With this key new product release of InterAction+ today (25 July), LexisNexis fulfils its promise as set out in our CRM Survey earlier this year to release a true, full cloud version of InterAction to sit alongside its existing on-premise and ‘hybrid’ cloud offering.
At the same time, it comes with a modified interface and other enhancements that were also identified in our report – more on that later.
The key development here is definitely the introduction of a full cloud architecture option, which has been available from other CRM vendors for some time. InterAction has been in the CRM business for decades and has had to go on a longer and more complex development journey than newer entrants, taking into account the operational needs and development path of legacy customers. This journey is now complete and existing and prospective InterAction customers now have the choice of a full cloud alternative, which comes with a further option of storing the client data locally or in Microsoft Azure sites in the US, the UK and Australia.
According to Aaron Pierce, VP of product development, who gave Legal IT Insider a demo of InterAction+, this new option will appeal both to:
- existing clients that have been waiting for a full cloud option – including even some of the world’s largest firms, as, he says “over the last couple of years due to an increased focus on home working what we have seen is an increased willingness to adopt full cloud solutions”;
- new clients that have been waiting for a full cloud InterAction option.
Pierce told Legal IT Insider: “We see this release being particularly attractive to 20-200 attorney firms that have been less likely to be traditional InterAction customers due to the absence of a full cloud option“.
If this is true, it opens up a significant new opportunity for LexisNexis to disrupt the current CRM vendor landscape in expanding its client base to a new middle market.
Apart from data storage options, the full cloud option of InterAction+ also provides an architecture that allows LexisNexis to bring a whole host of other features and integration benefits.
These include an improved interface and a new home screen page (see home page graphic) that seeks to channel the users’ thoughts to those things that need immediate attention and ‘nudge’ them to action. In this sample screen we see a warning that two key contacts are showing low engagement, and one is having a meeting with a colleague. It also shows that the user 78% of their connections are weak, and three contacts that merit immediate attention. Finally, it also shows that while there are no overdue tasks for this user today, there are two upcoming activities that will need attention shortly.
Even if the user does not seek out this home page, the contents (and other selected information) will be sent to their inbox in the form of a Daily Digest.
Possibly the most powerful and ground-breaking new feature is the increased integration with LexisNexis Context database. This is illustrated on the company analytics screenshot, which shows in the right-hand pane for the Acme Group Inc client the current State and Federal Court litigation events that the client is engaged in with other law firms. Pierce describes this as “a road map direct to the competition“. This list of litigation events can be viewed by representative (other firms), by practice area and by court.
All this is available whether or not the firm has a separate LexisNexis Context subscription, but with such a subscription users can seamlessly enter the full context ‘rabbit hole’ right into the whole world of additional related data with further breakdown and additional analysis.
The new red global add button on both of these screens allows users to find, say, Dell Technologies and add them – together with all associated context value-added data, right into the database as a new client.
Finally, both of these new screens provide quick links in the left pane to business planning and pipeline management. After instantiating a business objective, initiatives can be tied to objectives, then activities can be related to initiatives and tasks (and alerts) can flow from initiatives. It all joins up – and allows specific tasks to be delegated to relevant users – which will then show up in their Daily Digest.