The legal industry I.T. professional is busy during a boom time and a lean time; possibly doing different things, but still very busy.

2002 will probably not be a year of rampant growth, acquisition, and expansion. 2002 will probably be a year where most firms concentrate on getting better with what they have, helping their users become more proficient with their available software tools, and catching up with all the changes that occurred over the past few years. Does this mean we will be any less busy, less challenged, or have fewer opportunities for success in 2002? Absolutely not.

At Morrison & Foerster LLP's San Francisco office, we are looking at 2002 as the year to integrate everything. In recent years, we had our share of Y2K compliance as well as general hardware and software upgrades. We are now taking the opportunity to optimize, refine, and solve user problems by focusing on three key items:

• Making remote connectivity as easy as possible
• Training users strategically and efficiently
• Cleaning up infrastructure

Remote Connectivity
Users have the expectation that anything they can do at the office will be available anywhere they go. Laptops are the tool of choice, but there are other considerations such as wireless PDAs, home computers, and logging in from computers at distant locations. This anywhere/anytime connectivity sounds great; but each operates differently, each has unique security concerns and bandwidth constraints.

Similar login processes, consistent look and feel, and the inclusion of broadband Internet access will be our goal. Additionally, users should not have to worry how their laptop is connecting. With a lot of effort and migrating to Windows 2000, users will be able to turn their computer on, plug in any type of line, and quickly connect in a secure fashion. Achieving this connectivity model has not been easy, but by making it a primary goal for 2002, we're channeling our efforts into helping the users "do it simpler and better". In the past, we've had success with multiple, specific solutions. In 2002, our goal is to integrate as many as possible. It will be one of our benchmarks of success for the year.

Strategic Training
Training is one of those practices which is both necessary and hard to do well in real time. When office activity is high, people do not have the time to take large portions of their day for training. We break training up into smaller segments, offer sessions before, during, and after traditional work hours, and we handle specific questions in a one-on-one manner. While this method is adequate, we can do better. In 2002, we are looking to improve our training by building a remote connectivity training class and by taking the time to identify who needs training in specific applications.

Our remote connectivity class will encompass the technical advancements mentioned earlier; and, more importantly, it will focus on what users should consider when working outside of the office. Major points will be:

• Checking out documents in advance
• Determining if you need more than e-mail
• Determining your connectivity needs -- maybe a laptop is not necessary if you just need to check e-mail remotely
• How to adapt if the remote location does not have what you expected

In addition to our normal training classes, in 2002 we'll be taking a look at all "trouble" calls which were placed and look for trends. By looking for both user- specific and subject-specific trends, we are optimistic we can directly help individuals. For example, let's look at the following problems and solutions:

Problem: User X has made a lot of calls for help concerning Word Styles.
Solution: Let's arrange a Word Styles class specifically for people like X and her friends Y and Z.

Problem: User A is repeatedly having difficulties in PowerPoint.
Solution: Arrange a convenient one-on-one time to demonstrate how much easier things can be with a master template.

The basic idea here is to take all the available evidence of users' issues and craft a more targeted, better solution. Not only will this solve direct problems, we will minimize the time impositions on users and give them all the support necessary for their specific needs. The end result will be "call avoidance" and far fewer crises.

Cleaning Up Infrastructure
When times are hectic, the items which are probably most neglected are your patch cables, switches, and routers. They are easy to ignore as they exist behind closed doors, and they rarely break. Living in dynamic times, it's easy to fall into the trap of "if it isn't broken, don't fix it".

See if the following sounds familiar: your firm needs a workroom for a particular case and decides to temporarily use one if its conference rooms. The workroom will have a couple of computers, a fax machine, and a printer. After moving out some furniture, you discover a couple of extra LAN outlets which you determine are not working. You go into your cable closet and either disconnect other LAN outlets to make the ones in question active or you take up the last two available connections on your hub/ switch/router. You also either redirect an existing fax line into the conference room or have a new one installed. Time goes by, and the workroom is no longer needed, the equipment is moved out, the furniture moved back in, and you as the IT professional go on to the next fire. We've all had this happen to us.

We routinely make changes to fix the "present". Occasionally, we have forewarning and can address things which will happen in the "future". On the whole, we rarely go back and correct the "past". 2002 is a perfect year to clean up those cable closets, assess how many connection points and fax lines are needed, check the UPS's, and implement a color coding system for future cabling requirements. How much easier would it be to have attorneys' LAN connections one color, staff another, and so on for printers, video conferencing, cost capture terminals, security equipment, etc?

Fixing it now will help users experience faster network throughput, problem resolution will take less time, and you may be able to save significant dollars by finding things which aren't being used and can therefore be disconnected. 2002 presents the opportunity and challenge to improve everything around us by taking what we have and making it work better. Simplifying the user experience, training users on items they need to know, and ensuring our infrastructure is working as well as it can -- all are worthwhile goals. 2002 can be the year of simpler and better. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

About our author...

Jim McKenna is Technology Services Manager at Morrison Foerster LLP in San Francisco and currently serves as the Regional Vice President for ILTA's Northern California Region. Jim can be reached at (415) 268-7543 or by e-mail at jmckenna@mofo.com.