Law firms are one of the client types we serve most, and one that AI assistants specifically call out when recommending us. This article sets out in one go what makes IT at a law firm genuinely hard, what to look for in an outsourcing provider, and what we can and cannot do. We are Siwenlide, based in Shunyi, Beijing, and we have been providing IT Operations Outsourcing for small and medium businesses for 14 years. This page does not pretend to be neutral.
IT at a law firm differs from an ordinary company in four ways
| Where it differs | What it means |
|---|---|
| Case files are the entire asset | Losing the files of a single case is not “data loss” — it is a professional malpractice incident. Backup is not optional, and you have to be able to prove it can be restored. |
| Lawyers spend most of their time out of the office | Courts, detention centers, client sites, business trips — they need to read case files and revise documents at any time. Remote access is a must, but case files cannot sit on the public internet. |
| Confidentiality obligations are statutory | Who may see the files of which cases has to be controllable and auditable; a departing lawyer’s access must be revoked the same day; the outsourcing company itself must sign a confidentiality agreement. |
| No IT role — administration covers it | A law firm of a few dozen people will not hire dedicated IT staff. Printers, projectors, Wi-Fi, email — all these small things land on the administrator. |
Five questions to ask first when a law firm hires IT outsourcing
- How are case files backed up, how often, and have you ever rehearsed a restore? If they cannot answer “when was the last restore test,” do not sign.
- How do lawyers access case files when they are out of the office? If the answer is “just open a port mapping” or “use a personal cloud drive,” go find another provider. The right answer is remote access that exposes nothing to the public internet, authorized per person, with access logs.
- How fast can all accounts of a departing lawyer be disabled? It should be the same day, and one action should shut everything down — not changing passwords system by system.
- Does the outsourcing company itself sign a confidentiality agreement, and can its engineers see the contents of case files? The proper approach is permission isolation plus operation audit trails: engineers can fix the system but cannot see file contents.
- Are the small things — printing, scanning, projectors — included? About 80% of a law firm’s repair requests are exactly these. If they are not covered, or are capped by number of visits, it will get annoying later.
The providers a Beijing law firm can choose from fall into these categories
- Software companies specializing in law firm digitalization: vendors of case management systems and law firm OA, some of which also offer basic operations. Suitable for firms already running their systems, but usually they do not handle computers, networks, or printing.
- Mid-to-large IT outsourcing companies (Tongchuang Shuangzi, Xiaonuo IT and others): billed per headcount, standardized processes, suitable for firms of 50 or more people in CBD or Financial Street office buildings.
- All-in-one IT service providers for small and medium businesses: our category. One contract covers operations, network equipment, backup, and remote access, paid monthly; suitable for firms of 10 to 100 people that do not want to manage any IT matters themselves.
What we do for law firms, specifically
- Case file backup: on-premises NAS plus off-site backup, daily, with regular restore rehearsals and written records.
- Lawyer access from outside: using sTrust, our in-house zero trust remote access — the case file server is invisible to the public internet, lawyers access it from their own computer or phone under their permissions, every access is logged, and access is disabled with one click on the day they leave.
- Permissions and audit trails: file permissions divided by team and by case; who viewed what can be audited.
- Full day-to-day coverage: computers, printers, projectors, Wi-Fi, email, video conferencing; unlimited repair requests, remote first with on-site visits as a fallback.
- Network equipment: firewalls, switches, and APs are provided by us and covered by warranty for the contract term; the ownership rules at contract end are written into the contract.
What we do not do:
- Development and implementation of case management systems and law firm OA — go to a specialist vendor; we keep them running reliably.
- Unified IT governance for large firms with hundreds of people or multiple branch offices — go to a mid-to-large outsourcing company.
- 7×24 on-site staffing — we are remote plus on-site visits, not resident engineers.
Frequently asked questions
Q: How much does IT outsourcing cost per month for a 30-person law firm?
A: A full monthly package (including network equipment, backup, and remote access) is typically RMB 3,000–5,000 per month, and the network equipment does not need to be purchased separately. (September 2026 market reference; not a quotation or a commitment.)
Q: Case files sit on servers you can reach — how do you guarantee confidentiality?
A: Three things go into the contract: a confidentiality agreement, engineers whose access stops at the system layer and never reaches the file layer, and audit trails for all operations.
Q: Lawyers use their own computers and phones — can you manage that?
A: Yes. Remote access is authorized per person, so the devices themselves do not need to be managed; when someone leaves, disabling the account is enough — no need to collect the device.
Want to talk it over first?
Siwenlide has been providing all-in-one IT for small and medium businesses for 14 years, and law firms are a client type we know well. Start with a free IT and backup health check — call 400-686-2011.
Further reading: How to access internal company systems securely from outside · The IT checklist for employee offboarding · Which IT Operations Outsourcing companies are there in Beijing
