Peer to Peer Magazine

P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | F A L L 2 0 1 8 43 of working until they are firmly established. In an era of digital transformation, not acting is actually the biggest risk of all. Firms need to recognize that pursuing small innovative projects, some of which will fail, is a necessary requirement for creating innovation and finding "winners." IT leaders need to fight the traditional view that everything new is risky and explain instead why not testing new ideas and new approaches is the true risk. This is no small task. To win over firm management, avoid discussions focusing on just the new digital technologies and instead focus on getting closer to clients and using client data to change how you deliver value. Then, introduce new digital technologies as the means by which you can accomplish those goals. Client needs and value, not technolo, should be your business case. 2. Technolo arthritis: Firms traditionally have needed to integrate multiple software products to address core information management needs. This creates a tremendous drag on innovation, as changes or upgrades to one product may create incompatibilities with other products that are being used by the firm. To innovate, your firm must have agility: the ability to react quickly to new information and respond to changing customer needs. Firms should consider the cost of integrating and working with multiple different vendors across key areas of technolo, and – where possible – should try to minimize and focus on a few "strategic" vendors that can provide broad- based platforms with multiple capabilities, while also taking responsibility for ensuring all these capabilities are seamlessly integrated. Modern platforms with consistent interfaces, integration methodologies and well documented APIs, support, and training processes remove friction and enable better and faster response to new market demands. 3. Cloud resistance: Firms should give serious thought to moving their key systems to the cloud, which enables faster upgrades and greater agility, and allow IT personnel to focus on adding business value and reengineering processes, rather than connecting systems together. Traditional fears about safety and governance have been addressed through the adoption of industry standards like ISO 27001 and SOC 2+. Here is a little data you can use to help management understand this better: Today, over 90 percent of new corporate legal department implementations completed by iManage are in the cloud. Your clients have discovered the benefits of the cloud – you should too. As a risk mitigation strate, consider a vendor that offers a hybrid cloud solution: one which can maintain most content in the cloud, but work with on premises infrastructure for any clients or partners that feel the cloud is still not secure enough. The cost savings and agility gains can be significant in this approach, as 80 – 90 percent of your infrastructure and resulting overhead can still be eliminated. If you seek to realize the benefits of digital transformation before existing and new competitors do so, the time to make the changes necessary to overcome the barriers preventing or slowing your transformation is now. You, your associates, and your clients will find that the rewards – more satisfied clients, lower expenses, increased agility and happier and more engaged associates – are well worth the effort. ILTA Dan Carmel is Chief Marketing Officer of iManage, the leading provider of Work Product Management solutions for law firms, corporate legal departments, and other professional services firms. In his role as CMO, Dan is responsible for go-to-market and product strategies. He originally joined iManage in 2001 and returned to the company under HP in 2011. Before rejoining the iManage business at HP, Dan was CEO of SpringCM, a leader in SaaS ECM. IT leaders need to fight the traditional view that everything new is risky and explain instead why not testing new ideas and new approaches is the true risk.

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