IN GADGET WE TRUST: DEVICE
AGNOSTICISM IN THE FIRM ENVIRONMENT
by Eugene Stein
of Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP
During a typical birthday or holiday gift exchange,
our attorneys are often convinced they have
discovered the panacea for all their technological
needs. Unlike firm-issued technology tools,
they believe the new gizmo they received, once
connected to the firm's systems, will help them
develop new business, stay in touch with clients,
work on client work-product, perform research
and keep them better connected. Whether the tool
serves all these interests is often irrelevant — they
have perceived a problem, and they have found a
solution to said problem.
The belief our attorneys had in their devices to solve
problems led those of us in IT to create a new goal —
the device-agnostic project, also referred to as "bring
your own device" or BYOD. What if we could offer
support for any device that our attorneys wanted to
employ? Whether attorneys brought in a Mac, PC,
tablet or the latest Apple product, we wanted to
make sure they could connect wirelessly or plug in,
enjoy immediate authentication and begin working
away with their choice of unrestricted device.
This project would offer attorneys an operating
environment that fosters productivity and flexibility
and opportunities to work remotely with ease.
