The global law firm HFW has collaborated with Equinix to build out its digital edge in key markets including Dubai, London, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Paris. As a critical element of their digital transformation journey, HFW has distributed its IT to be closer to customers and employees, which has enabled the firm to increase the overall quality of experience (QoE) for these end users. Additionally, by leveraging Equinix for its data center needs, HFW has been able to free up valuable internal resources and redirect those resources to the development of value-added services on top of its platform which directly impact the customer experience and the firm’s bottom line.
HFW is a 136-year-old law firm that is undergoing IT transformation to prepare for the next wave of growth. As one of the first U.K.-based law firms to expand internationally, HFW now generates more than 60% of its revenue outside the U.K. and has seen its international revenue triple in the past seven years. As a result, the company needed a global interconnection platform like Platform Equinix that provides the scale and reach to keep up with the pace of change and get the firm digital ready.
Chris White, CIO, HFW said: “Business architectures built on an interconnection platform gain the ability to integrate value chains, enable ecosystem collaboration and provide transparency—all of which we have found on Platform Equinix. Data captured and analyzed near business partners, consumers and service providers enables real-time insights that drive efficiency and reduce costs. As a result, HFW is truly a customer-centric, digital legal services firm.”
Legal services leaders are decoupling the practice of law from legal service delivery to meet customer demand and promote trust. A distributed platform allows them to tailor value chains to create innovative new services that are adaptable to local needs. By interconnecting cloud services, network service providers and technology partners on a global platform, these firms can replace traditional, fee-based business models with outcome-based services in a new and profitable era of digital legal services.
Karl Strohmeyer, Chief Customer & Revenue Officer, Equinix said: “It is great to see a forward-thinking firm like HFW strategically thinking about the way IT can add value to the customer experience and become a true differentiator for its businesses. HFW placed control points within Equinix colocation hubs to locally interconnect clouds and networks and to redefine its digital capabilities—reducing costs and latency while significantly improving speed, user experience and capacity.”
