International Data Corporation (IDC) recently published new survey results that explore the current buying trends and preferences for legal technology software within the eDiscovery, contract life-cycle management, and enterprise legal management markets.

"Legal technology companies have seen billions of dollars in investment in recent years. However, there is still a disconnect between buyers and suppliers over what buyers want. Overwhelmingly the answer is easy to use software with strong analytics functionality to help inform and drive data-based decisions.

Digital Transformation (DX) has arrived in corporate legal departments in the last few years and it is revolutionizing the practice of law at a corporate level," said Ryan O'Leary, senior research analyst, Legal, Risk, and Compliance Solutions.

Organizations are investing in legal tech as part of an overall DX strategy and Covid-19 will only expedite this investment. Improved security, efficiency, business growth and demand, and overall organization and digital transformation strategy are the top reasons for adopting legal technology. The survey finds that in eDiscovery, MS Office files are still the bulk of the data collected and will continue to be for the foreseeable future despite the adoption of Slack and other collaboration tools.

Contract Lifecycle Management tools enable real tangible savings benefits for organizations that have deployed one. CLM providers should focus on providing strong implementation services and seamless deployments as those challenges frustrate users the most.

ELM providers should look for greenfield opportunities as most respondents are not interested in replacing their current tool anytime soon; the amount of customization and data contained within them is hard to rip out and replace. IDC says Vendors should focus on ease of use as it is a recurring priority for buyers across many software types.