Peer to Peer Magazine

ASK THE VENDOR Focus On the Infrastructure More than the Applications name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Norm Thomas company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Litéra website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.litera.com When a real "paradigm shift" comes, we're left without a good way to describe it. Mobile-device computing is a real "paradigm shift." It's a revolution in scale not seen since mainframes surrendered to client-server architecture, completing the journey that began when laptops first appeared and the "mobile information worker" concept arrived. With mainframes, the data and processing power all resided centrally and were controlled by IT. But the shift to desktop PCs not only spread processing power across the enterprise, it redistributed organizational power, too: Law firm practices demanded that IT support the applications they wanted in order to manage their business. Now, attorneys with mobile devices demand law firm practices support the apps they want to manage their lives. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft — the biggest beneficiary of the prior "paradigm shift" and the biggest loser in the present one — called this phenomenon "priests vs. peasants." The marketplace monetizes end users' desires (peasants) and the once authoritative CIOs (priests) must bow to their wishes and adapt. For example, by far the single biggest complaint by all enterprise CIOs today is how to accommodate the iPad. But in reality, the iPad is irrelevant. By the time vendors have all released their iPad apps, "peasants" will be infatuated with a completely different — and probably incompatible — shiny new computing object; just as Android devices have now far out- paced iPhones, analysts predict Windows Phones will soon out-pace Android. And on it goes. Amid all this constant change, how can CIOs resume their authoritative prominence and incredible value? Focus on the infrastructure more than the applications. For instance, in 2002, having the gigantic Word application running in the palm of your hand using a Windows CE device was a technology coup. I recall smug satisfaction from catching a significant mistake in a draft press release I reviewed from the bleacher seats at my son's little league game. I made the correction and submitted the release to all the media newswires just before deadline — but with all the redlines, tracked changes and comments still in the document. With my little phone sitting by a dugout, I essentially published all our confidential internal deliberations to the public. Aside from my carelessness, the fault did not lie with the application, but with the sieve-like infrastructure that permitted it. Where was the server-based metadata cleansing process we needed to protect the entire multibillion-dollar organization? In a world where you're approving client invoices just after updating your Netflix queue (all within an eight-square-inch screen), it's the back-end infrastructure that matters much more than the approval billing workflow app installed on the device. We've come full circle. It's not a big change going from dumb terminals tethered to mainframes via WAN to having mobile-device browsers activate server resources over the Internet. The data and processing power is centrally controlled again. Nevertheless, it's unquestionably a "paradigm shift." ILTA Peer to Peer New Jobs Posted Daily! ILTA's Job Bank has long been the most frequently visited page on our website, and it grows in popularity each day. With the ability to sort by location or job title, it provides a quick look at the employment situation in your neighborhood or your area of expertise. Anyone can post a job to the site. Simply send the text of your posting to Jeanne Martinez at jeanne@iltanet.org. Be sure to include the location of the office for that particular position, a list of all requirements and the contact information to which the applicant can send materials. The job listing will run for three months, though it can be removed sooner upon request. The fee to ILTA member firms and 2011 Platinum, Gold and Silver Sponsors is $150, for all others it's $500. Don't forget: If you're looking for a job, make sure to subscribe to the RSS feed so that you receive notification whenever a new job is posted. Just go to ILTAnet. org and click on Job Bank in the Services menu. ILTA the quarterly magazine of ILTA 27

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