P2P

93 I L T A N E T . O R G New topics and questions are added each year, as business needs change and as technologies advance and evolve. There is a lot of discussion in the committee about which of the many new questions that could be asked, should be added to the survey. We strike a balance between making the survey so long that no one will complete it and shortening it so much that important value is lost. Every question is reviewed by the committee in depth, to determine if it should continue in the survey the next year, be re- worded and if so, will the re-wording invalidate the history, and does that matter? We research the answer sets for anything to add, any product company name changes, mergers or acquisitions. The survey reports only results that are >2% of the answers to a question, to narrow the focus of the results to the most significant. One of the big challenges with keeping the survey results topical is the length of time between when the survey questionnaire is completed by members (May) and the final results published (September). There is a lot of work to compile the results and create the trending charts, analyze the results and write-up the executive summary and draft and publish the final 320+ page report. In 2020, we faced an even bigger challenge related to the time lag between the questionnaire being completed and the results being published. The whole way law firms were working, many of the technologies they were using and how they were accessing them, changed almost overnight. The tech survey committee had already reviewed many of the questions and had the survey nearly ready to go out when C19 hit. We had to make rapid decisions about how much to scrap of the current plan. In the end we chose to keep the vast majority of the usual suspects and add a C19 section. Once we reviewed the results, many things had changed again (or hadn't changed, as in no one was back in the office yet). We looked for ways to leverage the survey results to help people with new decisions they had to make and focus some of the analysis on C19 impact. Looking at the final report, I think we accomplished that. And what did we learn that we are now incorporating into the 2021 survey questionnaire? Well, there are some traditional questions that are just not so relevant anymore, and there are new strategic questions that need to be asked. We're looking to September 2021 and asking ourselves, what will be the most valuable pieces of information we can provide to people throughout the legal industry, and how can we frame the questions now to elicit those answers. We're reorganized the survey questionnaire a bit, to focus the sections so they can be easily segmented by who needs to answer the questions in particular areas – infrastructure etc. We are now in the middle of the question review, looking at each question in minute detail. One of the new areas of questions this year will focus on MS Teams and how it's being used by law firms, as well as covering governance and security issues related to Teams. There will also be updated questions related to C19 and how law firm IT continues to adapt to C19 impact. Please share any questions you would love to see answered in this year's ILTA Technology Survey. We will finalize the question set in early April, so ideas we receive in March will be considered. The next time you have to make a technology decision, remember the tech survey is where you may find the answers. And think about how you helped other firms make those decisions by completing the survey questionnaire. We encourage every ILTA member firm to complete the Tech Survey questionnaire in May. There's no cost to answer the questionnaire, and if you do, you will receive access to the full report at no cost. If you don't complete the questionnaire, you can still buy it later!! ILTA

• Cover