There's a new – and free – LinkedIn app for the Blackberry. It's available to download from the Blackberry app store or from http://m.linkedin.com/blackberry/download Despite not being particular fans of LinkedIn, we've tried it: it works (always useful) - it offers full integration with Blackberry’s existing email, calendar and contacts applications - and the interface has a lot of neat touches, to the extent that the user experience is not second class when compared with the standard web browser interface.
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Wednesday, March 31
New LinkedIn app for Blackberry
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 31 Mar 2010 17:29 BST
Normal service will be resumed
by
Charles Christian
on Wed 31 Mar 2010 10:09 BST
EDF, the electricity powerlines maintenance company that likes to say F*** You to its customers, has just switched off the power in the Insider's part of East Anglia – without giving any advance notification – so we are back to laptops, dongles and Blackberrys. Normal service will be resumed – sometime.
Tuesday, March 30
Rupert Kendrick's guide to IT outsourcing governance
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 30 Mar 2010 15:12 BST
The key to a successful book is not just content but also timing. (And I'm speaking as someone who once wrote a Y2K guide that was so delayed by production issues that it had barely hit the bookshelves before Big Ben chimed midnight on 31st December 1999.) A book certainly shouldn't follow the wave and while being on the crest is good, being ahead of the wave is even better – which brings me to Rupert Kendrick's new book Outsourcing IT: a governance guide.
Kendrick, as many of you will know, is a solicitor turned tech journalist and writer who in recent years has increasingly focused on cyber security and risk management issues. His new book could not be more timely, coinciding in the huge surge of interest in IT outsourcing, including SaaS and cloud computing. However, instead of getting bogged down in the details of either the technology or outsourcing contracts, he focuses on the more top level management issues of how organisations should initially approach the outsourcing process; how they should manage the relationship with outsourcers and, finally, how they should assess and manage the risks associated with outsourcing. In other words, as the book's subtitle says, it is all about governance. This is very much a book for management both enterprise management and IT management. And, in the light of the outsourcing horror stories we've all heard, some sections (particularly those dealing with due diligence and service level agreements) should be made mandatory reading for anyone considering outsourcing in one form or another. * Outsourcing IT: a governance guide by Rupert Kendrick (IT Governance Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84928-025-9, paperback, price £47.95, pp 324. www.itgovernance.co.uk
Sharepoint to takeover the World part II: Open Text draw their line in the sand
by
Charles Christian
on Tue 30 Mar 2010 09:05 BST
Now we have some news from Open Text on their approach to Planet Microsoft and the Sharepoint Death Star (or not as the case may be) and we quote...
Open Text has announced the following Microsoft compatibility dates and commitments. • Open Text eDOCS DM will support the 32 bit Edition of Windows 7 from the end of April. • Open Text has committed to ship eDOCS DM version 5.3 within 90 days of Microsoft releasing Office 2010 and will include full integration with Office 2010 in that release. • DM 5.3 will also include support for the 64 bit Edition of Windows 7. At this stage we expect eDOCS DM 5.3 to ship sometime between July and September. • Open Text has committed to ship Content Lifecycle Management Services for SharePoint within 90 days of Microsoft releasing SharePoint 2010. CLM Services for SharePoint is the archiving and storage optimisation platform that underpins the Open Text LIM product. • A SharePoint 2010 compatible version of Legal Information Management (LIM) is also being developed and a release schedule will be announced shortly. Monday, March 29
Guest article: Post-Recession Strategies: Controlling Financial Leakage
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 29 Mar 2010 13:00 BST
by John Gilbert, V-P of Sales & Marketing at nQueue Billback. He can be reached at jgilbert@nqbillback.com If there is anything that the Great Recession has reminded us, it is that cash (not debt) is king and that organizations serve themselves best by keeping a steely-eyed focus on free cash flow. For a law firm, this cannot be done without a detailed profitability analysis by practice area, by client and even by matter. And with billing rates getting squeezed – and not likely to rebound soon, it is important for firms to take into account all expense data at all times. Some expenses, such as client lunches and business development costs, are clearly the firm’s responsibility but must be considered when calculating the profitability of a client or matter. Expenses related to photocopies, scans, faxes and phone calls are historically the client’s responsibility, but some firms and attorneys find these expenses are an easy write-off for the sake of client satisfaction and goodwill. Although firms find these costs easy to write off (or bury in the hourly rate), they are not always fully tracked and sometimes not tracked at all. Other expenses that are typically the responsibility of the client are not recovered when if they are incurred outside of the firm’s systems. Examples might include overnight charges or online research. It is imperative to capture information about all expenses, no matter where and how they are incurred. For example, imagine a matter that requires one thousand photocopies in a given month. The attorney’s administrative assistant may make most of the copies, but say the partner himself made 200 on a Saturday. Uninterested in looking up a client/matter code, the partner simply enters “9999.” If the firm doesn’t have a good mechanism for managing exceptions, it loses track of 200 copies. Then when reviewing a pre-bill, the engagement partner writes off another 200. The client receives the bill, complains a bit, and receives a credit for a further 200, never even realizing that it was not billed for the delivery of the documents by FedEx or for the online research that went into creating those documents. The firm recovers for less than 40% of its expenses – and because the “leakage” was at multiple places, firm managers don’t even realize it. That favorite client that the partner thinks is so valuable may not be so profitable after all. The AmLaw 100 reported a reduction in profits per partners of 4.3% in 2008, and no one expects the 2009 numbers to be any better, so these days even a small loss in profitability can make a big difference to a firm. The key to remaining sound in and after the recession is to collect good data throughout the firm and then apply that data to sound profitability analyses. Firms account for all hours worked, even those that are not billable, and it is also crucial for firms to collect all expense data. This includes copies, faxes, prints, phone calls and scans, as well as travel, court fees, research, overnight, courier and credit card charges. The key is automation: make sure information is collected as these expenses are incurred, rather than asking attorneys and administrators to recreate it after the fact. Once all data is collected, use it to get a full idea of your profitability. Analyze by matter, by partner, by client and more. Make sure all write offs are accounted for and make sure they provide value; reducing the bill for an already unprofitable client does not serve the firm. Furthermore, expense data can be used to optimize operations within the firm. Are multifunction devices placed properly based on data, or based on squeaky wheels? Are the right projects getting outsourced? Is the firm being properly compensated for all it does? The Great Recession has taught us to focus on profitability, but many firms developed questionable habits during the upswing. The best way to ensure a happy future is to promote discipline in collecting and using data to the best effect.
Rumour du Jour: Sharepoint set to take over world?
by
Charles Christian
on Mon 29 Mar 2010 09:00 BST
There are rumours (we've now heard from vendors, integrators, consultancies and law firms) going around that a number of large UK law firms are set to abandon their traditional DMS proprietary platform strategies and switch over to Microsoft Sharepoint – either with bespoke projects or going with the Open Text LIM option. There are also suggestions that the next few weeks will see swapouts from at least one Autonomy iManage DMS site – an added factor here being Open Text will be offering Windows 7 compatibility ahead of Autonomy. We will keep you posted – meanwhile that sound you hear coming out of Clifford's Inn/Chancery Lane is Jan Durant of Lewis Silkin laughing as she says "I told you so".
Saturday, March 27
Vinasty - the award
by
Charles Christian
on Sat 27 Mar 2010 09:08 GMT
Following on from an earlier story, last night (Friday 26 March) Vin Murria was named Asian Businesswoman of the Year at the Asian Business Awards.
Friday, March 26
Workshare & Tikit take swipe at DocsCorp
by
Charles Christian
on Fri 26 Mar 2010 09:46 GMT
Following on from a story in this week's Legal Technology Insider that DocsCorp had scored a number of new orders from UK law firms for its pdfDocs Desktop and compareDocs software – including from Mills & Reeve – both Workshare and their channel partner Tikit have been in touch to say "Oi !"
Workshare emailed in to say... "March’s LTi claims a ‘raft of new law firm wins’ for Docscorp. No details are provided what products were sold but the implication is they include document comparison. We feel obliged to point out that some of the firms mentioned have actually renewed their Workshare licenses and even looking to purchase more. We hear that one of the so called Docscorp ‘wins’ in a larger account was for only 4, yes 4 seats. Four of the ‘wins’ have less than 100 lawyers in total. Since the previous public announcement of a Docscorp win (March’09) Workshare has won or renewed over 20,000 licenses in the UK alone. Now that really is worth shouting about. And Tikit emailed in to say... I read that Docsorp have now sold their comparison software to Mills & Reeve – this isn’t the case. M&R have bought a grand total of 4 licenses of JUST the PDF software and in fact just renewed Workshare. I have to admire their spirit though! Thursday, March 25
SDLT and the Scrumpy Budget
by
Charles Christian
on Thu 25 Mar 2010 11:03 GMT
In the aftermath of yesterday's 'Scrumpy' Budget were some announcements that have implications for Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) – software developers in England & Wales may want to check out the links in this HMRC circular, sent out at 9:00 this morning. However how is the exemption for first time buyers is going to be policed? And how does a solicitor know that the buyer is telling the truth and does indeed qualify for the exemption?
Dear Developer The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in yesterday's Budget a number of measures affecting Stamp Duty Land Tax. For details, please follow the links below: BN24 - SDLT Rate & Thresholds http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/bn24.htm BN25 - SDLT First Time Buyers http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/bn25.htm BN26 - SDLT Partnerships http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2010/bn26.htm If you have any queries, please contact SDS team. Regards, Software Developers Support Team | Information Management Services | Benefits, Credits & Specialist Units Portfolio HM Revenue & Customs |
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