Peer to Peer Magazine

WWW.ILTANET.ORG 53 The article provoked a storm of protest, with more letters to the editor than any HBR article to date. Carr transformed that debate into the book "Does IT Matter?" The answer to the title's question is left implicit on the cover of the book. But, it is clearly "no, mostly." In Carr's view, for most businesses, IT doesn't matter anymore. How do you change all that and use your technology investments to secure competitive advantage? Carr himself suggests that IT can matter, and even that it should matter, given the level of IT investment necessary nowadays. Here we'll discuss three key steps designed to move IT from a back office cost center to an essential component of your firm's business. It is possible; indeed, some law firms have become widely known both inside and outside the law for coupling technology and business strategy to deliver real practice innovations. It turns out that IT managers have been right all along. IT strategy and business strategy should be closely aligned. When they are, innovation almost always follows and competitive advantage is often on its heels. TYPICAL DECISION-MAKING We'll start with what not to do. Much IT decision-making both inside and outside the law is driven by two imperatives, neither of which assures tight alignment of IT strategy with business strategy. We'll call those two imperatives the ovine imperative and the consumerist imperative. 1. The Ovine Imperative In ancient practice, a wether goat (sometimes called a bellwether for the bell it wore on its neck) would lead lambs into the abattoir for slaughter. That's an apt and nicely descriptive model for much of the technology decision- making that goes on inside law firms and companies these days. The first sign of such ovine decision- making is often the question: "What are other firms doing in this area?" If enough "sheep" have trodden the path beforehand, then a purchase or a project is deemed safe enough to undertake. Indeed, many vendors count on (as in build their revenue projections on) the bellwether phenomenon. Early adopters are induced to try new products by means of clever incentives in hopes that others will follow the goat. Once enough have gone down the path, even remarkably inept products can survive in the marketplace. Where some have gone, others will follow. In the legal sector, we see millions spent on moribund technologies year after year. For example, document management applications have been around for decades and, notwithstanding being rebranded as content management systems and then matter management systems, they continue to function in about the same way as they always have. They permit versioning of documents and the addition of some searchable metadata to those documents, but not much else. That doesn't matter, however. Document management companies are thriving on the ovine imperative alone. Once a firm adopts a document management platform, it becomes an annuity based on a succession of fabulously expensive maintenance contracts and upgrades. Are any firms more competitive as a consequence of all this? Perhaps those that saved their millions and didn't follow the flock. But, clearly, much of the considerable expenditure on these document management applications has been wasted. 2. The Consumerist Imperative Consumerism, a term from the realms of economics and social science, aptly names a second imperative that often drives IT decision making. Consumerism is the purchasing of goods and services beyond basic needs and often in ever- increasing amounts. Coupled with static budgeting practices, it accounts for much of consumption in the technology sector. The consumerist decision process goes something like this: "I've got a budget, now let's see what I can spend it on." The technology marketplace operates much like other consumer marketplaces. Technology magazines and trade shows are full of subtle and not-so-subtle messages regarding how to spend IT budgets. Technology vendors do their best to get you to think like this: "If I'm a responsible IT manager, I'll buy an Acme load balancer because it's the right thing to do." As with the ovine imperative, the need to spend cannot in itself confer competitive advantage. Yet, each year, firms and companies start their IT budgeting processes with what is essentially a shopping list compiled from browsing trade publications and walking trade show aisles. Skillful marketing can pull dozens of firms into a product selection, whereupon the ovine imperative takes over. About the Author John Alber is Bryan Cave's Strategic Technology Partner and oversees three award-winning technology-enabled groups at the firm: the Client Technology Group, the Practice Economics Group and the Accelerated Review Team. The groups have become widely know for developing highly innovative client and practice intelligence systems, pricing and project management software and best practices and technology leveraged alternative staffing models. Contact John at jialber@bryancave. com. The conservative outlook and risk aversion needed in an IT infrastructure manager is antithetical to the kind of dynamism and acceptance of risk found in a true business leader.

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