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 | W I N T E R 2 0 1 8 39 G etting a seat at the annual planning table is difficult for legal technolo professionals. If nothing appears to be "broken," then too often legal firms opt for the comfortable status quo rather than face the perceived pain of a technolo update. The problem, of course, is the complete financial and productivity cost associated with waiting until technolo "breaks" to address it. Windows 7 offers a perfect example. It is still the dominant business operating system (OS), 1 providing comfortably familiar workflows to companies worldwide. But along with all other users, legal firms will risk security threats and more if they wait to update the OS until after Microsoft discontinues Windows 7 support in January 2020 2 . This illustrates why it is essential to have frank discussions with legal firms about their current and future technolo needs, and to highlight the benefits of a proactive approach to technolo decision-making. As systems evolve, compatibility issues will be an increasingly expensive problem to fix for those businesses that fail to map out an IT strate. On the other hand, however, those firms that take a proactive approach to IT planning can help smooth compatibility hurdles, limit disruptions and reduce overall technolo costs — while simultaneously powering increased productivity. In technolo planning, as in life, there are "the big stones" and there are "the pebbles." The big stones are the most crucial projects; the pebbles represent those planning decisions that may affect individual daily workflows, but have less impact on the firm's overall performance. To put together an effective 2019 technolo planning strate, IT professionals will want to move the big stones first: Evaluate overall network infrastructure. Ensure that the firm's technolo infrastructure is up-to-date and supported. That includes checking whether the OS installed on clients, servers and other machines on the network are nearing end- of-life, as with Windows 7. In addition, try to move as many end-points on the same 1 OS as possible, and remove devices that are no longer active, but still attached to the network. Review all applications currently in use throughout the firm. It's essential to know what apps are running across the network. In cases where OS migration is necessary, you'll need to know how to move each of them from one OS to the other. You'll also want to discuss a replacement strate for any applications not supported on the new OS. Consider your cloud and mobile strate. The goal at many legal firms is to move more applications offsite. Assess which applications make the most sense to incorporate into a cloud strate, including the overall cost of migrating to the cloud. For example, attorneys who travel often or who work together on teams might benefit from cloud-based, double-encrypted voice recording and transcription applications. These applications can enable the secure creation and transfer of documents and voice files from anywhere either via web access or with a mobile device. Discuss desired workflows. One of the most important reasons to engage in proactive technolo planning is to maximize efficiency. Going back to the example of cloud-based transcription, such technolo permits faster turnaround times because it lets attorneys share dictations with their assistants while still on the road. In fact, mobility is often the key factor. In most cases, supporting productive workflows means developing a technolo infrastructure capable of reducing downtime and increasing billable hours both inside and outside the office. Even administrative workflows, like time entry, can benefit from an innovative technolo plan. How much more efficient and accurate would it be for each attorney to dictate their timesheets, for instance, instead of typing them in manually? 2 3 4

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