Had the pleasure of chairing a roundtable earlier today on the risk management aspects of social networking and Web 2.0 – the other panelists were Craig Carpenter, the VP & general counsel of Recommind, and Antony Corsi, a partner with Fulbright & Jaworski LLP in London. Here's the formal release that came out of the event, along with some graphics.
The release is self explanatory and confirms what many people suspected – that a lot of organisations still don't 'get' Web 2.0; are not using it properly; appear to be hoping that if they ignore it, it will go away; and – in the case of those organisations trying to curb its use – seem unaware people can access all of these technologies on home computers (and an increasing number on mobile phones, Blackberrys, iPhones etc). It's also interesting to see that 70% are delegating responsibility to IT departments – what, they are letting the techies determine their risk management policy? And, that only 17% are giving the job to legal departments – yes, we know how computer literate lawyers can be! However there is a more serious point here and that is policy should actually be determined at a senior management level, with consultation with the IT and legal departments on its implementation and enforcement. And also check out last Wednesday's Orange Rag coverage of the EIU's "technology democracy" report www.theorangerag.com/blog/_archives/2009/9/23/4329923.html
Recommind today released the results of its recent research into Web 2.0 and social networking habits in UK businesses*. Although many firms already recognise the business benefits of using applications like Twitter, LinkedIn and instant messaging (IM) in a corporate environment, research indicates that an alarming proportion (89%) have no dedicated guidelines in place to control the use of these tools and, ultimately, the spread of information through Web 2.0 channels – an oversight that could put UK companies in grave danger of uncontrollable information risk.
Recommind’s research indicates that although more than half (51%) of UK businesses surveyed are well aware of the data leakage risks associated with Web 2.0 and social networking use, most still overlook the risks posed by an increasingly stringent regulatory climate and the knock-on impact of investigations and e-disclosure requests. Indeed, just 23% of respondents were concerned about their ability to access and preserve information found on these sites and used with these tools. Unless this lax attitude is promptly addressed, Recommind maintains that companies could face serious problems in the near future, including failure to control the flow of sensitive corporate information, an inability to comply with increasingly common regulatory investigations and exorbitant costs when faced with an e-disclosure event. With the usage of such tools by corporate employees skyrocketing, their increased relevance in near-term litigation and investigations is virtually assured.
“Businesses need to think very carefully about how best to address the increasingly mainstream usage of these tools by their staff. In a Web 2.0 world communication is instant, but information can get divulged, co-opted or misconstrued very easily, leaving organisations wide open to information risk,” said Craig Carpenter, VP & general counsel at Recommind. “We’ve already seen numerous cases of employees being reprimanded for discussing proprietary information on sites like Facebook, while a major US network was recently reprimanded when one of its journalists leaked off-the-record commentary from President Obama via his Twitter feed. Firms must ensure their employees are fully aware of the possible ramifications of using these tools in such a dynamic and evolving technological landscape. And while having a company policy in place is common sense, any such policy is only as effective as its enforcement.”
The independent research, which was carried out by Vanson Bourne, questioned CIOs and IT directors in UK firms with more than 1,000 employees on the Web 2.0 and social networking habits within their organisations. Of those surveyed, many are already using social networking tools within their company – 44% are utilising these tools to communicate and share information with colleagues around the world, while a quarter of respondents use these applications for day-to-day business activities, such as marketing and sales, business development and company research.
However, research shows that employees at less than a quarter (23%) of firms surveyed are using Web 2.0 and social networking tools for external communications and networking, while just 17% use these applications to locate people and expertise within the organisation. A surprisingly low set of figures, given that more than half (59%) cited external communications as the biggest benefit Web 2.0 can bring, with almost a third stating that social networking could enable employee knowledge and expertise to be used to its full advantage.
In today’s economic climate, knowledge is the ultimate currency – but Recommind’s research illustrates that employees’ expertise, or ‘tacit knowledge’ as it is widely termed, still remains a largely untapped resource, while only one in five respondents recognised the value social networking could bring in terms of gaining insight into industry knowledge, including partners and customers. With all this in mind, it would be fair to say that the 42% of companies surveyed who do not allow staff to use these tools within the corporate environment are missing out on major internal and external business opportunities.
“It’s clear that organisations are starting to integrate Web 2.0 processes into their everyday corporate activities, but this use is still largely for limited internal purposes – businesses are just scratching the surface of what these tools are capable of,” continued Carpenter. “Firms need to get Web 2.0 savvy as these applications continue to grow in popularity and usefulness in the business realm. Companies risk losing a competitive edge if they restrict access outright in the workplace, so control is the key to maintaining both the corporate advantage and also ensuring that the organisation has adequate procedures in place to protect against information risk.”
“There is no doubt that Web 2.0 tools have become an interesting challenge for organisations across all sectors – communication via such tools is instant, has a wide impact and the business potential can be huge. However, without proper corporate regulations in place these tools can present a great danger to a company’s reputation and a risk to its information security,” said Mike Davis, senior analyst at Ovum. “Web 2.0 and social networking applications used in a business context contain corporate information and must be managed with both discretion and control. Today’s increasingly stringent regulatory climate means that it is more important than ever for firms to take care of their data –whether this is ensuring that all relevant material is preserved and accessible should they be faced with legal action, or preventing information leakage via careless employee use – without guidelines in place the consequences could range from embarrassment to business failure.”
Findings also uncovered that more than two thirds (70%) of firms surveyed believe that responsibility for implementing and enforcing Web 2.0 policies lies solely with the IT department, compared to the legal department at 17% of companies. Although each department has its own set of priorities, Recommind maintains that a more collaborative approach is needed as these tools come to the forefront. Without this cooperation, there is a danger that the IT team will not recognise or fully comprehend which information should be preserved, disclosed or discarded, while the legal department needs assistance to help ensure any technology processes and systems are accurate and up to the job.
“Such responsibility on one department alone is unrealistic – there needs to be more collaboration between the IT and legal departments,” said Carpenter. “Legal departments must step up and become more involved in crafting and enforcing Web 2.0 policies, especially since they are often better placed to understand what information can and cannot be kept or shared on the corporate network. Simply put, a combination of expertise is critical to organisations’ success in today’s regulatory environment.”
* Survey of 100 CIOs & IT directors at UK enterprises with more than 1000 employees conducted by Vanson Bourne in August 2009.
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Wednesday, September 30
Social networking & Web 2.0 - most UK businesses lack a strategy
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 30 Sep 2009 15:28 BST
 1 Attachments
Publishers prices - about half say no change in rates
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 30 Sep 2009 00:40 BST
SWETS, the legal library and subscriptions services company - it currently has about 39,000 journal titles in its catalogue - reports the following data after asking publishers of all sizes what their response was in pricing terms to shrinking library budgets. Roughly have the publishers will not increase their prices at all in 2010 and the remainder say prices will not increase by more than 5%. About 45% of publishers said they expected their sales revenues to decline next year and another 25% expected it to remain at current levels. By the following year - 2011 - the number of publishers predicting declining revenues has fallen to less than a quarter, while 42.5% were expecting revenues to grow by in the region of 5%.
* By way of a footnote, a consultant told us one reason why LexisNexis Axxia and Visualfiles may not have enjoyed the success they might have expected in the corporate sector is that the person responsible for legal library and subscription sales is frequently the same person who controls the inhouse counsel/legal department's IT budget - and they are feeling antagonistic towards LexisNexis because that company has increased some of its subscription rates. Wednesday, September 23
Economist Intelligence Unit says UK biz not ready for "technology democracy"
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 23 Sep 2009 11:18 BST
Here's an interesting argument some IT departments might like to run by their managements and partnerships... according the Economist Intelligence Unit European businesses are not ready for "technology democracy". Here's the announcement...
A "quiet revolution" is under way in businesses, as employees are demanding "technology democracy" – the power to use the technology applications and devices of their choice in order to perform their work. In so doing they are challenging the technology status quo in their organisations, whereby the IT function dictates which technologies may be used by staff, procures them centrally and sets the rules for their use. But European companies are not entirely ready to embrace technology democracy: 47% of European executives surveyed by the Economist Intelligence Unit say that management of their firms resist extending greater technology freedom to employees. A similar number claim that management is supportive, but the fact that few companies provide training to staff in the workplace use of, for example, personal communications devices and social networking applications suggests that readiness for technology democracy is not high. This pressure will mount on corporate and IT management as a younger cohort of employees-reliant on social networking, messaging and other personal networking technologies to conduct their work-permeates organisations. "Companies will inevitably lose some control over IT use as a result, but this will be no bad thing provided the risks are managed," believes Denis McCauley, Director of Global Technology Research with the Economist Intelligence Unit. "The best business innovations tend to originate at the grassroots level, and employees should be encouraged to use their technology know-how to generate them." These findings are highlighted in a new study published today by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Trend Micro, entitled Power to the people? Managing technology democracy in the workplace. Other conclusions of the study are highlighted below. • Innovation and morale stand most to benefit from technology freedom. 42% of European executives (and fully half of those from the UK) say they are prepared to deal with the risks of technology democracy in order to reap the business benefits. The chief gains, they believe, will come in the form of better grassroots innovation, as well as higher morale on the part of employees who are trusted to make at least some technology decisions for themselves. • The risks are real but can be managed. The fears of executives who resist according greater technology freedom are not misplaced. Many employees have wasted valuable work time using Web 2.0 applications for personal purposes, and companies have been damaged by sensitive information appearing on blogs, for example. Respondents agree that the biggest risks from technology democracy are lower productivity, the loss of confidential information and an increased vulnerability to viruses. • Keeping technology chaos in check requires clear rules. Where any degree of democracy exists, technology freedom must be supported by clear rules and regulations to prevent a descent into chaos. The most important means of minimising productivity loss and security risks include conducting regular and mandatory training courses for employees, developing formal guidelines and continuing the work of upgrading network defences. • Firms must provide better training on using new technologies. Most executives in the survey claim that their firms have drafted IT policies to govern employees’ use of devices, applications and websites in the workplace. But few have begun to instil these guidelines in the minds of employees: no more than 21% of surveyed firms provide training on the use of personal communications devices, and only 17% do this in regard to social networking applications. More worryingly, no more than one-fifth have plans to do so in the future. • Some IT decentralisation may be needed to manage the security risks. When asked their view on the implications of greater technology freedom for the IT function, survey respondents’ reply that the delegation of responsibility for information security to individual business units is the most likely outcome. This would allow the IT function to focus on other tasks, such as the management of firewalls and other aspects of physical network security and tracking new external threats. Power to the people? Managing technology democracy in the workplace is available free of charge at www.eiu.com/sponsor/TrendMicro/Technology_democracy
Land Data shortlists five vendors for NLIS revamp
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 23 Sep 2009 09:00 BST
Land Data, the NLIS regulator, has today announced five organisations have been shortlisted as prospective licensed channels for NLIS (the National Land Information Service), the electronic data provider of land and property search information.
The prospective new Channel Service Providers will become the interface for NLIS data, extending the reach for the conveyancing profession to access authoritative property search data electronically. NLIS is the leader in the provision of electronic property searches and provides data through a single gateway, from official sources of land and property information, including all Local Authorities in England and Wales, Land Registry and the Coal Authority. The newly appointed NLIS Channel Service Providers will be announced in October. A number of other organisations applied outside the application timeframe and will be considered for the April 2010 license application. Land Data, Chief Executive Jan Boothroyd comments: “It has been very encouraging to see the response to our new NLIS license model. By bringing a wider spectrum of channels to the NLIS Hub, we have acted on OFT’s 2005 Property Searches market study recommendation to enable new NLIS Hub electronic connections to be established. We believe the new channels will significantly expand the NLIS market share and ultimately improve the online conveyancing search process.” Tuesday, September 22
Microsoft moving a little close into the heart of business
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 22 Sep 2009 18:14 BST
Here on the Orange Rag (and the Insider newsletter) we're firm believers that one of the big trends* over the next 5 years will be the emergence of Microsoft as a major player in the legal systems space. Sure, Microsoft aren't going to launch their own legal-specific PMS product – but their Dynamics software is likely to feature as a major component in many new legal market applications. Here's the latest from Redmond:
...Building on the Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning (ERP) strategy to drive industry-specific innovation for customers and enable partners to deliver repeatable, vertical solutions, Microsoft today announced the acquisition of four industry solutions that will extend the core capabilities of one of Microsoft’s ERP products, Microsoft Dynamics AX. This move supports Microsoft’s promise to enable the Dynamic Business, which includes offering flexible business applications that remain relevant as business needs evolve. “With these acquisitions we are investing in building industry functionality directly into the Microsoft Dynamics AX application, while other ERP vendors are cutting corners or trying to reconcile multiple industry offerings as a result of acquiring several companies,” said Crispin Read, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics ERP. “We are a safe haven for customers and partners who depend on us to drive continuous innovation in our products and lower the total cost of ownership.” The following acquired technology will be offered as part of Microsoft Dynamics AX, which will give partners the opportunity to drive deeper vertical solutions for customers in manufacturing, professional services and retail. • A process manufacturing solution acquired from Fullscope Inc., which provides tight integration of business processes across discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing • A professional service solution acquired from Computer Generated Solutions Inc, which delivers a single system to manage projects and resources, execute financial transactions and customer billing, and match resources with client assignments • Retail solutions from LS Retail EHF and To-Increase Denmark A/S, a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus IT Partner A/S, that enable Microsoft to provide an end-to-end retail solution including store management with point-of-sale, merchandising and ERP capabilities With these technology acquisitions Microsoft is providing core industry functionality embedded into Microsoft Dynamics ERP applications, allowing partners to focus on the last mile of innovation, which has been shown to have the greatest impact on a customer’s business. In fact IDC research shows that Microsoft Dynamics ERP partners with vertical focus outperform those without in several key areas including higher overall customer growth, a higher proportion of revenue from new customers, larger deal sizes, and a trend toward higher operating profit margins. This is what Microsoft's legal market team had to say about the acquisitions: "With law firms around the world striving to strike a balance between becoming more competitive and doing more with less, this news will be of particular interest to them. Microsoft Dynamic’s acquisition features the type of technology that is critical for law firms today: solutions that enable them to better address business processes, operational costs, workforce effectiveness and customer retention. The acquired solutions are more nimble, adaptable and drive faster time to innovation which differentiates Microsoft from other competitors who are reconciling multiple industry offerings as a result of acquiring several companies." • Process manufacturing and professional services solutions for Microsoft Dynamics AX are available immediately on the Microsoft Dynamics price list, and the retail solution will be available at a later date. Microsoft will provide updates to customers and partners as the availability date approaches. More information on Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions, and details on the new industry functionality in Microsoft Dynamics AX, can be found at www.microsoft.com/dynamics/en/us/products/ax-overview.aspx * You can read more predictions about future trends in legal technology in Charles Christian's upcoming new book Legal Practice in a Brave New World – scheduled for publication in the spring of 2010. Monday, September 21
Olswang say 'Why switch away from Open Text DMS ?'
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 21 Sep 2009 10:29 BST
Following a recent review of document management systems – including a comparison of Open Text and Autonomy iManage – Olswang has retained Open Text as its DMS vendor. Clive Knott, IT Director at Olswang commented “A few years ago there may have been valid reasons to switch document management systems but our analysis shows that those reasons no longer exist. There certainly isn’t enough difference between systems to justify the inconvenience and disruption that would be caused by a migration”. Olswang will now upgrade from version 5.1x to version 5.2x of Open Text eDOCS DM.
Along with its DMS upgrade Olswang will also be deploying eDOCS Email Filing from Open Text. Clive Knott said “Email Management is a key area of focus for the firm and one in which we felt Open Text provided superior functionality. The Email Filing product integrates seamlessly with our existing Open Text DMS and provides our users with tools that make email filing and categorisation simple. The server side filing means user workstations aren’t impacted and the filing process takes place in the background. This is a big step forward and one that we believe will save our users considerable time” Thursday, September 17
Thomson Reuters buy XMLAW
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 17 Sep 2009 16:40 BST
Thomson Reuters has just acquired US-based Microsoft Sharepoint specialists XMLAW. XMLAW now becomes part of TR's law firm CRM, contact management, website and marketing systems specialist company Hubbard One, which is in turn a Westlaw business. No formal announcement is being made however you can find more information by following the link, which includes a video of Hubbard One V-P & general manager Preston McKenzie talking about the deal. In a nutshell, the XMLAW acquisition means Hubbard One will now be able to offer a far wider range of Sharepoint-based solutions and services to its customer base.
www.hubbardone.com/home.aspx
IRIS releases first ever published annual report
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 17 Sep 2009 14:46 BST
IRIS, the UK’s largest private software house, today released its first ever published Annual Report & Results. Revenues for the year were £119m (period ended 30 April 2008: £95m), operating profit before exceptional costs and amortisation of goodwill (‘adjusted operating profit’) was £40m (period ended 30 April 2008: £33m). Operating profit before amortisation of goodwill was £37m (period ended 30 April 2008: £30m) with operating cash flow of £39m over the year (period ended 30 April 2008: £39m).
IRIS say the report demonstrates the company's commitment to complying with best practice corporate governance reporting and meets the standards set out in the Guidelines for Disclosure and Transparency in Private Equity issued in November 2007 (commonly referred to as the Walker Report). Commenting on the results, Group CEO Martin Leuw explained; “During 2009, we made excellent progress with the integration of Computer Software Group into IRIS. We now operate as one integrated business and this has strengthened our position considerably as ‘The Sector Specialist’ with deep domain and customer knowledge, in sectors where our major competitors are all generalists. These are challenging times for all businesses, and more than ever before our customers need us as their IT partner, to help them adapt swiftly to a different economic climate.” The Annual Report can be downloaded by clicking on the attachment link. 1 AttachmentsMonday, September 14
Freshfields to stay with Tikit Firmware for PMS
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 14 Sep 2009 10:00 BST
Tikit has this morning announced it is working with 'magic circle' firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (which now has over 2500 lawyers in 27 business centres around the world) to upgrade its Tikit FirmWare practice management system.
“Freshfields originally implemented Tikit Firmware over 10 years ago. As our central system for our time, billing and practice management functions, Tikit FirmWare forms the hub of many of our business processes,” said Laurence Milsted, Finance Director at Freshfields. “As Freshfields has grown both internationally and in London, we have expanded our use of Tikit FirmWare with new functionality including lawyer matter management, and support for multiple jurisdictions and currencies. We periodically review the marketplace for alternatives to Tikit FirmWare, but believe that, at this time, the best value-for-money option is to upgrade what we have – we know it meets our needs, and scales to our performance requirements.” Tikit has been working to upgrade the Tikit FirmWare software suite to a 64-bit platform since earlier this year. The new version (v4) will be available for user testing early next year with Freshfields planning on rolling out the software later that year. “The three-layer model of Tikit FirmWare allows us the flexibility to upgrade the SQL and application server components to 64bit processes, whilst leaving the user front end virtually untouched,” said Mark Garnish, Head of Development Services at Tikit. “In addition to moving to 64-bit, the platform upgrade will expose more of Tikit FirmWare’s core strengths with the latest generation reporting and development tools.” (Insider sources report that initial testing on the 64-bit platform show it to be "demon fast".) Comment: This news seems to slay the speculation we've been hearing for at least three years that Freshfields would be the next big legal market win for SAP – although the firm continues to run an SAP HR system. Our sources suggest that during their most recent review of the market, Freshfields looked at both SAP and Elite 3E before deciding Tikit FirmWare provided the most appropriate solution. This news also raises the possibility that FirmWare could re-emerge as an alternative to Elite, Aderant and – for the risk takers – SAP in the larger firms PMS market. FirmWare, which Tikit acquired as part of their acquisition of ResSoft/Resolution Software, was originally positioned as a global contender with its multi-everything capabilities and is still being used in six top 100 UK firms.
Scottish law firm recruiting for IT director
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 14 Sep 2009 09:00 BST
This job has just come in & is on the www.LegalTechnology.com website's jobsboard...
Law Firm IT Director Scotland, circa £70k Our established Law Firm client based in Scotland is looking to recruit an IT Director who will be responsible for the whole IT Division which includes 3 IT Managers and support staff. You will be responsible for IT and telecommunications infrastructure creation, maintenance and development. Strategic planning and procurement of infrastructure hardware & software. Developing the firm’s Case Management software and liaising with 3rd party suppliers in this regard in order to ensure the firm’s interests are best represented. Ensuring IT training is provided effectively & efficiently to end users. Managing, developing & auditing the firm’s websites, building mini-sites and developing a coherent online strategy. Managing all aspects of the IT Department including weekly meetings, project management, strategic resource allocation, recruitment etc. You will have extensive Law Firm IT Management/Director experience and have relevant degrees/qualifications. Contact Mark Lennard at JPL Group on 0845 521 0440 or email your CV to mark@jplgroup.com |
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