Law Firm
Ashurst Australia
Vable helps unite a global team and enhances overall business performance
Strategic global team integration
Migrating to Vable helped streamline the Ashurst Research Team’s global information operations, overcoming key challenges in source management and current awareness delivery.
Business growth through information
The adoption of Vable directly impacted business development, with improved current awareness services leading to new client opportunities and deeper industry insights.
Innovative dashboard delivery
Plans to introduce MyVable highlight Ashurst’s commitment to modernizing information access, offering personalized, efficient current awareness delivery for lawyers and clients.
Discovering the benefits of consistency and consolidation
Based in Australia, Lisa Paul is the Global Head of the Ashurst Research Team, which is made up of 25 people worldwide. She has 3 managers that report directly to her and they are responsible for the day-to-day operation of the research service. She is responsible for setting the strategy to deliver all service areas, as well as managing the large global budget.
Information professionals like Lisa are constantly looking beyond the immediate horizon. Her focus is on the bigger picture, for example, exploring new technologies and new resources to see how they might slot into the overall strategy.
I truly believe that our current awareness services have the biggest reach across this large organization. The ability to provide those alerts in different forms is important. I think that current awareness provision is the highest value thing that we can do
In this context, Vable emerges as a pivotal tool. It's not just another resource; it's a strategic asset that aligns with a broader vision, enabling the team to consolidate information provision, streamline processes, and anticipate the evolving current awareness needs of their global clientele.
What challenges has the Ashurst research team faced?
- Global team consolidation: Over the past few years, a significant goal has been the development and unification of a global research team to ensure service consistency.
- Previous content aggregators: The team encountered several frustrations with their existing premium current awareness services, including:
- Lack of precise source management.
- Inadequate search control means less-focused alerts
- Lack of administrative functionality.
- Inability to extract individual articles from subscription emails.
- Upskilling the team amidst tech change: With the rapid pace of technological advancements, there's an ongoing need to keep everyone up-to-date.
Six key benefits of migrating to Vable
1. Flexibility and precision - The Vable platform stood out for its ability to sort and organize relevant information, advanced search capabilities, and the flexibility it offers to information professionals.
I have a couple of people in the team who are dedicated Vable experts and they just love the searching capabilities
2. Ability to maintain "business as usual" - End users want their regular current awareness regardless of what is happening behind the scenes. To achieve this, the research team adopted a multi-phase approach to transition, ensuring a smooth migration process. This included a familiarization phase, a content transition phase, and a launch phase.
What worked really well for us was a multi-phase approach to content transition
3. Visibility and engagement - Information services teams have to stay visible to be valuable. Alerts and newsletters provide an opportunity to raise the research team’s profile. Lisa took proactive steps to engage with Ashurst partners in the UK and Europe, showcasing the capabilities and benefits of the new system.
It’s not just about jumping on a bandwagon but doing something that really adds value for the benefit of our clients
4. Opportunities for upskilling - The research team invested time in training, especially in conjunction with Vable's client success team, to ensure they could maximize the platform's potential. When they were comfortable with the platform, they collaborated with Ashurst subject matter experts to ensure the most relevant content.
A system like Vable allows you to use library and information skills in a way that you can’t with other databases
5. Impressing end users - Upon introducing end users and other stakeholders to Vable's capabilities, the reception was overwhelmingly positive. The research team witnessed an increase in newsletter subscriptions, which indicates they have achieved broader organizational reach.
When we show them what we've set up, they’re blown away by what is available
6. Immediate business opportunities - One of the goals of the research service is to help Ashurst deepen their understanding of clients and their industries. News alerts directly contribute to that goal. Ultimately, if you can show that current awareness is going to drive business opportunities, end users will be signing up for Vable newsletters. You can guarantee that the UK partner mentioned in the quote below will want to receive their own alerts.
A partner in the UK saw one of the Australian partner’s alerts and read an article of interest. They said, “that's a great opportunity”. They contacted a colleague and explained the potential piece of work. They won the client and got the fee
Future plans for the Ashurst / Vable partnership:
What is Ashurst planning for Vable in the future? Future-proofing is essential for the research service and the firm, and they have some great plans.
- International rollout of Vable: Plans are in place for the European rollout of newsletters powered by Vable, emphasizing content in local languages.
- Introduction of MyVable: The team aims to introduce MyVable, a self-service dashboard presentation of current awareness options, offering an alternative to traditional email delivery.
- Client self-service dashboards: The team wants to explore how they can integrate Vable current awareness content into these Ashurst internal dashboards. Multiple service points mean that you’re not just focused on email contact.
Final recommendations:
As Ashurst’s journey of current awareness migration and consolidation unfolded, Lisa and her team learned a lot. To ensure a smooth transition and to harness the full potential of Vable, she wanted to offer the following advice and recommendations to other information professionals:
My advice would be to just do it
- Involve IT early: For a seamless migration, it's crucial to involve IT from the outset, especially for tasks like setting up single sign-on (SSO).
- Create dedicated roles within the team: Ensuring that you have sufficient resources in place can ensure project success. Having people such as an IT coordinator and a current awareness librarian, can significantly streamline the migration process.
- Schedule realistic timeframes: It was important to spend time setting up and getting to know the platform. After they had received their initial Vable training, people had time to play with the functionality. Therefore, always allocate more time than anticipated for the migration process to reduce stress and potential roadblocks.
There is a large amount of work involved in the setup but I honestly think it's worth every hour that you invest in it. The return on investment is well and truly everything you can expect
Find out how Vable helps all kinds of professional service firms and companies to manage their information needs.
