P2P

52 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 | S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 F E A T U R E S successes. A detailed plan outlining responsibilities, expectations, process, deliverables and desired outcomes is essential. It must include measurable KPIs. Incentives should be built-in and shared with all stakeholders. The roadmap helps align all efforts and creates an invaluable sense of team investment and ownership. As we develop our roadmap and ask ourselves these very key questions, we must realize that we have a dual opportunity: 1) to educate our firm colleagues on our level of expertise, and 2) establish true partnerships with outside managed services providers. I would argue that successful CTOs and Managing Partners have proven the first point over these past 18-months. The second opportunity, however, will require a shift in thinking of managed service providers as "vendor" to "partner." Framing that decision in terms of how a provider can impact profit makes the opportunity much clearer. Education and Introspection – The Hard Work Begins Realizing these opportunities is a two-phase process. The first phase is relatively easy: firms can lower risk by embracing the possibilities of best-in-class managed services. Most firm leaders are aware that basic IT functions and several billing services can be outsourced. Many are familiar with help desk and document storage and retrieval services. It is incumbent on firm technologists to educate themselves and their colleagues on the full range of professional managed services – from client intake to conflict checking to accounts receivable to ebilling to cybersecurity to network monitoring and app development. Then, from education, firm technology leaders must align the vast array of available services in terms of how best to serve clients. Full awareness of the available array of managed services directly impacts firm's ability to improve the service model. This alignment process leads directly to a second phase of opportunity realization: an industry-wide redefining and elevation of service delivery. In order to best serve clients (and ultimately the bottom line), we must rethink not just the technologies we use, but the processes we implement. Reimagining the client workflow should work something like this: • Look inward at what the firm does well in terms of service delivery. • Conversely, what are the current and potential service delivery pain points? • What's the firm's "adoption journey?" How adroit is the firm at achieving change? Does it learn from its mistakes? Is it resilient? • Repeat bullets two and three, this time from the client's perspective. • Give careful consideration to the client's culture. Take time to learn and adapt. Ensure teams understand and are fully integrated into those cultures. • Construct an agreed-upon, incremental, achievable roadmap for implementation. • Build true partnerships with managed service providers. Remember, they will often act as the face and voice of the firm. It's All Just History Repeating As the legal technology industry rockets into the future on this wave of unexpected, unprecedented opportunity, remembering those agile, resilient firms of the late aughts

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