Peer to Peer Magazine

57 WWW.ILTANET.ORG Bond with it. Users can come to the technology department with an adversarial mindset. If you approach their use of non-sanctioned technology with an open mind, you will be able to listen to them and take steps toward building a mutually beneficial relationship. You want users to align with your vision of the future. If they believe you have listened to their needs, you'll develop a strong base of allies. Client-focus it. Many shadow IT activities represent users' responses to client needs. Law firms must serve their clients, and we should not rebuke users who try to carry out that mission. If a client operates its business using Google Docs or Dropbox, it becomes stifling if you impede access to those services –– even though there might be valid justifications for doing so. Likewise, if clients have strict security requirements, do not hobble your users so they look for shortcuts to avoid the clients' requirements. The key in both cases is that what your clients are doing can reveal where your firm will –– or should –– be in five years. How many firms ignored comments from secretaries and aorneys that clients kept sending documents in something called "MS Word," but because WordPerfect was the gold standard, there was no need to listen when developing the firm's technology platform? Will newer online systems follow the same path because entrenched DMS systems do not readily lend themselves to client- focused collaboration? Own it. The firm or department looks to you to define where it needs to go in the future. Although you might not realize it, so do the people who engage in shadow IT. If you can accept, learn and leverage what they are discovering, you'll help "future-proof " your firm or department. P2P and to learn how to focus on what your users care about and not what you think they should care about. Crowdsource it. The information you glean from discovering what your users actually need to perform their jobs can equal multiple user surveys –– and possibly be more accurate. Treat their activities as a resource that can help you figure out how you need to move your firm or department forward. Canary it. The rate of introduction of new technologies, new products and new ways of working continues to increase, with mobile and personal devices accelerating that pace. It's impossible to keep abreast of everything new, but if you have 50, 100 or 1,000 users vet what works and provides value to them, you have many sentinels telling you what you should focus on as you assess the future path of your technology offerings. Budget it. The tools your users have discovered provide instant "use cases," and those use cases can carry more weight than vendor proposals or proofs of concept. When you demonstrate to a budget commiee that people are using the soware (or its equivalent) that you are proposing to formally acquire, it validates your assessment of users' needs. Securitize it. If the soware or processes your people have implemented present security risks, don't become "Dr. No." Use their practices as an opportunity to extend your firm's security awareness program. Rather than theoretical pronouncements about risky behavior, show your people why what they are doing poses risks. If you can develop solid security awareness through personal ownership of previously risky behavior, you can help protect your firm from future security threats. Shadow IT: Your Friend, Not Foe FEATURES If a client operates its business using Google Docs and Dropbox, it becomes stifling if you impede access to those services. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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