Is It Time for a Technology Asseesment at Your Firm?
by Monica Irelan Karas
(Originally published in the Wisconsin Law Journal, July 26, 2006)
It is an interesting age in the practice of law. Firms are faced with many details that lawyers of a by-gone era never had to think about. Even if you do not consider yourself or your firm to be the most computer-savvy office on the block, chances are, at the very least, you are using a computer for word processing functions (although I would hope you are utilizing it for more than only word processing). Even if you only employ one computer for office use, you have many additional worries, questions, liabilities, etcetera than that of a lawyer practicing fifteen years ago.
Like any consumer of any product, it seems that there is always more to buy, a bigger, better and newer product available, and an upgrade available for the product you bought yesterday. Computers are no exception to that rule and you probably feel inundated with constant notices to upgrade, renew or purchase new products or services. Although this may all very well be overwhelming, the fact of the matter is that technology is always changing and there may, in fact, be that bigger, better product available to you. While you don’t have to jump at every offer that lands in your mailbox, you do need to keep on top of what you own and what is available.
First and foremost, you need to know how much memory is available to you. Lack of memory space either at the server or on individual computers is a leading cause of technology failure and poor performance. Note that when we are talking about memory, there are two different types of memory space that need to be analyzed, the amount of random access memory (RAM) and the amount of disk space. You should always know how much memory is available and how close you are to that x-factor that is going to start causing major problems. These problems can run the entire spectrum of headaches, but to name a few; system slow downs, database failures, computer freezes, leading right on up to that inevitable crash. It is also important to keep in mind that technology, when it comes to memory size, is ever changing. Chances are, if you have not considered a technology upgrade in two or three years, memory space is now available at double or triple the size of what you currently own and is probably available at or below the cost you had paid two or three years ago.
Second, you need to understand what is working and what is not working. If you suddenly have a large case that involves viewing hundreds of hours of surveillance video that has been provided to you on a DVD format, but you or a staff member don’t have a DVD player on your computer or it is simply too old and cannot handle the sudden demand, you have a problem that is likely costing you in billable hours. On the same note, if you know that the only people in your office that could truly benefit from a DVD player are people specializing in a certain type of work, there is no need to expend the funds to put a DVD drive on your receptionist’s work station. So knowing the needs of your firm is critical when making your technology decisions.
The fact of the matter may be that your equipment is just old, period. As a profession in general, lawyers are now dependant on technology and a failure could very likely cripple a firm. Any technology failure that lasts more than a few hours is very likely adding up in lost billing time. If your equipment is three years old or older, it is probably time to consider replacing it. Chances are that it is out of warranty and posing a risk to your infrastructure or data integrity.
Some of the things that need to be evaluated may not be a bigger or better or newer product at all but simply an issue of common sense. Backups should be evaluated to make sure they are running and capturing all pertinent information. Firms may acquire a large amount of information from the inception of a computer network that it did not initially realize the network was going to have to support; it is possible that your backups need to be set to run longer to capture all the information that truly needs to be backed up on your drive, software or tapes may need to be replaced to accommodate the large amount data that needs to be routinely backed up. The size of your data may have grown to be so large that files will need to be compressed in order to be backed up. If this is the case, you likely need to evaluate both your hardware and software components and consider replacing them to compress the data. It is also absolutely necessary to ensure that your hardware is properly protected from a power failure or surge. Your server must be plugged into an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to provide a battery back up in the event of a power failure. Your individual work stations also need to be protected from power surges and failures. A surge protector on each work station is usually adequate.
While we have talked about hardware and some things that should be done to ensure that a crash is not ever looming, your software too needs attention. Your software should always be kept as current as possible and you should have a point person, a trusted staffer, office administrator, or tech savvy attorney, to make sure updates are getting done and purchases made, if need be. If your software is outdated, you may begin to have problems that mimic that of being short on disk space or a failing piece of hardware. If you have good tech support, they should be able to find the problem with a little effort, but the point here is really not to waste anybody’s time (or money) and do it right the first time by keeping it all up to date.
If all these things seem a little overwhelming to you, you are not alone. Analyzing all of these components is, at best, time consuming. Keep in mind that most technology firms will come out and analyze these components at no charge. It is a good idea to work with a technology firm that has experience dealing with your type of business. There are a number of technology firms locally that specialize in dealing specifically with legal professionals. Not only can these technology firms analyze your network, hardware and software, but they can make recommendations that are specific to your type of practice that broader spectrum technology firms may not be aware of.
Technology in a law firm setting is unfortunately not something that can be done once every five years and then forgotten about. Whether we like it or not, technology needs constant monitoring as well as money in the budget for maintenance, upgrading, and that unexpected failure. While sometimes it is hard to spend the money, or in some cases, difficult to convince the ‘higher-ups’ that an expenditure is a valid one while everything seems to be running fine, it is not a good idea to ignore technology needs until a major system failure is right around the corner. When you are dealing with the technology needs of your firm, it is always better to be proactive than to be reactive.
Advertisement/Addendum: ITP performs most initial law firm system evaluations and technology proposals for free. Other firsms charge thousands of dollars for this service. For our existing clients, we continuously monitor the technology status of our firm as part of our Recurring Services Plan.
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