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56 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 "If the IT solution is needed to keep the lights on, operationally, like renewing our colocation facilities, upgrading our phone systems, renewing our document management licenses, the shareholders want to see the numbers to make sure we're not going crazy, but they don't need to be involved in the selection and decision," Geoff elaborates. If the IT solution in question or consideration goes beyond day-to-day operations, and affects their global clientele or workforce in a substantial way, a more structured decision making process begins. "For example, if a healthcare industry client needs us to use a secure email service to comply with their industry regulations, this type of request turns into a top priority at our Committee Meeting." The Technology Committee Today, Robinson Bradshaw's Technology and Innovations Committee is made up of attorneys representing each of the firm's practices and office locations, the COO as overseer, Geoff and a Committee Chair selected by Robinson Bradshaw's Board of Directors. You do not have to be a shareholder to be on the committee. The committee meets quarterly - with additional meetings as needed for specific solution requests, troubleshooting or evaluations. The committee is the first line of review on any IT investments that will impact Robinson Bradshaw's global team and budget. The meeting is structured around the IT requests and challenges the team has faced over the previous quarter. Topics range from client requests, employee requests, IT-team requests and any requests the committee members bring from their respective practice groups. "Everyone on the committee volunteered to be there and cares about our technology's impact on their work. This makes for very productive meetings with a lot of mutual respect," noted Geoff. Decisions made during the meeting are brought to the Board of Directors next. Once approved there, they are communicated to shareholders for final approval. "By the time decisions get to the broader shareholders, they've been discussed, analyzed and boiled down to exactly what people want to know. This means the committee rarely has a decision come back for re-evaluation." The only downside to this process, Geoff admitted, is that other companies with a handful of condensed decision makers at the top can often make broad, big impact decisions quickly. "It takes a little longer to get things rolling with our structure - but in the end we never hear, 'I can't believe we did this' or 'I don't understand where this money went' and that's pretty rare." E X T R A S "The committee is the first line of review on any IT investments that will impact Robinson Bradshaw's global team and budget."

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