The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/34686
BEST To: From: Subject: I PRACTICES Preparing for the Post-PC Era — A Letter to the Director MEMORANDUM Director, Information Technology Partner, Your Law Firm Technology Planning for the Year 2020 t’s pretty standard that most law firm IT departments probably aren’t planning farther out than four or five years. Speaking on behalf of the lawyers in this firm, I propose you consider thinking about one piece of technology the firm should be using in 2020 — because some of us are already starting to use it today. I’m talking about tablet computing. ON THE UPRISE Tablet computers are certainly not a new technology; they’ve been around in some format for the past few years. But until recently, the tablet computer was nothing special — a little clunky, just as heavy as a laptop and most came with a keyboard. With the debut of the iPad last year, however, the notion of tablet computing changed in a significant way, one that now has the potential to affect how we as lawyers work and provide services to our clients. And the numbers back me up on this. In 2010, global spending on tablets was around $9.6 billion, and this year that number is expected to triple to nearly $30 billion. A large chunk of that spending will come from corporate IT departments as companies begin to roll out tablets to their users. As I write this memo, somewhere between 65 and 80 percent of the Fortune 100 are either deploying or piloting the iPad, including companies with names like JPMorgan Chase, Cardinal Health, Wells Fargo, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and DuPont. I realize that I didn’t mention any law firms there, but as you know, lawyers as a profession are notoriously slow to adopt new and innovative technologies. I suspect that most 26 www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer law firms currently using iPads are smaller firms; however, there’s at least one large firm that’s rolling out iPads to its lawyers: Proskauer Rose reports that 500 of its 700 lawyers have requested an iPad instead of a laptop. Software developers get it, too. Over the past few years, it has taken Google I/O and WWDC, major development conferences held by Google and Apple, between 30 and 60 days to sell out. This year, WWDC sold out in 12 hours, and Google I/O in just one hour. These events are focused on “post-PC” development — the mobile market. They clearly understand the huge opportunities for growth in the tablet market over the coming years. Furthermore, Forrester Research estimates that of the 15 million iPads sold in 2010, at least half are already finding their way to work. EMBRACE THE CONSUMERIZATION OF IT IT has traditionally been able to guide or dictate the technology given to firm users. Years ago there may have been a few stray lawyers who brought in their new Palm Pilots and begged to be able to sync it up with our systems, but now it’s a flood of lawyers bringing in devices of every size and configuration, demanding that IT support and accommodate the use of all of them. In some ways, the “consumerization of IT” is not a bad thing. There are those who believe the key to corporate success is to provide users with devices and technologies that are easy to use and with which the users are comfortable. Many companies are finding ways to integrate “consumer” features into the way that communication, collaboration and interaction is managed throughout the organization.