Peer to Peer Magazine

26 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA ENTERPRISE APPS WITH CONSUMER APPEAL name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Barrie Hadfield company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Workshare website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.workshare.com Gartner predicts that by 2018, 28 percent of organizations will have an explicit strategy to make their corporate computing environment similar to experiences we have with day-to-day consumer applications. This is already becoming a reality, with 72 percent of professionals using consumer-grade file-sharing and collaboration applications for work — some without IT authorization. That's a particularly troublesome statistic for the legal sector, given the sensitive content lawyers edit and share on a daily basis. But consumerization in the enterprise is inevitable, which means IT must stay ahead of their users to negate their consumer-grade habits. In particular, IT should offer secure file-sharing and collaboration applications built for the enterprise that have equal appeal as their consumer counterparts. Fortunately, the market for these kinds of solutions is evolving. Increasingly, we're seeing applications architected specifically for enterprise use, with granular settings around document security, while still maintaining the intuitive and easy functionality of consumer apps. Finding technology that gets this balance right is critical — otherwise, employees will continue to circumvent IT and use their own apps, despite the risks. With BYOD flooding businesses, legal professionals can't afford to implement these solutions in the next few years — they must act now. SYSTEM INTEGRATION FOR SMARTER WORKING name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Brophy company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Keno Kozie Associates website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.kenokozie.com Professionals need to be prepared to implement workflow automation and multiple systems integration. Firms doing that now are at a sizable advantage over those just getting started. With attorney-to-staff ratios rising, staff is left to support more than ever before. They will need every tool at their disposal (seen and unseen) to help firms reduce the cost of producing work and maintain/increase profitability. ASK THE VENDOR STANDARDIZED APPLICATIONS name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dean Sappey company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .DocsCorp website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.docscorp.com It's not always about a new technology introduction — it's about ensuring the user can quickly adopt and benefit from the myriad technologies already provided. Legal professionals should be able to do their work from any computer, tablet and phone, using exactly the same applications, method of operation and skill set. Standardization of applications that work and feel the same on any device is essential to reduce training costs, improve the "intuitive" user experience, and deliver on time/cost efficiencies. This means focusing on a set of applications from a smaller set of vendors and insisting that all applications work the same. All applications, regardless of vendor, should look exactly the same, regardless of the functionality provided in each application. Software standards on how a legal application should work are now clearly defined by Microsoft (Windows 8), iOS and Android. Legal professionals must insist that every software application avoid creating their own "new" user interface, adopting the same standard as defined on that platform. Benefits to a legal firm will be immediate — instant uptake of new technologies designed to improve efficiency (without wasting the user's time in learning them). What technologies or business processes should professionals within legal be prepared to implement in the next few years? ALIGNED AGILITY name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ben Wightwick company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . HighQ website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.highq.com With the changing legal landscape, enterprise software in legal will have to adapt. It will focus on a clean user experience, aligning itself with existing and new processes. It will focus on the human network of an organization, enabling it to be agile enough to survive the tricky times ahead.

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