changed work climate, led by the new normal of working from home (“WFH”), has forced law firms and corporate legal departments to re-evaluate and upgrade their technologies. NetDocuments has been mission critical to a smooth WFH transition, providing the security, reliability, and productivity only afforded by a true cloud, native platform. Our customers rest easy knowing that our platform is ready today. We are not trying to onboard customers to the cloud at the same time we are building it.”
In 2020, 50% of new customers switched to NetDocuments from legacy competitors like iManage, OpenText and Worldox. This signifies market movement by a majority of law firms including Am Law-ranked firms as well as Canadian Seven Sisters firms looking for better document management solutions, in the case of NetDocuments, 100% native cloud solutions. It also shows that a significant number of law firms and many corporate legal departments are replacing homegrown internal systems and file shares and trusting the NetDocuments’ cloud service.
“Work Inspired” product solutions
In 2020, NetDocuments brought a number of new products to market to match the evolving work habits of modern professionals culminating in August’s Work Inspired Solutions launch.
NetDocuments introduced ChatLink (included in the PLAN solution), an integration that links Microsoft Teams to NetDocuments. With ChatLink, Teams users connect conversations channels with NetDocuments workspaces to promote better governance and easier access to work product.
NetKnowledge (available in the LEARN solution) was launched mid-year, which was the result of a collaborative partnership between NetDocuments and BA Insight, connecting NetDocuments content with other data repositories to create a seamless, intelligent enterprise search experience.
Finally, NetDocuments ushered in a new era of digital understanding in October during its annual customer and partner conference. With the launch of Analytics (included in the LEARN solution), NetDocuments now delivers insights to better analyze and understand user behavior, user activity, and enhance user adoption. The technology offers “at-a-glance” insights into how users interact with content and provides clear visibility into platform use.
Future-proofing in the cloud
Key challenges NetDocuments addresses for new customers, particularly in 2020, include remote working technology; firm growth; transitioning from internal file shares to sophisticated document management (DMS); seeking more process efficiency by leveraging technology, especially during a pandemic; a heightened focus on document security and enhancing the WFH user experience and user adoption.
The pandemic has forced law firms, law departments, and all legal professionals to reconsider the viability of the cloud and embrace cloud technologies. New and existing NetDocuments customers alike are realizing the major advantage of moving to a true, single instance, cloud solution which does not require migrating, upgrading from older software versions, or relying on vulnerable and underperforming VPNs, something that can translate to an IT nightmare, especially in the midst of a WFH pandemic.
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