Background
Deasey, Mahoney & Valentini (www.dmvlawfirm.com) is a Philadelphia law firm specializing in casualty insurance defense. Henri Marcel, Esq., a senior partner at the firm, started at Deasey as an associate and quickly became known to colleagues as a go-to information technology (IT) resource. For years, Deasey had been struggling with the burden of maintaining its own hardware and software infrastructure without the benefits of an in-house IT staff. The firm needed a more efficient, cost-effective way of managing the firm’s workload and technology stack.
History with Afinety
Marcel was first introduced to the idea of a managed cloud-based desktop by Ed Grubb, a pioneer in the managed cloud and IT services provider for law firms (who is now Afinety’s VP of Legal Services.) At a Philadelphia Bar event, Grubb explained the advantages of a managed desktop, a concept which was just beginning to find traction among law firms. Fifteen years ago, Deasey took a leap of faith to deploy a managed desktop in the cloud, though it was a tremendous paradigm shift for them. Fast-forward to the present-day, that risk has paid off for the firm in a big way.
To understand how Deasey has gained value from Afinety, look no further than the Covid pandemic and its sudden work-from-home requirements which left many law firms scrambling. In contrast to those firms, Deasey was well-positioned because their desktop was already in the cloud.
Supporting the Firm with ACP
Currently, Deasey’s Afinety ACP desktop includes Office 365 including Microsoft Word and Outlook, case management and time and billing software. The firm also uses Afinety to manage videoconferences, which became a necessity when Covid hit and are most likely here to stay because even the courts are using them now.
Marcel notes that one of the strongest values of Afinety is its dedication to cybersecurity. He comments, “The cautionary tales show how law firms are continually being hacked and hit with ransomware attacks, even the most established firms in the United States. Afinety protects Deasey from risk with its strong security layers. For example, Afinety would not let us use their desktop without implementing dual factor authentication.” Afinety has met the rigorous criteria to earn its SSAE SOC 2® Type 2 certification, underscoring its commitment to delivering secure technology.
Outcome
One of Afinety’s major advantages for clients is its experienced staff of technical professionals who have supported managed desktops for years. According to Marcel, “During our preparation to go live, the Afinety team was phenomenal. Because of Covid, we had to accomplish the rollout completely virtually. Though I had been anticipating issues with this remote approach, Afinety took care of everything. Deasey’s desktop is up and running and Afinety’s day-to-day service is top-notch. Afinety has the best people – they have been very helpful to me, and I can count on them. I consider the people at Afinety to be my friends and colleagues, much more than just service providers.”
Grubb notes,” Deasey and Henri Marcel are truly visionaries in the law firm world, being early adopters of a managed cloud desktop, which embraced the technology at an early stage in its development. Deasey has skillfully made our technology work well for them. The Afinety team has been privileged to participate in Deasey’s success story, and we look forward to assisting with the other initiatives they undertake in the future.”