The Data Base Launches Intranet Template

Computergram International, March 22, 1999

Nottingham, UK-based systems supplier The Data Base (Nottingham) Ltd is launching The Legal Intranet, which it claims is the first vertical-market application of a modular company system which automates and integrates office administration, running on Microsoft's Office 2000. The Legal Intranet coordinates modules which control company news, directories and resources for law firms, but, says The Data Base, the template might easily be applied to other industries.

The first of these modules allows employees to add, categorize and publish information of interest within the firm. The directory section contains background information on staff, together with lists of specializations and inter-relationships within the company, such as who works with whom. Automating the resources libraries of companies gives greater control over records like mileage, credit accounts and company presentations. A drawback with the system may be its read-only nature. It functions as a template, but is less interactive than it might be. However, the internal networks can be extended to include expert witnesses or clients in the case of the legal profession, or suppliers, distributors and consumers for other vertical markets. The template format is recyclable, giving The Data Base access to a far larger marketplace for future versions of the product. Ed Hodgson, business development director, hopes that the recent consolidation in the legal market will lead to further investment in infrastructure. Prices for the legal intranet will start at 10,000 pounds for a 50-user product, with a further scale of costs depending on the number of employees licensed on the network. Hodgson reckons that it will take around two months to install the system. The Data Base was founded in 1982 by two brothers, Peter and David Smith, an ex-accountant and a former Xerox employee, who still own the firm. Originally a hardware reseller for Compaq and IBM, The Data Base still distributes, but has repositioned itself as a services firm, specializing in education, legal and training and enterprise councils (TECS) for business sectors. Last year's revenues of 200m pounds, says Hodgson, represented a 25% increase on the figures for 1997, with profits up 150%.