I was asked this question the other day and had an enjoyable discussion about it so I thought I’d jot down my thoughts.
In this blog, I’m talking in general terms outside of the ‘Magic Circle’. Technology turns off most business people, partners included, in the main. I don’t understand why so many technology firms in the legal sector fail to grasp this concept.
Even when you turn up and say “this product’s going to make your super effective because of XYZ” they’ll often switch off. They’ve heard it all before and been burnt by expensive and bad solutions in the past. Or because they are just confused by the numerous options. This is why there is so much of a ‘herd mentality’ in legal. I always find it a little strange that so many plod together, but I can tell you this will change, and rapidly, as the space comes truly competitive- basically like every other sector. Change is going to come so fast, but it’s not the technology that needs to lead it. The processes and models need to drive the change.
If I hear cloud, big data and AI many more times I’m going to explode. It’s boring for me, let alone lawyers having tech rammed down their throat in every email and publication. You are just talking about tools, and who cares about tools? Nobody except techs care about tools. I don’t care that my plumber has a new wrench with better grip, so why should ‘business leaders’ in law firms? Yes, these technologies may add value to a firm but many won’t until they are mature or integrated into a wider ‘business solution’ driven by a defined business strategy. Sure you may attract a partner’s attention with a fancy new mobile device, but often that’ll be the wrong device to really support a mid/long-term strategy.
Many firms will not truly engage technology until they have up-skilled general business improvement. Be that ISO, Lean Six Sigma, intelligent outsourcing etc. Technology is easy in general. Yes, there are exceptions, but generally, it’s easy when the business case and requirements are clear and championed by leadership. This needs to happen before the technology can really add its value. It’s surprising how many firms don’t have standard operating procedures. Or they don’t really review and develop them. This is pretty scandalous when most operations in legal are process driven.
In short, my message is that technology is not relevant without leadership, evaluation and analysis. You’ll see a rise, very quickly, and also many new entrants now the sector is opening. It should be led by increased efficiency (as stated) as margins are going to erode. I know that I don’t really pay any more per hour for legal services than I paid 10 years ago!
Remote access to internal IT systems is still a big enabler for any sized business. Business is no longer 9-5, and staff are no longer just sat in the office. The world has changed, so surely remote access has as well? Well, not as much as you’d think, but bandwidth has dramatically improved, as has its cost and ease of access. You can get a decent internet connection virtually anywhere in the world; this has made remote working productive and cost-effective.
What remote access technologies currently exist?
In reality, the technologies haven’t really changed much over the last 10 years. There’s a lot of hype surrounding numerous technologies, but at their root, they aren’t particularly new.
I’d say that we are generally seeing the decline of traditional client-VPN technologies (SSL and IPsec) to access files and folders, where you have an application loaded onto a PC/laptop/tablet and you connect to a corporate network. They are typically cumbersome and problematic to support. I would ass that this has changed a little with the rise of WAN accelerators and solutions such as Microsoft One Drive, but it still can be a little cumbersome to manage.
You will find that a large percentage of corporate applications have web-based front-ends these days. These are often more or less indistinguishable from applications installed on the desktop, feature-rich and simple to support. They typically lend themselves well to being published over the internet for roaming workers to access the internet. A typical example of this would be Microsoft’s Outlook Web Access.
A favourite technology for remote access and general working is thin client. There isn’t really much difference in the method of access to internal IT system cloud-based based ones.
Is it all about the cloud?
The cloud is generally remote computing, and thus remote working. However, corporations have been working to this model for decades, satellite offices accessing systems in remote headquarters on the other side of the world. Now because somebody put a shiny new cover on in, everything thinks cloud technology is all new. It’s not new, neither is cloud always the answer. If you have systems internally that you want to access remotely, it’s usually quite a straightforward exercise. That’s not to say that the cloud isn’t the answer to many business requirements, it’s just unlikely to be justified on remote working alone.
The risks of BYOD
We hear about BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) daily – accessing corporate systems with a user owned device. However, generally it will typically incur greater IT management, integration, administration and IT security costs – well it should do if implemented correctly (at this point in time) to remove any security risks: you aren’t going to accept significant risk within your business. If a business doesn’t own a device they can’t really control it. Then you can’t stop third parties from accessing the device, or from dangerous software being installed on it and circumventing corporate security, it’s as simple as that. Yes you can get encapsulation technologies that act like a secure operating environment on a device, but I’m still cautious. I’d still use these technologies, but with a corporate owned device.
I’m a bit more of a fan of CYOD or Choose Your Own Device. This is where an employee can select a device from a pre-authorised list, easing support overhead and ensuring productivity. Have you ever actually really tried to use an iPad productively? It just doesn’t compete with, say a laptop. However they are fine as additional devices for intermittent emailing and reading on the fly, etc. I also find that CYOD does help staff morale – it’s nice to have a choice, and computing devices bring up similar emotions to getting given a company car.
Also, I should note that it was only a few years ago that everyone was talking about increasing productivity within the workplace through IT. Can you really do that when everyone’s walking around with their own mobile devices hooked up to the internet with a 3G card? I understand there are always exceptions, but generally the money saving case will not stack up under scrutiny.
Remote working has been around since communications have been available to the roaming and remote worker, in general terms. It’s been pushed and pulled by small, medium and large-sized enterprises. It’s been claimed as the future of working and also criticised as the destroyer of efficiency and culture. But there’s one important question that has to be asked:
Why do the claims about remote working vary so much?
It’s quite simple, there are so many variables. You cannot simply implement remote working and claim success. It doesn’t work for every individual, every work-type, or every operation. Can it work for them all? Well in theory – no. Can it work for a business in general if implemented correctly – generally yes. It can, however, be a lot of work to deliver results on the bottom line. If you aren’t working for results on the bottom-line then what’s the point? That should be the primary focus, a strategic focus that requires top-level support.
Marissa Mayer of Yahoo famously declared the end of remote working a few years ago, stating they needed to improve the “speed and quality” and benefit from the “decisions and insights that come from hallway and cafeteria discussions.” That’s rather broad brush, but taking into account the size and complexity of the business it’s difficult to really measure the decision.
There is no doubt that technology now allows the worker to access IT systems in exactly the same manner as if they were in the office, generally without exception. They also have all the communications at their fingertips, such as the same telephone extension, video conferencing, instant messaging and internal social media platforms. Is that enough though?
It’s not enough to just have someone available to work remotely. You need to ensure that the culture and the business operations and processes support that model. Yes, it’s possible, but it’s really not easy. By nature, we are social animals and work collectively to accomplish tasks, so actually, it’s against our nature. Does that mean it can’t work? No. It’s just not as simple as pushing out technology and saying ‘go ahead and be productive’.
What factors make it work?
Typically the main elements to focus on are technology, personality, communication, organisation and culture. I’ve worked with hundreds of companies as well as running on my own, so I know it’s not easy to get it right. In reality, it’s impossible to make it work across the board, however, with the analysis you can understand what will and what will not work. I can, however, tell you one thing – it does not work in all environments. So, let’s look at the core elements I’ve seen. Do remember that I’m talking in general terms here.
1. Technology
Technology is easy. Don’t spend time worrying about this side of things in terms of your remote working. Any IT department or firm should be able to enable your staff to work in the same manner that they do in the office, without hindrance, without effort and without huge costs. The technologies are robust, secure and proven – the sums will stack up if the business case does. There are however new systems and technologies that will enhance remote working, such as private social networking, but they are only applicable when the strategic thinking has been done. Don’t focus on the technology, focus on your business requirements first. Any decisions led by technology will not deliver anywhere near the impact compared to a strategic decision made by a clear business case.
2. Personality
Some people work best in a team or around other people, some work better alone, and some work best in a mix. Those who work best in a mix are typically those who have a mix of work, i.e. when planning or managing projects they are better thinking alone. However when working on delivery, actually working in the team (which many do) they are best being in the office as this supports their planning, management and their delivery. These characters will often need some flexibility and giving them the option of flexible and remote working could certainly deliver positive results for your business.
You also get those who work best alone. You’ll often find that lawyers, developers, and project managers often work very well whilst away from the distractions of the office, or simply because at times their personality or working style suits it. They’ll typically adapt very well to total remote working or with the odd day in the office per week or per month.
Some people are social animals and need an office environment to work productively as they thrive when working with people. If you put them at home or in a serviced office alone you could quite easily find productivity loss or total loss of that employee.
Always think of the people and the teams when planning your strategy around remote working. This will save you both money and HR headaches.
3. Communications
General communications from an IT systems perspective should not be an issue, nor should the general communication systems, i.e. telephone, instant messaging, etc. The issue comes more on the personal level, i.e. meetings, team chat, etc. There are a plethora of solutions to enhance these areas, but they require planning and consideration. If you don’t have face to face communication with a team then you can miss visual clues, which can lead to unnecessary issues.
You will find on a simple level, take a key employee into a different room in a key meeting and let them communicate via email and telephone platforms without the face-to-face things fall apart, or at least they are not as effective as if they were in the room. You need to think about how these issues will impact productivity and team-working. Again, it varies from person to person, role to role, business to business. Getting the environment right is critical.
Face to face video conferencing is the next best medium for communications. It’s pretty straightforward to chat and collaborate via a screen with systems such as Microsoft Lync. You do obviously miss some of the dynamics, but there are some telepresence systems at the top end of the market which are impressive. Obviously, the price points vary hugely, so mapping technologies to their correct applications is crucial.
The frequency of communications is also key when managing or working in a remote working environment. It’s essential to hold regular meetings to keep the teams operating as a team. It’s too easy over time for people to drift into a virtual cave. When they get to this place it’s hard to get them out of it and this can damage productivity. You also risk them becoming disjointed from the business and risk them moving on.
4. Organisation
Managing and operating in a remote working environment can be like herding cats at times. You can just feel disconnected and frustrated, you can’t just grab everyone needed and stroll into a meeting room, grab a working lunch, etc. Calendars become king and can also become full of noise if you are not careful. You can get people disconnecting, rather than connecting as you don’t get some of the natural corrections that occur between a team located in the same office.
Technology helps with some of the organising and holding together of teams but only if it’s mapped correctly to the operations effectively. It’s also crucial that the company’s policies and processes are clearly documented, understood and accessible. Typically IT systems will assist in the organisation of teams, such as the standard Microsoft Office suite and Microsoft SharePoint. Again, the key is to design and configure these systems correctly to ensure they enable teams. All information needs to be simple and fast to view, edit and collaborate on. It’s all about giving the teams deep vision and a central anchor point to their day to day operations. If they all work from a single pane it’s much easier to ensure that they are aligned and effective.
5. Culture
As we all know, culture is critical to the success of modern businesses, but it is even more important when managing and working with remote workers and teams. It needs deeper planning and carefully nurturing to really work. We are social animals at heart, so forming bonds with others and loyalty to the firm is essential.
Many firms bring their people together regularly or at least once a year to ensure that bonds are built and teams aligned. With the best will in the world, you can’t get the best teams without them ever touching-the-flesh. Sure, you can build trust from a capability perspective without meeting physically, but the bonding and softer side of relationships, the part that will give a team an edge needs that investment.
It’s also possible to enhance the culture by creating virtual social environments. Many businesses are using Yammer to fulfil this requirement. In essence, it’s a private social network for businesses. You can have employees post in forums, chat, upload photos, just like Facebook, except it’s focused on the working environment. These tools really do enhance and develop a culture, not just for the remote working teams.
Aside from technology, regular team and one-to-one calls or video conferences can help. They should be scheduled in though. If they aren’t, communications, relationships and productivity can drop off. They shouldn’t be just focused on work though. You should also facilitate discussions around people’s personal lives to build bonds. It will feel a little awkward at first but over time the team will get to know each other.
Conclusion
If you really think and plan your remote working strategy and operations it can work just as well, or arguably better than an ‘everyone in the office’ scenario. However, it really does need the thought, beyond simply implementing technology for remote access. As you can see there are so many factors to consider, not giving them due time will give you little or no gain, perhaps even causing your firm damage. If you do it right you will certainly grow a better business with happier employees, whilst increasing productivity and reducing costs. The potentials are too big to ignore, and we are operating in a new age. Technology has advanced beyond recognition from the days of dialling in to pick up email or even using the trusty (slow) VPN.
You probably already have remote working in some sense. Is it really delivering to its full potential? Could it be more effective? Could it improve your culture?
Since the industrial revolution, the manufacturing sector has had to change and evolve to compete. It has gone through 3 main technical ages, from mechanisation to assembly lines and then onto programmable logic controllers. Going forward, with the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) we will see a fourth definable technical age.
It has started somewhat through manufacturers using technology to deliver vision through the manufacturing process, from raw materials, through manufacturing cells, into the store and then onto dispatch. Many operations are already keeping in contact with their equipment post-sales, to improve levels of service, additional revenue streams and customer buy-in. This trend is rising as the technology around the Internet of Things (IoT) ramps up. The amount of intelligence that the manufacturer will be able to get from its products calling home is just huge. It’s going to change things quickly for many, such as:
1. Service improvement
We all know that IT service desks within businesses have been connecting remotely to their client PCs, laptops and other devices for years. They can quickly connect, identify issues and get the customer operational again, typically within a short time frame. This will be taken further on a wider level down to the IoT, i.e. products will also be able to report in to proactively alert the manufacturer to issues, allowing them, or a 3rd party to make contact with the customer before an issue impacts them. It should also be noted that connected products will also be able to receive software updates, reducing issues whilst improving reliability and security. All of these touchpoints also help with brand-loyalty and potentially cross-selling/up-selling.
2. Quality
The data can be to whatever level they wish, within reason and without customer privacy issues. All of this field data can be mined to provide information. For example, the mean time before failure of a particular product or a part, performance issues, reoccurring problems, etc. This data will allow for the identification of trends, to assist with areas, such as future product development and supplier selection.
3. Additional revenue streams
Network connected products mean that the manufacturer or an intermediary is providing a service to their customer. This potentially paves the way for additional features to be built into products to enhance functionality, service and revenue.
4. Inventory optimisation
If products can communicate back into service hubs it does give an operation an opportunity to deal with inventory more effectively. From automatic ordering to build scheduling or shipping in preparation for a product that is signalling issues. For many years IT hardware manufacturers have been shipping replacement hard disks if a monitoring system flags that a disk may fail. Of course, this service is only available to customers with an up-to-date warranty – again another opportunity!
5. Research and development
The data collected and analysed from products in the field will greatly aid manufacturers’ research and development cycle. The ability to collect live information, analyse and adapt at speed will be essential in the coming years. Also, historical data from in the field products married with service information, sales trends, etc. will give manufacturers real vision and shape product development going forward.
Manufacturers have always been one of the first to adopt developing technology and are constantly striving to improve factory efficiency. So I believe we are going to have some very interesting and exciting times ahead of us. In reality, the IoT is here in many ways, but it will penetrate further and deeper than most imagine. The other thing to be aware of is that the technologies and principles aren’t that new, so manufacturers will be able to exploit the benefits with relative ease.
In terms of technology, process and systems the legal industry is changing more rapidly than any other sector. It has a lot to get to grips in a short space of time, far shorter than many may believe. Larger global firms have mostly begun to change, but it’s now the turn of the small and mid-market. They need to become much more commercial and competitive in their outlook.
It is particularly smaller firms need to make the biggest changes as they are being squeezed from multiple directions. However, the progress in these firms is often slowed by resistance to change. As well as not having the necessary skills in place within the firm to deliver it. Firms shouldn’t be fearful of the current environment, they should be looking at the opportunity. Particularly to seize the competitive advantage over the competition
I see the following technology trends really taking root in 2015, particularly in the small and mid-market:
1. Customer relationship management
Law firms are now simply service providers. This means that the key to earning revenue comes down to relationships, as much as expertise. As the legal market is now more international, understanding clients is more important than ever. CRM systems have in the past been used as glorified address books, but expect them to be used to gather more intelligence on clients, behaviours and relationships.
2. Process/workflow management
The business operations within many small and mid-market law firms often leaves a lot to be desired. The worst thing is that many do not truly understand how bad things are and how much additional margin can be gained through process re-engineering within a firm, using existing IT systems and people. Of course, cultures can be difficult to change, but partner teams need to be pushing through change in order to remain competitive in a rapidly shifting market. We are already seeing a monumental shift to process re-engineering in the legal sector; it’s exciting to see how small changes can make a real difference to profitability.
3. Automated time management
Time management and capture has typically been a relatively cumbersome process. Some lawyers do it as they go, some at the end of the day, some at the end of the week. This obviously can lead to issues, things do get forgotten or missed and clients are often suspicious of how time is really captured. The rise of passive time capture is now unstoppable and will become a prerequisite for clients very quickly. This method works to the firm’s and the client’s benefit as it’s seen as more transparent. It also stopping billable time slipping through the net.
4. Business analytics
– As every firm should understand, business decisions cannot be made without clear information. Many firms do not understand that the majority of the information that they require to become more profitable is already being captured by their existing IT systems. It can often take a matter of days to bring data and information together to give clarity to ‘gut-feels’, sometimes without any significant cost. Expect to see more demand for analytics and real-time dashboards to allow partners to really see what is happening within a firm.
5. E-billing
– Many other sectors find it hard to believe that firms are not billing the bulk of their clients electronically. I fully understand that it is more difficult for certain departments, but many clients find it frustrating and somewhat bizarre. Personally, as a business owner, I find it slightly concerning if my suppliers cannot bill me electronically. It’s just so much more efficient and cost-effective to bill electronically, and firms are now seeing this in hard Return on Investment figures.
6. Cloud infrastructure
Cloud in law has been treated with great caution by some firms. In all honesty, this has been the fault of the cloud industry, due to overpromising and not pushing back on security concerns. Cloud, in particular, private cloud, is now a norm for most businesses. We are now seeing legal firms gaining confidence in the cloud, and using it to gain the IT platforms they need without the associated capital and running costs. It should be noted that not that many firms will be cloud only within the next 2 years, especially the mid-sized firms, they are much more likely to operate in a hybrid arrangement – a mix of on-premise and cloud-based solutions.
7. Outsourcing
Too many firms are holding onto all elements of IT. This will be inefficient for many firms, increasing the risk to the firm whilst also decreasing profit margins. We are looking at a second, some say the third wave of more intelligent outsourcing. Internal IT teams should typically focus on adding value, leaving the day to day operations and security to the experts. Many firms have been reluctant to outsource, however, now they must do so in order to actually gain more control.
Obviously, there are other areas of IT within legal that will change over the coming year. The interesting thing now is that it’s varying from firm to firm, as it should do. In the future we will see less of the herd mentality in legal, well at least I hope we will.
Obviously, the cloud is a very large playing field, so I’m going to talk in general terms and at a ‘high-level’. After delivering and consulting on cloud systems for over 10 years we’ve seen and heard pretty much everything, so this blog is just a summary.
So many IT service providers are pumping cloud services as a beginning and an end solution to IT within businesses. This is simply false and negligent – the cloud isn’t always the right solution. There aren’t many businesses where a cloud service of one type or another won’t deliver a business gain – but that doesn’t mean you should be throwing everything into the cloud without consideration.
Cloud is just a tool, no different from say perhaps a new server, or perhaps a new piece of software. For example – just because you buy 30 new Apple Mac’s for your design studio, does not mean you should roll them out throughout your business. It’s the same with cloud services. They have their uses but you need to apply clear business rationale to any decision, think of now and the longer-term.
It’s important to remember that cloud isn’t really some new-fangled technology – it’s mainly just hype. Hype causes issues and clouds judgement. It creates a herd mentality, a sense of urgency and a fear of missing out.
The hype surrounding the cloud has created a gold rush. You have everyone trying to provide cloud services to fill a demand. You even have phone system companies and printing companies trying to resell IT services on a cloud model. This is just insane. IT isn’t simple, true business-enhancement comes from careful analysis, effective tailoring and solid integration.
When going into the cloud, firstly consider these ‘high-level’ questions, at the very least. They do not by any means cover every situation but they will get you and those bidding for your work thinking and talking.
Questions to ask yourself:
Has the provider analysed our business and its operation in suitable depth and made a clear business case?
Are there any changes to the business in the foreseeable future that could impact our chosen solution?
Do we have options, both in and out of the cloud?
Do we clearly understand the benefits and drawbacks?
What are the true costs of the options over the term of the contract?
What other costs do we need to factor in? For example, do we need additional network connections?
If this doesn’t work how will we fall-back?
Questions to ask the provider:
What is the provider’s financial status?
How long have they been delivering cloud services?
What certifications and accreditations do they have?
What are their Service Level Agreements and what happens if they don’t meet them?
How can we exit the cloud service if you wish to or need to?
Do they have control of their infrastructure and services, or are they a reseller?
How can they assist with your migration to and from the cloud?
What can impact the service they deliver to you, and how can they mitigate those risks?
What levels of resilience have you built into your infrastructure? If something fails what happens? (A network connection, server, a disk storage system?)
How are they securing our data from external threats? Can they certificate testing?
Don’t steer away from the cloud. As with any IT system, when it’s been chosen through careful analysis and tailored to a business’s operations the results can be impressive and game-changing.
