P2P

55 I L T A N E T . O R G I T professionals across industries have a notoriously difficult time getting top management to approve decisions. In return, executive teams have a hard time understanding IT requests and how they'll impact teams across the company. It's counterintuitive to suggest that adding more internal decision makers could help this dilemma, but Robinson Bradshaw's distinct structure has done just that. The law firm has established an IT decision making process that involves more employees than most companies but with less waste and confusion. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Robinson Bradshaw is a full-service regional corporate law firm with national capabilities. With over 150 attorneys and 46 practice areas, its 15-person IT team stays busy. "These days our employees need more technical support than administrative support. I've been here 30 years and our employees are more tech-savvy than ever, they want the tools to do things themselves," shared Geoff Rhodes, Director of IT and Security at Robinson Bradshaw. "Well, they're technically not all employees, many of the attorneys are shareholders," he clarified. Our firm, Opkalla, started working with Robinson Bradshaw in 2019. As consultants and advisors, we help IT leaders research and identify IT solutions that will make their lives (and budgeting process) easier through a vendor-agnostic approach. We noticed two things pretty quickly that made Geoff 's IT team unique from our other clients. First, Geoff has been with Robinson Bradshaw for 30 years. The continuity, knowledge and trust he has built within the company is something other IT leaders dream of. Second, the firm has figured out an IT decision making process, over years of iteration, that proves sharing equity doesn't have to mean the death of efficient decision making. How Not to Structure IT Decision Making "It took us time to get to the structure that's working today. We definitely didn't just stumble upon it," shared Geoff. Thirty years ago, when Geoff started at Robinson Bradshaw, there was an Office Automation Committee. Before IT objectives became mobile device management, cloud storage and work from home, IT professionals had their sights on automation - making computers the backbone of office workflows. Geoff and his team would present to the committee with ideas and opportunities for automation. This worked well until those who had formed the committee retired or left the company and didn't fully pass the baton. The committee dwindled until an IP attorney requested to bring it back and lead the charge. He led an effective effort - but the effort was focused on IP-related IT decisions. To even out the issues and solutions discussed, Robinson Bradshaw opened the committee up again for membership and had 15-18 attorneys join. While this started promising, the size proved too large. During busy seasons, half of the meeting attendees could be found doing their client work during the meeting. This means that as decisions bubbled up to the Board of Directors, and ultimately all shareholders, those on the committee didn't always remember their role in the decision. Finally, three years ago, Robinson Bradshaw identified a structure that has been working since. How to Qualify IT Decisions "You can divide up how we now make IT decisions first by cost then by impact," Geoff explained. For most IT solutions under $20,000 in annual cost, the Director of IT has full discretion to purchase and implement. For solutions over $20,000 it comes down to impact - impact on operations and impact on Robinson Bradshaw's global team.

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