P2P

70 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 Even for some of the richest firms in the world, Lang says, "It's hard to overstate just how much friction there is today in the world of enterprise legal technology. It's hard to match needs with tools. It's next to impossible to move quickly to test them — particularly when there's sensitive data involved — thanks to security reviews, onerous contracting processes and other requirements. CIOs tell us they don't even dream of integrating new tools into the existing operational ecosystem without massive headaches." The intel from the ground confirms that law firm CIOs face systemic challenges that require paradigm-shifting thinking. So what do the leading firms want and need? Lang says Reynen Court's mission is co-created with their consortium partners: "They're looking for a way to find, test, and manage new tools quickly — and to do that at scale. Most importantly, they cannot compromise their historical commitments around control, security, and data protection." Lang adds that leading CIOs recognize the interconnected nature of these challenges but also the vast promise of the future: "this standardization of infrastructure and application delivery is a key that unlocks massive opportunities around interoperability, data management, and value-driven technology consumption." This suggests to us that the forward-thinking CIO will take a holistic view of IT transformation strategy across infrastructure, data and practitioner tooling. Skills Inventory: A Brave New World Needs New And Different Capabilities As Tim Cook of Apple once said, "there is more noise in the world than change." As the pace of actual change in the broader world accelerates more and more, the level of noise around us is increasing exponentially too. As a result, competing in an increasingly complex legal market can be disorienting. As we noted in Part 1, modern legal business is a team sport, one that requires an increasing number of skills. The successful CIO will need to tap into a broader skill base within and adjacent to the IT function, thinking flexibly beyond the annual budgeting and headcount planning exercise. Our advice is to first get a handle on the firm's overall competitive strategy, then take an inventory of the skills required to execute on that strategy. Particularly for law firms experimenting with service and business model transformation, CIOs must establish clarity on just how far they are being asked to stretch the capabilities of the IT function, how best to create synergies with new-breed capabilities across KM and innovation and how best to manage a growing portfolio of strategic technology initiatives while maintaining alignment with core functions. Nicola Shaver, managing director of innovation and knowledge at Paul Hastings, offered some insight on the E X T R A S "The intel from the ground confirms that law firm CIOs face systemic challenges that require paradigm- shifting thinking."

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