There are three different Platforms of Clients Case Management System (Clients). The Standard Platform uses Access databases on both the workstation and the server. It is good for a standalone computer or a LAN (local area network) with up to one hundred users, although many people feel thirty users is a more realistic number. The SQL or Clients/Server Platform is for larger offices or for use across a WAN (wide area network). It can be used with or without Citrix or Terminal Server. It uses the industrial strength Microsoft SQL Server database on the server. The ASP/SQL Platform is used on the web and is an outsourcing of case management. Users can concentrate on what case management does, instead of worrying about what type of computers and software it uses. It uses the powerful SQL Platform of Clients but handles almost all of the setup and maintenance tasks for the user. A more detailed description of each version is contained below.

The Standard Platform

Cost and ease of use are of great concern to many legal services programs. The Standard Platform combines both in the entry-level Case Management System of Kemp’s Case Works (KCW). This Platform uses Microsoft Access (Access) files on both the Workstations and the Server. Access is the database that Microsoft includes in its Microsoft Office package, which also contains Word and Excel. It shares the identical interface, information gathering and report writing features of the more powerful SQL and ASP/SQL Platforms. It is perfect for offices with a single office and less than thirty users.

It is not necessary to purchase multiple copies of Microsoft Access. Only a single version is necessary, since a free 'runtime' version of Access is included with the system.

If your office’s needs grow with time, moving up to a more powerful version of Clients is easy. Since they share the same interface, your staff will not even know a change has taken place, eliminating the need for retraining.

A graphic view of how the Standard Platform works in your office is available here.

The SQL Platform

Sharing information between advocates is very important because it allows offices to act less like separate, small partnerships, and more like one large law firm. This is the idea behind the seamless intake. A WAN that shares case information is one way to accomplish this.

SQL or Clients/Server Platform is designed to have a central database managed by the powerful Microsoft SQL Server software. Having SQL reduces the amount of bandwidth the user needs to use the software over the internet or leased telephone lines. This allows the office to use relatively slow WAN connections.

In a SQL - Database/Server system, when you ask for a particular client, the software on the Server finds that client and returns their information to the workstation.

A graphic view of how the SQL Platform works in your office without Citrix is available here. The way it would work with Citrix is available here.

The ASP/SQL Platform

We all use the equivalent of Application Service Providers (ASP), though we do not call them that. For example, staff members often have to fly to distant locations. Yet, your office does not own an airplane or have pilots on staff. Rather, staff members use an airline when they have to make a trip. The ASP, similarly, frees legal services offices from purchasing and maintaining complicated computer equipment and hiring someone to support it.

An ASP/SQL Platform allows the staff of an office to reach case management from virtually any location using almost any computer. The speed of the application is almost completely independent of the equipment being used by the staff member. If that computer can run an Internet Browser, the staff member can get to their cases.

The ASP model offers many financial benefits. Compared with the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the software, network & hardware of an in-house WAN; the ASP offers a relatively low cost way of doing business. The ASP not only replaces your case management software, but it also eliminates the need for a WAN for case management purposes. All you need is a connection to the Internet with sufficient speed. Purchasing computer hardware upgrades is required less frequently. Because the case management runs on the remote computers housed at the ASP, a computer upgrade is only necessary if other software in the office requires it.

There are no WAN servers in the central or branch offices, so having a technical person on staff to travel around to maintain them is not necessary. Your technical staff can concentrate on how the software works and helping advocates, rather than keeping the hardware up and running.

The computers that house the data and run the case management software are located at the ASP's Data Center. Your office computers become, in effect, thin terminals when using the case management software over the Internet.

A graphic view of how the ASP version works in your office is available here.

Conclusion

No matter what your needs are, there is a Platform of Clients that will fit your needs.

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