We just finished a thorough read of a new, broad based legal IT professionals technology survey definitely worth talking about. Co-produced by our friends UK-based legalsupportnetwork and
Netherlands-headquartered Legal IT Professionals, the "Legal IT Landscapes" survey includes some key issues on the legal IT chief’s desk – cloud computing, tablet PCs, social media use, business intelligence (BI), document management and Microsoft SharePoint and desktop solutions – as well as how IT people see their role in terms of its status and its future. The survey includes data from 712 responses from legal IT and legal management professionals worldwide, with the bulk of the responses coming from the UK, US and mainland Europe. According to the report, the spread of law firm sizes was well represented, although 60+% of all responses came from firms with 251+ fee earners/time keepers.
We encourage all to check out the full 26 page PDF report, but below are a few of the findings that caught our attention...
- A third of respondents said their firms are either already using social media tools to enable information sharing and collaboration, or are looking to develop this capability in 2011.
- Three quarters (73.6%) of CIO/CTOs said their firm is either “examining how to expand” tablet use or “planning how we can do more with them in 2011”. This view was shared by those at director and manager level, with IT directors the highest at over 82%.
- Big firms were most negative towards cloud – 60% of those in firms with over 501 fee-earners said the cloud has “serious compliance issues” – while the smallest firms were most positive.
- The UK leads in BI adoption by a large margin – seven in 10 respondents in UK firms said their firm uses BI, compared to just under six in 10 in mainland Europe and even fewer in the US, which reported just 58% adoption.
- Overall, nearly a half of the legal IT people we questioned (46%) said that “partners are gradually recognising that IT plays an increasingly important role and are open to more IT involvement in determining the firm’s strategy"... But overall only 15% said 2011 would see more CIOs and IT directors becoming part of law firm management boards in 2011.
- The UK had the highest number of respondents who said IT is on a “level playing field with all the other business services departments”, with over a quarter (27.6%) of respondents feeling this confident about their role...
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