IT Decisions: What NOT to do

By Doug Hafford

A lot of the articles published in this space deal with various new technologies, law firm specific IT needs and in general, individual solutions.  This is almost always very good information for an administrator, however, it does not cover the other side of the equation – What not to do.  Our firm provides network assessments every week for Southern California law firms and we see the same common mistakes over and over.  This article is devoted to how to avoid common mistakes, why you should avoid them and some suggestions for better solutions.

Before we dive into some of the scenarios below, we should start with a very basic premise.  There are only two factors of importance in a law firm computer system.  The first is your users.  A successful computer system allows the user to work all day, every day, without interruption at the full speed they are able to work.  The second is software applications.  A proper IT solution provides all of the applications needed by the users and allows them to produce high quality work in a fraction of the time spent by less efficient firms.  All IT decisions should be driven by these two simple concepts.

Misconception #1:  Any PC will do

It is not unusual to see law firms with 30 desktops of which there are 8 different models and sometimes 3 or more different operating systems.  This makes a huge difference in the key areas of any law firm’s IT solution.