Managed Service Providers
NEXTlegal: from on-premise to controlled platform
The legal sector places high demands on software. Notaries and lawyers work with confidential client data, complex files, and strict compliance requirements. For NEXTlegal, provider of integrated ERP software for more than 4500 legal professionals within legal profession, notarial services and corporate legal, this meant that their infrastructure had to be just as reliable and future-proof as their application.
To accelerate innovation and gain full control over perfomance, security and compliance, made NEXTlegal the transition from a traditional on-premises model to a sovereign SaaS platform at Uniserver.
The solution in brief
Example
A managed private sovereign cloud environment within Dutch jurisdiction
Complete SaaS transition while retaining existing logic
Central control over performance and resources
Prepared for containerization and further modernization
Compliance and certification structurally ensured
The digital heart of more than 4500 legal professionals
NEXTlegal develops integrated software solutions that support the entire primary process of law firms. From CRM and document management to file management, billing, and automated document creation.
The software thus forms the digital heart of the office. The underlying infrastructure is therefore business-critical.
The limits of the on-premise model
Historically, NEXTlegal's software ran on-premise within clients' infrastructure. This meant that each firm was itself responsible – often via an MSP – for the necessary servers, resources, and configurations.
That model began to become restrictive. On the one hand, the market changed and the demand for SaaS solutions increased; on the other hand, NEXTlegal was dependent on the resources and technical choices of customers.
Now we are in control to set it up optimally for our clients.
Peter Dijkhuizen, Manager Service Desk & Technical Consultancy at NEXTlegal
In addition, the implementation process took a lot of time per customer. Every required coordination with system administrators, server installation, and technical discussions regarding preconditions.
Sovereignty as a strategic prerequisite
For notaries and lawyers, data security is a legal obligation. All data must fall under Dutch jurisdiction. That made the choice of an infrastructure partner strategic.
NEXTlegal therefore sought a partner that operates entirely within the Dutch borders and demonstrably complies with relevant certifications. Hyperscalers were largely ruled out as a result, because storage or processing outside the Netherlands entails legal risks.
The choice for a Dutch private sovereign cloud environment also aligns with NEXTlegal's positioning. This development is also being observed more broadly within the sector. In de Volkskrant, NEXTlegal, along with other parties, was mentioned as organization who takes sovereignty seriously.
The ambition extends further: NEXTlegal also aims to eventually host fully sovereign components that currently still run within the public cloud.
The choice for Uniserver
In the search for a platform partner, three factors were decisive for NEXTlegal:
Demonstrable certification and compliance
A clear long-term vision on sovereignty
Stability and a long-term partnership
In addition, trust also played an important role. Dijkhuizen:
It is an important strategic choice for several years that you must decide on carefully and thoughtfully.
Uniserver offered a managed sovereign cloud environment within Dutch jurisdiction, including the necessary certification and support, which is why the choice ultimately fell on Uniserver.
From on-premise to managed SaaS
Together, NEXTlegal and Uniserver realized a managed server cluster environment in which the existing application was SaaSified one-to-one. The logic and user experience remained the same, ensuring that customers do not experience any major functional changes.
The biggest difference lies behind the scenes. Whereas previously servers had to be configured per client in collaboration with system administrators, a new client can now be connected almost immediately. NEXTlegal only needs to scale up resources within the Uniserver environment.
“When a customer chooses our software today, technically speaking, they can be operational the very next day,” says Dijkhuizen.
Parallel invests NEXTlegal in further modernization. There is now a Kubernetes-platform set up and the first steps towards containerization have been set.
Faster innovation and shorter time-to-market
The transition to a managed platform also impacts the capacity for innovation. New functionalities can be rolled out centrally, without reliance on local customer installations. A recent Outlook add-in could be made available to SaaS customers within minutes, whereas in the on-premise model, this had to be installed individually for each customer.
This significantly shortens time-to-market and reduces operational pressure. In addition, NEXTlegal has full control over performance.
We can immediately increase the capacity of our platform when needed. This ensures the customer continuously benefits from optimal performance and a stable working environment.
Peter Dijkhuizen, Manager Servicedesk & Technisch Consultancy bij NEXTlegal
Compliance as a foundation
With the switch, has NEXTlegal Not only more control, but also more responsibility towards customers. The SaaS proposition means that they take on full infrastructure assurance. The choice of Uniserver helps with this.
It is good that the certification is properly arranged and that updates are secured. I don't have to worry about that.
Peter Dijkhuizen, Manager Servicedesk & Technisch Consultancy bij NEXTlegal
That certainty proves to be valuable not only internally. Demonstrable sovereignty is also well received in the market.
The demand for NEXTsaas is enormous and has far exceeded our expectations. It shows that our customers are consciously choosing future-proof continuity and scalability.
The biggest difference? Actually, nothing.
For end users, the switch is barely noticeable. No new interfaces, no drastic change in working methods, and no extensive training. And that is precisely what makes the transition so strong.
The biggest difference between the current version and NEXTsaas? For the user, nothing changes, and that is precisely its strength. It remains the same trusted application.
Peter Dijkhuizen, Manager Servicedesk & Technisch Consultancy bij NEXTlegal
